History Of Captain Kidds

The two most memorable periods in my many years as a Seattle Seafair Pirate were my first year as a candidate and Captain Kidd in 1979. I say memorable because these were the most horrifying years. These Pirates can drive you absolutely crazy when your either at the bottom of the heap as a lowly candidate trying to get in, or when your at the top trying to maintain discipline and order. They may be everyday law abiding, respectful people in civilian life, but when they put on their Pirate costumes, look out. Talk about Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde, well I lived, worked and played with some sixty or more of these split personalities for 27 years,...and wouldn't trade a minute of it. I've always thought I'd like to write a book about these 27 years, but it always comes down to, who in their right mind would print it? - Frank Kane

From the first Seattle Seafair Pirate meeting I attended in December 1971, I was awed and impressed with the members of what was to be a change in my life style that I would be involved with for the next 25 years. The camaraderie in this non-profit, fraternal organization has enriched my life with a "brotherhood love” that has filled a place in my heart that could never end.

My year as Captain Kidd of the Seattle Seafair Pirates was the highlight of my career as a pirate. From the annual Pirate Landing at Alki Beach, parades, raids, the use of the "Sylvia" (a two-masted 88-ft. schooner, built in 1898) for the week of Seafair, opening day of boating season, to the wedding ceremony of my wife Susan and I aboard the ship on the last day of Seafair 1982, it has been one memory after another. It was also the honor and opportunity of commanding as Captain a group of men dedicated to promoting good will and fun in the community and abroad. I am proud to be a member of a Seattle institution that has been going on for 50 years. - Captain Horny

I don’t have much to say. - Joe Peak — Ed: Joe's Davy that year was Dick Selland and between them it was a laugh a minute. It was also the first year the Pirates were invited to join the festivities during Pirate Week in Grand Cayman. Well they drive on the left side of the road there as the do in England, Joe was driving our regular size bus when someone yelled out, "hey Joe hit the next liquor store" and damned if he didn't. Seems he forgot how high that bus was and how low there marquee sign was. He didn't drive anymore that day.

Best memories are from Cayman, not because it was my Captain year, but because, since inception, I’ve always regarded the friendships established through Pirates Week to be very rewarding.

Worst memory of my Seafair: trying to get thru breakfast at Beth’s Cafe on Terrible Thursday.

Will never forget all the antics with my ol’ runnin’ mate Baker - missing the duck, helicopters, party room, Kingdome - too much to write down!

It has been said that being Captain Kidd is a bit like being God, but I don't think that's a fair comparison. God doesn't get to drink from sunup to sunup, He doesn't get to wear feathers, and He doesn't get to ride around in a Duck. (Some Captains don't get to ride around in a Duck either, but that's another story.) Where God has the advantage of course is that his tenure is not limited to a single year. Not so Captain Kidd.

Captain Kidd, as we all know, is thrust forward to reign supreme for a single year, and then sinks back into the common ranks. Every pirate can look forward to the possibility of someday being Captain Kidd. Every pirate that is except the past Captain. He has had his day, and it can never come again. And so it is that every Captain strives to wring every possible moment of glory from his scant 365 days, storing up memories and stories against the day when the honor will be his no more. And so it is that every past Captain spins tales at the drop of a feathered hat, tales of past revelries, tales of the glories of sailing the vast urban sea of human existence.

Past Captains drop out. Past Captains withdraw. Past Captains move to distant corners of the earth, and past Captain's go back to the ranks of common pirates. What no past Captain has ever done, not so long as he draws breath, is to forget his year in the sun. Since the Captain is not God, whatever he and others may have thought for a single brief year, that will have to be enough.

It was the year that the Cayman Cutthroats saw Seattle at 3000 feet without the joys and help of good old Jamaican Rum.

Special thanks to Nappy Soma for being my Davy Jones and very special kudos to Buckwheat for being my M. A. He earned it that year. Best M.A. ever. To all the Pirates God Bless and continued success. - To the Cayman Brotherhood - SUCK EM UP! - best to everyone - The Crazy Greek

My pin colors were red and black. My Davy Jones was Art New of Alki Beach. Art loved being a pirate. His passing just one year after being Davy was a great loss to the pirates. Can you believe it, the Seafair Pirates are 50 yrs. old. Why, I'm only a baby. I became a member 18 years ago - Butch Hulit.


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