Hands-On Help for the Maryland Dove

HSMC to Host Block-Making Workshop Sept. 12

Historic St. Mary’s City will host a workshop next month featuring Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum shipyard education program manager Jennifer Kuhn and HSMC shipwright Jim Knowles teaching how to make handmade blocks to be used on the new Maryland Dove, currently under construction at CBMM.

The workshop will be held from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday, September 12.

The blocks are integral to the ship’s rigging and will be used throughout for raising and lowering the sails. Not only will attendees be learning a new skill but the work will be part of the new Maryland Dove.

Children 10 to 15 years old must be accompanied by an adult who then supervises/works in tandem with that child. Children 16 to 18 can be unaccompanied by an adult. The cost for the program is $75 ($65 for CBMM or HSMC members). Ear and eye protection will be provided. There is limited space for this program so register by calling 240-895-4990 (10 am to 5 pm Wednesday through Sunday) or emailing [email protected].

Built in a shipyard near Cambridge, MD, in 1978, the Maryland Dove is owned by the state of Maryland and operated and maintained by the Historic St. Mary’s City Commission.

From now through 2021, CBMM’s working shipyard is constructing the ship’s successor in full public view. To learn more about Maryland Dove and CBMM’s efforts to build the new vessel, click here.