page_title: Grace Quan
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Grace Quan / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: The traditional Chinese junk Grace Quan under construction in 2003 at China Camp State Park in San Rafael, California.
context_page_description: Grace Quan is a modern reconstruction of a Chinese-American shrimp fishing junk, similar to those in the fleet that operated in San Francisco Bay in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The junk was built in 2003 as a joint project between China Camp State Park in San Rafael, California and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, and is now jointly exhibited and operated by both institutions. It functions as a "working sailing museum" to educate the public about a previously forgotten chapter in the history of Chinese-American immigrants to California.
context_section_description: The kernel of the idea that eventually became Grace Quan goes back to 1995, when John Muir, while an undergraduate student, ran across an old photo of a Chinese junk sailing along the San Francisco waterfront. Muir is a distant relative of the famous conservationist of the same name. While pursuing a master's degree, Muir excavated the wrecks of two junks at China Camp and took measurements. He later visited shipyards in Guangdong that still build wooden commercial fishing boats and studied their traditional construction methods. Muir later became small boat curator at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, and developed a proposal to build a replica of a late 19th century Chinese-style fishing junk, using the materials and techniques that were used to build similar boats in California.
  Muir negotiated an agreement between the two parks to build the junk using volunteer labor and redwood lumber for most of the hull, milled from logs donated by a conservation group. Construction began in March, 2003. Traditional Chinese shipbuilding techniques were used, such as flame bending of planks, and edge-nailing using hand forged nails. Joints between the planks were sealed using traditional caulk made by volunteers out of a mixture of lime and linseed oil. This substance is called chu'nam, and also includes organic fibers,  such as animal hair, grasses or bamboo fiber.
  The keel was laid on April 24, 2003, and the junk was launched on October 25, 2003. At the launch ceremony, it was announced that the junk would be named Grace Quan, in honor of Frank Quan's mother.
caption: Construction of Grace Quan in 2003
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