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Members of the Custom House Maritime Museum and their guests are cordially invited to our First Friday Social on September 7th from 6:00-8:00pm, as we host members of the United States Coast Guard Station Merrimack River, one of only 20 Surf Stations in the entire service, and the northern most of just five Surf Stations on America's Atlantic coast.

Our featured speaker for this event is Boatswain’s Mate First Class Luke Marland, one of six certified Surfmen stationed in Newburyport. Coast Guard surfmen are the service’s most highly trained boat handlers whose service continues a long and storied tradition of lifesavers dating back almost 200 years. 

The surfman qualification process is long and extremely demanding.  Their motto: "The book says you've got to go out, but it doesn't say a word about coming back" is a direct link to their 19th-century U.S. Life Saving Service brethren. Operating rescue boats in surf and heavy breaking seas remains one of the most challenging and dangerous tasks Coast Guard boat crews perform.

Newburyport as birthplace of the Coast Guard, early Life Saving Service site and home to one of the eastern seaboard's most dangerous harbor entrances, shares a deep and longstanding history with Coast Guard lifesavers.

Make it a point to join us and members of USCG Station Merrimack River this First Friday evening as they provide us first-hand insight from personal experiences here on the Merrimack -- and also answer audience questions. 

We encourage all members to invite a guest to this event who may be interested in joining our museum.  Treat them to a relaxing evening of conversation, company and maritime discovery in the heart of downtown Newburyport. For your refreshment, wine, beer and soft drinks will be served. And Sheila Mullins' highly acclaimed Spice Trade Culinary Adventure introduces us to yet another new and delicious port of call. So, don't be late!  We proudly feature the great and distinctive beers of Harpoon Brewery, the official beer of the Custom House Maritime Museum.

LIFESAVERS IN TRAINING ON THE MERRIMACK - A Coast Guard crew aboard Station Chatham's 42-foot Special Purpose Near Shore Lifeboat crashes through the surf of the Merrimack River bar during surf training, March 1 - 2, 2012, during which, Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Perkins received a check ride to certify him as an SPC-NLB surfman. Surfmen are the service's most highly trained boat handlers. Over the course of the two days, crews dealt with 6-15 foot breaking surf, winds of 15-35 knots, temperatures in the low 20's, freezing spray and icing conditions with intermittent snow.

 This First Friday event is made possible by

PROUD SPONSOR OF

Station Merrimack River crewmembers stand in front of the lighthouse at the station in Newburyport, Mass. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell.)

Station Merrimack River crewmembers swim 100 yards as part of a semi-annual training requirement off the coast of Newburyport, Mass. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell.)

Petty Officer 1st Class Kenneth Kimball stands ready to pass a bow line to the incoming 47-foot motor lifeboat crew at Coast Guard Station Merrimack River in Newburyport, Mass. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Luke Pinneo.)