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The skipjack is a traditional fishing boat used on the
# ''Ada Mae'', New Bern, North Carolina. Built in Rose Bay, North Carolina in 1915.
# ''Anna McGarvey'', Cambridge, Maryland. Built in Baltimore in 1981. Now ''Han Em Harve''. Dredge # 62.
# ''Barbara Batchelder'', Rock Hall, Maryland. Built in Rock Hall, 1956, as a recreational vessel for Irénée du Pont, Jr.
# ''Caleb W. Jones'', Cobb Island, Maryland. Built in 1953 in Reedville, Virginia. Dredge #51.
# ''City of Crisfield'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Reedville, Virginia in 1949. Dredge #44.
# '' Clarence Crockett'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Deep Creek, Virginia in 1908.
# '' Claude W. Somers'', Reedville, VA. Built in Young's Creek, VA in 1911, now a sailing museum boat at the Reedville Fishermen's Museum. Dredge #55.
# ''Curlew III'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Cambridge, Maryland in 1964 as a recreational boat, converted to a dredge boat.
# ''Dee of St. Mary's'', Solomons, Maryland. Built in Piney Point, Maryland in 1979, now a sailing museum boat that the Calvert Marine Museum. Dredge #16.
# '' E.C. Collier'', St. Michaels, MD. Built in Deal Island in 1910.(Currently an onshore display at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum). Dredge #7.
# ''Elsie Peggy Joyce'', Madison, Maryland. Built 1970, converted from a recreational boat to a dredge boat. Dredge # 91.
# '' Elsworth'', Chestertown, Maryland. Built in 1901 in Hudson, Maryland, operated by the Echo Hill Outdoor School as a sailing classroom boat. Dredge #22.
# ''Faith'', Talbot County, Maryland. Built in Oxford, Maryland in 1968. Formerly ''Ada Fears'', operated as a dredge boat. Dredge #17.
# '' Fannie L. Daugherty'', Deal Island, MD. Built in Crisfield, Maryland in 1904. Dredge #58 (previously 2).
# '' F. C. Lewis, Jr'', Cambridge, Maryland, built 1907 in Hopkins, Virginia. Dredge #36.
# ''Fortune'', Cambridge, Maryland. Built in Little Ferry, New Jersey in 1978. Operated as a dredge boat. Dredge #95.
# ''George W. Collier'', built in Deal Island, Maryland, 1900, was Allegheny and Norfolk, being restored in Deal Island, Maryland.
# ''Helen Virginia'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in 1948 in Crisfield, Maryland. Dredge #53.
# '' Hilda M. Willing'', Tilghman Island, Maryland. Built in Oriole, Maryland in 1905. Dredge #11.
# ''H.M. Krentz'', Saint Michaels, MD. Built in Harryhogan, Virginia in 1955. Dredge # 59 (previously 23).
# '' Ida May'', Deal Island, MD. Built in Deep Creek, Virginia in 1906. Dredge #41.
# ''Joy Parks'', St. Mary's County, Piney Point Lighthouse Museum. Built in Parksley, Virginia in 1936.
# ''
Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks
from State of Maryland Archives site
for Chesapeake Skipjack ''Hilda M. Willing'' *
Youtube: 1930s photos of the skipjack fleet at Chesapeake
{{Oysters Chesapeake Bay boats Types of fishing vessels Oysters Ship types
The skipjack is a traditional fishing boat used on the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
for oyster dredging. It is a sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
which succeeded the bugeye as the chief oystering boat on the bay, and it remains in service due to laws restricting the use of powerboats in the Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
state oyster fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
.
Design and construction
The skipjack issloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
-rigged, with a sharply raked mast and extremely long boom (typically the same length as the deck of the boat). The mainsail is ordinarily triangular, though gaff rigged examples were built. The jib is self-tending and mounted on a bowsprit. This sail plan
A sail plan is a description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged. Also, the term "sail plan" is a graphic depiction of the arrangement of the sails for a given sailing craft.>
In the English language, ships were usually describe ...
affords the power needed to pull the dredge, particularly in light winds, while at the same time minimizing the crew required to handle the boat.
The hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
is wooden and V-shaped, with a hard chine and a square stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Or ...
. In order to provide a stable platform when dredging, skipjacks have very low freeboard and a wide beam (averaging one third the length on deck). A centerboard
A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised ...
is mounted in lieu of a keel. The mast is hewn from a single log, with two stays on either side, without spreaders; it is stepped towards the bow of the boat, with a small cabin. As typical in regional practice the bow features a curving longhead under the bowsprit, with carved and painted trailboards. A small figurehead is common. A typical skipjack is 40 to 50 feet in length. The boats use direct link Edson worm steering gear mounted immediately forward of the transom.
