TAMPA — For the past five years, the Anna Maria Island Privateers haven't been allowed to march in the Gasparilla Pirate Festival parade.
Sometimes the reason was clear — new parade rules mandated floats be towed instead of driven, for example. Other years, the explanation got murkier.
"They told us they had too many pirate krewes and weren't accepting any more," said John Swager, 51, a plumbing shop manager and Privateer since 1994.
"Back in the day, I used to run up and down the parade route with the best of them. I wear 65 pounds of gear, including an authentic sword. It was a great time."
The Privateers came close to entering the parade this year, said Bob Dominas, the krewe captain, but the governing krewe, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, had a specific request.
"They told us that we could march if we wore some sort of uniform instead of our pirate costumes," said Dominas, 64, krewe captain and a retired construction business owner who lives on Anna Maria Island. "We refused because we're pirates. They said they are the only pirate krewe in the parade."
Anyone who has been to Gasparilla knows there are more pirate krewes than Ye Mystic Krewe — the Krewe of Bonney Read, the Krewe of Sir Henry Morgan and the Krewe of RumRunners, to name a few.
Ye Mystic Krewe Capt. Rex Farrior said the Privateers were invited to participate in the parade this year and were awarded space 99 in the lineup. However, the krewe had been asked to make an alteration to their costumes. The term "privateer" refers to an armed ship owned by an individual but commissioned by a government for use in war, including capturing enemy merchant ships.
"Privateers have been associated with a specific country, historically, so we asked them to add a country or flag to their uniforms. They could come dressed however they liked; they just had to pick a country," said Farrior, 55, a member of Ye Mystic Krewe since 1985.
"We're continuing to look for diversity of krewes and floats, and what we're doing is reflective of that," he said. "We're not getting any larger. Right now, we're aiming to make the parade a better experience so everyone can enjoy the parade in a diverse manner and a quality manner."
Dominas said changing costumes wasn't an option. The krewe votes on everything, and each costume is designed by the member wearing it.
"We're a pirate krewe," Dominas said. "They basically wanted us to wear uniforms, and we weren't about to do that."
Dominas said the "only pirate krewe" explanation rings false, but it was the first reason he'd ever been offered for the Privateers' denial. Other years, they just received a polite rejection letter. "I know there are other pirate krewes in the parade. I'm not blind," Dominas laughed.
In the 43-year history of the Privateers, Swager estimates the krewe has marched in more than 20 Gasparilla parades, but whenever they've been on the outs, it's been for long stretches.
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Explore all your optionsThe Privateers declined the spot that Ye Mystic was holding open — but not entirely because of the costume mandate. The krewe's float was damaged after a December parade in Bradenton, and would not be repaired in time for Gasparilla.
As a member of the Inter-Krewe Council, the informational organization for Tampa Bay's more than 65 krewes, the Privateers usually come up to Tampa to march in February's Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago Knight Parade through Ybor City. They'll be sitting out this year's Knight Parade, too, because of their damaged float.
Dominas has only heard rumors about what caused the rift between groups, none of which justifies what he considers the shunning of his "model krewe."
"We're well liked in the IKC. We are a 501(c)3 that raises money for children's charities and we put on about 60 events a year for the kids," Dominas said. "The Privateers has about 100 members, and about 30 will be marching in Gasparilla with other krewes."
Established in 2013, the Krewe of Seven Celtic Nations will be marching in the Gasparilla parade and playing host to several Privateers who want to be a part of the party.
"Everybody marches in the parade," said Seven Celtic Nations leader Mark Sullivan. "You form a krewe to be in Gasparilla. Some of the Privateers will be marching with us. Theirs is a special situation."
Dominas, who has been captain since August, doesn't discourage his members from joining up with other krewes, but said he personally won't be in the procession if it can't be with the Privateers as a whole. He said he feels grateful that Ye Mystic Krewe gave him a chance to march, instead of just a rejection letter, and credits that progress to the friendships he's made with the parade's governing krewe over the past few years.
"They extended us an olive branch. It just had a huge crack in it," Dominas said. "We don't have any sort of ill feelings toward Ye Mystic Krewe. We just can't understand why this is happening at all."