Restoration costly;
town may lose
historic sailboat

By Tom Morphet

The Felicity Ann, the first boat sailed solo by a woman across the Atlantic Ocean, may be heading out of Haines.

Owner John Hutchins said the cost of restoring the 23-foot wooden sloop has exceeded his budget. He took out a $20,000 loan for the project and also cashed in a retirement account to pay for repairs that became a complete overhaul.

Carpenters working for Hutchins last year stripped the vessel to a shell, building a new keel and ribs. The work exposed rot where hull planking is screwed to the ribs. Replacing planking is more than he can afford, Hutchins said. He has enough cash left to ship the vessel out of town.

“I ran out of money. It’s beyond somebody who just has a salary,” said Hutchins, who works as Haines’ magistrate. “It’s going to take deep resources to restore the boat… You could just patch it up but it wouldn’t be the same. It should be (restored to) the way it was.”

With planking, the vessel could be floated, and the next stage of repairs, including finishing the inside and topside, replacing the engine, and refitting the mast, could be done over time, he said. But for now, the vessel is a skeleton, its ribs and superstructure resting in a timber cradle at a Mud Bay Road boat shop.

Hutchins said he’s disappointed to see his dream of restoring the boat evaporate, as it could be a tourist attraction in Haines, but he’s hoping to keep alive its restoration by finding a boatbuilding school, museum, or sailing club willing to take it on.

A former Navy officer, Hutchins bought the Felicity Ann in 2002. He was inspired by “My Ship Is So Small,” Ann Davison’s account of her solo crossing from England in December 1952, four years after a shipwreck that killed her husband off the Dorset Coast.

The vessel represents an important notch in maritime lore, Hutchins said.

 “I’d like to find someone who will recognize its historic value. A lot of museums have tribute boats to historic sailors and they’re always men. (Davison) was the first woman to step forward. And she didn’t do it plastered with Nike logos, either. She jumped into her boat in Plymouth, England and sailed it to New York.”

Hutchins purchased the Felicity Ann from two Seward women who had owned it 20 years. They sold it due to illness.

Johnny White was one of the local carpenters who worked on the Felicity Ann. Restoration will replace most of the original vessel, with the exception of the cabin top, but that’s not uncommon for such boats, White said.

“For the uninitiated, it seems like a disappearing act, but it’s really not. It’s always going to be the same boat. Boats are a continuing repair project. Every boat is.”

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