Le Petit Canard Sailing

In 2004, we purchased a sad little boat named Blue Witch.  She had been closed up and her interior was as wet and as green as a rainforest.  Her plywood and fiberglass decks were rotting, the paint on her masts was peeling, her engine moaned painfully when we tried to start it.  What were we thinking?!?  We were thinking that we could save a precious and very sea-worthy boat (she had an emblem from Chile screwed to her mast in honor of a voyage there and back) and we were thinking of all of the great adventures that we could have on her.  We weren’t thinking of the years of our lives that would disappear while working on her, the 1 1/2 years of living in a boat yard on her, the thousands and thousands of dollars dumped into her (and that statement could refer just to the bronze screws in her deck!).  We weren’t thinking about pulling the engine compartment into the salon of the boat in order to rip out the cabin back and replace it, therefor having to crawl over a counter of pots and pans to get into bed every night.  So, maybe we just weren’t thinking!

Ah, but now it’s 5 years later and while we’re still not quite there yet… we are so close! She has new planks and frames in her hull, a beautiful teak deck, a new cabin top and back, a remodeled (if you can remodel a boat) interior, varnished masts, all new rigging, a fresh coat of paint and of course a different name. So this is where the adventure begins, with some stories of the past thrown in every now and again for good measure, but right now Joey, Heather and Audrey are setting the sails on Le Petit Canard for France!

San Francisco Bay, after first wave of work *

*First Wave of Work included:  New laid teak decks and cockpit, removal of wheel replaced with tiller, all new seams and paint (first color scheme), wiring removed, new running rigging and sails by Hood.  Photo Summer 2004

Le Petit Canard

• 1966 Angleman Ketch
• 32′ on deck, 11′ 5″ beam
• 20,000 lbs displacement