• A section of the bowsprint and figurehead on the bow of BALCLUTHA.

    San Francisco Maritime

    National Historical Park California

Small Craft

The park's collection of more than 100 traditional and significant small craft is a fine introduction to boatbuilding and the maritime trades. Read an article about six small craft in the collection, or experience one brave sailor's small craft odyssey on San Francisco Bay!

 
A boat sailing on SF Bay with a white mainsail and jib.

The MERRY BEAR on San Francisco Bay.

NPS

This is the Merry Bear, part of the park’s small craft collection. She was built at the Nunes Boatyard in Sausalito in 1931, and is the first Bear Boat. Bear Boats are the first class of sloop* yachts designed and built to sail on San Francisco Bay.

The Nunes brothers came up with a winning design. The Bear Boat was small enough to be affordable in the depression-era 1930s, yet large and strong enough to sail well in the brisk winds and challenging currents of the Bay, and they quickly became a popular choice for sailors. Almost 80 years later a small but dedicated group of Bear Boat sailors still lovingly maintain their yachts and can be seen racing their craft on the Bay.

Length: 22 feet, 9 inches
Beam: 7 feet
Draft: 4 feet
The keel is made of iron. The planking is Douglas fir and the ribs oak.
Sloop rig.

A sloop* is a boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft-rig (not a square rig).

 
A black and white photo of a wooden sailboat with the mainsail and jib raised.
A historic photo of the MERRY BEAR sailing on San Francisco Bay
NPS
 
The shrimp junk, Grace Quan, sailing on San Francisco Bay.
The shrimp junk, Grace Quan, setting sail on San Francisco Bay.
NPS Photo
 

Chinese Shrimp Junk Project

In 2003 employees and volunteers from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and China Camp State Park in Northern California, built a replica of a Chinese Shrimp Junk and named it Grace Quan.

The Grace Quan is a replica of the type of fishing vessel used throughout the Bay Area by Chinese shrimp fishing companies between 1860 and 1910.

More about the shrimp junk.

  • Small Boat Odyssey Small Boat Odyssey

    Article and pictures about a gunkholing trip through the San Francisco Bay Delta. Read More

  • Six Small Boats Six Small Boats

    Article and pictures about six small boats in the park's colllection Read More

Did You Know?

A white marking painted on the port side of Balclutha with letters and lines.

This "Plimsoll Mark" is painted on the port side of Balclutha and named for Samuel Plimsoll, an Englishman who fought to pass the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876. Before this law, many ships were dangerously overloaded and many sank. These “coffin ships” claimed the lives of many sailors. More...