Well the answer that need to come at this moment is: Whatever you feel like playing :-)
I wouldn't play a primary healer in a group where the rest of the characters seems build to deal out the most damage in combat.
The witch seem like a good choice, though. You can save their bacon when needed and heal them after combat, but the can't start shouting for those channels.
That depends on the group. I would suggest one of each. The witch also get access to divine and arcane spells.
PS:I see you already thought of the witch.
I'd go battle-cleric or battle-oracle... with only two melee guys it might be good the be able to take some heat if necessary. Too many ranged guys will have your group running for cover a lot?
I don't know that AP but it sounds undead-ish... so some anti-undead clericness might help too?
[Offtopic] Somehow nobody seems to take pirate archetypes for skull and shackles. [/offtopic]
Something with some healing ability could be useful. And even if everyone else seems to think it's too weak I like the healing hex/split hex combination because it lets you heal two ppl with one action, one of wich can be some feet away.
Depending on the way you want to go (I think you have to decide whether you play as good or evil in SS) you could play a Paladin and have good healing power combined with melee or ranged combat ability or a wizard (conjourer)1/ druid x to memorize cure spells and spontanous cast some of them to summon help onto the battlefield. With a crocodile companion or something like that you could have some help that's useful on land as well as in water.
Or else you could be a bard and support your melee strong party with your music while having some utility magic to shine now and then.
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I'm thinking of playing a witch for the capacity to heal and be a decent arcane caster.
I think you have made a good choice, the ranger can help cover the divine spells you can't access, and between you should cover most of the bases.
On the flip side, do not think that you HAVE to play any particular class; everyone else is doing what they want, so you should be able to do the same.
I'd go with a Bard, then you can buff your allies and yourself, as well as toss out some performances that impair the foes. Then have everyone invest in their own wands of CLW since you won't have any healers. You would also be the "face" of the group and the king of the social encounters. You won't be the best damage dealer, but your allies will love you for helping them dish out even more.
Given your party make-up, you are going to have to invest in a lot of scrolls for spells you do not know.
A bard can be a fun addition. It does a little of everything you're asking for--and they'll love your buffs.
I'd go for bard. Since they'll be getting facetime in combat, it only stands to reason that yours would be out of it, and the bard could do that quite well.
I'd have gone with the witch, in terms of what your party needs. Probably crafting as well.
All you really need is someone that can cast healing spells out of combat and someone that deals damage and you're good to go. Yeah if you're party is melee oriented you'll have a harder time against ranged, but you should do fine. vice versa
I'll throw in another vote for the witch. Healing Hex makes sense; beyond that, you can either focus on debuffs (Evil Eye, Cackle, Misfortune) or save-or-sucks (Sleep). As far as patrons - picking up haste via Agility or Time would be a decent bet. In general, I have a hard time with the witch's patrons.
Edit: Ah, I see you're going another route. I suppose I'd go with bard out of the three options you listed.
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Witch really is your best bet. You can use spells to heal and rely on Hexes for actual combat needs.
That said, of the options you list, much as I love Bards (and my love for Bards should be well established on these boards by now) they lack enough spellcasting for a party that otherwise lacks it, and going with a Sorcerer leaves the party without healing or support casting.
I'd thus go Oracle. Specifically, I'd go with the classic, very effective, Heavens Oracle with Dazzling Display. He can (as of 2nd level) pull off some seriously awesome save-or-die pretty reliably, while also using buffing and healing spells as useful or necessary. Though you'll likely need to have some basic melee skills too, as you'll run out of spells sometimes, at least at early levels.
If you want to be be able to heal and buff and be generally useful on the battlefield you could think about the flagbearer feat.
It's not so good if you want to join in the fighting yourself because it needs a free hand. But as it doesn't cost any action it is good action economy.