2018 Cedar Key Small Boat Meet May 4-6
The 34th Cedar Key small boat meet is the first full weekend in May. In 2018 it’s May 4-6
The meet is still informal. There are no signups, fees, or planned events on the water. Tides & weather remain the organization. Members of the West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron and the Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association will be in attendance.
All shallow draft boats are welcome: poled punts, paddled pirogues & rowed pirates’ gigs; catboats & catamarans; trimarans & proas; sampans, sharpies & scows, & duckboats & dinghies.
Cedar Key is known for its thriving food chain ashore & in the water. Two National Wildlife Refuges are here—Cedar Keys NWR & the Lower Suwannee NWR. Among Cedar Keys’ saltmarshes, & inshore & offshore islands, fishing, birding, bug, tide & weather observing are superb. ~Hugh Horton
For information call:
Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, 352 543 5600
Dave Lucas, 941 704 6736, [email protected]
Hugh Horton 586 215 7060, [email protected]
Michael Jones 727.560.5782 [email protected]
Welcome to the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association.
Our members are interested in boatbuilding, messabouts, rowing, paddling, sailing, techniques, equipment and maritime history.
The Great Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival takes place every year in April.
https://www.facebook.com/FGCTSCA
2018 Event Information
Event Name: Great Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Festival
Event Start Date 4/20/2018
Event End Date: 4/22/2018
Event Location: Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota, FL Sarasota Sailing Squadron 1717 Ken Thompson Pkwy Sarasota, FL 34236
Event Description
Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Festival
at the
Sarasota Sailing Squadron
April 20-22, 2018
Friday: Arrival day
1. Register with the Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
2. Pay for camping or RV spaces.
3. Purchase Dinner tickets for Saturday evening if you plan to attend.
4. Informal gathering to meet new and old friends.
Saturday:
1. 10:00 Bob Pitt demonstrates caulking for traditional boat construction.
2. 11:00 JF of Bedard Yachts demonstrates stitch and glue building an Optimist Pram.
3. 2:00 Michael Jones demonstrates building wooden spars
4. 5:00 Dinner purchase tickets in Squadron Office
5. 6:00 Jeff Motes, from the Florida Public Archaeology Network, talks about Tampa Bay Shipwrecks from the Civil War era.
Sunday:
1. Informal Mess-a-Bout on the shore and water.
There is limited room for RV's & vans, tent camping and plenty of local lodging options. The SSS has a hoist, multiple ramps and plenty of beach to launch from. If you sail in, dock space can be provided. There may be a camping fee. Ca;; the Sarasota Sailing Squadron to secure a campsite on (941) 388-2355.
There is no fee for the event but to help with planning we request that you email your intentions a week prior to the event with number of people attending and boat details to: [email protected]
Event Web Site
http://fgctsca.weebly.com/
Event Contact
Michael Jones
Contact Email Address
[email protected]
Event Contact Phone Number
Michael 727-560-5782 SSS 941-504-4236
Our members are interested in boatbuilding, messabouts, rowing, paddling, sailing, techniques, equipment and maritime history.
The Great Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival takes place every year in April.
https://www.facebook.com/FGCTSCA
2018 Event Information
Event Name: Great Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Festival
Event Start Date 4/20/2018
Event End Date: 4/22/2018
Event Location: Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota, FL Sarasota Sailing Squadron 1717 Ken Thompson Pkwy Sarasota, FL 34236
Event Description
Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Festival
at the
Sarasota Sailing Squadron
April 20-22, 2018
Friday: Arrival day
1. Register with the Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
2. Pay for camping or RV spaces.
3. Purchase Dinner tickets for Saturday evening if you plan to attend.
4. Informal gathering to meet new and old friends.
Saturday:
1. 10:00 Bob Pitt demonstrates caulking for traditional boat construction.
2. 11:00 JF of Bedard Yachts demonstrates stitch and glue building an Optimist Pram.
3. 2:00 Michael Jones demonstrates building wooden spars
4. 5:00 Dinner purchase tickets in Squadron Office
5. 6:00 Jeff Motes, from the Florida Public Archaeology Network, talks about Tampa Bay Shipwrecks from the Civil War era.
