The S.V. Matthew Turner

The Matthew Turner, Sausalito

Saturday was another benefit for another marine conservation organization - this time a sail on a tall ship to raise money for the Marine Conservation Institute.

The ship was the Matthew Turner, a 132-foot brigantine built and staffed by the educational nonprofit Call of the Sea. I'm a terrible photographer and have cut off the mast, but you can see that she's beautiful. She is docked at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydraulic BayModel, my favorite geek-out science exhibit ever. 

Right across the dock are the two Army Corps debris hazard collection boats, the Raccoon and the Dillard, one of which we hope to hitch a ride on soon.

Honestly I get tired typing up all Mike's connections, but I think they're important to document before our memories fail us. 

The late and much missed Van Peeke

Let's see - MCI's board chair and president is Lance Morgan. He and his wife Angela were dear friends of Van Peeke, Mike's long-time best friend and lab partner from back in his brain research days, who died in 2016. My god the stories I need to document about those two. Anyway, the Morgans live in Glen Ellen and are still close with Van's widow and our friend Shirley Austin-Peeke, who wanted to come on the trip but had to decline. No doubt they also know Bernie & Kat Krause but we forgot to ask. Also: their son looks after Shirley's sled dogs.

Who else? Michael Gravitz, who heads MCI's policy work in D.C., turns out to have just bought a cottage in Damariscotta, Maine, on Biscay Pond. Like one mile from our house. Also: a lovely, random woman chatting with Mike was reduced to tears when she learned that Mike knew her late husband, who had sailed the single-handed TransPac to Hawaii when Mike was commodore of that race. Also: The Matthew Turner sports a hybrid propulsion system with banks of lithium ion batteries and a biofuel generator (biofuel-ish, says one of the crew) - and the consultant to this project is none other than our good friend Nigel Calder back in Maine.

Pirates at sea

Also on board: Obi Kauffman, author, illustrator, philosopher-genius. He and Mike share the mentor Malcolm Margolin. I gave two of Obi's books to Mike for his birthday this year. They're the most beautifully crafted collection of writings and illustrations you've ever seen. Also supposed to be on board but famous for not showing up: Her Deepness, Sylvia Earle. A legend in the oceanography world, a board member of MCI, a friend of Mike's.

Towards the end of our sail we were regrettably taken captive by pirates and held at swordpoint until the sum of $60,000 was raised. 

This could have been uncomfortable but it was skillfully done. The end.