Get ready to bid on the boat of your dreams this Labor Day weekend as the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum hosts its 18th annual Charity Boat Auction on Saturday, September 5th. 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 at 410-745-4992 or taken in person until 2 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2015. As an absolute auction, all boats will be sold the day of the event, with a title office set up at the museum for ease of transfer.
Proceeds from the rain or shine event benefit the children and adults served by the non-profit museum.
Auction boats will be available for preview at the museum, several days prior to the auction. Guests can also review all the boats beginning at 8 a.m. on September 5, with the live auction beginning at 11 a.m. along the museum’s waterfront campus. Barbecue will be available for purchase at 10 a.m., and beer for purchase at noon.
CBMM’s Boat Donation Program Director Lad Mills and Program Manager Todd Taylor take donations and resell boats throughout the year, holding aside some of the inventory for the annual auction. Mills and Taylor travel up and down the east coast working with boat owners, yacht brokers, marinas, boatyards, and other donors and potential buyers wanting to support the museum through boat donations and sales.
“100% of the revenue generated by the auction goes directly toward helping the museum’s educational programs and restoring and preserving its historic structures and boats,” says Mills. “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 a.m. to 11 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 www.cbmm.org/boatauction, with inventory updated weekly. Boat sales are on-going throughout the year, with all auction boats subject to sale prior to the auction.
To donate a boat or items for the tag sale, or for a fully updated listing of the boats up for auction, visit www.cbmm.org/boatauction, or contact Lad Mills at 410-745-4942 or [email protected], or Todd Taylor at [email protected] or 410-745-4990.
On September 5, the museum’s gates open at 8 a.m., with early admission at $5 per person until 11 a.m. After 11 a.m., admission returns to the regular daily rates of $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students with a college ID, and $6 for children between the ages of 6 and 17. Children 5 and under and museum members are admitted free.
Established in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum, serving more than 70,000 guests each year. CBMM is the only maritime museum in the world dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, in a meaningful and authentic way. For more information, visit www.cbmm.org