Schooner AJ Meerwald, NJ’s Official Tall Ship, is sailing out of historic Gardner’s Basin in Atlantic City through August 10th. Several public sails to choose from.

Wednesday, August 6th, is ‘Sailor For A Day Camp’ aboard the Schooner AJ Meerwald for youth 10 to 16 years of age. Sail is from 9a to 4p. Ship departs from and returns to Gardner’s Basin in Atlantic City. Visit www.bayshorecenter.org or call 856-785-2060 for more information.

The Schooner A.J. Meerwald is a restored oyster dredging schooner, whose home port is in Bivalve, Commercial Township, New Jersey. Launched in 1928, A.J. Meerwald was one of hundreds of schooners built along South Jersey’s Bayshore before the decline of the shipbuilding industry which coincided with the Great Depression.

Today, the A.J. Meerwald is used by the Bayshore Discovery Project for onboard educational programs in the Delaware Bay near Bivalve, and at other ports in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware region. The A.J. Meerwald was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1995.

Name: A.J. Meerwald
Owner: Bayshore Discovery Project
Ordered: 1928
Builder: Charles H. Stowman & Sonos shipyard
Aquired: 1989
Fate: educational vessel

General Characteristics
Type: two-masted gaff schooner
Tonnage: 57 tons
Length: 85 feet (26 m) on deck
Beam: 22 feet (6.7 m)
Height: 70 feet (21 m)
Draft: 6 feet (1.8 m)
Propulsion: sail; auxiliary engine
Sail plan: mainsail, foresail, large jib
Capacity: 49 passengers
Notes: 0ak hull; 3,562 square feet (330.9 m2) total sail area