In the first week of October, a crane at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum lifted a 1920 Chesapeake buyboat and set her back in the Miles River. The Winnie Estelle had spent three years in the museum's working Shipyard. The same morning, the crew hauled out the 1889 bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, so one boat came out of the water as the other went in. Shipyard Manager Robert Leiby walks through the craning in CBMM's latest refit update video.
The christening is set for Saturday, Nov. 7, at 3 p.m., during OysterFest. The next day, Sunday, Nov. 8, the museum's public workboat cruises end for the year. After that weekend, the campus at 213 North Talbot St. runs on a short list of fixed Saturdays, and the Museum Store moves to shorter winter hours. Someone who lives a few blocks away can plan the rest of the year around the weekend this boat returns.
A boat built to buy from watermen, gone for almost four decades
Noah T. Evans, a Smith Island native, built the Winnie Estelle in Crisfield in 1920 and named her for his daughters. For more than 50 years she worked the lower Chesapeake as a buyboat. She bought fish and oysters directly from watermen on the water and carried the catch to city markets and packing houses.
Her later life covered more water than most Bay workboats ever see:
- 1960: Smith Islander Watson "Shug" Marshall and his son Eugene bought her.
- 1975: The Marshalls sold her and she left for the Caribbean, where she hauled cargo and later ran as a charter boat in Belize.
- Early 2012: She changed hands again.
- 2014: An anonymous donor gave her to CBMM.
The OysterFest setting fits her history. A boat built to buy oysters from watermen will be christened at a festival where the Talbot Watermen Association and several local oyster farms are serving the oysters.
What three years in the Shipyard replaced
In March 2023, PropTalk's Chesapeake boatshop report noted that the boat had been hauled for a power refit, a new keel, new chines and a new bottom. CBMM had already sourced white oak for the keel and chines and sinker cypress for the bottom boards. Replacing her original keel means the work went down to the backbone of the boat.
CBMM's project updates describe how far the rebuild reached:
| Area | Work done |
|---|---|
| Structure | New keel, chines and bottom planks |
| Topsides | New deck planking, bulwarks and rails |
| Systems | New electrical system |
| Power | New 325-hp John Deere engine |
CBMM's shipwright apprentices worked on her log rails and bulwarks. So part of the christening honors the apprentices, along with the boat. CBMM says the ceremony will celebrate her history, "the talented shipwrights who have worked on the project, the supporters who made it possible, and the vessel's next chapter on the Bay."
CBMM describes that next chapter as service as a floating classroom and ecotourism vessel. The museum has not yet published a cruise calendar or ticket details for her. Its refit page says to watch for news about her return to cruising.
November 7 and 8: the season's turning weekend
OysterFest runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, rain or shine. Buying tickets online in advance saves $2, and CBMM members get discounted pricing. Here is the day, by location:
- Van Lennep Auditorium, 11 a.m.: Pocomoke Indian Nation council member Norris "Buddy" Howard Jr. presents "The Dugout Canoe: Burning Questions and Smoking Answers."
- Van Lennep Auditorium, noon: Council member Cheryl Doughty tells traditional stories with puppetry.
- Navy Point, all day: Pocomoke demonstrations of flintknapping, cattail decoy making, and river cane flute and water drum music.
- Tolchester Beach Bandstand: The Electric Newgrass band Swamp Donkey returns.
- Fogg's Landing, 1 to 4 p.m.: Local quintet The Folk Villains.
- 3 p.m.: The Winnie Estelle christening.
The oyster stew competition puts area restaurants against each other, and festivalgoers vote for the winner. The oyster slurp-off takes sign-ups on the day. CBMM's Oct. 14 announcement also lists free boat rides.
Sunday, Nov. 8, is the last day of the museum's 2026 Historic Workboat Experience. Since May 15, it has offered one-hour narrated cruises aboard a historic vessel on most weekends and holiday Mondays. CBMM has not said those cruises run on the Winnie Estelle. Still, the timing works out that way: the newly christened buyboat joins the fleet one day before CBMM's public cruise season ends.
After the christening, the museum's hours get shorter
The rest of the fall depends less on events than on when the doors are open. CBMM's Museum Store lists 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for November, an hour shorter than the April-through-October schedule. On Dec. 1, the winter calendar starts: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday only, closed Monday through Wednesday, through March 28, 2027. CBMM and the store close on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, on Christmas Day, and on New Year's Day. The daily schedule resumes March 29, 2027.
That leaves this sequence for the next six weeks:
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 | OysterFest and Winnie Estelle christening, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | CBMM campus |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Last day of the 2026 workboat cruise season | CBMM campus |
| Fri.–Sun., Nov. 13–15 | Waterfowl Festival | Easton |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Holiday Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | CBMM campus |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Museum closed for Thanksgiving | CBMM campus |
| Tue., Dec. 1 | Museum Store winter hours begin, Thursday–Sunday only | CBMM campus |
| Thu.–Sun., Dec. 10–13 | Christmas in St. Michaels | Town-wide |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Winter on the Chesapeake, 1–7 p.m.; Lighted Boat Parade, 6 p.m. | CBMM campus and harbor |
The Waterfowl Festival weekend in Easton has some changes this year. Organizers announced a newly restored Sporting and Cultural Heritage Center, a new Canvasback Courtyard, a new Maryland's Best Tasting Pavilion, and the return of the Tidewater Gold Room.
On Nov. 21, the Holiday Edition Eastern Shore Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival fills the campus with artisans, live music and glassblowing demonstrations. A free shuttle runs from the St. Michaels Middle/High School parking lot, which keeps cars off North Talbot Street. The festival also lines up with CBMM's long-term exhibit Stories from the Shoreline, which shares firsthand community stories and covers sea-glass collecting. Talbot County's tourism office listed it as opening in 2026.
December 12: the campus is free after 5 p.m.
Christmas in St. Michaels runs Dec. 10 through 13. Its event listing gives days and times but no calendar dates. CBMM pins down the Saturday by holding Winter on the Chesapeake on Dec. 12 "in conjunction with" Christmas in St. Michaels, with the Lighted Boat Parade starting at 6 p.m. that evening. Based on the organizer's listing, Saturday, Dec. 12, includes:
- The Christ Church Christmas Bazaar, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- The Talbot Street Parade at 10:30 a.m.
- The Tour of Homes, Saturday and Sunday, $35
- The Lighted Boat Parade at 6 p.m.
Winter on the Chesapeake opens at 1 p.m. with live music, food and drink, horse-drawn carriage rides, a holiday crafts station, and hot cocoa and s'mores around fire cauldrons. Advance tickets save $2. After 5 p.m., admission is free so the public can watch the boat parade pass the campus. The exhibitions close then, but the Museum Store, restrooms and cocktail bar stay open until 7 p.m.
That evening falls inside the winter schedule, when the Museum Store is closed Monday through Wednesday. The museum's waterfront, the town's busiest harbor event and free admission all line up on one night, five weeks after the Winnie Estelle's christening.
The Winnie Estelle carried oysters and fish off this Bay for half a century before she left, and St. Michaels now has her back on the Miles River. At The Housecats Company, we watch the Eastern Shore's waterfront calendar as closely as its shoreline. If the Miles River, a working harbor or a historic Talbot County home is part of your next move, let's work together.