‘Wander Bird’ (‘Elbe No. 5’) Relaunched in Germany

The famed German pilot schooner Wander Bird (now Elbe No. 5) has been relaunched after a second restoration following her tragic sinking in 2019. The schooner was an institution on San Francisco Bay and the Sausalito waterfront from 1937 to the mid-’90s before going to the Pacific Northwest for a few years, and then returning to Germany in the early 2000s. There she became part of the Hamburg Maritime Foundation, where she took tourists out for sails and underwent several restorations. She went through a significant restoration in winter 2018/2019 and was relaunched from the Hvide Sande Shipyard in the spring. Shockingly, she was shortly thereafter struck by a freighter and sank in June 2019.

Fortunately, she managed to get safely to shallow water before sinking. She was later raised and has been under repair ever since. She’s now been relaunched in Hamburg and is preparing to get back to the business of sailing.

The schooner Wander Bird spent almost 60 years on San Francisco Bay, occasionally racing in the Master Mariners Regatta and playing host to Sterling Hayden and many other denizens of the Sausalito waterfront.

Wander Bird was the childhood home of Bay Area sailing legend Warwick “Commodore” Tompkins. Commodore arrived in San Francisco Bay after his family sailed Wander Bird around Cape Horn, when he was 4 years old.

Commodore Tompkins recently spoke in Mill Valley at Oleg Harencar’s tribute film on Ron Holland, then promptly took off in February to add another 2500 miles to his lifetime total of 600,000 sailing miles. His latest voyage was to Hawaii aboard his Wylie 39 Flashgirl, with Eric Steinberg of Farallon Electronics. Eric reports they arrived safely in Hawaii at 0430 on Commodore’s 93rd birthday.

The relaunching of Wander Bird and another crossing to Hawaii sound like a terrific 93rd birthday gift.