Historic schooner once used by Jacques Cousteau sinks in New York Harbor

A historic schooner that once served as a racing yacht, Coast Guard vessel, research ship and floating restaurant has sunk while moored in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York. The cause of the sinking is still unknown.

The 102-year-old Pilot went down overnight on 1 July 2026 at a maintenance berth in the Henry Street Basin, where it had been moved earlier this year after being taken out of restaurant service for repair work. No one was on board, and there were no injuries.

The vessel operated as an oyster bar at Brooklyn Bridge Park from 2017 until last year, when it was replaced by the retired FDNY fireboat Alfred E. Smith, which now operates as Fireboat.

Alex Pincus, one of the owners of Pilot and hospitality company Crew, told the blog South Brooklyn History: “We are heartbroken to share that our beloved Pilot sank overnight at our maintenance location in Red Hook. At this time, we do not yet know the cause of the incident. Most importantly, no one was aboard and no one was harmed. We are deeply grateful for that. Our immediate focus is on working with the appropriate professionals and authorities to understand what happened and determine the safest path to raise Pilot. We are devastated but remain hopeful that she can be salvaged.”

In a separate Instagram post, Pincus wrote: “For the last 30-plus hours, we’ve been actively dealing with the situation and don’t yet have any clear answers. We are grateful that no one was hurt, and grateful for the incredible team helping us through this.

“For lack of a better word, this is a nightmare. But we are working as fast as we can and are hopeful we can get her back afloat.”

Images and video taken by local paddlers after the sinking showed the schooner’s masts still above the surface, while bar stools, restaurant equipment and sections of dock infrastructure floated nearby.

Local waterfront enthusiast Brad Vogel, who visited the site after the incident, told South Brooklyn History: “I was somewhat surprised too just to see the floats that had been alongside the ship as well as some of the barstools were all jammed down at the head of the basin. It looked a little more catastrophic than I thought it would be for a vessel sinking essentially in place.”

Vogel said he had noticed signs of deterioration when visiting the vessel earlier in the year. “From that moment when we first paddled over in the spring, the Pilot looked in rough shape,” Vogel said. “[There] was really deteriorated wood along the side of the hull and in places. More so than I had ever really had a sense of last year when I was on it or near it.”

Built in Essex, Massachusetts, in 1924, Pilot is one of only two surviving racing schooners from the International Fisherman’s Cup. Designed in the Grand Banks style, it later entered service with Boston Harbor Pilotage, guiding ships into the port. During the Second World War it was operated by the US Coast Guard, helping troop and supply vessels enter Boston Harbor.

Its later history included an attempt to sail around the world in the 1970s, reaching Fiji before being sold. It then became a research vessel in the Galapagos, where explorer Jacques Cousteau spent time on board. Between 2002 and 2011, under the name Highlander Sea, it served in Port Huron, Michigan, as a floating classroom teaching sailing skills to young people from the Great Lakes region while also supporting a waterfront regeneration project.

Pincus and his brother Miles bought the schooner in 2015, restored it and opened it as a permanently moored restaurant in Brooklyn in 2017. At the time of the sinking, the vessel was also being considered for National Historic Landmark status.

The incident came shortly before New York Harbor was due to host a gathering of US and international vessels to mark the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations, although Pilot was not among the participating ships.

A second historic wooden sailing vessel owned by Crew, the Chesapeake ram schooner Victory Chimes, also sank at a nearby berth in Red Hook a few days later. The vessel, acquired by the company in 2023, had been awaiting restoration. Crew said salvors had been engaged to assess both wrecks.