Replica Sloop Luna Christened

Hundreds attend Deltaville ceremony introducing reproduction of 1700s sailing vessel; will be used to promote sailing history, eco-friendly transport

by Larry Chowning –

A $3 million dream that started as a conversation around a Deltaville kitchen table nearly 20 years ago came true Saturday as the 48-foot sloop Luna was christened at Deltaville Boatyard.

Several hundred people attended the christening as the skies and rain cleared as if to honor such an event. One of those around that kitchen table years ago was John “Chip” Collamore Jr., who said at the program, “We all agreed that the project was a good idea, but when we got the price-tag ($3 million) that put it on hold.”

That did not discourage Chip’s son, John “Jock” Collamore III, who along with many others persevered the many obstacles to establish in 2007 the Colonial Seaport Foundation (CSF).

CSF is a nonprofit organization formed to preserve facets of America’s colonial maritime heritage by providing historically-accurate information on the era. Part of CSF’s charge was to build a vessel that would be used as a platform to tell that story.

Luna is a replica of a 1768 Virginia two-masted sailing sloop. The vessel will be home-based on lower Chesapeake Bay and the organization plans to use it to display and demonstrate the operation of the vessel, and display vintage equipment, tools, procedures, skills and lifestyle used or experienced within 17th and 18th centuries maritime history.