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Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum 20th annual Charity Boat Auction – September 20

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum offers the opportunity to get a great deal on the boat of your dreams this Labor Day weekend during the 20th annual Charity Boat Auction on Saturday, September 2. More than 100 boats—ranging in size and performance from sailing dinghies to cabin cruisers, and everything in between—will be in the water and on land to be auctioned off to the highest bidders.

Advanced, absentee bids will be accepted, and can be called in with payment information at 410-745-4942 or taken in person until noon on Friday, September 1, 2017. As an absolute auction, all boats will be sold the day of the event, with a title office set up at CBMM for ease of transfer. All boats must be removed by Monday, September 4.
Proceeds from the rain or shine event benefit the children and adults served by CBMM’s education, restoration, and exhibition programming.

Auction boats will be available for preview on Thursday, August 31 and Friday, September 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, with a $5 non-member admission. Guests can also preview the boats beginning at 8:00 a.m. the day of the event, with the live auction beginning at 11:00 a.m. along CBMM’s Miles River waterfront campus. Food and beverages will be available for purchase at 10:00 a.m., and beer beginning at 10:30 a.m.

CBMM’s Charity Boat Donation Program Director Todd Taylor takes donations and resells boats throughout the year, holding aside some of the inventory for the annual auction. Taylor travels the east coast working with boat owners, yacht brokers, marinas, boatyards, and other donors and potential buyers wanting to support CBMM through boat donations and sales. In preparation for the annual auction, boat sales will be suspended on Sunday, July, 30, 2017.

“100% of the revenue generated by the auction goes directly toward helping CBMM’s educational programs and restoring and preserving its historic structures and boats,” says Taylor. “Let us take an unused or unwanted boat off your hands, and you can receive a nice tax deduction. Each donated boat helps the museum do great things for the people we serve.”

The event also includes a flea market-style tag sale from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. where guests can purchase a variety of used boating gear, including ground tackle, electrical equipment, hardware, rope and chain, oars, life jackets, fishing tackle, motors, and more.
Auction boats and the official rules can be viewed at cbmm.org/boatauction, with inventory updated weekly. Boat sales are on-going through July 30, 2017, with all auction boats subject to sale prior to the auction.

To donate a boat or items for the tag sale, or for updates on the boat auction and inventory, visit cbmm.org/boatauction, call 410-745-4942, or [email protected].

On September 2, CBMM’s Fogg’s Landing gates open at 8:00 a.m., with free event entrance for CBMM members and children ages 5 and under. Otherwise, general admission is $5 per person until 11:00 a.m., with a $5 paddle fee for registered bidders. After 11:00 a.m., regular two-day admission rates apply, with more at cbmm.org/boatauction.

Established in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, with the values of relevancy, authenticity, and stewardship guiding its mission. Serving more than 78,000 guests each year, CBMM’s campus includes a floating fleet of historic boats and 12 exhibition buildings, situated in a park like setting along the Miles River and St. Michaels’ harbor. For more information, visit cbmm.org

More than 100 boats—ranging in size and performance from sailing dinghies to cabin cruisers—will be going home with the highest bidders at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s 20th annual Charity Boat Auction, to be held Labor Day weekend on Saturday, September 2 along CBMM’s waterfront campus in St. Michaels, Md.