Lilac Preservation Project

06/02/2026

Last chance to hear this year's Poet Afloat

05/28/2026

Another step completed on the project to re-install LILAC's original steering stand: we stripped off the old green paint to reveal the brass beneath.

05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, we remember all those who gave their lives in the line of duty in service to our country.

This includes those who risk and sometimes lose their lives on the black hulls of the U.S. Coast Guard and on merchant ships like those that served the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

We remember Dudley Knox, USLHS Quartermaster, who drowned in 1936 in a fall from LILAC.

We remember Howard Jensen, USCG Engineman, who received the Coast Guard medal posthumously for saving the life of a fellow LILAC crewmember at the cost of his own in 1971.

Rest in peace.

05/18/2026

05/16/2026

This year's Poet Afloat for LILAC was Jerome Ellison Murphy. During his micro-residency, he typed his poetry on our 1930s Underwood typewriter. Can't wait to hear the results tomorrow!

Poets will gather on the deck of Wavertree for a group reading, sharing their creative works inspired by their time on ships in New York Harbor.

05/02/2026

Welcome back Atlantic Yachting! Lilac supports AY's sailing program by providing space on the Buoy Deck for introductory instruction and other activities when the weather does not cooperate for sailing. They're celebrating 20 years this season. Happy opening day!

04/19/2026

All six classes of kindergartners from PS 234 visited Lilac this week. That means in just three days, about 150 children learned about the job of tending aids to navigation, got to turn the wheel and left with temporary tattoos. They disembarked eager to return with their families to see more of the ship. We open on May 23rd for the 2026 season.

03/27/2026

Gearing up for the 2026 summer season. As part of spiffing up the ship for America's 250th birthday, we are putting the Coast Guard emblem back on the stack. We have permission from the CG trademark office and are pricing out printing decals (yes, they were using decals even in the 1970s for this) and installation, not to mention a rigger to check the stack cover and put another coat of paint on the stack first. Won't you help?

02/20/2026

It's Black History Month so we're sharing a story (linked from our Tales of the Tender Men page) of one of Lilac's African-American crewmembers. Told by a white fireman, it shows that getting the job done was more important than the color of your shipmate's skin. We have not yet been able to learn Harrison's first name.

12/30/2025

Today is Classic Harbor Line's final Day of Giving for 2025. Buy a gift card and donate the proceeds to LILAC. Just select us as your chosen maritime charity at checkout.

Select any cash value and all gift cards are redeemable for any of our sails, cruises, or bar purchases. Better yet, they never expire!