Mast Hysteria : Tall Ships’ Arrival Turns Landlubbers Into Old Salts

Cannons popping and sails billowing, a slice of 19th-Century nautical history cruised into Dana Point Harbor Saturday in a coastal celebration of the sea.

This annual festival of tall ships led by Orange County’s brig Pilgrim seemed a tailor-made event for kids such as 3-year-old “Pirate” Perry Waldman and 41-year-old Bob “Silverbeard” Chandler.

For Waldman, a fan of Captain Hook and the Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas, the harbor scene on the grounds of the Orange County Marine Institute proved an exciting venue to unsheathe his plastic sword, rub shoulders with “real” pirates and pal around with a young girlfriend he called “Shark Bait.”

“As soon as I knew this was going on here, I knew I had to bring Perry,” said the youngster’s dad, Robert Waldman. “He loves the tall ships. As young as he is, I really think he enjoys the romance of all this.”

How else could anyone explain the appearance of Chandler?

Dressed in period clothing, a long machete safely tucked in his belt, “Silverbeard” walked the grounds carrying what he claimed was the skull of his mother-in-law.

“She don’t eat much. She don’t nag much. I’d say she’s damn near perfect,” he said, thrusting the gray plastic figure closer to one tourist.

Never straying from character, the Riverside resident said he’s been a pirate “all me life.”

“Aye, it’s the fantasy of it,” he said. “It is another time, another place. For me it’s an escape.”

The colorful nautical theme touched nearly every display at the festival. From fish T-shirts, paintings and scrimshaw, the celebration even featured a miniature dolphin merry-go-round.

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But the real stars of the day were the graceful vessels bearing the names Hawaiian Chieftain, Swift of Ipswich, Pilgrim of Newport, Kelpie, Spike of Africa, Red Witch, Curlew and Witch of Wood.

Launched in April, 1979, the Witch of Wood is the creation of Capt. Stan Pietrucki, whose fascination with tall ships began when, as a child, he built boats “to float through mud puddles.”

“I guess I just kept building them bigger and bigger,” said Pietrucki, standing before his biggest “model” yet. “It’s madness, I guess.”

All of 61 feet and 35 tons, the Witch of Wood took Pietrucki 17 years to build and it has since become a permanent home for him and his wife. From the dock, the fine-lined schooner looks like a relic from a bygone time, but below deck the Pietruckis enjoy most of the modern conveniences.

There are tiled sinks and a high-tech radio system in the cabin, a microwave in the galley and a step-down shower in the head. “I don’t think you’ll see that in many of these ships,” Pietrucki said, pointing his land-loving guest toward the bathroom.

Of the armada assembled Saturday in Dana Point Harbor, the Witch of Wood might be the smallest. But Pietrucki--his salt-and-pepper hair pulled into a short ponytail--said his eight cannons “pack a pretty big bite.”

“We operate this as a pirate vessel,” he said, preparing for launch. “It’s a totally different lifestyle. I don’t have a garage to store a bunch of stuff. But it’s the freedom we enjoy.”

Said Chris Fox of Dana Point, a crew member on the Witch: “This is a throwback to a great age. It is a lifestyle that doesn’t conform to the normal rules of life. A sailor’s life is confined to the ship, but the wide-open expanses of the ocean is your world.”

By noon Saturday, the coastal hillsides in South County were dotted with people who had gathered to watch the graceful procession of vessels set out to join another group at Aliso Pier.

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When the fleet made the turn back to Dana Point, dozens of pleasure boats joined the parade back to the harbor, some sounding their horns.

While the ships were at sea and briefly out of sight, artist Gregory Lincoln was displaying his works, a number of which included paintings of the same tall ships about to return to port.

“The ships are really the attraction here,” Lincoln said, dressed in a long-sleeved mariner’s shirt and cap. “People can’t see this everyday. It’s part of the history and romance of the so-called good ol’ days.”