Shell Games on Tall Ship

We know there’s more to our state than mall hair and smelly refineries. But even many Jersey-savvy folks know little about the culture that once revolved around dredging for oysters near places like Bivalve and Shell Pile, on the Maurice River off Delaware Bay.

Capt. Bill Mylett and his crew aboard the A.J. Meerwald don’t want those days to be forgotten. So as part of the Bayshore Discovery Project they sail the state’s waters as a floating classroom. Their three-masted vessel is a restored oyster schooner that in 1998 was designated New Jersey’s official tall ship. 

When built in 1928, the Meerwald was one of 500 schooners harvesting the rich oyster beds of Delaware Bay. The industry as well as the way of life built around it were destroyed in 1957, when disease killed 90 percent of the oysters. 

To remember those days at its home port of Bivalve, the Meerwald takes groups of students — from grammar school to college — on cruises to explore the marshy waters of the region. Kids help raise sails, test water quality, muck around for oysters, and hear about the local culture that died with the oysters.

The ship also takes student groups when it travels around the state, and sails off on public cruises from various New Jersey ports. Those are less educationally formal and aimed at adults who like being on the water, under the sun, in a big sail boat.

“We teach about the ecology and culture of Delaware Bay,” Capt. Mylett said, standing on the gangway before lifting anchor for a public sail in Burlington. “I see some couples brought a bottle of wine, and they’re just going to have a nice sunset sail.” Click NJ My Way to see this group hoist sail.

The Meerwald will be in Burlington through Saturday, when it returns to Bivalve. It will run its programs from there until it docks in Cape May in late June. For most of July the Meerwald is scheduled to be in Jersey City. Details at the ship’s website.

From the Maurice River to the Hudson. A reminder that in New Jersey you get a view of the Manhattan skyline, and of old oystering shacks in the marshes of Bivalve.

Tags: sailing | oysters | A.J. Meerwald

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