But these days, they aren't after your valuables or sea vessels. They're just here to sing sea shanteys, tell their tales and be merry.

This weekend, Pastimes Entertainment brings the Salem Pirate Faire back to Winter Island for the third year.

The family-friendly fair is centered around one main staged show that is played out in six scenes throughout the day. This year's tale is "Pirates of Shipwreck Island," the story of Don Pedro Gilbert, who robbed the Salem-based ship the Mexican before setting the vessel and its crew on fire. Gilbert, who was captured about two years later, was one of the last pirates to be hanged in Boston in 1834.

"We like to give it a local flavor," Pastimes Creative Director David Stickney says of the fair. "We spend a lot of time researching pirate stories."

Pastimes is pushing the Gilbert's story back about a century, the "gold age of piracy," Stickney says, to include the infamous pirates that have become staples of the fair - Blackbeard, Anne Bonney, Capt. Calico Jack Rackham, and Charles Vane, whom Stickney portrays. Vane is the pirate who inspired Captain Hook.

"Last year, we made him into Captain Hook," Stickney says. "We cut his hand off!"

Salem actress Lara Jay will be back in the role of Bonney for the second year, and she is looking forward to some serious (staged) swordfights after a broken foot limited her onstage action last year.

"I didn't really get to play the character the way I wanted to," Jay says of the aggressive, rebellious Bonney. "Sword-fighting is my real specialty. I'm doing a lot of the fights within the show. I don't often get to play angry roles, and this character just fumes constantly."

Along with the stage show, the Pirate Faire also features buccaneers meandering through the crowd, variety acts, live music, vendors, cannon-firing demonstrations, storytelling, games, and more throughout the Fort Pickering section of Winter Island, a well-suited site for the event with its prison-like stone structures and iron-barred doorways.

And the Pastimes entertainers aren't the only ones joining in the fun. Stickney invites attendees to don some pirate garb and take part in a pirate's life for a day.

The Revere-based Pastimes is also responsible for the also interactive King Arthur Festival and Castle of the Damned in Gloucester. But Stickney says when it comes to pirates, people get serious about getting involved.

"We always get people in costume," he said. "This seems to be the show where the kids really get into it."

The Pastimes crew has found that pirate culture has seen a popularity boom this year, thanks in part to summer blockbuster.

Jay, who says it seems like "every other person" walking down the street in Salem is wearing a pirate T-shirt, hopes maybe it's more than just a passing trend.

"I was looking at a 'Victoria's Secret' cover and the clothes looked like something from 'Pirates of the Caribbean,'" Jay says. "(The movie is) affecting other aspects of life as well. I like that. At least it's interesting. Maybe some of these people are going to look up a little history on pirates."

But don't expect the fair to reflect "Pirates of the Caribbean," Stickney cautions.

"We mix legend with history," Stickney explains. "(Visitors) expect to see the pegleg with the parrot; (those pirates) were brutal. They weren't as gallant as they were often portrayed in movies."

Jay says there have been people who come to the fair expecting a pirate scene similar to "Pirates of the Caribbean;" some are even dressed to resemble Capt. Jack Sparrow. But once they start interacting with the fair's actors, they quickly catch on to Pastimes' take on pirates.

"Most of the people I talked to were just really excited to be there," Jay says. "They all get into it really quickly. The cast is always willing to go out there and talk to people. They're very gregarious; they like to get people involved."

If you go

What: Salem Pirate Faire

When: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Winter Island, 50 Winter Island Road, Salem

How: Cost is $10 for adults and $8 students, seniors, and members of the military, $5 children 3 to 12. Parking is $5 per car. Call 781-853-0583 or visit www.pastimesentertainment.com.

'Arrr' you ready for Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Take the swashbuckling fun a little further and celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Tuesday, Sept. 19.

Talk Like a Pirate Day was started by The Pirate Guys, pals Mark Summers, a.k.a. "Cap'n Slappy," and John Baur, or "Chumbucket," from Albany, Ore. The guys were jokingly insulting each other in pirate slang during a racquetball game on June 6, 1995, and it caught on - in a big way.

"I can't go into a bar now without everyone going 'Arrr!'" said Summers. "It's kind of like our version of 'Norm!' from 'Cheers.'"

They chose Sept. 19 as the "official" holiday, the birthday of Summers' ex-wife (a date he says was stuck in his head but no longer useful) since June 6 is D-Day.

In the early years, Talk Like a Pirate Day remained a joke amongst the guys and their friends, and the celebration was pretty low-key.

"We'd call each other at work into the phone and say 'Arrr' and hang up, just messing with each other," Summers said.

Then in 2002, Baur randomly sent an e-mail to humor columnist Dave Barry, who dedicated a column to Talk Like a Pirate Day. And the rest is seafaring history.

Fan mail and interview requests rolled in. In 2003, Baur and Summers launched a Web site, www.talklikeapirate.com. They also wrote a book, "Pirattitude," which features pirate pick-up lines and tips on coming up with your own pirate name.

Their antics turned out to be pretty bountiful for the friends. Now, the guys spend all of Talk Like a Pirate Day doing radio shows starting at 2 a.m. (Pacific time) in Australia until they make their way home to the Pacific Coast.

Breaking out the buccaneer banter is a given on Talk Like a Pirate Day, but how much time do Summers and Baur actually spend talking like pirates?

"Back in the day, it was once a year," says Summers. (Now,) I get e-mail at least once a day from somebody somewhere in the world. I end up e-mailing at least once a day like a pirate."

Summers says he and Baur had never taken a serious interest in pirates in the past. Even after the developed their holiday, they continued to keep it very loose with the focus being on fun, although there were some who came across their Web site and were less than impressed.

"We heard from some furious pirate aficionado who set us straight," Summers says. "But we learned a lot from the people who have written us over the years. (Starting out), we just wanted to say 'Arrr' at everything. We're kind of accidental pirate scholars."

Talk the talk - or walk the plank

Talk Like a Pirate Day is recognized Sept. 19, which is Tuesday, but why not learn the lingo now and put it to good use at the Salem Pirate Faire this weekend?

Ahoy - "Hello."

A * * * - "Yes, I agree," not to be confused with "arrrgh," the sound expressing anger or pain

Avast - "Stop and give attention"/"No way"/"Check it out!"

Bilge rat - a rat that lives at the lowest level of a ship, and a good insult for a person

Grog - an alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water

Lubber - or land lubber, the name a seaman gives to someone who stays on land

Smartly - to do something quickly

Source: www.talklikeapirate.com