GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- Although she starred as the Unsinkable Molly Brown, it turns out actress Debbie Reynolds' riverboat is not so unsinkable.

As Reynolds' newly purchased boat, Jean Mary, made its way up the St. Johns River en route to a Tennessee museum, a stop in Green Cove Springs became a recovery operation.

Reynolds, 76, is one of the few actors from MGM's Golden Age of Film who is still working. Her newest project is a motion pictures museum expected to open in November in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Reynolds's son, Todd Fisher, said his mother had major plans for the Jean Mary -- an 80-foot boat that was not only to be living quarters for the Reynolds family but also a promotional attraction for the Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Motion Picture Museum.

"We've got the largest collection in the world of Hollywood memorabilia coming here from California. This includes the Marilyn Monroe Subway dress, a pair of Judy Garland's Wizard of Oz dress and slipper. You name it, we've got it …" Fisher said.

Docked in Green Cove Springs for the past few weeks, Fisher said they were just about ready to make their way to Tennessee when for reason unknown the Jean Mary began to take on water.

The was almost completely submerged in the marina.

"The captain called me early and said the boat was listing and he ran down and found the engine room flooded. To see something that beautiful on the bottom of the river there is rather distressing," Fisher said.

The plan was to use the Jean Mary to promote the new museum by pulling up to areas along the river while Reynolds preformed topside.

Fisher said both he and his mother were looking forward to the promotional tour.

"I first called my mom and told her the boat had sunk and she burst into tears," Fisher said.

He said his mother had become attached to the boat, which is why he said it's very important that he find out what caused it to sink and get it up and running again.

"That boat is as much as an entertainer as my mother is. The two of them belong together entertaining up and down the river," Fisher said.

The company hired to get the riverboat back afloat said despite some interior damage because of the water inside, the boat is in pretty good condition.