Sunday:
1. Informal Mess-a-Bout on the shore and water.
There is limited room for RV's & vans, tent camping and plenty of local lodging options. The SSS has a hoist, multiple ramps and plenty of beach to launch from. If you sail in, dock space can be provided. There may be a camping fee. Ca;; the Sarasota Sailing Squadron to secure a campsite on (941) 388-2355.
There is no fee for the event but to help with planning we request that you email your intentions a week prior to the event with number of people attending and boat details to: [email protected]
Event Web Site
http://fgctsca.weebly.com/
Event Contact
Michael Jones
Contact Email Address
[email protected]
Event Contact Phone Number
Michael 727-560-5782 SSS 941-504-4236
Cedar Key – Once a year was not enough, so now we meet again in the fall.
FGCTSCA and the WCTSS
Friday, Nov 17, 2017 to Sunday, Nov 19, 2017
Cedar Key- Fall Small Boat Meet is the weekend before Thanksgiving. In 2017 it’s November 17-19.
The meet is still informal. There are no planned events.
There are neither signups nor fees. Tides & weather remain the organization.
All shallow draft boats are welcome: rowing & paddling craft; jonboats, catboats & catamarans; trimarans & proas; punts, pirogues & pirates’ gigs; sampans, sharpies & scows; &, of course, duckboats & dinghies.
Cedar Key is renowned for its thriving food chain ashore & in the water. Two National Wildlife Refuges assure it—Cedar Keys NWR & the Lower Suwannee NWR. In Cedar Keys’ saltmarshes, & among its inshore & offshore islands, fishing, birding, bug, tide & weather observing are as good as, or better than, anywhere. ~Hugh Horton
For information call:
Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, 352.543.5600
West Coast Trailer Sailors Squadron http://members.ij.net/wctss/wctss/
Dave Lucas, 941.704.6736, [email protected]
Hugh Horton 586.215.7060, [email protected]
Michael Jones [email protected] 727-560-5782
FGCTSCA and the WCTSS
Friday, Nov 17, 2017 to Sunday, Nov 19, 2017
Cedar Key- Fall Small Boat Meet is the weekend before Thanksgiving. In 2017 it’s November 17-19.
The meet is still informal. There are no planned events.
There are neither signups nor fees. Tides & weather remain the organization.
All shallow draft boats are welcome: rowing & paddling craft; jonboats, catboats & catamarans; trimarans & proas; punts, pirogues & pirates’ gigs; sampans, sharpies & scows; &, of course, duckboats & dinghies.
Cedar Key is renowned for its thriving food chain ashore & in the water. Two National Wildlife Refuges assure it—Cedar Keys NWR & the Lower Suwannee NWR. In Cedar Keys’ saltmarshes, & among its inshore & offshore islands, fishing, birding, bug, tide & weather observing are as good as, or better than, anywhere. ~Hugh Horton
For information call:
Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, 352.543.5600
West Coast Trailer Sailors Squadron http://members.ij.net/wctss/wctss/
Dave Lucas, 941.704.6736, [email protected]
Hugh Horton 586.215.7060, [email protected]
Michael Jones [email protected] 727-560-5782
Photos from the 10th Annual Great Florida Small Craft Festival Apr 15-17
The Tenth Annual Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival is history now. Participants enjoyed the hospitality of the
Sarasota Sailing Squadron who deserve kudos for their provisions (snacks, meal , breakfast) and facilities. This is absolutely the best venue to hold a sailing event, I recommend it highly, well done Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Looking forward to next year!
Despite high winds, attendees didn't lack interest or items to discuss. There may have been one or two tall tales told. The How to build a Flat Iron Skiff demonstration and lecture by author Keith D Jones was canceled due to Mr Jones serious health issues, we wish him a speedy recovery.
Amara Nash gave a presentation on the Florida Maritime Museum, their activities and and plans. Discussed changes at the museum, if you haven't been in a while, schedule another visit and they are always looking for more volunteers and suggestions.
Michael Jones, President of the FGCTSCA gave a presentation on Heritage Village's McKay Creek Boat Shop. The shop will help preserve the history of Clark Mills and other boat builders in Pinellas County. Clark Mills was the designer of the Optimist Pram, Windmill, and Sun Cat. Call ahead to insure the boat shop is open,
(727) 582-2123
FGCTSCA tee shirts are in and will be available at the Cedar Key Small boat gathering May 6 thru 8. Short sleeves are $18 and Long sleeves are $22.
