Maryland Dove Goes on Tour

A Dove sighting on a fishing trip

SoMDNews,  Maryland Dove to tour the Chesapeake Bay

Historic St. Mary’s City recently announced that the Maryland Dove will be sailing to various ports of call around the Chesapeake Bay this summer.

During the Bay Tour, the ship will be open to the public for free deck tours at each of the heritage areas for one to three days at a time.

“We look forward to partnering with fellow heritage areas,” HSMC Director of Education Peter Friesen said in a news release, “to help connect the traveling exhibit with communities further away than our typical audience.”

The tour will consist of the following stops:

• Baltimore from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 20; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 21; and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 22, at Broadway Pier, 920 South Broadway in Baltimore.

• Havre de Grace from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24, and Sunday, June 25. The ship will be docked at Hutchins Memorial Park, 100 Congress Ave. in Havre De Grace.

• Cambridge from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 30, and Saturday, July 1, at Long Wharf, 2 Yacht Club Drive in Cambridge.

• Crisfield from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, through Sunday, Sept. 3, at the National Hard Crab Derby at Somers Cove Marina, 715 Broadway in Crisfield. Maryland Dove and its dockside exhibits will emphasize the waterways of the region, pre-colonial heritage, and interactions between different cultures.

The ship and its exhibits are designed to elicit conversation, highlighting the depth of history represented in the area and the interactions between Native peoples and European colonists. Maryland Dove is a unique representative of the complicated history, representing colonization and the effects on those that called the land home.

Maryland Dove sails as a steward of Historic St. Mary’s City and a representation of a cargo vessel that arrived, along with the passenger ship Ark, in 1634. When not traveling, it can be found docked in southern tidewater Maryland at the living history museum in St. Mary’s County.

The 1978 Dove

This is, in fact, the second modern incarnation of the Dove, having been started in 2019 and finished in 2022. The first was launched in 1978 and resided (mostly) at Historic St. Mary's City. Many years back the family did a visit there, and IIRC, we did a short ride on it. My daughter-in-law, Abi, however, worked at St. Mary's city, and crewed on the Dove.

After being built in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum on Maryland’s eastern shore, the state-funded ship was commissioned and delivered to Historic St. Mary’s City in August 2022.

The Project has been financed in part with State funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, Project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

It's worth the visit, if only to imagine crossing the Atlantic in a little thing like that.