A challenging course in sailing and navigating a ship for ages 12+

Build teamwork, boost self confidence & face your fears with the support of fellow crew members!

Students learn in an inclusive environment

  • Gain teamwork skills as part of a crew raising, lowering and stowing sails
  • Overcome your fears by climbing the halfway up the 100′ rig and going Aloft!
  •  Learn seamanship: line handling, belaying pins and pulleys & proper line coiling
  • Take responsibility for self and team mates as you sail on San Francisco Bay

Support available on a need based scale

Apply for a scholarship

4 hour course $150 per person

Sign up for Aloft

Testimonials

Thank you SO MUCH for offering this event. My daughter…was absolutely euphoric when we picked her up! She jabbered nonstop on the way home about all the things she had done/learned (climbing 70 feet up the mast was a highlight) and she immediately asked if she could go again next Saturday.I would say the morning was a success!

“…I had a fantastic time it was one of the best moments in my whole entire life I learned a lot of things that I didn’t really think I was able to do and everyone was so generous and patient and it was a very cool experience”

Photos by Jeff Berman

“I’ve sailed, raced, and taught on San Francisco Bay in small boats (Lasers, Santana 22/27 racers, an Erickson 37 cruiser, and more) for 25 years.  I’d boarded several visiting tall ships, taken a sunset cruise aboard the Matthew Turner (to which I’ve contributed since construction started), and read all 23 volumes of Master and Commander.  So when I learned about Call of the Sea’s ALOFT sail training program I had to enroll!  That’s how I found myself climbing the ratlines (with a racing heart), balancing on the tip of the bowsprit, and getting blisters hauling lines on my 70th birthday.  I shared the experience with a group of high school teens who had flown down from Oregon, and they all made it up to the fore course as well, a challenge unlike anything they’d experienced before.  It was awesome!  Meeting the crew, learning more about the ship, and experiencing the mental challenge and sheer physical effort involved in handling the Matthew Turner was exciting and fun, and completely different from just being a passenger.”  Sandor Schoichet

Photos by Lyon Omohundro