(TRENTON, NJ) -- From May 14-18, 2025, New Jersey's Official Tall Ship, oyster schooner A.J. Meerwald, will be anchored at The Docks on the Delaware River next to Waterfront Park in Trenton. The ship’s visit was arranged by The Bayshore Center at Bivalve and the Mercer County Park Commission. The ship is 115 feet long and 70 feet tall with two masts and three sails.
On Wednesday, May 14th the Schooner A.J Meerwald will arrive between 11:00am and 2:00pm. There will be a “Dockside Reception” held for invited guests and the public at 3:00pm. During her port visit to Trenton, the ship will host Education Sails classes for school and youth organizations and Public Sails. Students can help raise the sails, explore hands-on education stations, and experience sailing the Delaware river.
“The Schooner A.J. Meerwald is an excellent opportunity for Mercer County residents to see a historic oyster dredging schooner,” said Mercer County Executive Dan Benson, “This event is at the nexus of tourism and history and will provide fun for anyone who attends the reception.”
The schooner A.J. Meerwald is a restored oyster dredging schooner from Bivalve, New Jersey. Launched in 1928, A.J. Meerwald embodies the true spirit of the schooner, adapted to efficiently fulfill the prevailing conditions and specific demands of her native waters. A.J. Meerwald was one of nearly five hundred schooners built along the Delaware Bay before the decline of the local shipbuilding industry in the 1930s. The ship normally resides at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve in Port Norris, New Jersey.
Education sails will be held on Thursday, May 15 and Friday, May 16, departing around 9:00am and 1:00pm for 45 passengers each. On the morning of Saturday May 17, free public dockside boat tours and activities with educational partners will be held from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
Public Sails will be offered at the following times: Friday, May 16 & Saturday, May 17 at 5:00pm, Sunday, May 18 at 1:00pm & 4:00pm. Tickets are $50 per person and guests are invited to bring their own snacks and beverages. These 2-hour evening sails will cruise along the scenic Delaware River, which is part of the national Wild & Scenic Rivers system.
The Bayshore Center at Bivalve is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the understanding of the human impact on New Jersey’s aquatic environment through education, advocacy, and programming. BCB operates the authentically restored 1928 oyster schooner A.J. MEERWALD, New Jersey’s official tall ship, as a hands-on sailing classroom throughout the region. It also operates the Delaware Bay Museum and offers shore-based programs at its campus and the schooner's home port of Bivalve on the scenic Maurice River in Cumberland County.
