Buccaneers Broadside the Boardwalk

Last updated on April 7, 2021

Shrieks of joy follow two pirates brandishing plastic swords playfully lunging and growling at kids at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on a breezy, sunny Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Powers, 24, and Logan Johnson, 31, went all-out with their outfits, complete with eye patches, big hats and a frilly shirt. The two don’t work for the Boardwalk. They’ve been dressing up and going places together about once a week for 12 years. They don’t ask for money, or doubloons.

Powers and Johnson used to do cosplay to visit conventions and comic-cons before the pandemic, but now wander the Boardwalk and visit stores and restaurants downtown in character, hitting up local costume shops beforehand for supplies.

Pirates aren’t exactly out of place wandering at the Boardwalk, but Powers and Johnson have donned an eclectic array of outfits, including Mario and Luigi, characters from the cartoon Adventure Time, and even French maids.

“There’s no more raves so we became pirates,” says Johnson, a mini speaker dangling from his belt. “We go places outside now where we can blast our music and have fun,” although they’re not allowed to use them at the Boardwalk. They’re having fun anyway.

Sometime, they say, people don’t react much. Behind a mask, it’s hard to tell. “We’re not assholes about it,” says Johnson. But they admit their pirate personas are a little more aggressive, and offer to show off their choreographed “run-up” move. Pumping the air with swords and plastic hooks in hand they move toward their target and end with a rousing “Ahoy!” hooks and swords outstretched.

The long-time friends are both Santa Cruz natives and employees of Therapeutic Healthcare Collective, a cannabis dispensary near Cabrillo College in Aptos.