Volunteers reflect on boat museum's deeper mission

WOLFEBORO — While “boat” may be part of its name, the New Hampshire Boat Museum is much more than “a place to view antique motorboats,” in the words of volunteer Kerry Lynch.

“What people may not be aware of is the wide range of programs that we offer, including sailing instruction as well as a sailboat sharing plan,” he said.

Lynch, co-chair with Jim Farina of the sailing committee, said the programs include “Learn To Sail” courses for youths and adults and more advanced classes that use a variety of sailboat types and sizes. He said the museum also offers a sailboat sharing program for experienced adult sailors and sailing cruises on a 24-foot sloop with a museum-provided captain.

“Jim and I manage all of the sailing programs, continually adjusting them to ensure they are relevant, safe, and fun,” he said. “We also recruit and oversee a number of volunteers who keep our fleet of 26 sailboats and two motorboats in excellent condition.”

Lynch credited the partnership with Wolfeboro Parks & Recreation as instrumental to the sailing programs.

“They provide facilities, sailing instructors, and the online registration system,” he explained.

Jim Farina agreed and added, “We also maintain a strong relationship with Brewster Academy and Wolfeboro Corinthian Yacht Club [which] provide facilities for our keelboat sailing programs.”

In addition to sailing programs, the boat museum features a strong educational component. Serving on the Education Committee, volunteer Sally Ferbert said an increasing focus in its exhibits is engagement with younger audiences, including families.

“In the past, the museum has focused on wooden boats,” she said. “Moving forward, we want to also capture the evolution of wooden boats to fiberglass, and how that has changed the face of recreational boating. … By broadening our focus, we can appeal to all generations.”

Looking ahead, Ferbert said they hope to include more modern boats, such as mid-century, early fiberglass, and 21st-century boats, into its exhibits.

This year, the museum presented an exhibit on racing boats, which was incorporated into several projects for youths.

“In the Family Activity Center, we set up a project called ‘Make your own Burgee’ where children learned about Burgees [triangular flags to identify a particular yacht club] and made their own,” she said. “[The program] helped them learn the significance of the Burgee, what they are used for and why.”

In designing educational programs and experiences at the museum, Ferbert said the emphasis is not only on “fun,” but on broadening the focus to include “much more than boats.”

“The museum is also about life on the lakes and rivers, fresh waterways, and all that goes with it — be it boating, fly fishing, milfoil awareness and so on,” she added. “We hope to continue developing our Family Activity Center in such a way that families want to come back to see what is new and try out new things.”

Lynch agreed and said no other museum in New England provides people with an understanding of the culture and history of freshwater boating.

“So much has happened on the lakes and rivers of New England from the time of indigenous peoples to watercrafts requiring human or wind propulsion, the steam age, and then the internal combustion engine,” he said. “The New Hampshire Boat Museum is here to bring those things to life, not only through museum displays but, more importantly, through our programs.”

To learn more about the New Hampshire Boat Museum, visit nhbm.org.