The dredge windlass and its motor are mounted amidships, between the mast and deckhouse. Rollers and bumpers are mounted on either side of the boat to guide the dredge line and protect the hull.
Due to state laws, the boat has no motor (other than for the windlass
The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...
). Most skipjacks were eventually modified with stern davit
Boat suspended from radial davits; the boat is mechanically lowered
Gravity multi-pivot on Scandinavia''
file:Bossoir a gravité.jpg, Gravity Roller Davit
file:Davits-starbrd.png, Gravity multi-pivot davit holding rescue vessel on North Sea ferr ...
s to hold a dinghy or pushboat to allow motorized travel as permitted by law.
History
The skipjack arose near the end of the 19th century. Dredging for oysters, prohibited in 1820, was again made legal in 1865. Boats of the time were unsuitable, and the bugeye developed out of the log canoe in order to provide a boat with more power adapted to the shallow waters of the oyster beds. The bugeye was originally constructed with a log hull, and as the supply of appropriate timber was exhausted and construction costs rose, builders looked to other designs. They adapted the sharpies ofLong Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
by increasing the beam and simplifying the sail plan. The result was cheaper and simpler to construct than the bugeye, and it quickly became the predominant oystering boat in the bay.
Debate remains to this day about the origins of the name. Some speculate it came from a name New England fisherman called the flying fish, bonita. Still others claim it is derived from an archaic English term, meaning an "inexpensive yet useful servant."
Maryland's oyster harvest reached an all-time peak in 1884, at approximately 15 million bushels of oysters. The oyster harvest has since declined steadily, especially at the end of the 20th century. The size of the fleet has likewise declined. New skipjacks were built as late as 1993, but a change in the law in 1965 allowed the use of motor power two days of the week. As a result, few of the boats are operated under sail in commercial use; instead, a pushboat is used to move the skipjack, and little dredging is done except on the days that power is allowed.
At one time, the number of skipjacks produced is estimated at approximately 2,000; today, they number about 40, with fewer than half of them in active fishing. The future of the fleet remains in doubt as efforts continue to restore the productivity of the oyster beds.
The skipjack was designated the state boat of Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
in 1985.
Joshua Slocum
Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 – on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he wr ...
piloted a modified Skipjack, a gaff rigged
Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and shap ...
sloop named ''Spray
Spray or spraying commonly refer to:
* Spray (liquid drop)
** Aerosol spray
** Blood spray
** Hair spray
** Nasal spray
** Pepper spray
** PAVA spray
** Road spray or tire spray, road debris kicked up from a vehicle tire
** Sea spray, refers to ...
'' in the first solo global circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the ...
. He wrote about the experience in his classic '' Sailing Alone Around the World''.
The rigging was modified to a Yawl
A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put.
As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
near the Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural ...
.
Remaining skipjacks
# ''Ada Mae'', New Bern, North Carolina. Built in Rose Bay, North Carolina in 1915.
# ''Anna McGarvey'', Cambridge, Maryland. Built in Baltimore in 1981. Now ''Han Em Harve''. Dredge # 62.
# ''Barbara Batchelder'', Rock Hall, Maryland. Built in Rock Hall, 1956, as a recreational vessel for Irénée du Pont, Jr.
# ''Caleb W. Jones'', Cobb Island, Maryland. Built in 1953 in Reedville, Virginia. Dredge #51.
# ''City of Crisfield'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Reedville, Virginia in 1949. Dredge #44.
# '' Clarence Crockett'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Deep Creek, Virginia in 1908.
# '' Claude W. Somers'', Reedville, VA. Built in Young's Creek, VA in 1911, now a sailing museum boat at the Reedville Fishermen's Museum. Dredge #55.
# ''Curlew III'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Cambridge, Maryland in 1964 as a recreational boat, converted to a dredge boat.
# ''Dee of St. Mary's'', Solomons, Maryland. Built in Piney Point, Maryland in 1979, now a sailing museum boat that the Calvert Marine Museum. Dredge #16.
# '' E.C. Collier'', St. Michaels, MD. Built in Deal Island in 1910.(Currently an onshore display at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum). Dredge #7.
# ''Elsie Peggy Joyce'', Madison, Maryland. Built 1970, converted from a recreational boat to a dredge boat. Dredge # 91.
# '' Elsworth'', Chestertown, Maryland. Built in 1901 in Hudson, Maryland, operated by the Echo Hill Outdoor School as a sailing classroom boat. Dredge #22.
