From Friday–Saturday, Oct. 1–3, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum will once again host one of the nation’s largest gatherings of small boat enthusiasts and unique watercraft at Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival XXXVII.

During the festival, CBMM guests can marvel at the craftsmanship and innovation used in traditional and contemporary small craft while enjoying CBMM’s waterfront campus and indoor and outdoor exhibitions. Hundreds of amateur and professional boatbuilders and enthusiasts come from all over the region to display their one-of-a-kind kayaks, canoes, and other traditional small craft.

Sailing skiffs, rowing shells, kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, prams, and one-of-a-kind boats will be on display and in the water throughout this family-oriented event. Small craft owners hailing from all over the country will also be available to share their knowledge and boating experiences with guests

On Saturday, CBMM Shipyard staff and Chesapeake Wooden Boat Builders School instructors will be on hand to offer boatbuilding and maritime demonstrations. Also beginning at 1pm on Saturday will be a lively Miles River race of small craft, which can be viewed from CBMM’s waterfront and docks.

Festival-goers will be able to vote for their favorite boat, with the People’s Choice award and others announced among participants on Saturday evening. Limited offerings will be available for the public to see on Sunday.

For safety reasons, dogs are not permitted on museum grounds during CBMM festivals, with the exception of certified service dogs.

Public entrance to the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival is included with CBMM’s general admission, which is good for two consecutive days and free for CBMM members. Hours are 9am–5pm each day. For more information, visit cbmm.org/smallcraftfestival. Anyone looking to participate as an exhibitor should visit cbmm.org/mascfparticipants.

On Sunday, Oct. 17, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., will host Douglas Brooks—boatbuilder, visiting master, writer, researcher, and winner of the 2014 Rare Craft Fellowship Award—for a demonstration on Japanese boatbuilding techniques and a slide presentation following the arc of his work in Japan apprenticing under seven different master boatbuilders.

During the demonstration, scheduled for 2–4pm in CBMM’s working Shipyard, Brooks will fit two planks in the Japanese fashion. Then, he will use a special set of chisels to cut pilot holes for the nails and edge-nail the planks together. Brooks will discuss the tools and techniques specific to boatbuilding in Japan as well, and how these techniques are completely at odds with methods used in the west.

Following the demonstration, from 4:30–6pm in CBMM’s Van Lennep Auditorium, Brooks will give a presentation titled, “Ways of learning: An apprentice boatbuilder in Japan.” Guests may attend the demonstration and talk for $35 per person, or the talk only for $15 per person. A 20% discount is available for CBMM members, with registration for all required to cbmm.org/JapaneseBoatbuilding.

CBMM members play a critical role in supporting CBMM’s rich legacy of educational programs, fascinating and ever-changing exhibitions, and maintenance of the largest collection of Chesapeake watercraft in the world, including access to exclusive discounts, perks, and programming. To learn more about becoming a CBMM member, visit cbmm.org/membership.

On Thursdays next month, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is offering the public a chance to go behind the fences of its working Shipyard for an immersive small group tour of the Maryland Dove build project.

Scheduled for 3pm on Thursdays Oct. 7, 14, 21, & 28, the 45-minute tours will provide an up-close look at what it takes to build a historic maritime vessel in modern times. Led by CBMM’s shipwrights, each tour will give guests a more personal experience with its construction of Maryland Dove, a reproduction of the vessel that accompanied the first European settlers to Maryland in 1634. Slated for completion in 2022, the iconic ship is owned by the state of Maryland and operated and maintained by Historic St. Mary’s City.

The cost to participate is $15 per person, with a 20% discount offered to CBMM members and registration required to cbmm.org/shipyardprograms. Please note: CBMM’s working Shipyard is an active construction site; all participants are expected to wear closed toed, supportive shoes.

