Looking for the California History of ‘Grisette’
The Chantier du Guip boatyard in France sent us photos about the ongoing renovation of the cutter Grisette, which spent a portion of her long life in California. The builders are very interested in her history and are reaching out to learn more from anyone who remembers her time in California. She arrived here in the 1960s and spent lots of time sailing the Bay.
The boatyard knows of the American couple who owned Grisette and set off on a world cruise aboard her from England in the ’60s. Pierre Auboiroux mentioned this in his book Seul sur les Océans – le tour du monde du ‘Néo-Vent’ 1964-1966 (Alone on the Oceans: Neo-Vent’s World Tour). They believe the couple are the ones who brought Grisette to California. Chantier de Guip would love to know more about this next part of Grisette’s history. They’re looking for photos, yacht club memberships, local racing and cruising history and any other aspects of her West Coast sailing life.
Our prior story from Randall von Wedel included some local photos and the state of the restoration last fall. Lots of progress is being made. Randall also sent a page from the May 1994 issue of Latitude with a photo of Grisette under sail on the Bay.
If you have additional help or insights on the history of Grisette you can email Yann Mauffret at Chantier de Guip and/or add information to our comments section below. It will be beautiful to see her under sail again.
