She was a steady little ship. She wasn't too fast to sail and beat, or anything like that, but she was a solid-built ship. - Captain Emil Anderson, Master 1915
Thayer was one of 123 three-masted schooners built on the West Coast for the lumber trade. From 1895 until 1912 she sailed with lumber cargoes from the Pacific Northwest to California ports.
She was then purchased by "Whitehead Pete" Nelson, owner of a salmon salting station in Alaska. Thayer made yearly trips from San Francisco Bay to Bristol Bay with men and supplies, returning with barreled salmon.
In 1925 Thayer became a cod fisherman, sailing from Washington and fishing in the Bering Sea. Her final trip, in 1950, was the last commercial voyage by a West Coast sailing vessel.
BASIC FACTS:
Built: 1895, Fairhaven, Humboldt Bay, California
Builder: Hans Bendixson Shipyard.
Length on Deck - 156 feet
Beam - 36 feet
Draft - 11 feet
Gross Tonnage - 453
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