KPIX Sky Drone 5: Tall Ship Launched In Sausalito

SAUSALITO (CBS SF) -- It's been more than a hundred years since anyone has built a wooden tall ship in Sausalito. But now, volunteers are doing just that.

The under construction ship is named the Matthew Turner, after the original designer from a century ago.

It's all brand new construction using old school design and they're using renewable resources by cutting their own lumber.

Lead shipwright Franz Baichl said, "We had a volunteer here donate some trees to us. Virgin growth fir. We went up there, cut the trees down, cut'em into boards and brought'em back to Sausalito."

It's a slow process building a 130-foot wooden tall ship, being built by a mostly volunteer crew.

There's more than a hundred miles of planking for the hull. Huge pieces of wood. Some laminates made by hand have more than 70 layers glued together.

While the Matthew Turner is being painstakingly built as a traditional wooden sailing vessel, some parts are steel bulkheads that are required by the Coast Guard to meet modern safety standards.

The $5 million project is expected to be finished in less than two year and will serve as an educational learning ship with plans to have thousands of children across California learn about sailing, marine biology and renewable resources.

Marcy Taylor, one of the volunteers, said she greatly enjoys working on the project.

"The camaraderie is just glorious," Taylor said.

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