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It was one of those mellow San Francisco afternoons where by three o’clock the sun is already starting to dim in preparation for going down in the Pacific three hours later. In doing so, the colors of the sky, sea, hills, trees, and flowers take on richer hues peculiar to that maritime atmosphere and in combination with the soft, shirtsleeve air you think “Boy, it is good to be alive!”
Our ship had just passed under the Golden Gate bridge, outward bound once again for the Far East. In keeping with the pleasant afternoon, the ocean was calm with only long low swells rolling in. We came to a stop perhaps a half mile out, to wait for the arrival of the San Francisco bar pilot. We did not have long to wait. But, it was not the regular pilot boat, it was the pilot boat “California”! She was a two masted schooner under full sail.
What a picture it was. I will never forget it. Against the backdrop of the Golden Gate bridge with the towering headlands on each side and the deep blue sky above, the California with its white hull and billowing sails came sliding through the green water about 50 yards away on our lee side where it coasted to a stop. It’s white sails fluttered in the breeze. I expected to see a boat to be lowered with someone to row the bar pilot over to the ship Instead, with a nod to modern technology two men lifted a sixteen foot aluminum boat off the deck and heaved it over the side. One man cranked up the boat’s outboard motor, the pilot got in and they were over to our ship in a few minutes. Our crew had deployed a rope ladder over the side of our ship and the pilot was quickly aboard.
I never saw the “California” again. It was retired in 1972, the last working pilot schooner in the United States.
That was not the end however. It was sold to a company in Washington state where it was completely restored and renamed “Zodiac” which had been its original name when it was launched in 1924. At the time I saw it, it looked small in comparison with our ship which was 622 long overall. But I have since learned it’s deck is 127 feet long with a beam of 25 feet. It’s main mast is said to be high as a ten story building. In 1982 it earned a spot on the National Register of Historic places. It is still at work operating out of Bellingham, Washington providing a variety of private parties, charters and cruises in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. Her captain says, “She’s not old. She’s in her prime!”
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 2:10 pm and is filed under General
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