Oh, we've seen fire and we've seen rain.
We've been docked for days that we thought would never end.
We've seen lonely times when we could not be with friends,
but we always know we’d see you sailing, Matthew, one more time again.
With apologies to James Taylor, the last chorus of “Fire and Rain” was rewritten as fires broke out all around the Bay Area and thick smoke became the latest in a long series of calamities that threatened to scuttle Call of the Sea. We did not abandon ship. Instead, as you will read below, we stayed true to our mission and we are sailing again!
Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of supporters and volunteers (two of whom are profiled below), our outstanding crew and iconic vessels are providing several healthy and educational on-the-water activities in which you, your families and friends can participate: weekend heritage sails on brigantine Matthew Turner, pod learning programs on schooner Seaward, “Girls Aloft” seafarer training, and several exciting special events.
We hope you will enjoy learning more about our fresh, new offerings taking place on the Bay and that you will be inspired to come on board!
Steven Woodside
Executive Director
|
|
Introducing Learning Pods for Fall Programs |
|
Experiential Education is the antidote to “screen time” |
|
Call of the Sea provides learning experiences and growth opportunities for youth who have and continue to “shelter in place” or spend hours before a video screen. Addressing the needs of families looking for alternatives to virtual learning, educational non profit Call of the Sea launches three week, on-the-water experiential learning programs for small groups of Bay Area Youth, with a focus on Environmental Education. Full day and half day programs are available.
|
|
The outdoors is rich with opportunities for science learning experiences that can’t happen in a classroom. With specific guidance from field instructors in outdoor settings, students can learn to think like scientists while “falling in love” with the natural world in the process. BEETLES
Call of the Sea offers scholarships to ensure that parent organized learning pods do not increase educational inequities. Since 1985, Call of the Sea has served a broad range of communities including communities of color who might otherwise not be able to afford our programs.
|
|
Matthew Turner Sailing Opportunities |
|
Check out our Friday afternoon sails, Weekend day sailing on the Bay and upcoming special events:
Heart Above San Francisco
Tall Ship Photography Sail
GIRLS ALOFT Seamanship program
Supported by the Diane Chute Scholarship Fund
|
|
A Message from Alan Olson |
|
At present, it is a challenge to see very far into the future. Our thoughts and lives are consumed by the challenges of the next few days and months. Then, I remember that we built Matthew Turner for a mission to last one hundred years. Our mission remains to provide youth of all ages the experience of the power and beauty of sailing on a magnificent Tall Ship that connects them to the Sea and Earth, inspiring in them a duty to protect our “one home”.
I want to thank the Call of the Sea community who have come together to create Matthew Turner and turn a vision into reality. I believe, in fact I know, we have the commitment and talent to move through the current challenges and fulfill our mission for the next hundred years."
Fair winds, Alan
|
|
Spotlight on The Pasha Group |
|
Hail to The
Pasha Group
for sponsoring
Call of the Sea
"Young Salts" Summer Camps
|
|
|
This support allowed COTS to provide Bay Area youth with an exemplary summer camp experience during the Covid-19 virus! What a great way to contribute to the local economy and youth development at the same time. The Pasha Group is both a local icon on the Sausalito Waterfront and a company with a long history of innovation in transportation and logistics, now led by third generation, George W. Pasha, IV, President and CEO. Pasha Hawaii, an independent subsidiary of The Pasha Group, is one of the nation’s leading domestic ocean shipping companies serving Hawaii from the continental United States.
Much as the Matthew Turner’s inspiration, Galilee, sailed to Hawaii over a century ago to feed San Francisco, The Pasha Group carries needed goods and services to those on the Hawaiian Islands. Call of the Sea thanks The Pasha Group for their continued support.
As our ‘young salts’ at camp learn to love the sea, companies like The Pasha Group have a long view toward the value of capable and committed mariners.
