The Greenport Maritime Festival has given the heave ho to the Greenport Maritime Pirates, but the group of colorful marauders is promising to show up with or without an invitation.
And festival organizers -- who have tentatively hired an unidentified pirate troupe for the annual September event -- hope that things don't get messy.
"I offered to do it for free," said Maritime Pirates' creator Jamie Davis, responding to a June 10 e-mail Kelly Logsdon sent on behalf of the East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation festival planners.
Mr. Davis, who said he spent months preparing for this year's festival, promised to offer free rides on the Schooner Liberty for up to 80 youths on both days of the Maritime Festival, and when the vessel is in port in July.
Furthermore, Bill Claudio of Claudio's Restaurant in Greenport has offered dock space to Mr. Davis so the Schooner Liberty can bring the Maritime Pirates to Greenport regardless of what the foundation board decides.
"It's the Greenport Maritime Festival and the Greenport Maritime Pirates!" Mr. Claudio said.
George Peter, head of the foundation board, said he wants to ensure that if the other pirates are hired, Mr. Davis' group won't interfere with their shows.
"It's his dock and he can do that," Mr. Peter added, regarding Mr. Claudio's threat to host the Maritime Pirates.
Ms. Logsdon's blunt e-mail to Mr. Davis was enough to make his dress-up raiders cry "hornswaggle."
"We have decided to go with another pirate troupe to perform at the 2009 Maritime Festival," Ms. Logsdon wrote. "The committee has determined that with the new season, the festival needs increased educational and performance opportunities for the festival patrons."
But festival organizers may not have enough booty to foot the bill for the new pirate troupe. The replacement group wants $2,000 for two days of performances.
Festival planners are counting on cash from the Greenport Business Improvement District and various sponsors, Mr. Peter said. Without it, the Maritime Pirates will be invited back, he said.
That decision could be made at the board meeting in early July, he said.
"Right now, we're in a holding pattern," Mr. Peter said.
The Greenport Maritime Pirates have performed at the Maritime Festival since 1998. In some years the pirates received no booty from festival planners; other years they earned an average of $750 per day; and one year, Mr. Davis said, they did receive $2,500.
The money went largely to cover expenses, including food and lodging for the pirate crew, which often numbered more than 75 members, he said.
Festival planners told him he has benefited from his association with the Maritime Festival, having built a troupe that now performs at South Street Seaport in New York City as well as venues across Long Island.
"I was always building a festival," he said of his past contributions to the Maritime Festival, which grew from a three-block event on southern Main Street to a full downtown event.
As for the original decision to disinvite the Greenport Maritime Pirates, Mr. Peter said some new foundation board members wanted program changes.
"Sometimes we just have to change things," he said. The new pirate group promised shows, something Mr. Davis has done in the past along with the impromptu activities his pirates stage in the village streets.
"If you want that, ask me," Mr. Davis said.
jlane@timesreview.com