CLASSIC
SAUSALITO WOODEN BOAT TOUR
The Original 3-Hour Walking Tour
Sundays 12:30-3:30
$75.00 per person
6 Person Minimum
Enjoy a relaxing afternoon of storytelling woven
together with art, philosophy, music, dance and song. Salty waterfront
tales told through the eyes of insider, Victoria Colella, a local
Sausalito artist, and author of the Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour guide book.
This extensive tour includes:
House boat Communities
Wooden Boats & Historic Vessels
WWII Liberty Ship yards
Art Studios
Wooden Boat Center|Tea & Cookies at the boat lettering shack
Discover
the floating works of art inside Sausalito's infamous house boat communities.
Sausalito, the first town north over the Golden Gate Bridge, has a rich and varied nautical history. Take the world class ferry boat ride from San Francisco, California
to Sausalito where you will pass Alcatraz Island, Angle Island
and the Golden Gate Bridge.
The tour begins overlooking Richardson's Bay and Mount
Tamalpias as your guide gives a brief overview of Sausalito's nautical
history. Understand how wooden boat building has influenced the
development of the town. The oldest surviving wooden hulled ferryboat
on the West coast is first on the route. As we move from dock to dock
you will hear a complete explanation of how these communities evolved.
Permission to be creative and expressive is the order of the day, so
don't be surprised if you find yourself dancing about and reciting
Bohemian philosophies!
We then enter into the old shipyard to follow the path of the gantry cranes where the Liberty Ships were
assembled during WWII. The WWII ship building operations here
dramatically changed the character of the town and left behind an
enormous piece of Bay fill we affectionately refer to as our historic
Marinship district.
Tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the shipyard are
the famous Sausalito art studios. Here we visit the studio of the first
artist to inhabit this old WWII mold loft, American Expressionist,
Walter Kuhlman. The work of hundreds of other artists are posted on the
walls including painters, sculptors, fashion designers, graphic artists,
photographers, architects, and more.
If this tour has a heart is would have to be the "cathedral
of wooden boat building" known as the Spaulding Boatworks. Understand
the who, why, when and where of this time honored craft. Here underway
is the restoration of the oldest wooden sailing yacht west of the
Mississippi, The Arques School of Traditional Boat Building, a working
boat yard and youth boat building and sailing program. Learn about Myron
Spaulding and see his trophy collection, take in the fragrance of fresh
sawdust and understand why Sausalito has a 'wooden boat soul'. On
Sundays, when the center is closed, it's out to the docks to view the
Arques School wooden boat collection as well as several other wooden
vessels of historic significance and view the Spaulding operation from
dockside.
Finally, we are in the heart of the historic Marinship where
the Liberty Ships were launched. Four of the original launch ways are
still in use today. Here floating homes are built and restored, along
with classic yachts, San Francisco fire boats and Alcatraz ferry boats.
Its a rough and tumble area with an undeniable rustic charm and repleat
with little wooden boat building shops and maritme crafts people.
Tour finishes up with a fine table of tea and cookies at the old boat lettering shack adjacent to the WWII ship ways inside of Sausalito's working waterfront.
CALL TO BOOK!