Stealing away to the Caymans

Yo ho ho: You don't have to raid a treasure ship to cash in on Pirates Week

By GEMMA TARLACH
gtarlach@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Aug. 13, 2004

Grand Cayman Island Photo/Gemma Tarlach A buccaneer from the Seattle Seafair Pirates group helps raise heck on Grand Cayman Island during Pirates Week. Pirate-wannabes can take a cruise around George Town harbor on the the brightly colored Jolly Roger (background). Photo/Gemma Tarlach The Pirates Week parade offers an opportunity to see all kinds of costumes, including this woman's elaborate outfit. Photo/Gemma Tarlach Local girls (right) go with the pirate theme for the annual parade. Photo/Gemma Tarlach The Jolly Roger's "invasion" of George Town harbor kicks off the Landing Pageant, which skips the blood and goes right to a parade. Grand Cayman

Arr, matey! Be ye in search of a wee getaway - fit to shiver ye timbers?

There be no finer place to indulge your inner buccaneer than the Cayman Islands' annual Pirates Week festival, a family-friendly celebration of the high seas pillage 'n' plunder lifestyle.

Each year in late October, the Cayman Islands - considered by many guidebooks to be the most conservative and genteel of the Caribbean island nations - buckles its swash and raises a grinning skull 'n' crossbones flag, letting loose with street parties, snorkel treasure hunts, pirate singalongs and, the jewel in the Pirates Week treasure chest, a mock invasion of the islands' capital, George Town, followed by a parade.

And listen up, thrifty buccaneers: most of the Pirates Week events won't cost you a single doubloon - they're free and open to the public.

Pirates Week began in 1977 as a way to drum up tourism during the low season, and also to give the locals an excuse to let their hair down. But the celebration, which this year runs Oct. 29 through Nov. 7, has historical roots that stretch back centuries.

Christopher Columbus sailed past Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, the two smaller islands of the three-island nation, back in 1503. Impressed by the number of tortoises he spotted in the waters offshore, he named the islands Las Tortugas, Spanish for turtles.

The Cayman Islands, sometimes called "Tortuga," quickly took on near mythic status as a hangout for pirates and privateers.

Famous bad guys

The first round of settlements, for example, was abandoned in the 1660s because of the number of raids by the yo-ho-ho crowd. The Cayman Islands weren't permanently colonized until around the start of the 18th century, when settlers from nearby Jamaica set up house on Grand Cayman, the largest island.

Sir Henry Morgan and Edward Teach, also known as the notorious Blackbeard, were among the famous bad boys of the high seas who favored the Caymans as a place to restock - sea turtles and the native species of crocodile were popular food sources for the seafarers - and, rumor has it, bury loads of treasure.

In the years since the likes of Blackbeard were running wild on the islands, the Caymans, still part of the British Empire, have become far more civilized.

The major industries are tourism and offshore banking - the modern way to bury treasure - and the islands enjoy the highest standard of living in the Caribbean.

Add a low crime rate and a tolerant multiracial, multicultural population of about 40,000, and the Caymans sound like the least likely place in the world to host an annual celebration of pillage, plunder and other piratical behavior.

Of course, Pirates Week is all in good fun, more Johnny Depp-style shenanigans than any actual naughtiness.

The most likely target for a raid is one of the overloaded seafood spreads at popular Friday night buffet "Pirate Feasts" held by some of the resort hotels.

Scruffy do-gooders

The Cayman Islands are so upstanding, in fact, that they have to import their pirates. In addition to the thousands of tourists who flood the streets of George Town in silly hats and plastic sabers, dozens of semi-professional Arrgh-men from the Seattle Seafair Pirates organization fly in to drink rum, pose for pictures and generally make merry.

Think of the Seattle Seafair Pirates as a scruffy version of the Knights of Columbus - they march in parades, visit hospitals and do other good works while wearing outrageous outfits and toting steel.

It's the Seattle contingent that leads the annual Landing Pageant, a "mock invasion" of George Town harbor.

Streaming onto the harbor's main docks from commandeered pleasure craft, the pirates quickly overrun the half-hearted assemblage of local "defenders" armed with papier-mache cannons. It's all cheesy good fun, and a prelude to a parade, led by the invaders, that winds its way through most of the capital.

