A Tall Order

The scent of fresh sawdust emanates from inside a huge nondescript tent in Sausalito. The project underway? That would be the Matthew Turner, the first schooner to be built in the San Francisco Bay Area in more than 100 years. “When it’s time to put her in the water,” says Alan Olson, director of Educational Tall Ship, “she’ll weigh 150 tons, including 45 tons of lead ballast,” which raises some logistical concerns. The white tent where the Turner is being built lies almost 600 feet inland from Richardson Bay. But Olson isn’t worried. “We’ll remove the tent, get a crane to lift her up and put her on two pods of wheels,” he calmly says. “Then, after we remove a few fences, a tractor will push her along a level roadbed to the Army Corps of Engineers launch ramp near the Bay Model.” Slated for completion in 2016, the ship will sail along the California coast and serve as a floating classroom for kids. Here are some other relevant numbers. educationaltallship.org

132 FEET LONG

$6.2 MILLION PROJECT

100-FOOT MAIN MAST

38 BUNKS FOR VOYAGING

32,000 volunteer hours


Kasia Pawlowska

Kasia Pawlowska loves words. A native of Poland, Kasia moved to the States when she was seven. The San Francisco State University creative writing graduate went on to write for publications like the San Francisco Bay Guardian and KQED Arts among others prior to joining the Marin Magazine staff. Topics Kasia has covered include travel, trends, mushroom hunting, an award-winning series on social media addiction and loads of other random things. When she’s not busy blogging or researching and writing articles, she’s either at home writing postcards and reading or going to shows. Recently, Kasia has been trying to branch out and diversify, ie: use different emojis. Her quest for the perfect chip is never-ending.