If anyone else took pictures at the event, please post to this group or email to me and I will. I know there were a couple of boats that I did not get pictures of. [email protected]
Sarasota Sailing Squadron who deserve kudos for their provisions (snacks, meal , breakfast) and facilities. This is absolutely the best venue to hold a sailing event, I recommend it highly, well done Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Looking forward to next year!
Despite high winds, attendees didn't lack interest or items to discuss. There may have been one or two tall tales told. The How to build a Flat Iron Skiff demonstration and lecture by author Keith D Jones was canceled due to Mr Jones serious health issues, we wish him a speedy recovery.
Amara Nash gave a presentation on the Florida Maritime Museum, their activities and and plans. Discussed changes at the museum, if you haven't been in a while, schedule another visit and they are always looking for more volunteers and suggestions.
Michael Jones, President of the FGCTSCA gave a presentation on Heritage Village's McKay Creek Boat Shop. The shop will help preserve the history of Clark Mills and other boat builders in Pinellas County. Clark Mills was the designer of the Optimist Pram, Windmill, and Sun Cat. Call ahead to insure the boat shop is open,
(727) 582-2123
FGCTSCA tee shirts are in and will be available at the Cedar Key Small boat gathering May 6 thru 8. Short sleeves are $18 and Long sleeves are $22.
If anyone else took pictures at the event, please post to this group or email to me and I will. I know there were a couple of boats that I did not get pictures of. [email protected]
Canceled due to high winds
Lake Tarpon Daysail with WCTSS Jan 23
Dress for the weather, as the temperature is supposed to be in the mid fifties, and the winds brisk at 18 - 20 mph.
Emerson Point Preserve paddle or row on Jan 16. Majority of photos were taken by Steve Deming. Please forward any additional photos to [email protected]. Missed pictures of Dave Lucas, Tom Lyons and a few others.
Additional photos from Michael and Judith Jones of Emerson Pt.
|
|
McKay Creek Boat Shop opened on Oct 24
|
FGCTSCA President Michael Jones was instrumental in helping to establish this historical shop and honor Clark Mills for his contribution to sailing and youth sail training. Clark is best known for his Optimist Pram, Snipe, Windmill and Suncat designs
Following article appeared in the Tampa Bay Times on Oct 20, 2015 It started with Honey and a group of sailors who wanted to preserve a little history. Honey is a Snipe, a racing sail boat made from juniper, that was built by Clark Mills in 1947 for his childhood buddy, Francis Seavy. Although he was barely 30 when he crafted Honey's hull, Mills was already known for his expertise in boat building and in the years to come, the Mills name would eventually be synonymous with the Optimist Pram, a small boat originally made for young sailors to use on Clearwater waterways. When he died in 2001, more than 200,000 children worldwide had learned the basics of sailing on his design. For more than 40 years, Seavy and Honey raced and won dozens of regattas throughout the United States and the Caribbean. After Seavy retired from racing, he gave the boat to his nephew, Gene Fleming, a former commodore of the Clearwater Yacht Club. Fleming contacted Heritage Village offering the Mills creation to the living history museum. However, Heritage Village did not have anywhere to store it. Undeterred, Fleming began making inquiries, asking fellow sailors to help pay homage to Pinellas County's relationship with boat building by joining forces in finding a home for Honey. As sailors talked, more enthusiasts climbed on board, including Mike Jones, a boat builder and former home builder who grew up in Tarpon Springs. He met with the director of Heritage Village, who also heard from Ed Proefke of Proefke Contractors and Ed Hoffman of Hoffman Architects. The builder, the contractor and the architect all wanted to offer their services for free as Fleming and many other sailors along with the Pinellas County Historical Society gathered donations. They knew Honey's permanent home would cost more than $60,000, and Heritage Village was the perfect place. Four years and $80,000 later, Honey is finally in her new home. On Saturday, the public is invited to a housewarming of sorts. During the 37th annual Heritage Village Country Jubilee, the Pinellas County Historical Society will hold a ribbon-cutting for the McKay Creek Boat Shop, which will house not only Honey but several other boats designed by Mills, including