Join the Erie Maritime Museum Wednesday, April 26, 2023, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm as we unveil our newest exhibit “Snipe to…Black Ice” – featuring a 1900-built ice boat that sailed Presque Isle Bay for over one hundred years.

Originally christened Snipe, the boat was built for Annie Wainwright Scott Strong in 1900. Ownership was eventually passed to Homer Coleman and later stored behind a wall on the north end of the Erie Yacht Club property until 1983. It was then that the boat was given to three friends – Chris Wolford, Andy Hanks, and Lee Johannesmeyer. The group worked to restore the ice boat before she returned to the ice of Presque Isle Bay in February 1984, rechristened as Black Ice – a hard-ice sailor’s optimistic hope for ideal conditions. Black Ice joined the collections of the Erie Maritime Museum in 2020 courtesy of Chris Wolford, Andy Hanks, and Lee Johannesmeyer.

The Erie Maritime Museum will be open for free to showcase our newest addition. We will offer light refreshments and hors d-oeuvres and the opportunity to meet the men who last sailed this beautiful ice boat.