Mother Nature Sinks Big Bear's Iconic Pirate Ship

BIG BEAR (CBSLA.com) — Mother Nature sank Big Bear's iconic pirate tour boat over the weekend, officials said.

The Big Bear Pirate Ship, which is a replica of a 16th century Spanish Galleon, sank sometime between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday at Holloway's Marina where it was docked.

"It didn't go down because we had too much booty on board. It simply went down because of the weather," said owner Loren Hafen.

The mountain resort town was hit with rain, snow and intense winds during the winter storm.

The ship was fully winterized including closed hatches, de-icing, and fenders on the docks. Hafen, who has owned the boat since 1998, claims the ship was inspected Friday afternoon between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and it was fully secured at that time.

He plans to dive the site of the sunken ship Monday to asses the situation and make plans to raise the ship.