a 1948 Optimist pram, a Windmill and a Sun Cat. The boat shop's name comes from McKay Creek, which runs between Heritage Village and its next-door neighbor, the Florida Botanical Gardens, according to Jones, who worked in the early 1980s inside Clearwater Bay Marine Ways, a boat business started by Mills. "We designed the boat shop after Clark Mills' (original shop) in Dunedin,'' said Jones. "We found an old photo and Clark's dimensions. Ed Hoffman studied that.'' Jones stressed that this is just the starting point of the project. "Maritime history in this area is so rich. We are starting with Clark Mills who is so highly respected in this area, but there is much more. For example, the 1800s in Tarpon Springs with the Greek boats that influenced the area's builders as well.'' Seavy passed away in 2013. His wife, Naomi, 89, will attend the ceremony with Fleming. "She was a big part of the Honey," Fleming said. "She kept scrapbooks, and Heritage Village will display them. They are filled with every clipping of every regatta, a phenomenal record, and she is amazed at what has been done.'' Along with the ribbon-cutting, the Jubilee will also include a bluegrass jam sponsored by Charlie Bill's Banjos, a model train display, the Florida Chapter Morse Telegraph Club, the Largo Historical Society, the Friends of Largo Nature Park birds of prey and arts and crafts vendors. Contact Piper Castillo at [email protected]. Follow @Florida_PBJC. Cost: $2 donation per adult at the gate. Children under 12 are free. Parking and a free shuttle will be available. For information, visit pinellascounty.org/heritage/. •If you have artifacts connected to Clark Mills and his sailboats, contact Heritage Village (727) 582-2123. |
|
Ft Desoto Park Sep 12
The event was rained out, did talk with several sailors at the ramp before going to lunch with some of the group. Following plagiarized from the WCTSS newsletter.
A few hardy souls were already out there sailing when I (Ron Hoddinott) arrived to see what was going on. Dale Niemann and I drove down together to take photos and meet people. Bill Fite was sailing in, to haul out, having spent the night out there. Chris Throop and Floyd Marsden had already headed back under sail from their launching point, having sailed to Ft. DeSoto park. Sandy and Bill were bringing Ariel, their 26 foot MacGregor, back to haul out, and Don Montplaisir with a white Potter 19 hauled out and then put his boat back in after lunch to get in some extra sailing. Tim Webb came trailering in with Red Witch, and it was lucky for Bill Fite that he did. He spotted a couple of bubbles on Bill’s trailer tire that looked ready to burst. Everyone pitched in to help get that fixed before Bill shoved off for home.
But for the most part it was kind of a bust. Rainy showers are not the best weather in which to go out sailing! But we did decide to go to Billy’s Stone Crab Restaurant. I called ahead and the had a table for 14 which was just about right. Paula Martel, from Watertribe came down to join us. Tim Webb, Simon Lewandowski, Rex and Kathie Payne, Bill and Sandy, Dan Roeder and a half dozen more Squadron members joined us at Billys on the causeway to Ft. DeSoto
Our TSCA Chapter President has received a very special honor from the State of Florida and is being presented the annual Florida Folk Heritage Award.
Worthy achievement.
Congratulations to Bob Pitt for earning a Florida Folk Heritage Award for his traditional boat-building skills and for sharing that knowledge with the people of Cortez and all of Manatee County. Pitt is a master craftsman in the art of building boats by hand, having spent a lifetime honing his skills and preserving techniques that otherwise might have been lost in the dusty ages of history. For eight years, he supervised the volunteer crew of boat builders at the Florida Maritime Museum’s boat-building shop in the FISH Preserve in Cortez, which is nationally recognized for craftsmanship. And he continues his activism in the historic fishing village, building boats with volunteers at the former fire station and serving as president of the Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association.
"They don't make 'em like that anymore" applies not only to these classic boats, but also to the man who builds them.
(See the story on Page 4 of the Anna Maria Island Sun for January 28th, 2014.)
This article can be found at the "Anna Maria Island Sun" website...
Pitt earns Florida Folk Heritage Award
CINDY LANE | SUN
The Esperanza was rescued by Bob Pitt from its status
as a yard ornament wreck. It once brought Cuban
refugees to Florida.