The educational programs at Call of the Sea play an important role in inspiring generations of students to become environmental stewards, and we are honored to support their journey.
|
|
Chris Gallagher, Featured Volunteer |
|
From Maryland via Maine to CA, Chris journeyed to find her career, receiving her B.A. in Environmental Education in 1983 from Dominican University of CA. Then she went to work at the National Park Service at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in the Marin Headlands, then onto the Regional Office of the U.S. Forest Service-Pacific Southwest Region, and landing at the Bay Model Visitor Center in Sausalito, becoming Park Manager in 2001.
Chris has many projects and programs under her belt: overseeing the $16.5 M Bay Model renovation, with the Army Corps' largest solar installation, hosting approximately 150,000 visitors to the Bay Model each year, and being a natural leader and advocate for other Bay area organizations.
As Alan Olson says Chris has been involved since 1989 in the Call of the Sea, when she helped with 'Maritime Days' at the Bay Model where Call of the Sea had a booth on our mission, youth programs and future visions. Her support has been a significant part of our success, helping forge affiliations, and currently serving on the Board of Call of the Sea, helping develop new programs and providing the wisdom of the waterfront. Thank you Chris, for all you do!
|
|
Youth Summer Day Camps a Success! |
|
Despite Covid 19, a series of 3 week long day camps was launched,
giving youth the chance to venture out of their homes to sail, explore and learn.
As described in a recent Marin I.J. article by Michelle Slade.
"Checking out the curiosities of marine estuaries, learning species identification, becoming part of a sailing crew, and learning nautical arts are just some activities that grabbed the attention of campers during Call of the Sea’s summer sessions these past few months."
|
|
A few campers had so much fun, they signed up for multiple sessions! |
|
|
History Revisited and Inspiring |
|
From: Jon Allen, San Francisco - donor, volunteer, and friend
“When you sent your Appeal letter of June 27, 2020, the first sentence caught my eye and I had to respond. You started out saying that we (including volunteers) would like to think Call of the Sea is unsinkable. And that made me think of the Titanic as it also was thought to be unsinkable in 1912. So, in that light, I had to help Call of the Sea from sinking and made a gift! And this unsinkable part reminded me of another story. My Great Aunt, Elisabeth Walton Allen, was returning to New York on the Titanic in 1912. Miss Allen, then 29, was one of twenty five people lowered from the port side in lifeboat No. 2. The seventh lifeboat of eight that were lowered from the Titanic. Lifeboat No. 2 was the first one picked up by the Carpathia. Miss Allen was the first up the ladder, as the others were afraid to start up. Miss Allen was asked by an officer where the Titanic was, and she told him quite simply, ‘she has gone down’.”
|
|
From Dawn Morf, The Story Behind the Planks in the Matthew Turner
Dawn and Nick Morf of Sausalito had decided to open a larger-scale restaurant in the commercial district on Broadway in San Francisco in the late 1990’s. Nick had inherited the property from his father. It had been a stable at one time, among other things. The renovations turned out to be quite extensive in refurbishing the old building for a restaurant. The timbers from the original floors were of the massive type used to build ships in the late 19th century. These timbers ended up becoming support timbers for the keel and ship, planks to support Matthew Turner while being built. During the excavation there was extensive digging below the street level and many layers of humanity’s debris from another era. Among other things, they found one lady’s boot, a small boy’s tricycle and horseshoes, of course. Before Dawn could gather these up, the workers had whisked them away, but she has a few remaining photos.
|
|
Student-Led, Dominican University Public History Program
Dave Anderson, Call of the Sea's Deputy Director is working with Dr. Jordan Leiser of Dominican University and his Public History class to develop a series of podcasts and videos to augment the nautical history curriculum for our students. These media assets will focus on:
- History of the Brigantine & the ship builder Matthew Turner
- Bay Area immigration (Angel Island)
- Defending San Francisco Bay (Fort Point, Fort Baker)
- Commerce on the Bay (Port of San Francisco, Port of Sausalito)
Call of the Sea students will learn about the Nautical Heritage of San Francisco Bay. By visual observation and rich storytelling, they will understand how the immigration, defense and maritime commerce landmarks observed from the decks of Matthew Turner & Seaward tell the story of California.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
