Schooner Bill Of Rights

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Schooner Bill of Rights in Chula Vista's Bayfront district is a 136-foot gaff-rigged schooner launched in 1971 at the Harvey Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine, and designated the official tall ship of the City of Chula Vista in 2019. Operated by the South Bayfront Sailing Association, a veteran-owned 501(c)(3) nonprofit berthed on Marina Parkway, the vessel runs U.S. Navy Sea Cadet training, Junior ROTC sail-training programs, and maritime history education along the waterfront near Chula Vista Bayside Park. Multi-day sail-training voyages from San Diego Bay to the Channel Islands put students ages 10 through 18 in charge of standing watch, steering, navigation, and vessel maintenance under crew supervision. Designed around the lines of an 1856 America's Cup schooner, the vessel operated without an engine from 1971 through 1986 on the New England coast before relocating to Southern California, a heritage of traditional seamanship supported by the marine chandlery supply chain at West Marine. USCG-certified as a Subchapter T passenger vessel for near-coastal waters, the schooner carries up to 30 passengers and eight crew, with ongoing white-oak deck-plank replacement, sail mending, and Douglas-fir hull-frame restoration preserving the original 1971 construction.