BY CINDY LANE | SUN STAFF WRITER
CORTEZ – Whenever you see Bob Pitt, you can bet there’s a boat nearby.
Pitt has been awarded a Florida Folk Heritage Award for his traditional boatbuilding skills, and plans to travel to Tallahassee in May to receive the honor from the Florida Secretary of State.
The award is conferred on “outstanding folk artists and folk culture advocates who have made longstanding contributions to the folk cultural resources of the state,” according to the Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources, which sponsors the program.
For eight years, Pitt supervised the volunteer crew of boatbuilders at the Florida Maritime Museum’s boatbuilding shop in the FISH Preserve in Cortez, nationally recognized for craftsmanship. He remains active in the historic fishing village, building boats with volunteers at the former fire station and serving as president of the Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association.
Dr. Tina Bucuvalas, curator of Arts and Historical Resources in Tarpon Springs, nominated Pitt for the award.
“Pitt has demonstrated a lifelong interest in preserving maritime history by teaching and practicing disappearing skills,” Bucuvalas wrote. “His profound knowledge of regional boat building has not been learned from books, but was passed down to him from knowledgeable, skilled boat builders and refined through a lifetime of experience.”
All in the family The saltwater in his veins comes from a family of shipbuilders and captains who lived from the 1750s to 1868, when they arrived in Key West on his great-great-grandfather's schooner, Azorian. His mother's family was immersed in the culture of the islands of Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas, where his great-grandmother was born.
Pitt was born in Sarasota in 1953 and moved to the Bradenton area in 1956, attending Manatee County public schools until ninth grade and graduating from Prew School in Sarasota. He grew up near 85 acres of piney woods and palmetto and spent his childhood in Florida scrubs and along coastlines with his father, collecting scallops and glass repairs at age seven, eventually working at Durbeck Yachts. A liveaboard, he augmented his skills with boat carpentry while apprenticing with a Welsh shipwright.
He and his wife, Cynthia, moved ashore to the old Manatee County village of Fogartyville in 1978 when their first child was born. Their house, built in 1885, had been the first church in Fogartyville.
Pitt’s father had worked with Charlie Fogarty, a descendant of Tole Fogarty, one of three brothers who settled the area in the 1860s. As a youngster, he lived in a house brought over on a barge from nearby Terra Ceia in 1945, where he had played near Bat Fogarty’s (Charlie’s grandfather’s) Boat Works. His grandmother, Naomi Mayolini, had known the Fogarty family from Key West, where she had been born in 1888.
In 1993, the Fogarty family donated Bat Fogarty’s Boat Works to the Manatee Village Historical Park, a county historical site. When it opened, employees did not have enough maritime knowledge to identify many of the tools, so Pitt was brought on board to identify tools and boat parts. He stayed on for 12 years to refurbish the museum, develop a curriculum for school tours and serve as a volunteer.
In 2005, Pitt began working for Manatee County as the volunteer/education coordinator at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez. During his tenure, they logged 8,300 volunteer hours per year building museum displays and boats distinctive to the area.
Some of the most culturally significant boats were the Sallie Adams, an 1890s design Cortez 21-foot mullet boat; the Esperanza, a 16-foot Cuban refugee boat, which came into Pitt’s possession decades after it brought a group of Cuban refugees to Florida; the Anna Menendez, a 24-foot Spanish longboat built for DeSoto National Memorial historical reenactments; and the Elizabeth Ring, an 18-foot Bat Fogarty sailing skiff built for three people built to camp and cruise Florida rivers.
They also implemented an outreach program to display the boats throughout Florida and as far as Pennsylvania, Maine and Maryland, garnering national recognition and admiration.
Worthy achievement.
Congratulations to Bob Pitt for earning a Florida Folk Heritage Award for his traditional boat-building skills and for sharing that knowledge with the people of Cortez and all of Manatee County. Pitt is a master craftsman in the art of building boats by hand, having spent a lifetime honing his skills and preserving techniques that otherwise might have been lost in the dusty ages of history. For eight years, he supervised the volunteer crew of boat builders at the Florida Maritime Museum’s boat-building shop in the FISH Preserve in Cortez, which is nationally recognized for craftsmanship. And he continues his activism in the historic fishing village, building boats with volunteers at the former fire station and serving as president of the Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association.
