DANA POINT : New Tall Ship Dock to Be Dedicated

A permanent dock for the Orange County Marine Institute’s tall ship, the Pilgrim, will be dedicated in Dana Point Harbor today.

The ribbon cutting will take place at 11 a.m. at the mooring, which is near the institute at 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive.

In addition to offering better shelter for the vessel, which is a full-size reproduction of the sailing vessel that Richard Henry Dana used in 1834, the new mooring will give visitors a much better view of the ship.

Visitors can see the entire length of the 130-foot vessel from a sidewalk above the mooring. The vantage point will enable them to watch as the institute conducts events such as the living history program, which re-creates the voyage of Dana.

“This opens up a whole new arena for viewing the Pilgrim,” said Dan Stetson, director of maritime affairs for the institute.

Since the ship first arrived in the Dana Point Harbor in 1981, more than 200,000 students have boarded the Pilgrim.

The new docking area is only a few hundred feet from where the Pilgrim was previously berthed. However, the mooring will be closer to a small dock, which Stetson says will better protect the Pilgrim from storms.

“It’s a much safer location,” Stetson said. “Every winter when we get storms, we just cringe at the Pilgrim being exposed out there, just at anchor.”

The mooring cost $330,000 to build. The California State Coastal Conservancy supplied $110,000 to pay for construction, and private donations raised $125,000 for the project costs. The balance was paid from institute reserve funds.