NORTH CAPE MAY — The 1928 historic oyster schooner A.J. Meerwald has returned to the Cape May area after sailing up the coast of and providing public sails and educational programming in Toms River, New York Harbor and Sandy Hook Bay.
She will sail again from the Cape May Ferry Terminal in partnership with the Delaware River & Bay Authority. Public sails and Family Educational sails will be offered through Sept. 21.
The two-hour afternoon and evening sails will cruise along the scenic Delaware Bay, with views of the Cape May Lighthouse.
Sails will head out the Cape May Canal into the bay and head east to the lighthouse and/or west toward West Cape Bay.
The public should be able to see the ship sail by from beaches in West Cape May. Tickets are $50 per person. Passengers should plan to walk several hundred feet to board the vessel and climb up and down a series of stairs.
Environmental Educational sails designed for children and guardians are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Children’s tickets are $25 and adults are $50. Recommended for children ages 5 and older. The sails feature fish identification, trawling and additional education stations. All passengers are welcome to bring their own snacks and beverages aboard for the sail. The current sailing schedule and tickets can be found at bayshorecenter.org.
“Sailing aboard A.J. Meerwald from the ferry terminal in Cape May is a unique opportunity to sail out on the Delaware Bay, surrounded by sea life. This is what the Meerwald was built for — oystering in our local waters in the late 1920s and harvesting oysters that traveled all the way across the country. Together with DRBA, we look forward to offering visitors the opportunity to connect to our local history and learn more about oystering on the Delaware Bay,” Executive Director Jessica Yorke said.
“We’re pleased to once again host New Jersey’s Tall Ship A.J. Meerwald,” said Heath Gehrke, director of Ferry Operations. “It’s such an awesome experience to sail the Delaware Bay aboard the A.J. Meerwald, imagining what it would be like to work on the vessel in the 1930s. What a great opportunity to enjoy this hands-on experience while learning about our rich local history on the Delaware Bay.”
The 2025 sailing season began in April. Since then, the ship has sailed from her home port at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve in Port Norris north up the Delaware River to Trenton; south to Norfolk, Va.; then north to the Cape May area to kick off the season in June and early July.
Stops then included Toms River, Atlantic Highlands and Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Following her time in the Cape May area, she will sail to Philadelphia, and then points south in the Chesapeake Bay this fall.
