GREATER REEDVILLE - Key Persons
Claud W. Somers is certified by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry up to 20 passengers, in addition to her crew, and is captained by a U.S. Coast Guard licensed master and a fully drug tested crew that is trained in CPR and First Aid. Please watch this page for upcoming scheduled cruises or contact the museum office if you would like to schedule a custom charter.
Claud W. Somers is a veteran two-sail bateau or skipjack that was used for oyster dredging in Virginia and Maryland waters and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Register of Historic Places. It is one of the few skipjacks remaining in operational condition on Chesapeake Bay.
Commissioned by Edward Thomas Somers, she was built in 1911 by Tom Young at Young's Creek near the settlement known as Clam, Virginia, just north of Onancock and named after Edward's son. In 1983, after a long career of oyster dredging, Alfred Garey Lambert of Towson, MD purchased the Claud W. Somers and labored over the next 17 years rebuilding and restoring the vessel. Lambert wanted the historic skipjack to go to a museum at his death. His children, Caroline Lambert Benson and Robert Lambert, selected the Reedville Fishermen's Museum as the new steward of Somers. In May 2000 they donated the vessel as a memorial to honor their father and his dedication to the preservation of Claud W. Somers. From spring 2000 to fall 2001, museum volunteers donating thousands of labor hours and along with the staff at Cockrell's Marine Railway restored the vessel to full sailing form. Additionally, when the Claud W. Somers was restored by the museum, it was upgraded to meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements for a passenger vessel so that visitors to the museum could experience sailing on a historic working sailing vessel.