Preparations are underway for the fifth annual Nautical Auction this Friday, July 19, at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

Dozens of items of historical and aesthetic value have been donated and will be on display at the historic shipyard shed known as yellow building No. 5, located at 120 Commercial Street in Boothbay Harbor. All auction proceeds will benefit the new non-profit Boothbay Sea and Science Center, which has launched its first science and community sailing programs for area families and visitors this summer.

The Nautical Auction is free and open to the public, and everyone is invited for an evening of fun and excitement, with some history and laughs thrown in for good measure.

Preview of the live auction items begins at 4 p.m., along with bidding for the silent auction. For those more inclined to shop than bid, there’s also a “cash and carry.” At 5:30 p.m., the silent auction will close and the live auction will begin. Rosey Gerry of Lincolnville is once again donating his services as the auctioneer. Some of the items available include:

Fine art and posters: Ship in Sunset, oil on Canvas signed T. Bailey, pseudonym of artists of the Cape Cod School, often attributed to William Paskall; Signed, numbered Print "Leaving Linekin" by Donald Demers 25/300. Matted, glass Gold Frame; “Victory Chimes off Owl’s Head Light” sign J.A Kendall, Sepia Pen and Ink Wash Drawing, Custom Frame; “Conquest” three-mast schooner, custom cherry frame, sgn./remark Earle G. Barlow; Schooner “Helen F. Seitz” sgn./remark Earle G. Barlow; Large framed watercolor of U. S. Cruiser, possibly Columbia. sgn. CLARY RAY 1892, 47½ by 19 inches; “Yacht America” by Brown and Severin, hand colored Lithograph. Framed and matted; Framed print by Fitz Hugh Lane, “Camden Mountains from the South Entrance to the Harbor.” Retail $595; Fancy Framed print “Harbour of Liverpool”; Priscilla Alden, three-mast schooner print sng./remark Earle G. Barlow 1923-2013, gold frame; “Thomas W. Lawson” seven-mast schooner print sgn. & remark by Earle G. Barlow, Antiqued gold crackle frame; Broadside for Portland Steamship Co. steamer “Bay State”, connections to Eastern Steamship Co. and Boothbay; “A Sea Voyage on Wheels at Brighton” Oak Framed poster 19 by 30½ inches; “Boothbay Harbor Region” poster/map by Janine Lamb 1982 custom framed; “Rhode Island” antique framed Currier & Ives print of Steam/Paddle Wheeler; Poster “Pride of the Nation” America Cherry frame.

Nautical charts: Chart of South America, West Coast Peru by Capt. Robert Fitz Roy R.N. and officers of H.M.S. survey voyage 1831-1836. Charles Darwin aboard. Rare and historically significant chart by British Admiralty. Custom Chestnut and Sitka spruce frame. Book “Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” with unpublished Letters and Notebooks by Darwin. Intro by Lady Nora Barlow, grand-daughter, pub. 1946; Chart of Bass Strait with 11 insets, by Cmdr. J.L. Stokes and Officers of H.M.S. Beagle, 1843, pub. By Admiralty. Custom cherry frame. Rare and historic. Pencil marks of ship’s passage; Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Survey 1839 by U.S. Ex Ex, Pub. U. S. Navy, Custom striped Maple Frame; St. George River, Muscle Ridge Channel USC&GS 1929 Blue Frame; “NEW CHART” The Coast of Brazil, pub R &W Blachford, London 1847 Custom Mahogany frame. Lot of insets; Chart of the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. Nantucket to cape Hatteras. U.S. Survey 1863, Custom Cypress frame; Chart Bay of Fundy to Cape Cod pub. 1917 USC&GS, custom bass wood/cherry frame; Chart East Coast of U.S. from Bogue Inlet N.C. to St. Augustine with insets of St. Johns River and Charleston, Pub. 1842 by E and G.W. Blunt, custom frame; Charts of Southern Ports and Harbors by J. Bartholomew F.R.G.S Pub. London and Edinburg. Washington, Beaufort, Mobile, Charleston, Galveston, New Orleans, Pensacola, Key West. Custom Cypress frame; Chart #5, Penobscot Bay to Kennebec River, Pub A.D. Bache and Benjamin Pierce 1873 U. S. Coast Survey, hand colored, Custom black frame with reclaimed varnished teak trim, bronze screws; Chart New York Bay and Harbor, A.D. Bache, Supt. of Survey of the Coast of U.S., 1857 Hand colored. Custom Birds Eye Maple frame; USC&CG Chart #316 Damariscotta, Sheepscot & Kennebec Rivers Datum 1927; Chart #308 Blue Hill Bay, Eggemogin Reach, USCGS, Oct. 1931; Chart # 1203 Penobscot Bay, 1920 U.S.C.& G.S Custom Chestnut frame; Poster/chart Island of Bequia, custom “yellow wood” frame; Poster/chart of the Grenadines, Spruce frame; Poster/chart Windward Islands, Spruce frame.

Ships models and nautical furnishings: Wood model of three-mast schooner under sail; Three-mast wood ship model by Francis J. W. Severance Jr., Bayside, ME., 64-inch length; Cased model of Fishing Trawler, very detailed, attributed to race car driver; Half Hull Models of “America,” “Bluenose,” “Rainbow” Winning bidder has choice of model or two or all three; Cased model of sailing vessel “Sea Witch”; Wood model of Bequia whale boat 1980. From island of Bequia.; Antique dome top immigrants trunk in old paint; Mahogany shadow box coffee table with knots and rope work display.

This event is sponsored by the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. The auction entrance is at the corner of Commercial and Sea Street. Parking is limited, but on street parking is also available.

For more information about BSSC programs, including registration forms, please visit the center’s website at: www.boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org, or email your questions to info@boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org or call 207-350-5357.