Welcome to the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society
We are a nonprofit dedicated to preserving maritime heritage and to sharing that rich legacy with the public, especially children and youth.
Join SMHS or Renew Your Membership now (valid until 03/2021):
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Boathouse 2020 Capital Campaign
This year we were excited to kickoff our Boathouse 2020 Capital Campaign, with the goal of raising funds to match larger foundation grants to complete and open to the public with regularly scheduled programming and events for the community. Boathouse 2020 will allow the Boathouse to be filled with life and activity on a full-time basis!
Knots WorkshopIn April, we were proud to present “The Knots You Need” a workshop on some of the most widely used and essential knots for any mariner (or everyday life!). Instructor and Board Member, Stan Barge did a fantastic job of guiding participants – many of whom were novices – through progressively more complicated knots. The group started with a square knot and worked up to a trucker’s hitch! All participants went home with an illustrated booklet of how to tie each knot learned (plus a few more advanced knots) and line to practice on. Look out for more hands-on workshops from SMHS!
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4th of July CruiseThe sun and wildlife were out for our 4th of July cruise this year! During the outbound trip, Rebecca Poulson took us on a fascinating journey through Sitka’s history with her talk on shipbuilding at Sitka, and once we reached St. Lazaria, naturalist Matt Goff made the journey even more special by sharing his wealth of wildlife knowledge with our passengers.
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2019 Boathouse Work Parties
The Japonski Island Boathouse is looking a bit different these days through the support of a Historic Preservation Fund grant. This Spring, a new addition shell was built, which will eventually serve as the main entrance to the Boathouse as well as house bathrooms and office space. Additionally, the main Southwest wall of the original building has received a facelift with the help of many, many volunteers. Each original piece of siding was carefully numbered and removed, then insulation, plywood sheathing and an infiltration barrier were installed. The original, repainted boards were then refastened to the building, with a few new replacement boards, milled to match the originals, taking the place of earlier repairs. This work makes the wall sturdier and weatherproof. So much effort has gone into doing this work on the wall and it’s great to know that it’s just as improved on the inside as it looks on the outside! Thank you so much to all of the dedicated community volunteers who have donated their time and skills to this project!
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Don Sineti at the BeakThis October we had a great time gathering at The Beak for an evening of sea chanteys by Don Sineti, organized together with Sitka Whalefest.
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Earthquake: RevisitedFor the Alaska Day 2019 theme of "Frontier First Responders" we invited the community to the library for a viewing of a video of stories told by Sitkans about their experiences during the 1964 earthquake, followed by discussion by Larry Calvin and stories from the audience. It was great to see how many folks came out for the event and were eager to participate and share.
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