From ship tours and shipwrecks, to crab races and the yearly crab cake cook-off, the University of Delaware’s 29th annual Coast Day celebration will feature fun and exciting exhibits that, in keeping with this year’s theme, are sure to “float your boat.”

Coast Day will be held rain or shine from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2, at UD’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Del. Throughout the day, scientists and graduate students will conduct demonstrations and hands-on activities that showcase their research in ways designed to capture the interest of visitors of all ages.

All aboard for ship tours

Visitors can launch their day of boat-themed activities by touring Delaware’s tall ship, the Kalmar Nyckel. Its captain, David Hiott, will arrive on the pier in period dress and will demonstrate various techniques used to build vessels during the 1600s. The original Kalmar Nyckel sailed from Sweden in 1638 and established the first permanent European settlement in present-day Wilmington, Del.

Also on hand for tours will be the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 65-foot Shuman vessel, which is used to survey the seafloor, and the DELRIVER, the Delaware River and Bay Cooperative’s 166-foot oil skimmer that can recover oil at a rate of 800 gallons a minute.

Find adventure and sunken treasure

From pirate ships to high-tech exploration methods, several events will showcase shipwrecks, including a special exhibit of artifacts retrieved from wrecks off the coast of Delaware. Oceanographers also will show how multibeam technology is used to survey shipwrecks and other objects on the ocean floor.

In separate lectures, Capt. Craig McLean, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean Exploration, will speak about the Titanic, and Roy Miller, fisheries program manager with the Division of Fish and Wildlife of Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, will discuss fish that inhabit shipwrecks.

And, a special presentation by Arthur Trembanis, assistant professor of geology, will show how science can help unravel the secrets of shipwrecks. Trembanis will discuss two colonial-era shipwrecks located off the mid-Atlantic coast, the presumed Queen Anne’s Revenge, which was Blackbeard’s flagship, and the Betsy, a collier, or bulk carrier ship, in Lord Cornwallis’ fleet.

The Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes will display artifacts that recently have washed up on Lewes Beach, as well as those from the HMS DeBraak, a 16-gun British sloop wrecked off the coast of Delaware in 1798. In addition, there will be hands-on activities that will give children a taste of what life was like for a sailor in the colonial period.

Cruise on over to fun for the kids

Numerous hands-on activities will entertain and teach youngsters—and their families—about everything from marine creatures to boating safety.

Always popular, the Great Crab Race will be held again this year. Visitors are encouraged to bring their favorite bait and test it against the scientists’ to see whose will be the favorite of Delaware’s most valuable crustacean, the blue crab.

The marine critter touch tank, a favorite with children, will be located in the harbor area, as well as a children’s activity table, sponsored by the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of marine mammals and sea turtles.

In conjunction with the Zwaanendael Museum, the Delaware Marine Archaeological Society will give visitors the opportunity to test a remotely operated vehicle, as well as lead participants in a variety of games and activities. Staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will assist children in assembling paper models of a horseshoe crab, Delaware’s marine animal, and a smooth dogfish shark, which were designed and produced by the University’s Sea Grant College Program.

Free life jackets will be given to children who sign a safe boating pledge at the boat show, sponsored by the Delaware Marine Trades Association, to encourage boating safety. This giveaway will be offered to children ages 12 and younger while supplies last.

And, for an overview of all that Coast Day has to offer, the annual treasure hunt will challenge children and their families to find answers to questions about marine science in the many displays and exhibits found throughout the campus. Treasure hunt maps are free, and prizes will be awarded to children who answer all the questions.

Celebrate top teachers, students and cooks

Coast Day will include a ceremony to honor the 2005 Governor’s Marine Science Teacher of the Year and the winners of the annual Coast Day Fifth-Grade Essay Contest.

Throughout the day, seafood cooking demonstrations will be held by area chefs, while culinary competitors will take part in the 16th annual Crab Cake Cook-Off and the annual Seafood Chowder Challenge.

Admission to Coast Day is free; parking is $2.

For more information, contact the UD Marine Public Education Office at (302) 831-8083, or visit the Coast Day web site at [www.ocean.udel.edu/CoastDay].

—Kari K. Gulbrandsen, EG ’91M