On Saturday, October 15th, the Museum celebrated its 148th birthday with the unveiling and launch of a replica 1760 Royal Navy ship’s dinghy, commonly known as a yawl boat, built by our Heritage Boatworks program. Heritage Boatworks is a volunteer group dedicated to keeping the ancient artistry of wooden boatbuilding alive and has been active for over 15 years at the Museum. Devoted volunteer boatbuilders have worked on this build for over five years, demonstrating skilled craftsmanship and commitment. This 14’ eighteenth-century design is based on original lines from the British Archives and obtained from the Smithsonian Institute. This type of watercraft was common in the waters around St. Augustine during the British period from 1763 to 1783. Its keel and posts are made of live oak and planked by cypress, local materials used by boatbuilders in St. Augustine during that time. The boat was commissioned by a local reenactment group, the H.M.S. Belisarius. Reenactors from fortmose a...