The 18th-century replica schooner Sultana is docked in Cambridge at Long Wharf this week and next, offering exclusively two-hour sails and lessons in Chesapeake Bay history to grade-school students.
Over the two weeks, every fourth grader in Dorchester County’s public schools will sail on the ship, and many more from other Shore counties are also scheduled to participate. Captain Forrest Richards, who commands the vessel for the foundation, said the Cambridge stop is one of the highlights of their fall season.
“We make sure every public school child in Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Dorchester, and Caroline counties has the chance to sail,” Richards said. “Here in Cambridge, we are taking one in the morning and one in the afternoon. For many, it is a new experience on the water.”
The 97-foot, two-masted Sultana replica was launched in 2001 and is based in Chestertown. The original was built in Boston in 1768. Though designed as a merchant ship, it was purchased by the Royal Navy before it ever carried cargo. Outfitted with additional sails and a crew of twenty-five, it became one of the smallest ships in the British fleet, but also one of the fastest.
From 1768 to 1772, it patrolled the American coastline as a revenue cutter, enforcing customs laws and intercepting smugglers. At the time, colonists often evaded duties on items such as tea, molasses, and glass.
“She points well into the wind and stands up firmly in heavy air,” Captain Forrest Richards said of the 18th-century replica schooner Sultana.
Richards said that accuracy is what makes the modern Sultana such a strong teaching tool. “The Navy drawings tell us exactly what the ship looked like above and below deck,” he said. “When the kids go below, they are seeing a space almost identical to what sailors used 250 years ago.”
The current vessel was built in Chestertown between 1998 and 2001 by three professional shipwrights and hundreds of volunteers. It was constructed using traditional methods but also fitted with features required by modern regulations, including a diesel engine, a lead ballast keel, and four cannons instead of the original eight. Within those constraints, it remains one of the most precise wooden ship reproductions in the country.
Students boarding the ship in Cambridge will help raise sails, steer, and learn basic navigation. They will also learn about the Chesapeake’s ecology and explore below deck for a glimpse of daily life on the sea in the 18th century. The ship carries up to 32 passengers per trip.
As for how the Sultana handles, Richards described her as sturdy and surprisingly swift. “By the standards of her era, she was fast and weatherly,” he said. “She points well into the wind and stands up firmly in heavy air. Stoutly built, she handles comfortably.” Although slower than modern designs, she demonstrates the sailing qualities that once made her valuable to the Royal Navy.
The vessel is owned and operated by the Sultana Education Foundation, a nonprofit (and partner of The Spy) dedicated to teaching about the Bay’s history and ecology. The Foundation serves more than 4,500 students annually. Its mission combines history with environmental science, using the ship and other programs to connect young people with the Chesapeake Bay.
While the Sultana occasionally participates in regional festivals or visits ports on the western shore, her primary work is in towns along the Upper Shore. Cambridge is the southern end of her regular travels.
Later this fall, the vessel will return to Chestertown, the foundation’s headquarters, for the annual Downrigging Weekend. The festival, held each November, brings tall ships and historic vessels from across the mid-Atlantic for public sails, deck tours, and waterfront events.
The ship is docked right next to the pier, but isn’t open for tours during its stay at Long Wharf.
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