Barquentine California

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The Barquentine California was a barquentine ship measuring 83 feet. It was designed by Al Mason in 1927 while he was still in high school.

During World War II, it was a Navy vessel in the South Pacific. After sailing around the world in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was used as a prop and later used as a prop in Adventures in Paradise and the film Hawaii. In the early 1980s it was put into service as a whale watching ship out of the San Diego, California harbor, captained by Edward Barr.

On February 15, 1981, while returning to port during a heavy fog, the ship ran aground on Point Loma. The crew and all passengers were able to wade safely ashore, but the boat was heavily damaged by rocks and waves. For five days, the ship was pounded by damaging waves as the tide came and went. Salvager Glen Couch of Rask Shipyards in Coronado succeeded in freeing the heavily damaged boat. Air bags used to refloat her ruptured and she sank into 40' of water. A week later she was brought up and taken to the shipyard where she was touted as repairable.