A historic skipjack has been restored and ready to return to the Chesapeake Bay, this time for educational and cultural cruises by the Annapolis Maritime Museum.
Saturday afternoon, members of the public boarded the Wilma Lee at the launch of excursions organized by the museum. The restoration took two years and over $100,000 and now the boat serves a historical role.
“It is an artifact, an authentic piece of maritime history in Annapolis,” President Alice Estrada said.
The museum is offering heritage cruises with education on the city’s history and ecology of the Chesapeake Bay, evening sunset cruises, night races watch parties, programs with students and youth groups, and private charters, according to the press release.
Once the museum staff and volunteers were able to acquire the skipjack and bring it back to Annapolis, the 80-year-old boat needed to be restored.
The mast, strongback and other parts of the boat were replaced. A previous owner also converted it to be more of a yacht and so the skipjack has two John Deere engines, said volunteer Dennis Krizek.
The skipjack has nearly 50-feet on deck, with a 70-feet overall length, and a 64-foot mast, he said.
Putting together the content of tours was also an important part of the museum’s efforts, Estrada said.
“Our mission is to educate adults and youth about Annapolis’ rich maritime history and the ecology of the Bay,” she explained.
The museum received Wilma Lee in 2016 after a private donor purchased the boat, said Estrada. Skipjacks are the state boat and were original to the Chesapeake Bay, used to harvest oysters, she said.
Cathy Wasiuta, the education program coordinator, said the education programs put together by the museum will provide an adapted version of field trips done in the past with the Anne Arundel County Public schools and other groups.
“It is a pretty unique experience. While it is fun to go out on a boat, it is really cool to go out on a true skipjack and see the sails go up and learn about it. It smells like it is supposed to smell,” Wasiuta said, referencing the wooden hull of the boat.
Before, fifth-graders and sixth-graders would visit the museum and learn about the environment, oysters industry and then go out on another boat to visit the reef in the Severn River to see the underwater ecosystem.
But now with the Wilma Lee, the hope is to really show what it was like to be on a skipjack, Wasiuta said. The program will offer education on water quality testing, industry tools used, animals around the Bay — all while in a boat made to harvest oysters.
“The history that the Bay has had is such a unique history with oystering. These boats were built doing that specific thing,” Wasiuta explained.
“It is pretty cool that we have (the skipjack) at the maritime museum.”
Despite the challenges born out of the pandemic, the museum staff worked hard to get the skipjack back out on the waters. Estrada said the boat is certified and was taken out for practice runs this summer ahead of the launch.
To follow health and safety guidelines, the boat will be at 50% capacity with 23 passengers, including captain and crew. Though the pandemic has slowed down some operations, Estrada said people may want to just be outdoors more than ever.
“We feel like it is a sort of perfect solution in these times to have an activity, which I think people in general are starving for,” she said.
The museum will host a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Gavin Buckley on Sept. 4.
