A secret meeting of elite pirates — the meanest, most villainous, murderous and happily apathetic and unapologetic scallywags — was set to convene in Port Orchard this weekend. But as the blokes began to arrive, one captain was found dead. Perhaps dancing with Jack Ketch or about to be sunken in Davy Jones’ locker, who knows.

Coincidentally, the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce’s second annual Murder Mystery Weekend is slated for this weekend as well in the downtown district of Port Orchard. Therefore residents and visitors alike will get the chance to solve the mystery of Cap’n Kidd’s murder.

For $10, participants can join in the fun — “A Case of Treasure or Treachery” — in which they’ll be given a packet full of info, clues and characters — pirates, wenches and townspeople played by Wester Washington Center for the Arts players — whom participants must interview to piece together the mystery.

“Basically everything will be happening somewhere between the 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. time frame both days, then Sunday at 4 p.m. we reveal whodunit,” said PO Chamber executive director Coreen Haydock Johnson of the two-day event Sept. 15-16.

The names of all those who solved the mystery correctly will go into a drawing for prizes. But that’s not the only chance for awards and accolades on Murder Mystery Weekend.

The piratical fair has grown to include much more than simply the murder mystery in its second year. This year will include a Captain Jack Sparrow look-a-like contest at 2 p.m. Sept. 15 with categories for men, women ($5) and kids (free) as well as a Lundlubbers — note land-lovers — Pirate Dinghy Derby Race earlier that day.

“We want people to know they can make their landlubber pirate dinghy out of anything, it doesn’t have to be a boat,” Haydock Johnson said. “It can be an old wheel chair or a shopping cart decorated with a pirate theme … whatever, just so one person can sit in it and three other people can push.”

The race will travel down Prospect Street and around to Kitsap Street, with winners receiving a plaque and bragging rights.

Participants can either register ahead of time through the PO Chamber or on the day of the event 10 a.m. Sept. 15, $25 per team. More information and rules and regulations for the dinghies is available at www.portorchard.com.

Also on Saturday, coincidentally, the Carlisle II foot ferry boat will be docked at the ferry terminal at the Port Orchard marina celebrating its 90th birthday with cake balloons and boat rides in the Sinclair Inlet.

“Then on Sunday, we’ll have a beer garden from noon to 5 p.m., and we’ll also have a pirate group doing a sword fight at 3 p.m.,” Haydock Johnson said. “There’s a lot going on.”

Coming up from the shores of Olympia, maritime music group the Budd Bay Buccanneers will be singing shanties starting around noon Sunday while the South Sound Rogue Pirates will put on the sword fight at 3 p.m.

During both days, the Murder Mystery Marketfaire will be open on Frederick Street between Bay Street and the Marina while the Port Orchard branch of the Kitsap regional library — at 87 Sidney Ave. — will be hosting pirate story time and crafts for the kids.