The East Vancouver Pirate Ship has returned to a Grandview-Woodlands yard with a few new features for Halloween 2024, and a neighbour is joining in a good cause.
The 13th annual display created by Paul Etheridge, who owns a home renovation business, was inspired by The Goonies, specifically the pirate ship the Inferno. One-Eyed Willie is even steering the ship; he was one of the original animatronic skeletons Etheridge built.
This year features a new pirate classic: A skeleton walks the plank.
"It's a skeleton on a hydraulic arm," Etheridge tells V.I.A. "So I can have him walk the plank multiple times in an evening."
He's also adding a new talking pirate head with a moving mouth and eyes.
While the pirate ship features lots of moving parts, Etheridge is not a robotics engineer. He's just handy and has a lot of little motors.
"It's just very simple animatronics using windshield washer motors for the most part," he tells V.I.A. "It's amazing what you can do with a windshield washer motor."
Each year it takes a lot of effort to set up, and each year Etheridge thinks about calling it the last one. But each year he's encouraged to do it once again.
"Every year I say this is the last year, but as we get closer to Halloween each year kids come up to me and ask if I'm doing the pirate ship," he explains.
He notes his own kids (now teenagers) enjoy the display, too.
"They love living in the pirate house but at some point they'll move out," he says.
The East Van Pirate Ship is open to visitors each evening until Nov. 1 from dusk until around 9:30 p.m.
For a good cause
Etheridge's pirate ship isn't just a crowd-pleasing display for people walking by 1142 Lily St. It's also a fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
"We've always raised donations for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank," he explains. "When we started doing this they were local, down in Strathcona."
He notes that donating to the food bank has gotten easier over the years, as food collection has shifted to fundraising efforts.
"13 years ago it was needed then and it is even more needed now," Etheridge says.
Since the pirate ship started patrolling the neighbourhood they've raised about $50,000, Etheridge estimates. The last two years have each cracked $10,000, a goal he hopes to meet again.
While encouragement from locals helps him come around to building the ship each year, he notes it's the fundraising that keeps him doing it.
"If we keep raising funds for the food bank then I will keep doing it," he says.
A haunted neighbour
This year the East Vancouver Pirate Ship has a haunted neighbour joining the cause.
The Aberdeen Haunted Mansion at 1110 Victoria Dr. has joined the ship's campaign.
The nearby haunted yard has been running for several years, but Etheridge says this is the first year the two have connected on fundraising for the food bank.
For those planning to visit Etheridge notes that in both cases the displays are set up in the yard and don't include the inside of the homes.
"We've had people in our kitchen before," he says.
