The schooner C.A. Thayer sailed the West Coast 120 years ago to deliver lumber from the vast forests of the Northwest to fuel the growth of California’s cities.
The era is long gone, but the Thayer — the last of its kind — is making a comeback, with plans for it to sail again on the San Francisco Bay with its giant sheets billowing in the wind.
In the next-to-last phase of its $14 million-plus restoration by the National Park Service, the Thayer was towed Thursday from its national maritime park dock in San Francisco to an Alameda shipyard for installation of three, 120-foot-tall wooden masts.
The 219-foot wooden ship returns early next year to its San Francisco dock west of Fisherman’s Wharf, where crews will install rigging.
San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, a nonprofit group, donated the money to buy new sails.
“We think the restoration will put her in shape to last another 100 years,” said Jeff Morris, the historical ships manager at the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park. “It’s part of history we want to keep.”