San Francisco Maritime Park , Saturday, November 2, 2002, 11:00 a.m.

Small Boat Shop, Hyde Street Pier at Hyde & Jefferson Streets, San Francisco

For those of you who wince at the sight of a classic wooden yacht deteriorating in a remote corner of a boatyard lot, and at the shrinking numbers of the Bay’s classic wooden racing fleets, this November 2 may offer you a pleasant antidote. After four years of patient work, the crew of the Small Boat Shop at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is ready to re-launch Bear Boat #1, Merry Bear. The Merry Bear was built in Sausalito in 1936 by Nunes Brothers Boatyard. She was the prototype of the Bay’s now famous Bear Class sloops, of which there were over 60 built. Notoriously stable and seaworthy for their short 23 foot length, the Bear class boats stand as fine examples of West Coast, depression-era yacht design; a perfect “everyman’s yacht.”

The Merry Bear was donated to the Maritime Park in the mid-80s in very rough shape, and at a time when the Small Craft Department was just getting started. Wisely, the staff of the museum waited until their facilities and their volunteer work crew were established enough to tackle a job as big as her restoration. And it has been a big job. All of her full-length, white oak frames were replaced. An entirely new set of floor timbers, keel bolts, and deck beams have also been added. The deck is tongue-and-groove Douglas fir covered in Irish felt and canvas. A new, steam-bent oak transom, as well as a new oak rudder have been constructed, and gleam under their many coats of varnish.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the restoration is the fact that it has been accomplished almost entirely by volunteer crews, working a day or two a week, week in and week out, for more than four years. From high school kids just learning how to work a chisel, to retired carpenters in their seventies, the Bear boat has been a challenge and a true labor of love for over forty different, very dedicated folks. The process of the Merry Bear’s restoration has certainly helped to perpetuate traditional boat building skills. It is hoped that her use in the water as a regular participant in regattas and boat shows around the Bay, as well as an in-water exhibit at Hyde St. Pier, will help to keep the yachting skills, tradition, and history that built her in 1936 alive and well for some time to come.

The Staff of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park invites the public, and particularly yachting enthusiasts, to come celebrate the re-launching of the Merry Bear at 11 am on Saturday, November 2 at the Hyde St. Pier in San Francisco.