Step aboard Call of the Sea’s majestic tall ship, the brigantine Matthew Turner, and explore its decks and cabins while learning about San Francisco’s rich maritime history during a Tall Ship Celebration event on Saturday organized by Call of the Sea (COTS), the non-profit organization based in Sausalito that provides transformative on-the-water educational experiences for youth and the community through its sail training programs and environmental education.

A warm-up event to the annual Opening Day on the Bay on Sunday, which signals the beginning of the sailing/boating season, the Tall Ship Celebration promises an exciting opportunity to step aboard historic tall ships, engage in hands-on maritime activities, and enjoy a day of adventure and discovery, all part of San Francisco’s Climate Week.

“The Tall Ship Celebration is perfect for families, educators, and maritime enthusiasts of all ages,” Elizabeth Hunt, Call of the Sea’s Director of Advancement noted. “COTS is dedicated to connecting people with the ocean and hosts this celebration to inspire curiosity and stewardship of our marine environment; we continually aim to foster a deeper appreciation for the ocean and our maritime traditions. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome!”

Free tours aboard the Matthew Turner are just one engaging element of COTS family-friendly waterfront event which also includes Bay Model tours of the 1.5-acre model of San Francisco Bay complete with the rise and fall of tides; nautical activities for kids including hands-on crafts, knot-tying stations, traditional ropemaking demo, and interactive exhibits; educational exhibits showcase marine science, maritime history, and environmental conservation. Performances of old-time tunes from the Waterfront Pickers and delicious food from local vendors such as Davey Jones round out this fun day.

In operation since 1985, this past year was a benchmark for Call of the Sea. It served over 5,000 children, more than ever before including 2,000 scholarships that were offered, also many more than in previous years.

“54% of the schools we work with were served through scholarships, something we’re very proud of,” Hunt said. “75% of the people who received scholarships were people of color and many of them were first nation and immigrant families with English as a second language. This year our goal is 2,500 scholarships and we’re working hard toward that end.”

COTS serves people from the entire Bay area, including schools in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, San Francisco, San Mateo, Napa, Sonoma County, the Sierra foothills, Yuba River, Sacramento and even Utah where dedicated teachers want to bring their students to experience the Bay, Hunt noted. Mostly fourth and fifth graders are served through COTS traditional school program but covers the spectrum of ages from middle, high school, and university students and, increasingly, more adult sessions through specialized workshops including its Aloft Seamanship sailing program, which is like an advanced ropes course program, Hunt noted.

The pride of COTS is its two ships and in 2024, COTS also operated its ships more than ever before with 240+ sails throughout the year, sometimes heading out on the Bay twice a day. The Seaward, an 82’ classic staysail schooner built in 1988, and the brigantine Matthew Turner, a 132’ traditional wooden tall ship built in 2019 to serve as an experiential learning platform for Bay Area youth. A voyage is scheduled in late August to Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay on the Matthew Turner.

“The Matthew Turner has been super busy this past year and we are excited about ways we are working on upgrades for it for the next year because we want to make it more suitable for voyaging,” Hunt said. “We are seeking funding support for things like a water maker, and her sails have now been under the sun for many days since they were first built in 2017 so there is a lot of maintenance required for the ship. Her systems are pretty complicated so we’ve had a lot of work on the electrical propulsion system, re-wiring as we figure out the loads etc., as we’ve got to ensure our power system is good enough for us to be offshore for more than a few days.”

In 2024, COTS gained a new executive director, Carla Thorson, the organization’s first ever female executive director who came from World Affairs Council and Commonwealth Club after 20 years of leading programs there. Hunt also joined the COTS team last June also coming from a not-for-profit background.

COTS would not operate without its dedicated volunteers. Typically, volunteers join the team by helping out on sailing trips where they can develop the required skills or by taking COTS once-a-month Aloft program that includes dockside training and a two-hour sail. A long-standing crew of volunteers have been with the organization since the Matthew Turner was built and many still continue to assist with ship maintenance. A significant portion of COTS funding comes from donations with approximately 90% of that derived from individual contributions.

“The level of individual contributions is fantastic as is the volunteer commitment — so many are donors and volunteers,” Hunt said. “In the last year we had 200 days donated of sailing volunteer time which really helps us to achieve our goal of serving 6,000 kids this year. Demand is higher than ever!”

Info on the Tall Ships Celebration: https://callofthesea.org/community/special-events/