Invited Ships

Adventuress

Designed by renowned naval architect B.B. Crowninshield, Adventuress was launched in 1913 in East Boothbay, Maine. She was built by Chicago businessman John Borden to capture a specimen of a Bowhead whale for the American Museum of Natural History. After her maiden voyage to the Arctic, Adventuress served 30+ years as a pilot vessel for the San Francisco Bar Pilots, patrolled the west coast during WWII for the Coast Guard, and has spent the last half century in the Salish Sea providing youth and adults a unique way to experience their marine environment, which continues to this day. Adventuress was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Schooner Freda B

Originally commissioned as the Spirit of St. Augustine, she was designed by legendary East Coast naval architect, Charles Wittholtz. She was built in steel by Treworgy Yachts of Florida and launched in 1991. Her traditional gaff rigged design was intended for comfortable offshore passage-making between New England and Key West with well-appointed accommodations.

Renowned for their grace and elegance, the gaff schooner has inspired artists, poets and sailors for almost two centuries. Called Liberty during many of her eighteen years of service, scores of guests enjoyed her before she was purchased by Marina O’Neill and Paul Dines of SF Bay Adventures and brought to the Pacific Ocean.

The transit from Miami, Florida to Sausalito, California was accomplished in two steps; first on the deck of a huge freighter, taking only two weeks to arrive in Ensenada, Mexico. After which, it took just three days to sail her through the beautiful Golden Gate and to her new home port.

Liberty has since been christened Freda B, lovingly restored and is every inch a yacht. Once onboard, guests may relax and let the experienced crew take you sailing on the San Francisco Bay and beyond. For the more engaged groups, we always welcome our guests to join in, hoist sails and take a turn at the helm. Our crew is enthusiastic about what they do and love to share sailing on the San Francisco Bay.

Gaff-Rigged Topsail Coastal Schooner
Sausalito Yacht Harbor, Sausalito, CA
Length Overall: 80 ft
Beam: 17 ft
Displacement: 43 T

United State Coast Guard certified for up to 49 guests
Flat screen TV/iPhone compatible stereo system
Local, epicurean catering and beverage program

Hawaiian Chieftain

Built of steel in Hawaii in 1988 and originally designed for cargo trade among the Hawaiian Islands, naval architect Raymond H. Richards’ design for Hawaiian Chieftain was influenced by the early colonial passenger and coastal packets that traded among Atlantic coastal cities and towns. Hawaiian Cheiftain was constructed by Drake Thomas, owner of Lahaina Welding Co., Ltd. on the island of Maui. An article by artist and historian Herb Kane about Maui’s King Kahekili was Thomas’ inspiration for the name “Hawaiian Chieftain.” She was launched in 1988. In 1993, Lady Washington joined Hawaiian Chieftain for their first mock sea battle on San Francisco Bay. Hawaiian Chieftain now joins Lady Washington in educational cruises and ambassadorial visits along the west coast throughout the year. Hawaiian Chieftain also makes solo port visits as a sail training and education vessel.

Lady Washington

Launched on March 7, 1989, the Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen, Wash., by Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority. The new Lady Washington is a full-scale replica of the original Lady Washington. In 1787, after the Revolutionary War, she was given a major refit to prepare her for a unprecedented trading voyage around Cape Horn. In 1788, she became the first American vessel to make landfall on the west coast of North America. A pioneer in Pan-Pacific trade, she was the first American ship to visit Honolulu, Hong Kong and Japan. Lady Washington opened the black pearl and sandalwood trade between Hawaii and Asia when King Kamehameha became a partner in the ship.

The modern Lady Washington, constructed as a brig, was thoroughly researched by historians and constructed by skilled shipwrights. She was launched as part of the 1989 Washington State Centennial celebration. Over the years, Lady Washington has appeared in several motion pictures and television shows, including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Star Trek: Generations, Once Upon A Time, and Revolution.

Zodiac

Built for the heirs to the Johnson & Johnson family; the Zodiac was designed by William H. Hand, Jr., to epitomize the best features of the American fishing schooner. In 1928, she competed in the Transatlantic Race for the Kings Cup where she finished in fourth place. During the Depression, the Zodiac was sold to the San Francisco Bar Pilots, and renamed California. She worked the rugged waters outside the Golden Gate for forty years, retiring in 1972, as the last working pilot schooner in the United States. In late August 1946 Willard Carroll was returning from Pearl Harbor aboard the troopship USS Hermitage. The California (Zodiac) came out and put the pilot aboard. Willard was kind enough to post his photos of this event on our Facebook page. In the mid 70s, the Vessel Zodiac Corporation was formed to operate and maintain the schooner, whose maiden name was promptly restored to Zodiac. Drawing on an experienced crew of sailors and shipwrights, the ship was restored to her former beauty and sailing strength.

