With the summer season gearing up, the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center will expand its operating hours to accommodate our region's residents and visitors. The Watercraft Center and the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort will be open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting June 18. This change gives visitors an extra hour to explore our sites. Starting June 27, the watercraft center and the museum will resume Sunday operations. Both sites will be open from noon to 5 p.m. to wrap up the weekend....

BEAUFORT, N.C. – The Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center will close to visitors until at least March 4. Due to a recent exposure to COVID-19, the facilities will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, and site employees with potential exposure to the virus will self-quarantine for 14 days following N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services and CDC guidelines. Because the watercraft center has only a few full-time employees, the site will be closed until employees are able to return to work. The Lift Half-Model Making Course scheduled for March 6 and 7 at the site has subsequently been canceled. The Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center is part of the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The museum remains open to the public. Any needed contact tracing will be managed by the Carteret County Health Department....

It's been way too long since I last wrote about what is happening in the Watercraft Center. So I thought I'd update what's been happening. 2020 Raffle Boat We've completed and installed our new 2020 raffle boat, and tickets are on sale for $5 at the museum gift shop. The new boat is a traditionally built dinghy called a "Catspaw," and the plans are available from Wooden Boat Magazine. The 13-foot rowing/sailboat was originally drawn and built by Nat Herreshoff and updated by Joel White. We built the boat in the traditional style using white oak for the backbone and steam-bent frames, Atlantic white cedar (aka Juniper} for the lapstrake planking and mahogany for the sheer plank, transom and seats and thwarts. The boat also comes with a beautiful set of handmade fir oars. The mast and sprit are also fir. This is a sweet boat that would be perfect for rowing or sailing...