The late afternoon waterfront was still and flesh-warm. Only broken by the splash of a jumping mullet or the sudden outburst from a seagull, the glassy waterscape seeped Old Florida. Wooden docks askew from storms and time kept silent fishing boats bowing slowly to their slack moorings. This was, and is, the fishing village of Cortez, Florida. I stood with Matt Hanks on an old floating dock looking out over the panorama and letting the tension of a four and a half hour drive ease away. We were there to bring the good news of our lighthouse boatbuilding program to the Gulf coast, to learn about what other programs are doing, and to show off the William A. Harn, the first boat built by LAMP Boatworks. Follow along to learn more about LAMP Boatworks and the Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival!

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If you haven't ever seen it, the "What is it???" Wednesday is a great weekly posting on The Dirt on Public Archaeology blog maintained by our regional FPAN center. FPAN stands for the Florida Public Archaeology Network, and they are great partners of ours here in Northeast Florida. An artifact recovered by LAMP from the Storm Wreck is highlighted in this week's feature, check it out here!

Maybe you will be the one to answer the age-old question: "What is it???" (and win an FPAN t-shirt!)