(This photo and next by David Hutchinson)

It was just before 1 pm when cannon fire boomed offshore, announcing the Seafair Pirates‘ annual approach to Alki, where a welcoming party awaited them in honor of their 75th anniversary.

After a pause to assess the situation, the Pirates jumped in to wade their way ashore:

(Video and photos, from here, by WSB’s Patrick Sand, unless otherwise credited)

Once on the sand, the Pirates did more posing than pillaging:

The Pirates and Seafair royalty – Queen Alcyone Ming-Ming Tung-Edelman, King Neptune Chris Cashman, Miss Seafair Karina Hlastala – made their way to the Pirates’ ship-on-wheels Moby Duck, where King County Executive Dow Constantine challenged the royals to stop the pirates from claiming a symbolic key:

Once the pageantry predictably yet spiritedly reached its conclusions, the pirates readied to make their rolling getaway:

(Photo by David Hutchinson)

They have a busy summer schedule ahead, including the West Seattle Grand Parade two weeks from today, on July 20th.