In 1982 she earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. She continues to work the waters of Puget Sound, San Juan and Gulf Islands to this day.

Schooner Martha

Built in 1907 for San Francisco Yacht Club Commodore J. R. Hanify, and named after his wife, Martha Fitzmaurice Hanify,Martha is a B.B. Crowninshield design built at W. F. Stone Boat Yard in San Francisco.

James Cagney owned her from 1934-1943. Edgar Kaiser purchased her in 1968 and brought her to Washington; he later donated her to Four Winds – Westward Ho Camp on Orcas Island. The campers still sing the Martha song and Martha visits the camp each summer.

Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark was built of teak by American Marine in Hong Kong in 1957. The first of ten sister ships of the Mayflower class designed by Hugh Angleman and Charlie Davies, she wears the number one proudly on her mainsail. She is broad of beam, providing stable sailing and plenty of room for comfortable deck lounging. Her pilot house offers an alternate steering station and comfortable sitting area for all-weather, year-round sailing.

Dirigo II

Latin for “I lead the way,” “Dirigo” II was commissioned in 1939 for circumnavigation and was designed to be able to “sail in any ocean, in any weather”. She was designed by John Alden and built in East Boothbay, Maine at the Goudy & Stevens Boat Yard. Upon her launching, she was given the state flag by the governor of Maine to fly as her own. She has since completed her circumnavigation under the hand of her second owner Jim Crawford, as well as the Transpac Race in 1953.

The Dirigo II was purchased by the Lohrey Family early in 2010. After restoration, she was sailed up the coast to her new home in Friday Harbor, Wa. where she began her career as the flagship of the San Juan Classic Day Sailing charter fleet, owned and operated by the Lohrey Family.

Schooner Merrie Ellen

The 107-foot gaff schooner Merrie Ellen was built in Vancouver British Columbia in 1922. The vintage wooden schooner has just undergone a complete refit in Port Townsend Wa.

Come aboard and learn why our tall ship is not called the Mary Ellen!

Schooner Mycia

In 1981, Mycia was lofted and designed at The North West School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Townsend as a traditional sailing fishing schooner. The maiden voyage to SE Alaska in spring of 1998 set the future of Mycia to go where adventure and exploration would allow in the Salish Sea to SE Alaska. Mycia has participated in classic wooden boat festivals around the Puget Sound and British Columbia.

SSS Odyssey

In 1937 Mrs. Barklie Vanderbilt Henry of Old Westbury, New York, went to the firm and requested a sailboat to be designed and built for her. It was based on the design of DORADE but extended to 88 ½ ft in length with an 18-ft beam. It was built at Henry Nevins Shipyard in City Island, New York. World War II began in 1941 and on July 31, 1942, the US Navy commandeered Odyssey for service in the war.

In 1947 the boat was reassigned to the Navy Electronic Lab in San Diego to begin the underwater sound recording program. Over the next 27 years, until 1974, the boat participated in sound recording, as well as Dolphin training programs.

Today Odyssey operates as a Subchapter T vessel under the regulations of the US Coast Guard.

Spike Africa

Spike Africa was built forty years ago by a working tall ship sailor, Bob Sloan, who drew Spike’s lines to be true to the design of working schooners of centuries past. This proven formula combines beauty and grace with sturdy seaworthiness. It is this harmony of form and function that gives Spike Africa her timeless elegance.

North Star of Hershel Island

North Star of Herschel Island is the last of the sailing Arctic fur-trading ships. The only fully-rigged ship in Canada, she crosses square sails on each of her three masts.

North Star was built in 1935 in San Francisco at the Geo. W. Kneass shipyard and shipped to the Arctic aboard the 600-ton trading ship, Patterson. Originally been built for two Inuit fox trappers, she was used from 1935 to 1961 for transport of the winter’s fur catch to market in early August, and for transportation of supplies from Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk to Sachs Harbour on Banks Island in late August and early September when ice conditions permitted sea navigation.

