Freda was built in 1885 in Belvedere, California by saloon keeper Harry Cookson. Freda has been celebrated for her simple elegance, and called both the Common Man’s Yacht and the Matriarch of San Francisco Bay. She was owned by one of the early commodores of the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, California. Painstakingly restored in the 1950s by Harold Sommer, captain of the last wooden tugboat on San Francisco Bay, Freda became a fixture in the local Master Mariner fleet regattas, but has since suffered from years of deterioration.
Originally built with rock elm frames, Douglas fir decks, black elm and fir hanging knees, fir planks, and lignum vitae deadeyes, Freda embodies the creativity and self reliance of San Francisco Bay wooden boat builders.
Freda, Matriarch of the Bay, is a Web site devoted to the history and restoration of Freda.
Read more about this topic: Spaulding Wooden Boat Center, Programs, Classic Boat Restoration