It seems like yesterday that the Matthew Turner saw a major milestone with the raising of her masts. In fact, that was summer, and it’s been a while since we’ve brought you any news of one of the most important and exciting projects on the Sausalito waterfront in over 100 years. Our longtime contributor and roving reporter John "Woody" Skoriak recently snapped a bevy of photos of the 100-ft brigantine.
"It was the first time in many months that the Bay Model work barge Raccoon was gone so we could get some clear photos of Matthew Turner," Skoriak told us. "The Raccoon is the huge workboat directly on the other side of the Turner, and it was impossible to get a good photo. I’ve been waiting for that for months and months, and it was perfect timing because we just finished the yards and most of the rigging and fittings."
"The riggers are Noah Limbach, 24, and Kiel Koehler, 30," Skoriak said. "They were adjusting the yards, which had just been fitted, and all the lines, braces, hardware, etc. They are incredible riggers and are both volunteers."
"Note the Pasha container, sitting prominently," Skoriak told us. "Pasha [Hawaii, a container ship company] has been a very big supporter of the Matthew Turner, and that container was just donated by Pasha. We could not use our old containers on the Bay Model Pier; we had to have something that looks nice. That will be our dockside workshop/storage, since we took down the tent." Skoriak’s wife Miri is Chief Mate on the Pasha Lines container ship Horizon Enterprise, which is headed for Honolulu as we speak.
Skoriak has been a volunteer (relief skipper, mate, PR, manager, etc.) for the training ship Seaward, which is also part of the non-profits Educational Tallships and Call of the Sea. "In fact, Alan Olson and I sat on Seaward in Mexico years ago and pored over a set of plans he had drawn up," Skoriak said. "Needless to say, I was excited. That was about two years before anything got off the ground."
