The Lady And The Pirates

1985, the first year I was introduced to Pirates Week the national festival of the Cayman Islands, and it was the first time I sampled fish tea at the Bodden Town Heritage Day; never since then have I enjoyed fish tea to equal it.

The highlight for me that year was going to West Bay. Again the food played a large part in the enjoyment, Chef Tell cooked yummy fish fritters. In the afternoon the excitement was building up waiting for the arrival of the Governor of the Cayman Islands, the Honorable Peter Lloyd, who was to be accompanied by the Police Band. And then the arrival of the Seattle Seafair Pirates.

The Police Band arrived and in those days they were a motley crew, they could play only two tunes and those not two well but the amusing thing was that they didn’t all have uniforms and they were wearing every kind of footwear imaginable. They have come a long way since those early days both in appearance and musical ability. — The governor and his entourage arrived and then... THE SEAFAIR PIRATES!

I hadn’t known what to expect, there was Curly, Butch, Bulldog, Spider-Man, and Mark the Shark. The amazing thing was the reaction they received, especially from women and children, let’s face it: they are not a particularly good-looking bunch but the women went crazy and the children were mesmerized by the costumes, the huge swords they dragged along the ground and there general antics. It didn’t seem to take much to bring a smile to those kid’s faces, a spider ring, a sticker, or a simple magic trick. I was hooked.

As the years went by I went from being a volunteer in the festival for a few weeks a year to a full time employee. Everyone talked about the Seattle Pirates and Seafair and over the years I got to meet more of them and last year I received an invite to attend the festival. I took up the offer, excited to see what it would be like.

Leaving Cayman at about 5:30am, I traveled up with Colin Wilson (Davy Jones, XXXV) The trip was horrendous, three flight changes rushing from terminal to terminal. We arrived late in the evening but joy of joys, DC Smith was there to meet us with a limo (no less) and from that moment on we were treated like royalty. Colin obviously knew the ropes but everything was new to me. The first time out on the DUCK and experiencing the friendly reception everywhere, the visits to the various community fairs, the surprised look and comments I received because the Pirates actually let a female ride with them. I soon realized what a great honor they were affording me. — But nothing prepared me for TORCHLIGHT.

I’d heard about your parade from Mike Lockwood, Colin Wilson, Joe Caputo, Darvin Ebanks and some of the others that had visited Seafair over the years, but I just wasn’t prepared for the scale of the parade and still can’t comprehend the organization that must go into it. — Last year I also attended the St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin Ireland, which although it probably had about the same amount of spectators, was not run with anywhere near the precision of Seafair’s Torchlight Parade. The orderly way the floats lined up and entered on cue was amazing. Like the Pirates Week float director, Jackie Bodden, I did see a few officials screaming into their radios, but it all seemed to run like clockwork.

Even knowing when the canons were going to fire I still jumped every time. The antics of the Pirates, with their ball & chains, monster babies, squirting birds and imaginary dogs, kept the crowd in gales of laughter, but as on the Pirate’s visits to Cayman it was the reaction of the children that was captivating.

And as if that wasn’t enough, I was invited by Captain Eric Hawkins to be his guest at the Davy Jones Banquet, where I was dubbed “Duchess of the Bartlett Deep.” (Sorry, guys if you had to tone your language and jokes down.)

My thanks go to Captain Eric Hawkins, Davy Jones Dick Munsell, DC Smith and all the guys including the new recruits. Special thanks too for the flowers I received when I was under the weather.

Would I do it again? Maybe. If I was guaranteed a month’s rest afterwards and if I could be strapped in a harness while riding the DUCK, then who knows...

Pat Bazel-Taylor
Chief Administrative Officer
Pirates Week Festival, Grand Cayman


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