“May her bones stay strong, her planks hold water, her mast carry sail and her rudder stay the course. May all who sail on her be inspired.”

With those words, Alan Olson, executive director of Educational Tall Ship, blessed the “bones” — the wooden ribs and other framework — of the Matthew Turner, a full-sized brigantine that has been named for the legendary shipbuilder whose yard eventually was open in Benicia.

Turner arrived in Northern California during the 1849 Gold Rush. His mining success gave him the opportunity to build his timber company, for which he needed fast ships. Borrowing on training he had received from his father, he began to build his own ships.

Succeeding at that as well, Turner finally expanded his shipbuilding company into Benicia, where he became known for designing record-setting vessels.

Turner’s shipyard is now a city park that bears his name, as does one of the city’s elementary schools.

The Blessing of the Bones isn’t the only ceremony that will celebrate the new ship’s construction. About a year ago, volunteers joined Olson in marking the laying of the ship’s keel. Another party will celebrate the installation of the final plank — the “whisky plank.”

The Blessing of the Bones celebration recognized not only this stage of the ship’s construction, but also the work of donors, other supporters and up to 150 volunteers of various skills levels who have been working on the first tall ship to be built in the San Francisco Bay Area in decades.

Steve Maiero, a Benicia resident and former employee of Benicia Fire Department, had read about the ship’s proposed construction. He and his wife, Caite, were in Sausalito when they decided to look up the Bay Model address for the project.

Maiero learned the organizers were about to pour the concrete pad for the future building where the Matthew Turner would take shape. And he learned volunteer help was welcome.

That’s all it took. Now he’s there three days a week.

“I’m an avid sailor,” Maiero said. “I have a sailboat in the Benicia Marina.” The opportunity to work on the first wooden ship that would become the Bay Area’s signature tall ship appealed to him.

He found himself among friendly comrades with multiple skills, as well as those who had little more to offer than enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

That’s what Maiero thought he would be offering, too. But his skills with numbers, his ability to organize and his basic woodworking skills landed him on the lofting floor, laying out frames.

“I can’t emphasize enough about the camaraderie,” he said of the fellowship he’s developed with the other volunteers.

He and the others also feel a sense of history as they continue to build the ship. “This has not been seen before, or in quite some time,” Maiero said.

And he’s happy with the name of the brigantine, which is patterned after the swift “Galilee,” the record-setting ship built by Turner. “Alan is giving reverence to Matthew Turner,” Maiero said.

The new brigantine will follow the Galilee’s design except where United States Coast Guard requirements dictate other methods must be used.

The ship will operate like a hybrid car by regenerating the power it needs for its two electric motors. The Forest Stewardship Certified wood is coming from Northern California forests managed by the Conservation Fund. These and other sustainable techniques and designs are expected to earn the vessel the “Living Ship” designation.

Meanwhile, “I’ve learned a skill I’d have to pay thousands to learn — shipbuilding,” Maiero said.

His wife said Maiero’s work in Sausalito “enhances our marriage.” He himself said being retired gives him the chance to participate in the project. “He comes home and shares with me what he did.”

Maiero joked that volunteering on the project provides a solution to the predicament new retirees sometimes face. He said when they retire, they spend their first year tackling a lengthy “honey-do” list of tasks around the home. The next year often is devoted to travel, he said.

The third year, however, is a “what do I do now?” experience, he said. Maiero said he has no such worry — he expects to be working on the Matthew Turner until it’s launched in 2016.

“I’ll be on the deck when she launches,” he said.

He’s already put in 11,000 or more volunteer hours. Olson said his volunteers work harder than if they were paid employees.

“For a long time, all we had was the keel,” Maiero said. Then the shop received stacks of plywood — templates based on designs by Tri-Coastal Marine, the Richmond-based naval architect.

Maiero has participated in the production of the ribs. “I worked on the bow and the transom,” he said. As he looked up at the ship’s looming shape, he said he “takes pride in ownership” of those ribs — “the bones.”

For Olson, the ceremony Saturday put him closer to his dream, relaunched in earnest in 2011 when he sought a place to build a ship based on the Galilee.

He knew Sausalito could be the right place for the project — he’s lived there in various housing, including a boat docked there. Bay Model Visitor Center and the Bay Institutes Aquarium are his neighbors.

Investors heard his plan and began supplying him with the money needed to build the ship. The project is two-thirds funded, but Olson and his nonprofit corporation will be seeking another $2.2 million to finish the job by 2016.

Mel Owen, who has known Olson as a fellow member of the San Francisco Yacht Club, also was at Saturday’s celebration. He’s worked on his own boat, the “Pat Pending,” which was in danger of sinking.

“It was rebuilt at the Richardson Bay Boatyard,” Owen said.

Looking up at the curving skeleton of the Matthew Turner, he said, “I love wooden boats. I’m not enthusiastic about Tupperware.”

He’s looking forward to Olson putting the Matthew Turner to work.

Olson had been an employee of the San Francisco Police Department 25 years ago, when he worked with troubled youth. He combined his love of boats with a program to teach discipline and values to at-risk children by introducing them to sailing.

By the early 2000s, he had formed Call of the Sea, and had a smaller sailing vessel, the 82-foot schooner called “Seaward,” used to teach children discipline, responsibility, teamwork, the love of the sea and stewardship of nature.

The Seaward is at capacity, and Olson has had a long-time dream to have a signature San Francisco Bay Area tall ship that would serve area at-risk youth. Once the Matthew Turner is ready to sail, the two ships will be able to handle 14,000 children a year.

Owen said what children aboard the Seaward and those who will sail on the Matthew Turner learn while on those vessels has value.

“The discovery of sailing is important,” he said.

Educational Tall Ship, at Suite 150, 2330 Marinship Way, Sausalito, is accepting donations of both money and hours in what the organization calls the “Blue Sea Leadership Society.”

Donations begin at $1,000 in money or 250 hours in time for the “watch captain” level, with such benefits as a day sail, naming a plank, a crew cap and admission to the society’s dinner, on up to “master and commander” level of at least $500,000, with private and group sails, naming of significant ship equipment and additional amenities.

Pledges may be paid throughout a period up to three years.

Those interested in volunteering or donating may contact Olson at alan@educationaltallship or Michele Manso, director of advancement, at Michele@educationaltallship, or by calling 415-244-1810.

Those interested may visit the website www.educationaltallship.org.