Shop

Pre Season AJ Meerwald Sailing Tickets
December 1, 2020
The Greatest Captain in the World too
September 17, 2021

The A.J. Meerwald and New Jersey’s Oyster Industry

$21.99

$10 of every sale will go to support the restoration of the AJ MEERWALD. The book will be available for shipping at the end of November 2021.
Category:
Description
New Jersey’s Roaring Twenties saw mob rumrunning operations, Nucky Johnson’s Boardwalk Empire, and a new craze for dining on local oysters. Whether it was fancy Oysters Rockefeller or simply on the half shell, the nationwide demand for New Jersey’s Delaware Bay oysters made boomtowns out of Port Norris and Bivalve. Built-in 1928, the A.J. Meerwald was a new type of schooner, specifically built for oystering the Delaware Bay oysters while under sail.
As the Depression arrived and wreaked havoc on the industry, the Meerwald led a very different existence, serving with the US Coast Guard during the war, and then clamming, until She was eventually discarded on a mud bank. Found and restored to glory, the ship now tours the state’s coasts as New Jersey’s official tall ship. Authors Rachel Dolhanczyk and Constance McCart chart the history of New Jersey oysters and the historic ship that carries on the industry’s traditions today.