The Cayman Connection & the Late, Great Michael Lockwood

SEAFAIR PIRATES, THE CAYMAN CONNECTION AND THE LATE, GREAT, MICHAEL LOCKWOOD

This is my thirteenth (or is it 14th - could never count very well past ten) Seafair as a guest of the Seafair Pirates. The Seafair Pirates have been an integral part of our (The Cayman Islands) Pirates Week Festival for over fifteen years. Usually twelve of their number have graced our shores over these years and plundered and pillaged wherever they went. They certainly have added to the enormous success and growth of the Cayman Islands National Festival. As a result, the Cayman Islands Pirates Week Executive Committee have sent a representative or representatives to Seafair and although our impact on your festival hasn't been as great, we certainly have made some very close friends.

A man the Seafair Pirates have come to know so very well is the late Michael (Mike) Lockwood. Mike was Executive Director and Chief Pirate of Pirates Week for sixteen years and he visited Seafair four times. The second year he came to Seattle he was the Davy Jones (although he jokingly told me he didn't know he was until he had left!) and if ever a man looked a fearsome pirate, Mike most certainly did. His jet black beard and jutting chin with his deep gravel voice could put the fear of God into you but then he would smile, his eyes would light up and his genuine warmth would change everything. Mike was a very kind and generous man. He could also be most stubborn and would fly off into a rage that was most frightening, but he was fair, had a marvelous sense of humor, and passionately loved children and the National Festival. Everybody who knew Mike loved and respected him. Even at a one and only meeting you would certainly remember him. He put his own individual stamp on our Pirates Week, nurtured it, reared it like a baby and watched it grow with pride. It was Mike who was responsible for the Seattle Seafair Pirates joining our celebrations each year. And it was he who guided them through fourteen years of pirate adventure in Grand Cayman.

When Mike died suddenly last year (a few weeks before the Festival) it sent shock waves reverberating not only around our islands but all over the USA. He had friends everywhere and will always be remembered. His last words to me, as I left for a holiday in England, were; "Have a good time, Peach Blossom." Peach Blossom is a very extrovert female character I have played for many years (I am not known as the Drag Queen of the island for nothing). Little did I know that that was the last time I would see him. Thank goodness for memories.

Well, here I am here back in Seattle for your Seafair. This year I have with me Mike's personal assistant in the Pirates Week office for many years, Pat Bazell-Taylor. Pat is well known to all the pirates that have been to Cayman but this is her first visit to your Festival. Pat has done all the administration work to keep Pirates Week flowing smoothly and was the chief last year after Mike died. She is still there this year looking after two bosses! Pat, I know, will have a glorious time here.

To all my friends here in Seattle, and I am proud that I have lots, I am so pleased to join you again. This has always been the highlight of each year and I keep coming back for more. I love your hospitality, your beautiful women, your warm hearts, your lovely ladies, your wonderful fresh salmon, your gorgeous gals, Jerry Ceis's Alkai Ale, your buxom wenches, your fabulous city, your delightful dames, etc...

Colin Wilson
Davy Jones XXXV
Duke of Amberley


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