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  SARAH SAILS

Sarah is available for scheduled sails or charter, May through October.
For more information, schedules and reservations click the red star above.

summer 2008 tour photos

Use these links for the Cape Cod Times story and pictures of Sarah's launch on September 2, 2007. Note: For the pictures, you must scroll to the bottom of the first page of the newspaper's photo gallery, click "More Photo Galleries," and scroll down to 08/31/07, the day the story originally appeared in the paper.

Photo of Sarah being lifted by a crane from the parking lot behind the Museum to be placed in her slip in the harbor.  Photo by Skip Hall, 2007

CATBOAT SARAH PROJECT

The launch of Sarah, the Museum-built replica of the 1886 Crosby Catboat, was the highlight of 2007.  She has been designated the Official Boat of the Town of Barnstable and will carry on her important role as floating classroom from a slip in the Hyannis harbor directly behind the Museum. Sarah is 23 feet long, built of wood: oak, cypress, and a red spruce mast from a tree harvested in Falmouth.  The gaff-rigged sail is traditionally cut, the halyards are manilla rather than synthetic, and the cleats and blocks are of wood rather than bronze, stainless steel, or plastic.

One hundred years ago, scores of similar boats plyed the waters of Nantucket Sound, Cape Cod Bay and other waters of New England, serving as working boats for fishermen, and then becoming popular for recreation and racing.

Guided by Museum staff and local crew, small groups of students will sail Sarah into Lewis Bay and take a voyage back in time to 1886. On the water, students will handle sail, lines, and tiller and learn how to navigate with compass, chart and landmarks. Depending on the season, they will also try their hand at line-fishing, scallop dragging, and crabbing. They will experience first hand the toil, tribulations and triumphs of fishing in the 19th century.

Sarah was constructed on site at the Museum by former Director and Curator, Mark Wilkins, with help from several volunteers. From the start in May 2004, visitors were able to observe the construction as it progressed.

BUILDING SARAH

The original 1886 Sarah built by Herbert F. Crosby and now owned by Tom Church, was brought to the Museum so that lines could be taken and her details studied.
  The name Crosby is nearly synonymous with catboats on Cape Cod. There were several generations of Crosby boatbuilders working continuously from the 1830's to the 1930's, and sometimes several different boatshops operating at one time, mostly around Osterville, just west of Hyannis. Construction of Sarah was carried out inside the Museum, starting with the keel, stem, and stern post--the backbone of the boat--as shown below.