Ahoy there! Tall ships are plying the high seas

The Spirit of Dana Point (foreground) and the American Pride (center, with red sails) sail near the entrance to Dana Point Harbor as part of the 25th anniversary of the Tall Ships Festival held this weekend.

The Spirit of Dana Point (foreground) and the American Pride (center, with red sails) sail near the entrance to Dana Point Harbor as part of the 25th anniversary of the Tall Ships Festival held this weekend.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Tall Ships Festival

A mate prepares the Irving Johnson for an afternoon of sailing. The festival featured interactive living-history encampments, including blacksmiths, scrimshaw artists and privateers.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Tall Ships Festival

Devon Jennings, 5, of Tustin poses as a pirate for the 25th anniversary of the Tall Ships Festival. The family-friendly event was hosted by the Ocean Institute.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Tall Ships Festival

Tom Waite, portraying Cut Throat Jack, and Matthew Snyder, portraying Capt. Sebastian the Black, duel before festival spectators in Dana Point. Pirates did sail off the Central California coast in the 1800s, and in 1818 a pirate fleet led by Hippolyte de Bouchard ransacked and pillaged the San Juan Mission in search of treasure, according to the festival’s website.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Tall Ships Festival

Ryan Whitworth, 20, of Placentia, sings a pirate song while playing a banjo for Arianna Helzer, 19, of Bellflower. Spectators at the festival got to watch seven West Coast tall ship replicas under full sail “make way for Dana Point’s beautiful harbor, firing their cannons along the way,” according to the festival website.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)