VENTURA : Tall Ships Bring Past Into Present

The tall ships met at sea just beyond Channel Islands Harbor--one carrying jewelers masquerading as pirates, the other a crew of retired aerospace engineers and elementary school teachers working for pleasure on a replica of a 19th-Century cargo ship.

In 1834, the gunpowder shots fired from each boat’s cannons would have warned of raids. But Saturday morning, the echoing booms merely startled flocks of pelicans and neighboring boaters.

The shots were meant to welcome the Pilgrim to Ventura.

A replica of the ship described by Richard Henry Dana in the classic “Two Years Before the Mast,” the 96-foot Pilgrim will spend this weekend at the harbor for tours and a theatrical re-enactment of Dana’s life aboard the brig.

“This ship represents to Southern California what the Mayflower represents to New England,” said Stanley L. Cummings, executive director of the Orange County Marine Institute, which moors the ship at Dana Point.

The Orange County institute strives to preserve old-time sailing skills, Cummings said.

When the Ventura County Maritime Museum opens in three months, its directors hope to attract other tall ships and displays of historical nautical items to the area.

“This is the kind of thing that we’ll be doing frequently,” said Frank Crane, the museum’s executive director.

The museum, a nonprofit corporation, will feature educational programs and events associated with the area’s nautical heritage.

The Witch of Wood, a gaff-rigged topsail schooner and replica of a Revolutionary War privateer, escorted the Pilgrim into the harbor Saturday about 11 a.m. The Witch’s captain and builder, Stan Pietrucki, sported a waxed mustache and was dressed in a green velvet jacket. He and Marianne McGovern wore large gold earrings and their three-person crew also dressed as pirates.

“We’re going in for rape and pillage,” Pietrucki, a custom jeweler from Northern California, joked as the two ships neared one another.

The Witch also will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Thursday. Performances aboard the Pilgrim will be held at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Sunday.