CBMM members play a critical role in supporting CBMM’s rich legacy of educational programs, fascinating and ever-changing exhibitions, and maintenance of the largest collection of Chesapeake watercraft in the world, including access to exclusive discounts, perks, and programming. To learn more about becoming a CBMM member, visit cbmm.org/membership.

The Elf Classic Yacht Race returns to the Chesapeake Bay on Saturday, Sept.18, 2021, with the traditional yacht race taking place again this year on the Miles River in St. Michaels, Md. The annual race is jointly sponsored by the Classic Yacht Restoration Guild and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, with proceeds benefitting both organizations.

“It’s very unusual to see a single classic yacht on any given day, so watching a fleet of them sailing away from the anchorage and into St. Michaels is an incredible experience,” said CYRG President and Elf skipper Rick Carrion. “The event will take place exclusively on the Miles River, offering land and sea spectators at CBMM an unparalleled view of some of the most beautiful, classic sailing yachts.”

The September race features a 19th century traditional yacht racing start, beginning with a captains’ meeting on land, followed by the boom of a cannon, signifying each captain’s mad dash to a tied-up dinghy, or tender. Next, the captains row out to their moored vessels and waiting crews, before tying up their tenders and raising anchor, with up to 30 yachts racing on the Miles River under a cloud of sail.

Race participants will first be greeted alongCBMM’s Fogg’s Cove and the winners announced at a trophy reception later in the day. Entrance to watch the race is included with CBMM’s regular two-day admission.

“Spectators and guests are welcome to watch this unique 11am start, and spend the day at CBMM to explore the world-renowned museum, while watching the race from shore,” said Carrion. “As the race ends, captains will anchor off Fogg’s Cove, and row to shore to sign the race log on CBMM’s Steamboat Building’s deck. A post-race reception and awards ceremony will then be held.”

Organized by CYRG, the race features America’s oldest active racing yacht, the 1888 Elf. Restored to historically accurate condition and re-launched in 2008, Elf is a Lawley-built 30-foot class cutter. Elf pioneered offshore yacht cruising in 1893 by being the first small craft to race the round-trip from Marblehead, Mass. to Halifax, N.S.

For race registration information, visit cyrg.org or contact CYRG’s Rick Carrion at cyrg.elf@gmail.com or 443-566-2212. CYRG is a non-profit, member organization dedicated to the preservation of maritime heritage through the maintenance and operation of Elf. The yacht was designed by George Lawley & Sons of South Boston, Mass., and built in 1888 for William H. Wilkinson. Over the warmer months, Elf can be seen dockside at CBMM, and under sail along the Miles River and Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and making this resource available to all.

Every aspect of fulfilling this mission is driven by CBMM’s values of relevance, authenticity, and stewardship, along with a commitment to providing engaging guest experiences and transformative educational programming, all while serving as a vital community partner. For more information, visit cbmm.org or call 410-745-2916.

Now two years into its constriction of a new Maryland Dove in St. Michaels, Md., the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Historic St. Mary’s City have planned a virtual symposium for this fall to allow the public to dive deeper into the historic project.

Maryland Dove: A Symposium on Memory and Meaning will offer sessions on Wednesdays, Sept. 29, Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20, and Oct. 27 that cover the transition from the current vessel built in the 1970s to a modern reproduction based upon decades of research. This series will consider the legacy of the iconic tall ship, as well as the future of the new vessel.

The series will begin at 3pm on Wednesday, Sept. 29, with a session titled “Researching Dove Tales.” The current Maryland Dove has served as Historic St. Mary’s City’s floating ambassador since 1978. Cambridge, Md., shipwright James B. Richardson was coaxed out of retirement to build the vessel, working with a handful of assistants over 15 months at his boatyard off the Choptank River. In this session, CBMM’s Associate Curator of Collections, Jenifer Dolde, will share research from an oral history project with shipwrights who worked alongside Mr. Jim on Maryland Dove, as well as plans for Dove Tales, an upcoming exhibition about the 1970s vessel.

