A tall ship used as a classroom began sinking overnight in Dana Point Harbor, officials at the Ocean Institute said Sunday.
"We are very sad to announce that Pilgrim, our beloved vessel that has served as an inspiring real-world classroom to hundreds of thousands of students and visitors, keeled overnight in her slip on our dock, rendering her useful life over," according to the Ocean Institute's Instagram feed. "Our staff was informed this morning and we all feel like we lost a dear friend, as I am sure many of you do."
It was not clear what caused the ship to keel over. The vessel undergoes regular out-of-the water and underwater inspections, Ocean Institute officials said.
In 2016, the boat was taken out of water for survey and repairs and in October 2019, Ocean Institute began a fund to support the haul out and repair scheduled to take place in January 2020. That work was postponed until June due to overload at the yard.
The Ocean Institute is an ocean education organization, originally founded as the Orange County Marine Institute in 1977. It offers marine science and maritime history programs for K-12 students.
