I was in fifth grade, and my elementary school planned an overnight school trip onboard the CA Thayer, a wooden-hulled, three-masted schooner designed for carrying lumber and built-in 1895 in Northern California. The original hull was made of dense, old-growth Douglas fir, which had been carefully chosen for shipbuilding. She sailed with a small crew consisting of four seamen, two mates, a cook, and the captain.

I remember being excited to spend the night on the San Francisco Bay but nervous simultaneously, like where I would put my glasses when I slept. We arrived at the dock in the late afternoon, and a friend and I went through the orientation together. We received a tour of the boat and were brought below deck where we started to fall asleep as they explained the history of the boat. After the orientation and what we were in for, we were able to explore the boat on our own. I remember the smell of the wood, the call of the seagulls as we were all given chores to handle before dark; some moved firewood, some cleaned, and some like me had to peel potatoes for dinner. After dinner we were told scary sea tales and stories of what life was like back then, I loved all the stories.

Before lights out, We were divided into five groups, each assigned a time to be on patrol and walk the boat. My group of three had a 2:00am watch, and being a morning person at this young age, I was not used to being up this late (or early). As we received our orders for the night, we were offered some hot apple cider brewing for hours over the fire. I remember that first cup and how delicious it tasted, and when I went in for another cup, I spotted tons of cinnamon sticks, which gave me a warm feeling inside. To this day, I still love to have hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks.

As I walked the deck, it was a clear and cold night; I remember looking at the city and noticing how quiet and peaceful it was. I was also mesmerized by the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a perfect night to be on the bay. Our night duties included checking to ensure doors were locked, gear was stowed away properly, and what different bell rings meant to the crew and, of course, being on the lookout for pirates (at least in my mind, we were). We had to sign in a log book every thirty minutes on what happened on our watch. I remember signing the book and reading what had happened on the other watches, which was pretty much nothing. When my shift ended, I remembered going below deck, finding my sleeping bag and pillow, and falling asleep against the boat’s hull. Oh, and I found the perfect spot for my glasses in my shoes.

The next morning, I was up early helping out in the kitchen. I was in charge of mixing the batter for the pancakes, and that was a lot of batter. When it was time for breakfast, we ate a hardy meal of eggs, bacon, and my famous pancake, along with apple cider and cinnamon sticks, and then it was time to learn.

We had a couple of different stations to work our way around, learning about sailing, tying knots, and raising and lowering sails. Around 9:30 am, they asked for volunteers to go fishing; I was uninterested and hoping I would not be selected, and I wasn’t, so I continued playing and learning about life on board a boat. Less than an hour later, the fishing group returned to the ship, and we heard them yelling, “We caught a shark!” We all came running to the pier, and the crew explained it was a tiger shark. We learned all about the shark and the other fish in the bay for the next twenty minutes and then resumed our projects. My favorite project was tieing-ship knots. I struggled to understand, but once I did, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

After our sessions, it was time to pre-pack our stuff, rolling up the sleeping bags and pillows and bringing them down to the dock. Then they rang the lunchtime bell, and we got in single-file lines and received sourdough bread and a big cup of chili, which is still my favorite meal to this day.

After lunch, we all gathered around. The crew thanked us for all our hard work and reminded us how important it is to learn about history, which is why they were doing this. The Captain asked how we liked the chili; of course, we all said it was great. Then he asked the cooks what had ever happened to that tiger shark, and they responded, it was in the chili!