BORN TO RUN, RAISED TO CRUISE
When Cameron Fraser went looking for a yacht suitable for the Leeward Islands, he had only four requirements: it must be wood; in need of repair; large enough for the family; and perfectly priced. When nothing surfaced near his home in Antigua, the search expanded to other islands but every prospect proved too big, beyond repair or over priced.
A friend suggested he look at a Kettenburg in Florida. It was a sweet, 1948 woody, 46ft 4in (14.1m) boat, built lightly with steam-bent oak frames and Douglas fir planking. Her designer and builder were new names to Fraser but the boat’s shapely lines were so alluring that he had it hauled and surveyed. “Her issues matched the advertisement,” he said. “She had checked frames repaired with sisters and cousins, second cousins…”
When an offer was made, and ultimately accepted, he didn’t foresee the journey that lay ahead. Transporting the boat to the Caribbean and rebuilding her there – that was in the cards. But delving into the history of the Kettenburgs, a multi-generational, a PCC, (Pacific Cruising Class,) granted him membership into an unofficial club of Kettenburg builders, owners and saviours. He wasn’t just buying a boat but a piece of a maritime legacy that began a century ago on the West coast of the United States.
