Maritime Museum Speaker Series Concludes with Tall Ship Experience

The Door County Maritime Museum’s popular Maritime Speaker Series will conclude for the season Thursday, March 2, when Mike Peters will recount his time crewing the tall ship Pride of Baltimore II and what’s involved in signing up for just such a voyage.

As with all the programs in the series, the presentation will be held at the museum in Sturgeon Bay beginning at 7 pm. Admission is free with the donation of a non-perishable food item appreciated.

“The one type of vessel that has always fascinated me is the tall ship,” said Peters, who holds a 1,600-ton Master’s License for Power and Sail. He has sailed and raced boats of all sizes and types all over the world, but despite a resume that includes tug boats, research vessels and paddle wheelers, Peters said crewing a tall ship was something new.

“I first saw the Pride of Baltimore II in the 1990s while sailing into Florida’s Key West Truman Annex Harbor,” he remembers. “What a sight she was under full sail!”

He again saw her last summer when she visited Sturgeon Bay on her way to the Tall Ship Festival in Green Bay where a friend told him how a person could sail as guest crewmember.

“So I applied online for a crew position,” he said. “As a guest you had the option of being totally involved in the operation of the vessel or just go along for the ride.”

Peters chose a 500-mile leg of the ship’s journey out of the Great Lakes which involved a five-day passage from Marquette, Mich., to Lorain, Ohio.

Call 920.743.5958 or visit www.dcmm.org for more information.