Meet the friendly pirates of Lake CdA

Boaters on Lake Coeur d’Alene needn’t worry if a black boat flying a skull-and-crossbones flag approaches. The pirates of this Black Pearl don’t want to plunder and pillage cargo. They’re just having a good time.

“It started, like all things do, with a dream,” said Josh Baldwin, 23, a Coeur d’Alene resident and the Black Pearl’s unofficial captain.

On what was a neglected and unassuming 20-foot pontoon boat, a crew of five young men from Coeur d’Alene and Spokane created a version of the infamous Black Pearl ship from the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. The idea came to Baldwin in May because the group was tired of the bar scene downtown and wanted a new place to spend their summer at home.

The pontoon, which had been dry-docked nearly six years, was a gift from Baldwin’s uncle and required an investment of only a few hundred dollars before it was again seaworthy.

“That’s what’s cool about it,” Kris Chambers, 22, said, “is that one person’s trash…”

“Is the greatest thing to happen in Coeur d’Alene,” interrupted Baldwin, laughing.

The project began in May and took a few weeks for the crew to complete. The entire boat, including the one-room cabin, was painted black. They nailed some wood to the deck and laid down carpet.

Several items on the ship were stenciled, including the moniker “Black Pearl” on the cabin and the skull and crossbones on the buoys. The crowning touch, a 20-foot wooden post flying the traditional pirate flag, was hauled in from Spokane on top of Parc Crecelius’ Subaru wagon. The only visible remnant of the original vessel is a few strips of lime-green paint on an interior cabinet.

However, these pirates don’t wear eye patches, walk on peg legs or swill rum.

“We’re friendly pirates,” Chambers said.

Since the Pearl first appeared on the waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene, it has started to grow into a local legend, according to Crecelius, Baldwin and Chambers as they lounged on the deck earlier this week. Other members of the crew are Jeremy Cline and Zach Mathers.

“Most people enjoy it,” Crecelius said. “Most families and kids love it. It’s just fun.”

Ruby Corbin, a Coeur d’Alene resident who walks the docks on the lake every morning, has taken note of the unique vessel.

“It’s cute as can be,” Corbin said. “They are original. I do wish they can find something to keep it from tilting, though.”

Not everyone shares her sentiment, Chambers said. “Some of the people in town don’t see the creativity in it.”

In contrast with the spectacular scrapes the “Black Pearl” gets into in the Disney films, perhaps the only curse this pirate pontoon possesses is the frequent attention from marine deputies. The boat, which visibly lists to starboard, has been stopped 13 times this summer, Baldwin said, mostly for improper registration, illegal lights, safety inspections and even an occasional jump start.

“They kind of crack me up a little bit,” said Nick Lepire, a Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy with Marine Unit Five who has stopped the boat.

The aging motor doesn’t always start on command. As Baldwin and Crecelius, the self-described “most eligible bachelors in Coeur d’Alene,” prepared to set sail that morning, the Pearl wasn’t cooperating.

“All right Pearl, let’s do this,” Baldwin said as he made several attempts to fire up the finicky motor. “It was made before the dawn of time. I think it was chiseled out of stone, originally.”

After a brief tour on the lake, the “ship” returned to dock but wasn’t ready to sit idle in the slip as the unresponsive motor refused to shut off.

“She’s a beast,” Baldwin said. “But when she warms up, she treats you right.”