A century ago hundreds of lumber schooners sailed the West Coast, hauling lumber from northern ports to supply the great demand for lumber around San Francisco Bay. These vessels were built in small shipyards along the coast using methods developed and refined over millennia and material that grew in abundance close to the launch ways.
One of only two of these vessels still in existence, the CA Thayer has been in the collection of the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park for many years, maintained afloat, but waiting for the restoration that would return her to the masterpiece of West Coast shipbuilding that she was, carrying over half a million board feet of lumber down the coast, under sail, at the turn of the century. Now in 2004, 109 years after her launching, that day has come.The Restoration
The Thayer was towed to Bay Ship & Yacht Co’s shipyard in December 2003, where her masts were unstepped and her deckhouse, ballast and deck equipment were all removed. In early January she was drydocked, rolled onto a barge and then rolled ashore into a seaplane hangar at the former Naval Air Station in Alameda (Alameda Point).
The first step in her restoration will be to remove all deteriorated planking, exposing all of her structural timbers. A complete survey of her structure will be accomplished, following which all deteriorated timbers will be
restored or replaced. Once the structure has been fully restored, the ship will be replanked, caulked and painted. After launching, her deck structures will be restored, deck equipment will be reinstalled, masts will be stepped and rigged and, ultimately, she will sail!The Shipyard
Bay Ship & Yacht Co. is unique as a full service shipyard with the capability to not only drydock and service every vessel afloat up to 2800 tons, but in addition has a long tradition of wooden shipbuilding, with skilled shipwrights and caulkers capable of the repair or construction of any wooden vessel afloat. We are proud to be the shipyard entrusted with the restoration of the CA Thayer, a National Historic Landmark.
This project will be the most complete, accurate and detailed restoration of an American wooden ship of this tonnage since, perhaps, the restoration of the USS Constitution in 1927. The CA Thayer will be preserved in near-original condition as a working showpiece of West Coast wooden shipbuilding at its zenith.
C.A. Thayer Home Page
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Thayer / Other Maritime History Links
Bay Crossings Article
Alameda Sun Article
Contra Costa Times Article