North Star has been the home of her present owners for the last 21 years, who have logged thousand of miles on the west coast of Canada and the USA. The ship is rigged, ready and capable of sailing anywhere in the world.

Providence

Built in 1903 by N. Nielsen & Son, Frederikshavn, DK, Providence worked in the North Sea as Anchor seiner, was commandeered by Germany in WWII, and also worked in the Royal Danish Navy and Danish Maritime Home Guard.

She was bought by Peter Thor Watson in 1978 and sailed to Victoria, BC., where she underwent a major refit in 1984 and was converted to a fish packer, working the BB coast for 17 years.

Providence retired from packing in 2003 on her 100th birthday. Her current home base is Britannia Shipyard National Historic Site, Steveston BC, and she’s under the command of Simon Fawkes desperately seeking new adventures.

Schooner Suva

This Gatsby-era schooner, designed by Ted Geary, a famous Seattle naval architect, Suva was built in Hong Kong in 1925 for Coupeville resident and attorney, Frank J Pratt, Jr. Serving in British Columbia for spars and rigging, Suva sailed into Coupeville making a grand entrance.

Throughout her next five owners, Suva remained in Puget Sound waters. She is now the proud flagship of the Coupeville Maritime Heritage Foundation.

Virginia V

The Virginia V was built in 1922 for the West Pass Transportation Company to carry freight and passengers from the communities on Vashon Island to Seattle and Tacoma. It is the last of the famous “Mosquito Fleet” ferries that dotted the Puget Sound before cars came on the scene. It is also one of the last wooden, steam-powered, propeller-driven, passenger vessels in the country. The “Mosquito Fleet” was the precursor to the Washington State Ferry System.

Thane

Thane, a replica of Spray, was the first vessel to be solo circumnavigated around the world, by Joshua Slocum in 1895-98. Slocum rebuilt and refitted the derelict sloop, which he found abandoned in a field, and then struck out on his voyage across 46,000 nautical miles. ‘Sailing Alone Around The World’ is Joshua Slocum’s account of his voyage, in publication since 1900 and an inspiration for many Spray replicas including the ‘Thane of Victoria’. The hull form enables self-steering under sail and its sailing performance is legendary.

S.V. Ladyhawk

Charles N. Curtis

From 1931 to the end of Prohibition in 1933 she served in the Upper Long Island Sound/Chesapeake Bay region. In June of 1937, all six ships were transferred to the Pacific Coast and CG 402 was permanently assigned to the harbor of Tacoma, WA. She was the fastest ship craft in all Tacoma.

That “permanent assignment” in Tacoma Harbor came to an abrupt end in 1942 after the US entered WWII. CG 402 was renamed CG 78302 and reassigned as an off-shore patrol boat covering the area between Port Angeles, WA, and the Columbia River.

On July 17, 1945 it was purchased by the Mount Rainier Council (now Pacific Harbors Council BSA) for the sum of $10, given to Sea Scout Ship 110 and rechristened with its current name of “Charles N. Curtis” after the serving Chief Scout Executive who assisted with the acquisition.

Red Jacket

Red Jacket, one of the last remaining early 20th-century large racing schooner yachts built in the Northwest, she has sailed the Pacific, to Australia, and now sails the Salish Sea. An ocean-going racer, she is at home in blue water. Red Jacket was named for a Seneca Chief.

Vérité

Based on the Thea Foss Waterway, Vérité is a co-ed youth program dedicated to teaching teamwork, leadership, seamanship and knowledge of the Puget Sound. Vérité is designed to teach anyone who is interested in working on boats the valuable skills they will need to get the most out of their time on the water.

M/V Lotus

Lotus was built in 1908-1909 at Seattle, Washington for Maurice McMicken (1860-1940), a lawyer and businessman. The vessel was launched in May 1909 and was at that time the largest privately owned motor yacht on the west coast of the United States. The yacht was designed by Lee and Brinton and constructed by Joseph A. Sloane. The yacht had accommodations for a party of 10, as well as a crew of four. The yacht carried enough fuel to have a range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km).

The M/V Lotus Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, now maintains the MV Lotus. Their mission is to restore and preserve the 1909 historic houseboat and to provide a gathering place where Pacific Northwest Maritime History comes alive, adventures are celebrated, and the traditions and wisdom of traveling, living, and playing on the water is experienced and passed along to future generations.