Looking for a unique experience on San Francisco Bay? Spend the morning at the US Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model Visitor Center in Sausalito, then head down to the pier to board the Call of the Sea's 132’ wooden brigantine Matthew Turner for a tour of San Francisco Bay.
Matthew Turner was designed as a replica of the ship Galilee, built by Matthew Turner in the late 1800’s. Turner was a sea captain, shipbuilder and designer in Benicia and built more sailing vessels than any other single shipbuilder in America. Galilee held the 19-day San Francisco to Tahiti passage record for years.
Matthew Turner was launched in 2017 and has been providing on-the-water environmental educational programs to youth since 2020. It carries 7,200 sq ft of sail area (11 sails) with the main mast height at 100 ft, two 200 kw electric motors that regenerate power under sail, two banks of lithium batteries and two bio-fuel generators.
Community Sails such as the one on Summer Sailstice help lower costs for student sails and include the experience of being under full-sail on a classic tall ship. You’ll learn about the history of tall ships during the Gold Rush and witness the teamwork and communication of the crew as they go aloft into the rig to set and furl the square sails.
Bring your own picnic and beer or wine, or enjoy the healthy snacks and non-alcoholic beverages that are provided at no charge.
For more information and tickets on Matthew Turner during Summer Sailstice, Sat., June 22, 2:00-5:00 pm, visit https://events.humanitix.com/sumer-sailstice-san-francisco-bay-sail.
You can also celebrate sailing by pinning your own sailing plans to the Summer Sailstice map by going to https://summersailstice.com/events-map.
