Profile: Jay Martin

NEW POSITION: Executive director, American Victory Mariners Museum and Memorial, Tampa

PREVIOUS POSITION: Executive director, Wisconsin Maritime Museum and the USS Cobia, Manitowoc, Wisc.

Since Jay Martin set sail for the SS American Victory at Tampa's Channelside, he has hardly stopped.

"I'm in charge of operations and the restoration of the ship and all historical aspects thereof," he said. "I'm heavily involved in getting the ship operating again, which is not an easy task with a 57-year-old vessel."

Martin is also in charge of budgeting, fundraising, educational programs and exhibits. "I also climb the stack to take the cover off when we get ready to steam," he said. "It's not a sit-behind-the-desk job."

All this responsibility is fine with Martin, who has dedicated his life to things marine and historic. The ship's restoration has involved hundreds of volunteers, he said, and more than 50,000 annual volunteer hours. All this has to be coordinated. "Just keeping up with the volunteers is a job in itself," he said.

With a budget of less than $1-million a year, Martin said the goal is to have the SS American Victory able to move from the dock under its own power before year-end, then able to carry passengers in 2003.

Martin said he was attracted to Florida and to this project because the organization restoring the American Victory "has come further faster than any other historic ship (organization) in North America, especially with the goal of getting the ship under way under its own power."

The program benefits from a population that includes many retired merchant mariners, Martin said. "Merchant mariners are used to overcoming obstacles in unique and innovative ways in less-than-ideal conditions. That has really been extraordinary. I've never seen an organization have this kind of dynamic volunteer base."

As a troop ship, the American Victory, which is 455 feet long, carried up to 3,000 soldiers and had a crew of up to 62.

Once renovated and mobile, the American Victory will be filled with exhibits and meeting space, he said. One ongoing activity will be overnight stays, which can generate up to one-sixth of a restored ship's operating budget, he said.

"Some other historic ships in places like Mobile (Ala.) and Corpus Christi (Texas) attract literally hundreds of thousands of overnight visitors," he said. A goal for Martin is to eventually sail to other ports in and around Florida. "It could really become the flag ship for Florida," he said. "Florida, with its unbelievable maritime history, does not have anything that really falls into that category."

Prior to starting work in Tampa on Oct. 1, Martin was executive director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc for four years. He also was involved in restoring the USS Cobia, a World War II-vintage submarine, for the museum.

Before joining the Wisconsin museum, Martin was director of the Western Lake Erie Historical Society in Toledo, Ohio, from 1992 to 1995. In the 1980s, Martin worked in underwater archaeology and with a number of institutions in Ohio and Michigan in historical and underwater projects and consulting.

Martin, 40, holds a 1984 bachelor's degree in history from Western Michigan University. He earned a master's degree in American culture and a Ph.D. in history from Bowling Green State University, in 1988 and 1995 respectively.

Having grown up in the lower Michigan area, where there are thousands of lakes, "I've always been interested in boats and ships," he said. While in college, Martin often worked on charter boats and in underwater archaeology for local museums.

He also has been a merchant mariner off and on for nearly 10 years, he said. While earning his Ph.D., he served as a seaman on a 1,000-foot Great Lakes ore and oil carrier, the M/V Oglebay Norton.

Martin is married and lives in south Tampa. When he has time, Martin said, he likes to scuba dive and sail. He writes extensively about marine and maritime topics, with more than 100 nonfiction books and articles published. He also is working on a novel.

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