In the world of sailing, iconic tall ships stand out for their visible connection to maritime history. On Oct. 6 at 2pm, join Captain Will Gates (Historic St. Mary’s City), Captain Eric Speth (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation), and Captains Lauren Morgens and Sharon Dounce (Kalmar Nyckel Foundation) as they share their experiences blending modern and historic expertise as ship’s masters aboard replica and reproduction 17th century vessels.

The next session, “Interpreting Maryland History on Both Sides of the Atlantic,” will be presented at 10:30am on Oct. 13. Heritage tourists in both North Yorkshire, England, and Maryland regularly encounter the shared history of the Calvert family and the establishment of colonial Maryland. In this session, Kiplin Hall & Gardens Director James Etherington and Maryland Heritage Scholar Henry Miller will discuss their perspectives on interpreting the legacies of the Calverts and an important chapter in American colonization.

“Diving into the Past: How Underwater Archeology Informed Maryland Dove” will be presented on Oct. 20 at 3pm. With the original Dove presumed lost at sea, the design of the reproduction Maryland Dove draws heavily upon research into the preserved shipwrecks of other period vessels. The Head of Research at Sweden’s Vasa Museum, Dr. Fred Hocker, has played a critical role in translating discoveries from the field of maritime archeology to guide the design and build process of Maryland Dove.

The final session in the virtual symposium, “Building Maryland Dove,” is scheduled for 3pm on Oct. 27. With a targeted launch of spring 2022, CBMM’s Lead Shipwright Joe Connor has taken the new Maryland Dove from idea into reality. In this session, Connor will highlight important milestones and review important design and build choices to craft a vessel that blends historical authenticity with modern U.S. Coast Guard standards for passenger-carrying vessels.

The cost to attend Maryland Dove: A Symposium on Memory and Meaning is $7.50 per session, with a 20% discount offered to CBMM and HSMC members. An additional discount is offered to anyone who registers for all five sessions, which will also be recorded and shared with registrants who are unable to participate live. To register, visit cbmm.org/dovesymposium.

Next month, join staff from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for a leisurely three-hour paddle through one of the largest surviving and northernmost natural stands of bald cypress trees on the East Coast. Scheduled to launch at 10am Saturday, Sept. 25, this paddle is good for the beginner and intermediate kayaker.

Trap Pond State Park has 3,653 acres to explore by land and water and hosts a large campground, hiking and biking trails, and a disc golf course. Participants are invited to paddle and to explore the park for just the day or to continue by sharing in a family style meal and camping under the canopy of loblolly trees.

The cost to participate for those staying overnight is $85 for overnight with a kayak rental or $65 for those bringing their own. For those joining just for the day, the cost is $65 with a kayak rental or $45 for those bringing their own. A 20% discount is available for CBMM members. For additional details and to register, visit cbmm.org/paddleovernight.

CBMM members play a critical role in supporting CBMM’s rich legacy of educational programs, fascinating and ever-changing exhibitions, and maintenance of the largest collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft in the world. Members also have access to exclusive discounts, perks, and programming. To learn more about becoming a CBMM member, visit cbmm.org/membership.

The tall ship Pride of Baltimore II will visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md.the first weekend in August. The replica schooner will be available for deck tours from 2–5pm on Saturday & Sunday, Aug. 7–8, 2021. Tours are free with general admission to CBMM, which is good for two days and free for CBMM members.

In conjunction with the visit, the Chesapeake Independent Blues, a Maryland War of 1812 volunteer interpretive organization, will also be on CBMM’s campus Aug. 7–8, providing living historical impressions of the citizen-soldiers from Talbot County who served in the Maryland Militia during the War of 1812. Reproductions of the arms and material culture used by the militia will be on display, as will civilian and uniformed interpreters. Historic weapon firing demonstrations will be offered daily on Navy Point, at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm on Saturday and at 1 and 3pm on Sunday.

