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What's That Pirate Ship Doing In Buckley Cove?

STOCKTON (CBS13) — It's not something you'd expect to see on the waterways of Stockton, a pirate ship docked near Buckley Cove.

It's called Devil's Gauntlet, a 91-foot brigantine built in Half Moon Bay in 1977. The boat was originally a copy of the Sultana, the smallest warship ever designed by the U.S. to protect the coast of Massachusettes from pirates.

A Bay Area couple purchased the ship and hauled her to a Richmond Boatyard.

The man who goes by "Pirate Dan" has spent thousands renovating the ship. He's installed new fuel tanks, a new motor, water tanks.

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"I bought it for a dollar, I paid a lot of money to have it towed from Richmond down here to the Delta and instantly started tearing into this thing," said Pirate Dan.

A veteran with experience building hot rods and custom motorcycles spent the last year renovating the ship with hopes of sailing it toward stardom.

"I actually wrote a TV show called Devil's Gauntlet and what I do is take veterans with PTSD...," said Pirate Dan. "Everything in it is brand new."

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He has already shot three TV pilots and is now working to complete the boat so he can go to a production company to fulfill his dream of helping veterans.

"Being in the ocean, the quiet clapping of the waves and the calm out on the sea, it changes everything in your life," said Pirate Dan.

Pirate Dan would like to get the boat finished in the next month or so to get a charter license and take his first group of veterans out on the water.

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