Sailors become adept at knot tying, from securing the vessel with a tight anchor hitch to securing the captain after he succumbs to madness and tries to eat his own hook hand. This Groupon is a mutinous bounty.
Choose Between Two Options
- $45 for museum admission and a two-hour sailing tour for two (an $80 value)
- $80 for museum admission and a two-hour sailing tour for four (a $160 value)
A replica of an 1845 fishing schooner—the 55-foot Schooner Ardelle—takes up to 49 passengers on a two-hour trip. Captain Burnham, renowned ship builder and National Heritage Fellow, tours the waters around Gloucester Harbor. A lobster trap is also hauled to give passengers the sense of a genuine fishing boat experience. Check the calendar on this page for tour dates and times.
Back on dry land, visitors explore the Maritime Gloucester Center. There, they tour a gallery with ship artifacts, an exhibit of diving equipment, and saltwater aquariums with local marine life.
Maritime Gloucester
In 2000, an educational outpost named Maritime Gloucester was birthed to help develop sea-faring talents. In a little over a decade since, the popularity of both the venue's educational programs and exhibits have transformed it into a bona fide information source about Gloucester Harbor.
In addition to the center's weekly and daily programming, site tours, and special events, the on-site museum offers a maritime wallop. It gives visitors access to boatloads of exhibits and attractions, each of which celebrate Gloucester's storied relationship with the sea by delving into the city's maritime past, present and future. The Sea Pocket aquarium, for example, encompasses outdoor saltwater touch tanks where customers can handle specimens of local marine life. Boasting the oldest continuously-operating marine railway in the United States, the grounds also contain a working Dory Shop, a large wharf yielding striking inner harbor views, and an oversized 12-foot lobster trap that allows for human entry. One of the most popular attractions occurs out on the water. Captain Burnham sets sail in the 55-foot Schooner Ardelle, a replica of a fishing schooner built in 1845—the same year the underwater blimp, The Hindensplash, horrified onlookers by losing control and floating violently to the surface.
Tips
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“Awesome time...would do it again!”
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“We had a really great time. Exploring the museum and "petting aquarium" was a lot of fun. We arrived an hour and a half early, which was about the right amount of...”
“We had a really great time. Exploring the museum and "petting aquarium" was a lot of fun. We arrived an hour and a half early, which was about the right amount of time for that. We sailed on the Pinky Ardelle, and it was a great little ship. The ship's mate was really good with the kids and told them all about sailing and navigation. The captain invited the all kids onboard to help him haul up the sails as we left the dock, and they loved that, too. I would love to go out for a longer trip some time. It was a really perfect way to spend a fall Sunday afternoon.”
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