Guests at previous Ocean Institute Maritime Festivals have enjoyed pirate reenactments, cannon battles and mermaids, but have asked for more.
So this year, officials at the Ocean Institute say they stepped things up for the festival’s 40th anniversary.
Susan Proctor and Mark Proctor of Capistrano Beach pose for a photo with a pirate skeleton during the Ocean Institute’s 40th Annual Maritime Festival in Dana Point on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Katie Zaniewski, Britta Grace and Athena Dryden, from left, members of the Historical Autonomous Collective, stand together wearing elaborate period outfits during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Visitors at the 40th Annual Maritime Festival check out the Mayflower, one of several ships on display at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor, as it flies a pirate flag on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Jim Frasseet, a member of the Naval Historical Education Foundation, tests his musket before the start of a pirate show at the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
A rowboat full of actors dressed as pirates, members of the Naval Historical Education Foundation, paddle through the waters of Dana Point Harbor’s Baby Beach during a Pirate Adventure Show at the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, put on a “school for scallywags” show for kids on the deck of the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival hosted by the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, left, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, put on a “school for scallywags” show for kids on the deck of the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival hosted by the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, perform outside the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Naval Historical Education Foundation put on a Pirate Adventure Show aboard the tall ship the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, perform outside the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, left, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, perform on the deck of the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival hosted by the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain Jack,” from the Naval Historical Education Foundation, talks about types of cannon ammunition as he holds up various examples during a Pirate Adventure Show on the tall ship the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Bob Minty plays an Anglo concertina while his dog, Pugsley, looks on in a room at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer
“Captain” Will Radford, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, put on a “school for scallywags” show for kids on the deck of the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival hosted by the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Kids play on pirate-themed inflatable structures outside the Ocean Institute in Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Visitors at the 40th Anniversary Maritime Festival admire model ships at one of the vendor booths outside the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Naval Historical Education Foundation put on a Pirate Adventure Show aboard the tall ship the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival at the Ocean Institute on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
“Captain” Will Radford, left, and other members of the Queen Anne’s Blouse Pirate Band, perform on the deck of the Spirit of Dana Point during the 40th Annual Maritime Festival hosted by the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
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Susan Proctor and Mark Proctor of Capistrano Beach pose for a photo with a pirate skeleton during the Ocean Institute’s 40th Annual Maritime Festival in Dana Point on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Schooners, including the institute’s Spirit of Dana Point, began the three-day event in Dana Point Harbor on Friday, Sept. 13, with a classic ear-shattering tall ships’ cannon battle at sunset. Crowds on Saturday and Sunday enjoyed a packed day of activities with plenty on tap including pirate adventure shows, mermaid swim shows, a mermaid breakfast, a school for scallywags and more blistering cannon battles.
The Maritime Festival, once known as the Tall Ships Festival, helps fund the Ocean Institute’s mission to celebrate maritime history in Southern California and teach hundreds of thousands of local students about ocean sciences and the creatures and plants life that live off our shores.
The Pirate and Mermaid Ball, held Saturday night, also helps pay for the Adopt-A-Class program, which allows students from families with lower incomes to participate in the ocean learning activities for free. This year, 6,533 students from 145 classes participated in these free field trips.
“The 40th anniversary marks a major milestone,” Wendy Marshall, the institute’s president and CEO, said ahead of the festival’s start. “The festival has evolved over the years, retaining the classic and expected experiences, including cannon battles and ship tours, while adding new ones. We’ve followed the lead of our guests, who want more pirates, mermaids, reenactments and demonstrations, and we plan to deliver.”
The institute’s Spirit of Dana Point, which was recently refurbished, was joined this year by schooners the Bill of Rights from Chula Vista and the Curlew from Dana Point. The Mayflower, a ketch considered a small tall ship, came from Newport Beach.
Stan Cummings, a scientist and educator with the vision to teach the public about maritime history, founded the overnight student education program aboard the Pilgrim – another tall ship the Ocean Institute had before it sank in 2020 – and started the festival to “bridge international boundaries and touch people who are keeping alive a skill and a memory that is so important.”
Marshall said the point of maritime education remains, but the festival has broadened out to a maritime festival – rather than a tall ships festival – because access to the tall ships has decreased.
“This is an expensive event to run, and not many dare do it,” she said. “With fewer tall ships available to us in Southern California, broadening it to ‘maritime’ allows us to retain the emphasis of tall ships, while also folding in more land-based experiences.”
