Kalmar Nyckel

09/04/2026

08/28/2026

A heartfelt thank-you to the generous sponsors of our 19th-Annual King Neptune Gala! Your partnership makes this special evening possible—and helps keep Kalmar Nyckel sailing and our one-of-a-kind educational mission thriving. ⚓

08/26/2026

Join us for Wilmington’s Premier Waterfront Event! ⚓

Celebrate the 19th-Annual King Neptune Gala on Sunday, September 27, with a sunset salute aboard Kalmar Nyckel, followed by an elegant dockside dinner, live music, great company, and exciting live auctions.

It’s an unforgettable evening supporting our one-of-a-kind mission: keeping Kalmar Nyckel sailing and bringing hands-on history, science, and maritime education to thousands of children each year.

Tickets are on sale now:
kalmarnyckel.org/gala

08/25/2026

Let the caulking begin!!! Capt. Jim working on several seams. We use cotton and oakum carefully packing the seams and seam compound to make the ship watertight. I feel like the hull is smiling at him today!

08/25/2026

Sit. Stay. Admire the ship! ⚓

Talk about dog-gone good timing during the dog days of summer! Rhodes Collar Dog Training brought a pack of very well-behaved Rhodes Collar Scholars to visit Kalmar Nyckel while we were unexpectedly docked in Mystic during the drawbridge delay.

🐶 Happy Belated National Dog Day! 🐾

📷 Photo Credit Harold Hanka

08/24/2026

Day 2: Scrape the hull. We got all the lower half of port done and half of the upper half of both sides done. Scraping the hull is a critical step for our process because it’s when we find any issues with the wood. So a few watch spots will be discussed with the shipwrights today. Meanwhile the engineering department has the sea chests apart and cleaned for USCG inspection tomorrow. Solid work team Drydock!!