23 Jul Welcome Home!
Providence is back home, and we are thrilled that our journey went off without a hitch! It was one of the smoothest transits Providence has had since first arriving in Alexandria. Our crew arrived to a nice “Welcome home” reception with several volunteers, our shore staff, and several of our incredible community members. Now that Providence is back, what was our journey like and where will we go from here?
Leaving CBMM
Providence spent the last several months at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) undergoing some critical repairs to the ship’s structure and rig. While we still need to raise a fair amount of money to cover this work, CBMM was able to help get us back into a condition where Providence could return home to Alexandria. We are very grateful that they completed this project so quickly. Now, we will hopefully be able to operate safely as a dockside attraction for the time being. We hope to finish raising money by the end of this year to pay for all that was done – which you can read about in this blog post.
We gathered an incredible crew and set off Friday evening, June 27th, as we got the green light from the Coast Guard inspector.
The Transit
On our way back home, we cruised along the Chesapeake Bay and up the Potomac. Our crew had some long nights filled with pop-quizzes about navigation aids, abrupt wakeups in the dead of night to start watch, and of course the thrilling sighting of creatures in the bay. Dawn brought happy little rays hunting schools of fish, followed by what must have been several dozen dolphins playing in our wake as we passed by!
By the time we made it home about 38 hours later, our crew were exhausted but very happy to be home.
Welcome Home and What Comes Next
Now that Providence is back in her home port, we still have a LOT to do. Firstly, Captain Dillon is hard at work with the Coast Guard to get Providence certified as a dockside attraction vessel. Her Certificate of Inspection has been moved to “laid up” status. Until we are able to raise the money to complete a much larger rigging project, this is how she will remain. Likely for the next few seasons at least. Once we are properly certified, we’ll be opening the ship up for dockside tours!
Without the ability to sail, our programming is shifting to a “community and events” focus for this summer. To start, we will be running some events on our dock thanks to The Pier Bar! This past weekend, we hosted an incredibly successful firework watch party for Alexandria’s 276th birthday! This event raised $292 to kick off our Field Trip Program fundraiser). On July 24th (TOMORROW) we are hosting a season kickoff event! You can expect live music by The Sunday Set, food, drinks, and the official launch of our annual fundraiser for our Field Trip Program. During the 2025-2026 school year, we hope to host over 1,500 students from local Title One schools in under-resourced communities free of charge.
We are also working on developing new tours! This includes a self-guided (FREE!) and guided ($15) deck tour. Our 5-star rated Living History Tours continue on Saturday mornings. Field trips for upper elementary and middle schools, birthday parties, scout programs, and more are coming soon! We hope to see you aboard!
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