Zodiac (schooner)

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Zodiac is a historic two-masted schooner designed by William Hand Jr. and built in 1924 by Hodgdon Brothers in East Boothbay, Maine for Robert Wood Johnson and J. Seward Johnson. The 160-foot vessel (about 49 meters) with a 25-foot beam was built to reflect the best features of the American fishing schooner. It carried a 7,000-square-foot sail plan and could reach about 13 knots under sail or roughly 9–10 knots when powered by a diesel engine. Its original engine was a 140-horsepower Atlas diesel.

In 1931 the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association bought Zodiac, renamed her California, and moved her to San Francisco to serve as a pilot boat. She was heavily modified: the engine was upgraded to a 275-horsepower Atlas-Imperial diesel, a larger propeller was installed, a pilot house and updated accommodations were added, and the hull was adjusted to fit the needs of long watches on station. These changes increased her draft and displacement. California operated as a pilot vessel from about 1932 until 1972, becoming one of the last sail-powered pilot boats in the United States.

Retired in 1972, she was restored and renamed Zodiac again in 1973. Today she operates as a charter and sail-training vessel in Washington and British Columbia, supported by the Northwest Schooner Society. Zodiac is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its historical significance. The schooner also served as a filming location for The Sea Wolf (1993).