This summer, the Egan Maritime Institute’s Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum invites families to dive into interactive, hands-on activities that bring the island’s rich maritime and lifesaving history to life. Led by seasoned museum educators, these engaging programs are perfect for all ages. Additionally, our educators have designed a New Family Activity Booklet, which is available to all visitors. Designed to enhance your museum experience, the booklet includes games, puzzles, and scavenger hunts. It’s an excellent way for kids to engage with maritime history—and a fun souvenir to take home.
From 10 am to 1 pm during July & August, museum goers may take part in a variety of rotating themed activities each day. On Maker Mondays, crafts will be offered, including Morse code and knot bracelets, model lighthouses, and rubber stamp quarter boards. Navigation Tuesdays bring nautical-themed fun such as scavenger hunts, decoding, semaphore flag communication, and fog fun. and on Seafarer Thursdays, the activities are focused on water and sailing skills, including cork boat building, knot tying, sea shanties, life jacket evolution, and buoyancy.
During July, August & September from 2 to 2:30 pm, Collections Manager Tony Dumitru will offer a weekly artifact “show-and-tell” geared toward teens and adults, though curious kids are always welcome. Tony shares fascinating stories behind unique pieces from the museum’s collection.
At the museum on Wednesdays and Fridays from 2 to 3:30 pm, staff will offer Hands-On Lifesaving Demonstrations: Breeches Buoy & Heaving Stick (outside on the lawn).
Also during July and August, visitors can try their hands at using equipment to rescue Marshall, the museum mascot, with the breeches buoy, an historic lifesaving method. Watch the calendar of events for special Saturday activities at the Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum
On Friday, July 11, A Night at the Museum fundraiser gives ticket holders the opportunity to step back in time and explore the newest exhibit: Hard Times to Boom Times: Nantucket’s Waterfront. The evening will also feature the annual presentation of the Caldwell Heritage Award, honoring an individual who has significantly contributed to preserving Nantucket’s maritime heritage.
This year’s Night at the Museum theme promises a stylish evening inspired by Nantucket in the 1960s, when the island was a hidden gem on the cusp of transformation. Channel your inner Kennedy and come dressed in your best New England preppy— think madras, seersucker, boat shoes, and pearls. Expect coastal charm, vintage drinks, and timeless style as we celebrate an era when windbreakers and cocktail dresses mingled on the docks, and the island’s quiet elegance set the scene for summer magic. Tickets to this special evening are available at e.givesmart.com/events/HCS
Sunday, August 24 from 3 to 6 pm, Family Night at the Museum: Pirate Takeover will offer an afternoon of pirate-themed fun and hands-on activities for all ages. Visitors can sing along to hearty sea shanties, explore the museum, and dive into nautical-inspired crafts and carnival-style games to win pirate booty and buried treasure. Island Kitchen will be on deck with a mouthwatering endof- summer BBQ to satisfy landlubbers and young buccaneers. Tickets to this fun family event are $40 for adults and $15 for youngsters.
All of this is in addition to the dramatic exhibits in the museum that tell the stories of island shipwrecks, rescues, and saving lives. The 2025 featured exhibit, Hard times to Boom Times: Nantucket’s Waterfront, explores the economic and cultural transformation of Nantucket’s waterfront from the difficult era following the decline of the whaling industry in the mid-19th century to its revitalization in the 1960s as a tourist destination. It highlights the transformation of the waterfront from a place of “crumbling wharves and quiet streets” to the bustling and charming location seen today.
Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum admission is just $15 for adults, $9 for students and seniors, and $7 for ages 6 to 17. The Shipwreck Shuttle offers free rides to and from the museum, departing Visitor Services at 25 Federal Street hourly from 9:45 am to 2:45 pm Monday through Friday.
Details on events and museum programs are at eganmaritime.org/events