Both visits are made possible through a partnership between Pride of Baltimore II and the National Park Service. Throughout 2021, Pride is serving as a trail ambassador at Chesapeake Bay ports along the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail and providing free interpretive programs and a new traveling exhibit to help both organizations to connect with underserved communities and expand recreational opportunities throughout the Bay.

In 1988, the Pride of Baltimore II was commissioned as a sailing memorial to its immediate predecessor, the original Pride of Baltimore, which sank in 1986 due to a white squall off Puerto Rico. Both ships were built in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as reproductions of 1812-era topsail schooners, or Baltimore Clippers, which helped America win the War of 1812 and finally secure its freedom.

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and making this resource available to all.

Every aspect of fulfilling this mission is driven by CBMM’s values of relevance, authenticity, and stewardship, along with a commitment to providing engaging guest experiences and transformative educational programming, all while serving as a vital community partner. For more information, visit cbmm.org or call 410-745-2916.

This Labor Day weekend, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum will once again host its annual Charity Boat Auction on Saturday, Sept. 4. More than 60donated boats and watercraft—ranging in size and performance from cruising boats to dinghies—will be in the water and on land to be auctioned off to the highest bidders.

“This is an absolute auction, meaning all boats will be sold the day of the event, with no minimums or reserves, and CBMM staff and volunteers will be on hand at an onsite title office for ease of transfer and title work.” said CBMM’s Charity Boat Donation Program Director Wes Williams. “These donated boats are sold year-round, and will be sold up until a few days prior to the auction.”

The event also includes a flea market-style tag sale starting at 9am, where guests can purchase a variety of used boating gear, including ground tackle, electrical equipment, hardware, rope, chain, oars, life jackets, fishing tackle, motors, and more.

Proceeds from the rain-or-shine event benefit the children and adults served by CBMM’s education, restoration, and exhibition programming.

In addition to being listed online, auction boats will be available for preview at CBMM on Friday, Sept. 3, from 9am–5pm. Regular admission rates will apply until 3pm, and gates will open for free from 3­–6pm. Guests can also preview the boats on auction grounds beginning at 8am the day of the event, with bidding beginning at 11am. Food and beverages will be available for purchase starting at 10:30am.

“We work with donors all year-round, many caring for a boat they are no longer using, or having inherited a boat that won’t be used,” said Williams. “And these gifts are deductible to the full extent allowed by law.”

On Sept. 4, CBMM’s Fogg’s Landing gates open at 8am, with free event entrance for CBMM members and children ages 5 and under. Otherwise, general admission is $5 per person until 11am, with a $5 paddle fee for registered bidders. After 11am, regular two-day admission rates apply. For safety reasons, non-service dogs are prohibited during CBMM festivals and special events, including the Charity Boat Auction.

For the official rules, auction details, and inventory updates, visit cbmm.org/AuctionDetails, or contact boatdonation@cbmm.org or 410-745-4942.

On four Saturdays this October, young mariners ages 4–9 are invited to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., to participate in CBMM’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) Team. Class sizes are limited, with advanced registration needed.

Each week, STEAM Team participants will join aCBMMeducator in a hands-on exploration incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math with the arts. Two sessions will be held each week, one from 10am–noon for children ages 4 to 6, and another from 1–3pm for children ages 7 to 9.

Program themes include “Oyster Exploration” on Oct. 2, “Digging Geology” on Oct. 9, “Engineering Agents” on Oct. 16, and “Who, What, Where, and Weather” on Oct. 23.

The cost per class is $15, with a 20% discount for CBMM members. Register online for all four sessions for an additional discount. Need-based scholarships for individual classes are available. For more information, and to register, visit cbmm.org/steamteam.

CBMM members play a critical role in supporting CBMM’s rich legacy of educational programs, fascinating and ever-changing exhibitions, and maintenance of the largest collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft in the world. Benefits of membership include access to exclusive discounts, perks, programming, and CBMM’s new virtual portal. To learn more about becoming a CBMM member, visit cbmm.org/membership.