Pelican 12


	The story of my 12’ Pelican




	San Francisco Pelican Class Sailing Dory-Pram

I was looking for a nice looking small sailboat that would be suitable for cruising and fishing on the Kennebec River in Maine and would be seaworthy enough for an occasional venture outside the river. My property fronts on Dromore Bay which is quite shallow and access is limited by the tides. The 12’ Pelican that was designed by Bill Short back in the 1950s fit all these requirements perfectly with its sampan bow, very shallow 4” (board up) draft and its wide 6’ beam.

Information: Building plans and additional information can be found on the Pelican website:
http://community-2.webtv.net/PelicanSailboat/SFPELICANSAILBOATS/

Another excellent source of information on this boat can be found on the Pelican-Sail Yahoo Group Forum.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pelican-sail/

The three sheets of plans for the boat are accompanied by an instruction booklet. I must admit that as a first time builder I found the instruction booklet a bit lacking in detail but with much research on the Internet and some help from the Yahoo discussion group I did manage to get through the building project.

This web site contains a step by step photographic record on my building experience with the Pelican 12’

I had a good head start when it came to the lumber used in the construction because I had most of the marine plywood needed on hand that I had bought years ago for a boat that was never built. I also had a good supply of excellent quality mahogany lumber on hand that was used for much of the dimension lumber requirements.

I hope the photos and comments included here may be of use to future builders of this fine little boat.
Charlie Main


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