Reader Boat: San Francisco Pelican

An owner's look at this classic but quirky wooden boat design

by Roger Nelson

I was first introduced to Pelicans way back in about 1994 when sailing in San Diego with the Scuzbums (S.C.S.B.M.S.- Southern California Small Boat Messabout Society). There where all kinds of wooden boats on the beach, but the Pelican caught my eye. I bummed a ride with one of the “Pelicaneers” and was hooked.

I wanted one, but there were none for sail anywhere. I called Muriel Short—Bill Short’s daughter, who sold the plans, and she found one for me in Sacramento. I drove up to get it and it turned out to be ready for the trash bin, but ready for a challenge I drug it home.

Six months of hard work and I had a beautiful S.F.Pelican, Bad Bird! I sailed, raced, and cruised it for 25 years. I had many adventures, and memories with it. One fabulous memory was at the 2013 Havasu Pocket Cruisers Convention which I attended three years in a row. 2013 had a real big turnout with all kinds of boats, big, small, and my Pelican being one of the smaller ones. The long race turned into a survival race as it was blowing 26 miles an hour at the start of the race with boats running into each other. It was crazy, but I got started and ran the course up to the turnaround mark. Flying downwind wing and wing when I heard thunder in the distance. Oh, there’s a squall coming? So, I furled my jib first, and reset my main from port side to starboard to prevent a jibe. No sooner than I got it done, when, OMG I got slammed with wind (they said 39 miles-per-hour gusts), rain, hail, and cold. Because of my Pelican’s lug rig I was able to just drop the main onto the boat, and motor back into the Marina. One of my friends, sailing a P-15, got slammed onto the beach, broke his centerboard off, and put a small hole in the hull. He got it onto his trailer before it sank. Lots of excitement that day! My Pelican pulled me through and kept me safe.