Zodiac (schooner)
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Built for the heirs to Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals fortune, the two-masted schooner Zodiac was designed in 1924 by William H. Hand, Jr. to epitomize the best features of the American fishing schooner. The 127-foot, 145-ton vessel competed in transatlantic races before being sold to the San Francisco Bar Pilots during the Great Depression. Renamed California, she was retired in 1972 as the last working pilot schooner in the United States.
In the late 1970s, the private Vessel Zodiac Corporation was formed to operate and maintain the schooner, ultimately restoring her to working condition. The Zodiac now operates for charter in Washington State's San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands. The not-for-profit Northwest Schooner Society partners with the corporation to provide sail training programs for youth and adults, including yearly Elderhostel trips.
The Zodiac now splits her time between Bellingham and Seattle when not cruising. She is both on the National Register of Historic Places and listed on the Washington State Historic Register.
