2017 Wooden Boat Festival

In 1953, 39-year-old Englishwoman Ann Davison became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic, in a 23-foot wooden sloop named Felicity Ann. Davison was an unlikely singlehander who probably never would have gone to sea if she hadn't fallen in love with a sailor. She first had to learn to sail and use a sextant, and then nearly ran out of food, water and cigarettes during her slow (and radio-less!) 65-day crossing. But she succeeded, and dedicated her effort (and the resulting memoir, My Ship Is So Small) to her husband, who had died three years earlier in a shipwreck that she miraculously survived. Ann Davison's courage and grace in the face of adversity inspires us today. The boat has found its way to Port Townsend, and makes her Festival debut after an extensive restoration by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. Felicity Ann now joins the fleet of the Community Boat Project, which mentors youth through boatbuilding and voyaging. The 20-minute talk is presented at the boat. Find Felicity Ann on her trailer at the top of the northwest ramp leading down to the Inner Harbor.