The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, NC, is a divisional museum of the North Carolina Museum of History. Exhibit displays include, shipwrecks, ship equipment and types of watercraft historically used in North Carolina. Another exhibit focuses on the history of United States Life-Saving Service in North Carolina.

Because of the frequent storms and many other navigational hazards resulting in great loss of vessels, the U.S. Lighthouse Service and U.S. Lifesaving Service which became the U.S. Coast Guard has kept a steady watch for approximately 200 years. The North Carolina Maritime Museum’s Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center recently re-constructed a “Beach Apparatus Cart” for the Cape Lookout National Seashore, part of the US National Park Service. The design is similar to the carts used by those of New England Marine Historical Association in Mystic, CT.

The “Beach Apparatus Cart” was used to carry equipment that was needed to shoot a line from the shore to a ship wrecked close to shore. The cart had a single axle and when fully loaded could weigh as much as 2000 pounds. The cart took a crew of six to move it from the Lifesaving station to the shore; two pushing, two pulling and two steering. The hand forged steel braces used to support the cart were hot-dip galvanized to provide historical accuracy and corrosion protection for decades to come. Galvanizing was provided by Galvan Industries. The project is now featured as a Case Study by the American Galvanizers Assocation.

About Galvan Industries, Inc.

Since 1958, Galvan Industries has provided the ultimate in corrosion control to steel fabricators and manufacturers. The first hot-dip galvanizing operation in the Carolinas, the company has grown to become the largest capacity contract galvanizer in the Southeast.

For details, or to place an order, call Galvan Industries at (704) 455-5102, Fax (704) 455-5215; e-mail: sales@galvan-ize.com.