JAMES CITY – Lyles Forbes, chief curator at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, will speak at Jamestown Settlement on Tuesday, May 5, about the topic of the ongoing special exhibition “Working and Racing on the Bay: The Chesapeake Log Canoe.” The free public lecture starts at 7 p.m.
The yearlong exhibition, at Jamestown Settlement through Sept, 8, traces the evolution of the dugout canoe through the centuries, from the watercraft of the Powhatan people 400 years ago to multi-log trade vessels and work and racing boats.
“The Chesapeake Log Canoe” presentation on May 5 will look at the traditions and evolution of the log canoe from a humble dugout to a racing sailing class on the upper Bay. Forbes spent much of his youth on or near the water and developed a natural affinity for sailing and boating. Formerly an assistant curator with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., Forbes came to The Mariners’ Museum in 2000 to develop and open the museum’s renowned International Small Craft Center. He is a graduate of the University of Montevallo.
The lecture complements the ongoing exhibition curated by The Mariners’ Museum that features more than 100 objects from its collection, including a dugout canoe, wood samples, photographic images, woodworking and boatbuilding tools, and scale models to illustrate the fabrication, employment, sailing and racing of the Chesapeake Bay log canoe.
