May 03, 2009|By Susan Gvozdas | Susan Gvozdas,Special to The Baltimore Sun
Lee di Paula likes showing off his 1930, 50-foot mahogany motor yacht, The Duchess. Not only is the classic considered a sweet ride by fellow boaters, he is proud of the restoration work he did since buying it nearly three years ago. Although the yacht was structurally sound, he had to replace its interior.
"This yacht was getting ready to be taken away to the graveyard," Di Paula said.
This weekend's 10th annual Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival, at City Dock in Annapolis, will mark the first time that he and many others will show off their boats.
The Antique and Classic Boat Society's Chesapeake chapter will have its largest display this year with more than 30 boats, member Chuck Warner said. The show's highlight will be the Elf, a 30-foot sailboat that was built in 1888 and pioneered offshore yacht cruising five years later, according to the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
Another highlight is a 1927 Chris-Craft that has a triple cockpit - one up front, one in the middle and one on the end.
"It's a very unusual design, and you don't see many of them very often," said Rick Franke, who works for the Annapolis Sailing School and is the festival's leader of waterside activities.
The expanded relationship with the boat society is the result of a growing friendship between Warner and Dave Hanson, who is team leader for the festival and a member of the board running the event.
Tom Stalder, volunteer coordinator, said the festival is important because it teaches people about Annapolis' history of oyster and crab houses as well as its continuing prominence as a sailing center.
"If somebody doesn't do it, people forget," said Stalder, who owns a powerboat that he and his wife, Trudy, take around the bay. "It means maintaining our heritage."
The festival evolved from events held when the 1998 Whitbread sailing race - later renamed the Volvo Ocean Race - made a stop in Annapolis.
The festival is a celebration of the Chesapeake Bay, focusing on education, entertainment and stewardship of the area's maritime heritage, according to the festival Web site. It is run by a subsidiary of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.
There will be a variety of public events.
Annapolis Community Boating and Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating will offer free sailboat rides. The National Sailing Hall of Fame will present the Pride of Baltimore II, a replica of an 1812 clipper ship, and the Manitou yacht, known as President John F. Kennedy's sailing White House. The Kent Narrows Racing Association will have several types of high-speed hydroplanes on display and allow children to sit in the cockpit for photos.
"We love to do that - put them in there and give them a thrill," said Warner, who is also a member of the racing association.
The Annapolis Maritime Museum will have a five-foot model of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse on display as well as a skipjack and work boat.
The festival also will feature a newly expanded "Eco Alley" that will focus on preserving the health of the bay and the environment.
The grass roots Annapolis Green Organization, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other groups will have informational booths.
Kids can study the health of the bay and its creatures, too, at the Wetlands on Wheels exhibit at City Dock. Children also can race through an obstacle course in the Boating Olympics, go on a scavenger hunt, get fake tattoos and play in an inflatable Buccaneer moon bounce. Artworks Studio will teach kids how to make boating arts and crafts.
The festival will close with the opening ceremonies for the J/24 World Championship Regatta, which begins Monday at the Annapolis Yacht Club. Representatives from more than a dozen countries will parade through town with their countries' flags to City Dock.
if you go
Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in Annapolis. Visitors are encouraged to park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and take the shuttle.
