A two-masted brig taking shape at a San Diego boatyard is being built with an unusual currency: Bitcoin. The Pilgrim III, a roughly $10 million replica of a 19th-century merchant ship, is under construction at Driscoll Mission Bay Boat Yard & Marina, funded by an anonymous cryptocurrency donor; project workers say they do not know the donor’s identity, with naval architect Doug Sharp an exception.
Project spokesperson Brian Thomas said the benefactor is covering the build with an amount equivalent to 120 to 150 Bitcoin, according to Axios. Thomas told the outlet that workers on the project do not know who the donor is, and naval architect Doug Sharp, who is designing the vessel, declined to comment on the benefactor’s identity. GuideStar identifies the nonprofit overseeing the build, the Pilgrim III Foundation, and describes its mission, according to GuideStar.
The project currently employs 16 paid workers alongside a crew of volunteers, per Axios’s reporting. Assembly is happening at the Driscoll family’s San Diego shipyard, which has operated boatyards in the city since 1947 and is equipped with a 100-ton Travelift capable of moving heavy wooden hull frameworks, according to the Boatyard Guide.
A Floating Classroom Lost, Then Reimagined
The new ship is meant to replace Pilgrim II, which sank unexpectedly in its slip at Dana Point Harbor in March 2020. The vessel began taking on water sometime over the weekend, and the reasons remained unclear; it was later deemed unsalvageable and demolished by salvage crews, according to the Los Angeles Times. Workers worked to prevent hazardous-material leaks, according to the Los Angeles Times…