The 136 foot Schooner Zodiac is the largest working vessel on the west coast of the United States. The Northwest Schooner Society contracts with the privately owned Schooner Zodiac for lengthy cruises, or those demanding a large passenger load, such as Elderhostel trips.
Built for the heirs to Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid fortune, the Zodiac was designed by William H. Hand, Jr., to epitomize the best features of the American fishing schooner. She competed in the 1928 Transatlantic Race-- where uncharacteristically light winds left heavy ships like the Zodiac to wallow into late finishes.
She was sold to the San Francisco Bar Pilots during the Depression, 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 the late 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 who have worked on other tallships such as the Adventuress, Sea Cloud, Eagle, Lady Washington, and Robertson II, the ship was restored to her former beauty and sailing strength.
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Schooner Zodiac with only a whisper of a breeze. |