The Schooner AJ MEERWALD is on the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places and is representative of an important vessel type, the "new style" Jersey oyster schooner. The "old style" schooner had a clipper bow rather than a spoon bow, and was much smaller with a more complex rig.
The Schooner AJ MEERWALD worked under sail while pulling a dredge to scrape oysters from the floor of the Delaware Bay. Her crews culled or sorted the oysters and piled the decks high. The oyster industry prospered due to improvements in technology including the dredge, the spoon bow design on schooners that provided a larger deck and the winder engine, which allowed the schooner to pull a larger dredge and dredge faster. The result was a greater oyster harvest.
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Specifications:
*Gati-rigged (sails framed by wood on three sides), bald headed (lacks topmasts) with masts that are 68' and 65' tall, her sail area is 3,500 square feet.
*115' from bowsprit to end of main boom.
*85' length on deck and 22'5" beam/wide.
*Draws 6' of water, 12' with centerboard down, with a 6-71 Detroit Diesel engine (originally built with a 100 horsepower Standard diesel).
Chronology:
1928-Built by Stowman and Sons Shipyard in Dorchester, NJ and Commissioned by the Meerwald Family of South Dennis, NJ—named for Augustus J. Meerwald.
1942-Served in World War II as a fireboat. Crewed by the US Coast Guard, working between Philadelphia and Camden. Her masts were removed.
1947-Purchased by Clyde A. Phillips and renamed the CLYDE A PHILLIPS. Harvested oysters under power (New Jersey discontinued dredging under sail in 1945.
1959-Refitted as one of the first surf clammers to harvest clams in the Atlantic Ocean by Nicky Campbell. She worked along the East Coast from North Carolina to Point Pleasant, New Jersey for various captains mostly under the ownership of American Clam.
1980-Retired.
1986-Clam license sold to Donnie McDaniels who gave the vessel to Capt. John Gandy who planned to restore her one day.
1988-Hull sank in the Maurice River, raised by the Delaware Bay Schooner Project (now Bayshore Center at Bivalve).
1992-Lifted from river, set in cradle in makeshift shipyard at the Marino property in Bivalve.
1994-Six years of fundraising efforts allowed hiring of professional crew to begin 26-month hull restoration. Funding for the AJ MEERWALD restoration was made possible by the New Jersey Historic Trust. New Jersey Department of Transportation, many individuals and business and thousands of volunteer hours.
1995-Re-christened and launched once again as the AJ MEERWALD on September 12th.
1996-Commissioned on May 12th began new life as a sailing classroom.
1998-Designated as New Jersey's Official Tail Ship. Funding for this interpretive exhibit is made possible in part by a grant from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust administrated by the New Jersey Historic Trust.
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