"They don't make 'em like that anymore" applies not only to these classic boats, but also to the man who builds them.
(See the story on Page 4 of the Anna Maria Island Sun for January 28th, 2014.)
This article can be found at the "Anna Maria Island Sun" website...
Pitt earns Florida Folk Heritage Award
CINDY LANE | SUN
The Esperanza was rescued by Bob Pitt from its status
as a yard ornament wreck. It once brought Cuban
refugees to Florida.
BY CINDY LANE | SUN STAFF WRITER
CORTEZ – Whenever you see Bob Pitt, you can bet there’s a boat nearby.
Pitt has been awarded a Florida Folk Heritage Award for his traditional boatbuilding skills, and plans to travel to Tallahassee in May to receive the honor from the Florida Secretary of State.
The award is conferred on “outstanding folk artists and folk culture advocates who have made longstanding contributions to the folk cultural resources of the state,” according to the Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources, which sponsors the program.
For eight years, Pitt supervised the volunteer crew of boatbuilders at the Florida Maritime Museum’s boatbuilding shop in the FISH Preserve in Cortez, nationally recognized for craftsmanship. He remains active in the historic fishing village, building boats with volunteers at the former fire station and serving as president of the Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Association.
Dr. Tina Bucuvalas, curator of Arts and Historical Resources in Tarpon Springs, nominated Pitt for the award.
“Pitt has demonstrated a lifelong interest in preserving maritime history by teaching and practicing disappearing skills,” Bucuvalas wrote. “His profound knowledge of regional boat building has not been learned from books, but was passed down to him from knowledgeable, skilled boat builders and refined through a lifetime of experience.”
All in the family The saltwater in his veins comes from a family of shipbuilders and captains who lived from the 1750s to 1868, when they arrived in Key West on his great-great-grandfather's schooner, Azorian. His mother's family was immersed in the culture of the islands of Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas, where his great-grandmother was born.
Pitt was born in Sarasota in 1953 and moved to the Bradenton area in 1956, attending Manatee County public schools until ninth grade and graduating from Prew School in Sarasota. He grew up near 85 acres of piney woods and palmetto and spent his childhood in Florida scrubs and along coastlines with his father, collecting scallops and glass repairs at age seven, eventually working at Durbeck Yachts. A liveaboard, he augmented his skills with boat carpentry while apprenticing with a Welsh shipwright.
He and his wife, Cynthia, moved ashore to the old Manatee County village of Fogartyville in 1978 when their first child was born. Their house, built in 1885, had been the first church in Fogartyville.
Pitt’s father had worked with Charlie Fogarty, a descendant of Tole Fogarty, one of three brothers who settled the area in the 1860s. As a youngster, he lived in a house brought over on a barge from nearby Terra Ceia in 1945, where he had played near Bat Fogarty’s (Charlie’s grandfather’s) Boat Works. His grandmother, Naomi Mayolini, had known the Fogarty family from Key West, where she had been born in 1888.
In 1993, the Fogarty family donated Bat Fogarty’s Boat Works to the Manatee Village Historical Park, a county historical site. When it opened, employees did not have enough maritime knowledge to identify many of the tools, so Pitt was brought on board to identify tools and boat parts. He stayed on for 12 years to refurbish the museum, develop a curriculum for school tours and serve as a volunteer.
In 2005, Pitt began working for Manatee County as the volunteer/education coordinator at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez. During his tenure, they logged 8,300 volunteer hours per year building museum displays and boats distinctive to the area.
Some of the most culturally significant boats were the Sallie Adams, an 1890s design Cortez 21-foot mullet boat; the Esperanza, a 16-foot Cuban refugee boat, which came into Pitt’s possession decades after it brought a group of Cuban refugees to Florida; the Anna Menendez, a 24-foot Spanish longboat built for DeSoto National Memorial historical reenactments; and the Elizabeth Ring, an 18-foot Bat Fogarty sailing skiff built for three people built to camp and cruise Florida rivers.
They also implemented an outreach program to display the boats throughout Florida and as far as Pennsylvania, Maine and Maryland, garnering national recognition and admiration.