In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the following post is written mostly in Pirate.

Arrr! September 19th be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, but just ’cause it’s in the past, that doesn’t mean that your buccaneering days are over ’til next year. Hoist yer sails and make your way down to the Cayman Islands, which come November 11th through the 21st will be filled with the dirtiest scalawags this side of Tortuga!

In other words, it’s Pirates Week in the Caymans. The Pirates Week  festival has been going on for 33 years, long before pirates became the pop culture darlings they are today.  The islands were originally settled by pirates, slaves and other outcasts, and Pirates Week is a chance for citizens of the Caymans to celebrate their freewheeling and colorful history.  For example, the Pirates Week website describes one of the festival’s main attractions:

Then on the first Saturday we have a mock ‘pirate invasion’ from the sea! Two old-time sailing vessels, loaded with pirates make a Saturday surprise landing at the bowl-shaped George Town harbour, as thousands line the streets to take part in the spectacle or just watch. It’s good-natured fun, there’s a new twist every year, and families just love it. It’s the only event of its kind in the Caribbean region.

Well, shiver me timbers! Ye could hardly do better for a fall vacation, but make sure ye keep to the code: The Cayman Islands, being originally settled by the notorious pirate Sir Francis Drake, be a British territory now, and ye must be issued a US passport or be made to walk the plank back home.

Check the expiration date on your passport-if it’s expired, you’ll need to apply for a US passport renewal. In most cases, though, you can apply for your US passport renewal by mail, without having to present your scurvy self to the authorities.

But avast! It can take 6 weeks for your US passport renewal to be processed if you request regular processing, and by that time the last pirate ship will have sailed from the island. To get it faster, you can pay an additional $60 gold pieces to expedite it, but it’ll still take at least 3 weeks to get to you.

RushMyPassport can help-we’ll use our swiftest vessels to take your US passport renewal application directly to the landlubbers at the Department of State, for processing times as low as 24 hours!