Zodiac (schooner)

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 136-foot, 145-ton vessel competed in transatlantic races, and she was 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, which was restored to original condition. The not-for-profit Northwest Schooner Society contracts with the corporation for lengthy cruises, sail training trips, or those demanding a large passenger load, such as Elderhostel trips. Zodiac is believed to be the largest working wooden sailing vessel in the United States. The Seattle-based ship is on the National Register of Historic Places and is listed on the Washington State Historic Register.