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A visit to the Maritime and Yachting Museum of Florida - by Kurt Rothe
This past April, my wife Carol and I had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Maritime and Yachting Museum of Florida located in Stuart. We were met by their Executive Director, Sheila Stewart-Leach, and were given a tour of the collections and facilities. The Museum is now located at 1707 NE Indian River Drive in Jansen Beach, Florida. It recently moved its collections, office and exhibit space. Their new location will enable them to host more exhibits and programs for the interested public. Here is an example of the exhibits that they will have available in December, 2009:
• The Ole and Bess Evinrude Story – Evinrude, Elto, Johnson and OMC.
• Crossing the Pond: Ocean Liners, 1853-1961
• Mahoganies: The Boats that Brought Leisure Boating to the Populace – included are a 1936 Chris Craft Deluxe Runabout and also a 1938 Chris Craft utility and a Century of the same time period.
The Museum will also host “Changing Exhibits” which are those shared among and between maritime museums. Some of those exhibits will include:
• Military Vessels from Private Collections
• Shrimpers, Oyster and Fishing Boats: Work-boats that tell the stories of human, food and supply cargo and movement.
• Mahoganies: Charles Bennett’s Beauties – a collection of mahogany models to include Chris Craft, Century, Lyman and Garwood.
• Tools of the Trade: Wooden Boat Building: Early Technology – an exhibit of antique wood working tools from the early part of the last century.
In addition, an active Education Program is being planned for school and other tour groups. The Bill Milligan Research Library is also available for maritime history research with over 2,000 volumes of available research material.
Classes and workshops are being planned for the winter of 2010 to include kit building classes, boat model classes and workshops, celestial navigation, lure-making, and boating safety for both children and adults. The Museum’s ongoing boat restoration program will continue.
Monies given to the Museum by the Sunnyland Chapter in 2007 were used for programming purposes such as the classes and workshops listed above.
The Museum has an ambitious “Master Plan” that includes the design, development and construction of a 35,000 square foot facility that would serve as a permanent resource for the public and also visitors from Florida and throughout the United States. This “Master Plan” was the result of a collaborative design
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