Local bands, schools, businesses and other organizations march or motor along the parade course on colorful floats, throwing candy and beads. Student groups demonstrate the quadrille, the islands' national dance, in colorful striped skirts and vested suits. The whole affair winds down in late afternoon, leaving just enough time for a quick meal before the evening's street party kicks in.

There are fireworks, too, musical performances by regional talents, a special teens-only dance party and other festive events.

During the 11 days of Pirates Week - yes, 11 days in a week, go figure - organizers host charity runs and ocean swims, golf tournaments, underwater treasure hunts and "heritage" days that highlight the Caymans' past.

A full schedule of everything Pirates Week has to offer, as well as other information about the event, is available at www.piratesweekfestival.com.

Under the stars

You won't have to worry about sleeping out under the stars as many pirates did when they went ashore.

A thriving year-round tourist industry that caters to snorkelers, scuba divers and the leisure-inclined is centered on Seven-Mile Beach, a stretch of sand northward from George Town that's lined with hotels. While there are a number of ritzy resorts catering to the well-heeled, more moderate chains such as Marriott and locally owned budget hotels also are represented.

Many of the hotels run day trips to popular snorkeling spots or attractions such as Stingray City - a sandbar where you can swim with dozens of the sleek sea creatures.

Of course, a key item on any pirates' checklist is the booty - you can't go home empty-handed. But if you're looking for something a little more special than Blackbeard fridge magnets and "Got Rum?" T-shirts, the Cayman Islands sell a souvenir that's perfect for the swashbuckler with a sweet tooth.

Back in the days of high seas adventure, sailors often soaked baked goods in rum, which acted as a preservative - and, let's face it, a mighty tasty one at that. This is one pirate tradition the Cayman Islands has embraced heartily.

Competing rum cake companies on the island offer unlimited free samples of all their flavors of the dense, moist cake, from lime and coconut to chocolate and coffee. It's hard to go more than a block along George Town harbor without hitting a shop, though the dignified Cayman approach to salesmanship means you'll never be hassled, by cake sellers or anyone else.

A scary place

If Pirates Week festivities and endless free rum cake samples begin to wear thin, go to Hell.

A short taxi or minibus ride north of Seven Mile Beach, Hell is a spooky spot of geological weirdness. Acres of dead coral, the remains of a long-drained inlet, poke up toward the sky in black spikes and pillars.

The formation is too fragile to walk on - you'll have to be content looking at it from a viewing platform - but if kitschy souvenirs are your thing, Hell is a shopper's paradise.

Enterprising octogenarian Ivan Farrington set up a gift shop beside the Hell formation and greets visitors at the door in his devil costume with a hearty "how the hell are you?"

Inside the store, bumper stickers, kitchen magnets and shot glasses with variations on "I've been to Hell and back" cover the shelves.

Hell has its own postmark, so bring your postcards, ready for mailing, when you visit. The site is also the halfway point for a popular Pirates Week road race event called - what else? - the "To Hell and Back 10K."

The Cayman Islands Turtle Farm, at the north tip of Grand Cayman, is rebuilding after Hurricane Michelle devastated its breeding population in 2001 and can be visited in an afternoon. The farm releases a select number of turtles into the wild each year around Pirates Week time - visit www.turtle.ky for more information.

'Real' pirate ship

If you're visiting with children or are in touch with your own inner scalawag, you can book an afternoon or evening cruise on the Jolly Roger, a primary-colored pirate ship mock-up. The Jolly Roger motors - that's right, motors, the masts are just for show - around George Town Harbor and to two different spots ideal for snorkeling while its merry crew doles out free rum punch to the adults and teaches youngsters how to properly swab the decks and buckle their swashes.

The Jolly Roger is commandeered as the main ship in the invasion armada each year, so if you're visiting during Pirates Week, be sure to book ahead and be flexible about times, as its sailing schedule will be limited.

On the strictly non-piratical agenda, visits to a butterfly farm, botanical gardens, colonial-era buildings and other cultural fare are possible using either public transportation - a user-friendly network of minibuses - or a rental car. Grand Cayman boasts a number of excellent restaurants as well, from the casual, pirate-friendly burger houses to upscale affairs.

Whether you're visiting just for Pirates Week or stretching out your stay to include the numerous other activities and sights that the friendly, laid-back islands have to offer, don't forget to factor in some time to spend the way pirates on shore leave did: Stretch out on the warm beach and just relax with the beverage of your choice - we recommend anything with rum. For authenticity's sake, you understand.

Yo ho ho, it's the pirate's life for us.