SAUSALITO, Calif.—A large wooden ship glides across the San Francisco Bay, its massive sails billowing in the cool coastal breeze.
“Two, six, heave!” the crew of volunteer sailors shout in unison as they hoist the sails of the Matthew Turner, a 132-foot-long traditional brigantine vessel.
“I think that young people don’t realize how many options they have,” Olson told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times, during an Aug. 13 sail. “They grow up in a bubble. They don’t really see outside that bubble. But you put them on a ship, and you go someplace, and you spend some time on it, then they see other ideas.”
Call of the Sea’s ships are dedicated to sharing traditional maritime sailing and offer youth a “floating classroom” and a chance to sail on traditionally rigged vessels.
Olson described sailing as a calling and a magical feeling that comes to him and the crew when they’re out on the water.
“When you get out there at night or night watching, you’re looking at the stars,” he said. “You’re looking out, and all of a sudden you realize that you’re basically sailing the universe because that’s what you see out there. You see the sea, and it just broadens your view of where you are and how you’re part of all this.”
The ship’s crew teaches people how to raise, lower, and stow sails; read the wind and water; and belay pins and pulleys. In the Aloft Seamanship program, people learn how to climb the Matthew Turner’s 75-foot rig.
“I prefer being on water than being on land, if that makes any sense,” crewmember Kama told NTD aboard the floating vessel. “Living on a boat, working on a boat, just constantly sailing almost every single day—it’s where I need to be.”
The $6 million ship took seven years to build, has an 11-sail brigantine design, and comes with a deep history. It was named after the iconic shipbuilder and captain Matthew Turner, who had lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Galilee was used as a cargo ship and still holds the fastest sailing record—just 19 days—from San Francisco to Tahiti. Its undefeated record was completed without a motor, relying solely on its design and the wind.
“Now parts of [the Galilee] are in San Francisco. Parts of her are in [Benicia], which was Matthew Turner’s shipyard location,” Ariella Yendler, deckhand and historian, told NTD. “Parts of her are sunk in Sausalito.”
Today, the Matthew Turner operates as a hybrid ship. It stands about 100 feet tall and produces its own energy harnessed from the wind. The ship regenerates its two electric motors when sailing.
The ship sails based on the weather conditions as much as possible but usually motors from the dock. The hybrid propulsion system is used when needed for safe handling of the boat based upon the tides, winds, or other conditions, which can vary day to day, Call of the Sea told NTD in an email.
Call of the Sea was founded in 1985 and maintains the brigantine Matthew Turner and the schooner Seaward.
