About the Zodiac
 "The Historic tall-masted schooner Zodiac. Click to enlarge")
The Zodiac was built in East Boothbay, Maine in the 1920's as a prototypical Roaring-20s indulgence -- a trans-Atlantic racing yacht for the heirs to a manufacturing fortune.
The sleek 127-foot boat was sold during the depression and took on a job as bar-pilot's schooner in San Francisco Bay. In many ways, that was an unexpected return to the original purpose of the boat. Schooners are two-masted vessels originally designed in the 1800s for New England fishermen who needed seaworthy boats to carry them efficiently to and from distant fishing grounds. During its working life in California, the Zodiac was used to efficiently carry bar-pilots to and from ships entering or leaving the Bay.
After being retired from that task, the ship suffered decades of neglect and deterioration until it was bought by a Seattle-area family who began the long work of restoring it to its former glory. Restoration work had only recently been completed when the Zodiac joined with the Queen City Cruise.
The Zodiac became a showy highlight of Queen City Cruise tours from 1990 through 1993. Members of Seattle's Orca Swim Team were usual passengers aboard the sailing ship, performing for the Goodtime when the two boats rendevoused on Lake Union. That often created a challenge for the captain of the Goodtime as he was forced to make multiple turns on the lake to keep his 400 eager passengers from rushing to one side of the tour boat to watch the show.
The historic schooner is now berthed in Bellingham and takes hardy tourists on adventure vacations among the San Juan and Queen Charlotte islands of Washington's Puget Sound and of British Columbia's Desolation Sound.
