OXNARD : Kids Brush Up Pirate Skills During Festival

After less than an hour’s worth of studying, 6-year-old Jeremie Hakian of Studio City knew what he wanted to be.

“I want to fight like a pirate when I grow up,” said the maple-haired boy with a Tom Sawyer-grin. “I like the fighting and the killing and the swords. They’re sharp.”

Wide-eyed Jeremie was among a dozen or so youngsters who enrolled Sunday in the Pirate Academy, a loose-knit school for would-be buccaneers and one of dozens of attractions at the Channel Islands Harbor Maritime Days festival.

“Most people have a soft spot in their hearts for pirates,” said Dave Baldwin, a member of the Pierpont Fencing Club, who taught children the basics of becoming a worthy pirate.

The $8 course included (in addition to the day-care service) sword play, treasure hunting, map-reading, pirate lingo, temporary tattoos and knot-tying. Diplomas and official eye patches were awarded to graduates.

“The romance of a bygone era, I suppose, has something to do with the attraction,” Baldwin said.

But the school for scalawags was not the only eye-catching happening around the harbor Sunday. Revelers could choose among arts and crafts displays, music, food and entertainment, model power boat demonstrations, on-board tours of classic yachts and more.

“We try and open up everything in the harbor to everyone,” said Susan O’Brien of the Channel Islands Harbor Assn. of Lessees, which sponsored Maritime Days. “Nothing is fenced in, so people can enjoy whatever they want.”

The fifth annual festival--it resurfaced this year after a self-imposed hiatus of two years--spotlights the Channel Islands Harbor and the businesses there, O’Brien said.

It also helped publicize the Camarillo Pond Rats, a group of 100 or so model power boat enthusiasts whose high-pitched watercraft raced across the harbor and around the free water taxis shuttling people from one venue to another.

“Just like spectators at a real boat race, these people want to see crashes,” said Steve Scott, who helped establish the hobbyist group 10 years ago. “Except here, no one gets hurt.”

Across the harbor, people queued up for a chance to board and inspect a handful of classic yachts, dating as far back as 1933.

“This is more what the area’s really like,” said Jeremie’s father, Josh Hakian, a special effects designer from Studio City, surveying the harbor Sunday afternoon. “Because I’ve come here before and it’s been really quiet.”