Seaward and her crew have had a very busy summer taking students and adults from all over the Bay Area, and beyond, on day-sails and overnight voyages. By all accounts, it has been a fun and successful season.

When Call of the Sea’s summer programs began in April, the all-new crew came aboard and very quickly made the ship and her programs their own. Since then, the crew have introduced scores of Bay Area students to the wonders and mysteries of the local marine environment, while teaching them a little about shipboard life and the various skills inherent with seaman-ship.
During the school term, students joined Seaward for Bay Explorations day-trips which carried them to some of San Francisco Bay’s best sailing grounds. While aboard, students dipped the nets for water and marine-life samples, while learning to navigate, set sails and even steer the boat.
Vacation time meant students were able to experience overnight trips and ocean sailing aboard Voyage Seaward — a 5-day near coastal experience for teenagers. In addition to learning about the marine ecology, students explored elements of oceanography such as tides and currents, local and global wind and weather patterns, and local water conditions. The voyages also gave students exposure to sailing skills such as GPS and celestial navigation and course plotting, along with maritime literature and other relevant topics. They even had to stand night-watch. Seaward also conducted voyages for Camp SEA Lab, during which students sailed from Sausalito to Monterey Bay with overnight stops and shore explorations.
Whether they were on board for a day or a week, the students gained life-long skills as they became part of the crew and learned to participate in all aspects of shipboard life.
In between the educational sails, Seaward invited the local community to come aboard and enjoy a morning or late afternoon under sail. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day sails were popular, as was Seawards ‘Free Sails’ for Summer Sailstice. Later, as the summer warmed up, Seaward began conducting Marine Science Sunset Sails on Friday nights, with the next sail on October 4. 
And then there were the special events such as welcoming the tall ship B.A.P. Union into San Francisco Bay, participating in the Master Mariners Race and the Belvedere Classic Regatta & SF Great Schooner Race — neither of which she won, but everyone aboard had a great fun trying!

Of course with all that sail-time Seaward needed to be kept in good shape, and her crew were diligent throughout the season in conducting regular maintenance and basic upgrades. Some of the work done on Seaward includes sanding and re-caulking the decks, sanding and varnishing exterior trim-work, repainting Seaward’s name plates on her bow and transom, engine room maintenance, installing updated electronics, fitting a new mainsail complete with stack pack, and dozens of other jobs to insure the vessels remains fully functional and looks her best. In fact, to continue the great work, Seaward’s crew have scheduled a haul-out for November during which the ship will also have her interior updated and refinished. By the time Seaward heads south to Mexico she’ll be looking like a new boat!
Did we just say Mexico?
Yes we did. Seaward is preparing to spend the winter in Mexico and will be available for charters from January through to the end of March. But first she will spend October in the Bay Area continuing her schedule of educational and community tours, including special trips for Fleet Week. Learn more about Seawards Fall schedule here.

Bring on the winter season!