Seattle’s Seafair festival has kicked off today and the PI has put up pictures from its archive showing off some history of the annual event, pirates included. The Torchlight Parade takes place tonight, and the air show and hydroplane races start next week.

“The 1950 P-I caption read: Stan Sayres’ Slo Mo Shun IV was put in to water Monday after a thorough going-over. In this photo, Anchor Jensen sits at the controls while Sayres looks on during motor tuneups at Jensen plant, Portage Bay.”

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“Seafair Pirates burn two of King Neptune’s boats, a 136 former Navy ship and a 100-foot fishing tug to mark the end of the 1953 festival.”

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“Sailors aboard the USS New Jersey at Pier 66, Seafair 1989.”

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Related post: The Hydroplane Boats of Seafair