The dreaded pirate captain Aaron Singh—that’s his official title, “dreaded pirate captain”—has been hanging around the South Street Seaport, learning the ropes, and eventually giving tours, since he was 15. But it was only last year, as Johnny Depp’s pirate persona brought high-seas scalawaggery back into style, that he became “dreaded” and launched the Seaport’s first Pirate Sail. The adventure was so wildly received that he’s mounting three more this summer, with the inaugural voyage on June 24. For two hours, little swashbucklers will learn to tie knots, set sails (which weigh more than a ton and require twenty sets of hands to maneuver), and get a cannon ready for firing (loading not with a cannonball but with a blank ten-gauge-shotgun shell). After a quickie lesson on charting the waters, the crew will learn pirate code, which according to Singh includes a respect for shipmates and making the hunt for booty the highest priority. At some point during the sail, kids will have to find that treasure, heave it onto the deck, and divide it among their fellow pirates without incurring the wrath of the D.P.C. “Right now, it’s a happy ship,” says Singh. “But I give orders and some people don’t do well with orders and that’s why we’re working on a plank.”
6/24, 7/22, 8/19 from 1 to 3 p.m.; South Street Seaport, Pier 16, 12 Fulton St., nr. South St. (212-748-8786 or southstreetseaportmuseum.org); $30 grown-ups, $20 kids.