BRIGANTINE MATTHEW TURNER — J
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ust contemplating the myriad steps involved in building a 100-ft brigantine would probably give most sailors a panic attack or worse — even if they had solid boatbuilding skills. Fortunately for Alan Olson, the mastermind of Sausalito's Matthew Turner shipbuilding
A spectacular wheel for a spectacular ship. In the years to come, many hands, young and old, will take a turn at the 'Matthew Turner's helm.
project, he has subscribed to the calming effects of Buddhism for many years. In fact, it was while living and working at a Buddhist retreat that his long-held dream of building a historically accurate square rigger took on new focus. One day his teacher asked "If you were about to die, what would you regret?" Without hesitation, Olson thought: building a Bay Area tall ship — a personal passion that had been relegated to the back burner since the 1980s, when he first studied its feasibility. Back then, Olson and several other
LATITUDE / ANDY
Proud Papa Alan Olson strikes a pose on the bow of the brand-new brigantine that his vision and fortitude brought to life.
traditional-boat aficionados researched West Coast shipbuilders of the late 1800s — when sail power still fueled both coastal and international commerce. It soon became obvious that the shipbuilding prowess of Matthew Turner was the perfect historical link to their proposed project. The Gold Rush initially brought Turner from the Great Lakes to California, where he did quite well during a three-year stint of mining. But he was wise enough to see that supplying the region with much-needed building lumber and other essential cargo would bring much more reliable profits. Turner bought and captained several cargo schooners before building the brig Nautilus in 1868 at Eureka, CA — the first in a succession of 228 oceangoing ships that bucked conventional norms. Unlike the bluff-bowed vessels that had previously dominated the shipping industry, Turner's designs had narrow bows and carried their cargo farther aft, thus making them the West Coast's fastest commercial sailing vessels of that era. In partnership with his brother, Turner's first boatyard was at Mission Bay, near modern-day Hunters Point. But the firm's success eventually inspired a move to Benicia, where 154 ships were eventually completed, earning Turner fame as the most prolific American builder of the late 1800s. He also had substantial business interests in both Hawaii and Tahiti, bringing home much-sought-after cargoes such as sugar and fresh fruit. Among Turner's most famous ships were the barkentine Benicia, which once crossed from Australia to Hawaii in 35 days (nearly 5,000 miles against wind and current); the schooner Papeete, which famously sailed from San Francisco to Tahiti in 17 days (4,000 miles); and the brigantine Galilee, which sailed from Tahiti to the Bay in 22 days (closehauled at best). The Galilee —
remnant's of which can still be seen at Sausalito's Galilee Harbor — is the closest relative to the new Matthew Turner, in terms of both size and design. Once she's completed, Olson and others involved in the sponsoring nonprofit Call of the Sea hope their ship will eventually follow in Galilee's wake,
Among the thousands of curious observers who've poked their heads in to take a look, dozens have volunteered their skills. offering voyages to far-flung destinations, in addition to her main mission: running hands-on marine environmental education programs for middle school students, here in the Bay and along the California coast. Established in 1984, Call of the Sea now takes roughly 5,000 kids sailing annually. But with the addition of the Matthew Turner, that num-
