By Debra Messick

Following a booming “off” season getting shipshape, the Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester is again afloat. Plans are fully underway for the living history vessel’s gala 30th birthday celebration July 4 at its home berth at Long Wharf.

Reservations are now being taken for the Nathan’s public sail “home opener,” a two-hour Sunset Sail Saturday, May 25, featuring light fare food, dessert, non-alcoholic beverages, and BYOB for $75.

Reservations can also be made for weekly Saturday public sails starting June 1, 1 to 3 p.m., at $40 per adult, $20 per child under 13, with infants free.

Two additional Thursday Sunset “Sip ‘N Sail” cruises are scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m., June 20 and July 18. The $60 reservation includes a1.5-hour cruise with “snackle box” charcuterie and two glasses of wine, and non-alcoholic beverages available, as well.

The Nathan can also be reserved for custom charters at charter@skipjacknathan.org.

Though seemingly in stasis until now, the Nathan has been steadily serviced by a team of dedicated volunteers who haven't wasted a minute of downtime.

The Dorchester Skipjack Committee and Richardson Maritime staff and volunteers (many of whom overlap collaboratively) built a newly designed hollow boom from Douglas fir to replace the original Loblolly pine sail attaching apparatus, whose working lifespan had ended.

Other preseason tasks included total rehab of the original inboard diesel engine (also 30-plus years old), replacement of inboard pumps and lines, push boat Eleanor repairs, and U.S Coast Guard inspection requirements, including the rigorous pulling up of 18 five-inch nails from the Nathan’s underside.

As soon as the calendar signaled the start of spring, the sailing protocols and rituals began anew, with the rigorous “all hands on deck” uprigging, the painstaking reattachment of the newly cleaned majestic sails.

Midway through the season, at 9:30 a.m. July 4, 2024, the Declaration of Independence will be read, part of the America 250 program launched in 2020 in preparation of the nation’s landmark upcoming 2026 birthday. Then, the Nathan celebration kicks off at 10 a.m., featuring several special commemorative speakers, according to Dorchester Skipjack Committee Board President Patricia Johnson.

Besides marking the anniversary of the Nathan’s christening on July 4, 1994, “Our goal is to celebrate the boat and honor the legacy of our watermen that have worked these boats and waters for generations,” Johnson said.

For more information, visit https://www.skipjack-nathan.org or call 410-228-7141.