The New Jersey Maritime History Museum, located in Beach Haven, houses a significant portion of the state’s marine artifacts from out-of-print shipwreck files and rare photographs to antique navigational equipment and pre-historic fossils found off the coast. Luckily, it was spared any major damage during Superstorm Sandy. Although the elevator, outside garages, workshop and machinery used to restore old relics were destroyed, the museum itself and its artifacts were unscathed.
“The (flood) water was a foot short of our floor joists,” said Jim Vogel, curator of the museum. “If it had gotten into the insulation and into the flooring, it would have been a mess especially with our laminate flooring. We are tickled pink it didn’t come another foot, because at that point, we would have had a very serious problem, and we would have lost some of our shipwreck files and stuff like that, which can’t be replaced.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Deb Whitcraft, president of the N.J. Maritime Museum, opens the gallery to local nonprofits that need a place to maintain their programs. |
“Luckily, everything that we did lose can be replaced. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re grateful it wasn’t worse. There are a lot more people that took a much bigger hit than we did,” he said.
Although things at the museum are certainly operating at a much slower pace than usual, having just re-opened after the storm on Friday, Nov. 30, Vogel and his wife, Deborah Whitcraft, who is president of the museum, said they are grateful to have weathered the storm fairly well.
Considering themselves one of the lucky ones, Vogel and Whitcraft have extended an invitation to local nonprofit organizations from Long Beach Island and its surrounding areas to host their programs inside the museum gallery, free of charge.
“In order (for nonprofits) to continue their mission during this time, places like this have to and should open their doors to allow them to maintain a somewhat normal schedule of events and presentations,” said Whitcraft.
Having gratefully accepted the offer, the Long Beach Island Foundation has made plans to maintain part of its Science Saturday program at the museum. The Alliance for a Living Ocean hosted a book presentation by surf journalist Chris Dixon, who was recently in the area gathering research for an article in Surfer Magazine, at the gallery on Thursday, Dec. 6.
“The maritime museum has been a longtime partner and supporter of Alliance for a Living Ocean,” said Christopher Huch, executive director of ALO. “This past summer, the museum allowed us to present our weekly puppet show series at their facility when our space was not large enough. After Sandy rendered our office unusable, the museum has continued its generosity by allowing us to hold events (on its premises).
“This demonstration of cooperation among nonprofits on LBI continues to allow our community to grow and fosters a rapid recovery of our tourism-based economy in our region," he explained.
ReClam the Bay, St Francis Community Center’s dominos and mah jongg women’s playing groups, and the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association, which recently held an emergency meeting in the museum’s gallery in order to sort out the damage that many of the group’s boat owners had suffered from the storm, have also partnered with the museum during the area’s recovery process.
“It’s neat that the nonprofits are now, more than ever, really working together to share facilities,” Whitcraft said. “The storm has really made working together a really important part of our community.”
Whitcraft, who lives above the museum with her husband, is also a licensed notary public and is offering her services for free at this time. Anyone who is in need of Internet access or has to make copies or fax documents to insurance adjusters or representatives is encouraged to call her at 609-226-3838 to make arrangements at the facility.
“People have to have Internet access, which in many cases they don’t have in their homes right now. I want people to know that they can contact me 24/7 to access the Internet Café and come in and use our services,” Whitcraft emphasized.
Although the museum’s hours of operation run only from Friday to Sunday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the fall and winter seasons, nonprofit organizations may set up programming in the gallery anytime during the week.
“We’re very flexible,” said Vogel. “If people want to come in and see the museum, we’re here every day. It’s no problem to turn the lights on and let them use the place.
“We’re not going to charge anybody. We’re going to make the place available to any groups that need a place to be,” he added.
For more information about the New Jersey Maritime Museum, visit njmaritimemuseum.org or call 609-492-0202.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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