Paid programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Maritime Museum in Beaufort.

Maritime Heritage Series: ‘Santa Claus, Patron Saint of Sailors’

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Did Santa prefer a green suit before he started wearing his now iconic red? What is Mrs. Claus’s first name? We may not have all the answers regarding the mysterious and jolly figure, but during this family friendly presentation we will try to answer some...

Free

MARITIME HERITAGE SERIES: Beaufort to Core Creek: The Life of a Farmer-Fisherman in 1867

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

In 1867, W. J. Bushall moved from Beaufort, North Carolina, to Core Creek to farm and fish. He left behind a diary from 1867 that details his life farming, fishing, and transporting his agricultural products by boat to market. The diary provides a view of...

Free

North Carolina Whales

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

North Carolina has many species of whales that travel near our shores and sometimes strand on our beaches. This makes it ideal for biologists like our Natural Science Curator Keith Rittmaster and his colleagues to study and promote the conservation and understanding of these protected...

Free

As Cold as the Night ‘Crissie Wright’ Came Ashore

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

The people of Carteret County may have heard the tale of Crissie Wright and how cold it was the night the ship foundered off Shackleford Banks, Jan. 8, 1886. But what was the real story? Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly will present the facts of the...

Free

Maritime Heritage Series: Love at Sea

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Duels and deathbed confessions are included in these local love stories that will be recounted in honor of Valentine’s Day. Associate Education Curator, Christine Brin, will share eight of her favorite maritime-themed love stories for this special holiday presentation. The program is part of our...

Free

The Management of Free and Enslaved Laborers in North Carolina’s Antebellum Shad and Herring Fishery

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Plantations that bordered coastal North Carolina’s creeks, rivers, and sounds often possessed fisheries that were operated by both free and enslaved peoples. While a few studies have provided some insights into the functioning of these fisheries, no one has analyzed labor management at them. Drawing...

Free

Maritime Heritage Series: ‘Crusty Clusters, Hidden Treasure: Concretions in Archaeological Conservation’

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Is it a seahorse? A plumbing fixture? What about a really big nail? Sometimes artifacts that are buried in the ocean form special crusts called ‘concretion’ that change their appearance and hide their identity. In this lecture, museum conservator Michelle Crepeau discusses what a concretion...

Free

MARITIME HERITAGE SERIES: U-boat Attack on the Caribsea, WWII

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Join Education Curator Benjamin Wunderly to learn about the wreck of the Caribsea, a casualty of World War II. On March 11, 1942, this cargo freighter was sunk by the German U-boat 158 off Cape Lookout while heading from Santiago de Cuba to Baltimore, Maryland....

Free

By Hook or By Crook

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Ranked among the fiercest pirates from the “Golden Age of Piracy,” Anne Bonny and Mary Read have stories that daytime TV could only aspire to. Join Associate Education Curator Christine Brin in the museum auditorium to learn about these women pirates. She will trace what...

MARITIME HERITAGE SERIES: The North Carolina Shad Boat

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

In the 1870s, George Washington Creef of Roanoke Island developed what came to be known as the "North Carolina Shad Boat." He went on to influence generations of boatbuilders by sharing his design and expertise. The boat design spread throughout northeastern North Carolina, becoming one...

Free

MARITIME HERITAGE SERIES: Beaufort’s Dolphins, Getting to Know Them

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Join Museum Natural Science Curator Keith Rittmaster for an informal discussion about the biology, behavior, and conservation issues affecting "Beaufort’s Dolphins."  Bottlenose dolphins occur in the waters off Beaufort year-round but they’re not the same individuals all year. We are learning a lot about these...

Free

MARITIME HERITAGE SERIES: The International Fishermen & Allied Workers of America in Eastern North Carolina

North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort 315 Front St., Beaufort, NC, United States

Following World War II, the Congress of Industrial Workers embarked on a campaign to unionize the South. As a part of that campaign, the International Fishermen and Allied Workers of America, a small Seattle-based labor union, attempted to unionize North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry. The...

Free

Registration and Refund Policy:

Registration costs, less a 10% fee, are refunded when the museum receives cancellation notice at least 48 hours before the start of a program. There is no refund within 48 hours of the start of a program, and tickets cannot be transferred to a later program date within that 48 hour timeframe. Due to material costs and supply, Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center Courses require a 2-week notification for cancellations; only the course fee is refunded if cancellation occurs prior to 2 weeks. The Museum reserves the right to cancel any program that does not meet the minimum participant requirement up to one week before the program is scheduled. In the event of cancellation due to low enrollment, participants who have submitted a fee will receive a full refund. If a program is canceled due to inclement weather and unable to be rescheduled for another date, the participants will receive a full refund.