# ''Faith'', Talbot County, Maryland. Built in Oxford, Maryland in 1968. Formerly ''Ada Fears'', operated as a dredge boat. Dredge #17.
# '' Fannie L. Daugherty'', Deal Island, MD. Built in Crisfield, Maryland in 1904. Dredge #58 (previously 2).
# '' F. C. Lewis, Jr'', Cambridge, Maryland, built 1907 in Hopkins, Virginia. Dredge #36.
# ''Fortune'', Cambridge, Maryland. Built in Little Ferry, New Jersey in 1978. Operated as a dredge boat. Dredge #95.
# ''George W. Collier'', built in Deal Island, Maryland, 1900, was Allegheny and Norfolk, being restored in Deal Island, Maryland.
# ''Helen Virginia'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in 1948 in Crisfield, Maryland. Dredge #53.
# '' Hilda M. Willing'', Tilghman Island, Maryland. Built in Oriole, Maryland in 1905. Dredge #11.
# ''H.M. Krentz'', Saint Michaels, MD. Built in Harryhogan, Virginia in 1955. Dredge # 59 (previously 23).
# '' Ida May'', Deal Island, MD. Built in Deep Creek, Virginia in 1906. Dredge #41.
# ''Joy Parks'', St. Mary's County, Piney Point Lighthouse Museum. Built in Parksley, Virginia in 1936.
# ''Kathryn
Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to:
In television and film:
* Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...
'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Crisfield, Maryland in 1901. Dredge #21.
# ''Lady Helen'', Kent Island, Maryland. Built in Pasadena, Maryland in 1987 as a recreational vessel.
# ''Lady Katie'', Cambridge, MD. Built in Wingate, Maryland in 1956. Dredge #25.
# '' Maggie Lee'', West Denton, MD. Built in Pocomoke City, Maryland in 1908. Dredge #9.
# ''Mamie A. Mister'', Deal, MD. Built in Champ, Maryland in 1911. Dismantled for storage in Deal Island, in poor condition.
# '' Martha Lewis'', Havre de Grace, MD. Built in Wingate, Maryland in 1955. Operated by the Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy. Dredge #8.
# '' Mary W. Somers'', St. Mary's City, MD. Built in Mearsville, Virginia in 1904.
# '' Minnie V'', Deal Island, Maryland. Built in Wenonah, Maryland in 1906. Formerly operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation, returned to work as a dredge boat. Dredge #50 (previously 33).
# Miss Victoria, built in Deltaville, Va 1977, not part of the original oyster fleet.
# Modern Day, built in Madison, Maryland, 2015, not part of the original oyster fleet. Dredge #94.
# ''Nathan of Dorchester,'', Cambridge, MD. Built Cambridge, Maryland. Commissioned in 1994.
# '' Nellie L. Byrd'', Middle River, Maryland. Built in Oriole, Maryland in 1911. Dredge #28.
# ''Oyster Catcher'', formerly ''Connie Francis'', Piney Point, Maryland. Built in 1984, Gloucester Point, Va, no longer skipjack rigged. Dredge # 63.
# '' Rebecca T. Ruark'', Tilghman Island, MD. Built in Taylors Island, Maryland in 1886. Dredge #29.
# '' Reliance''. Built at Fishing Creek, Maryland in 1904. present location not known. Dredge #4.
# ''Ringgold Bros'', Norwalk, Connecticut. Built in Oriole, Maryland, 1911, no longer skipjack rigged. Working clam dredge. Dredge #32.
# '' Rosie Parks'', St. Michaels, Maryland. Built in Wingate, Maryland in 1955. Operated by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is located in St.
Michaels, Maryland, United States and is home to a collection of Chesapeake Bay artifacts, exhibitions, and vessels. This interactive museum was founded in 1965 on Navy Point, once a site ...
. Dredge #19.
# '' Sigsbee'', Baltimore, Maryland. Built in Oriole, Maryland 1901, now operated as a classroom boat by the Living Classroom Foundation. Dredge #5.
# ''Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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'', Wenona, Maryland. Built in Reedsville, Virginia in 1949, working dredge boat. Dredge #33 (previously 35).
# '' Stanley Norman'', Annapolis, Maryland. Built in 1902, Salisbury, Maryland. Operated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for educational programs. Dredge #60 (previously 20).
# ''Talbot Lady'', Canton, New Jersey. Built at Skipton Creek, Maryland, 1984. Private pleasure boat.
# '' Thomas W. Clyde'', Tilghman Island, Maryland. Built in Oriole, Maryland in 1911. Working dredge boat. Dredge #39.
# '' Virginia W'', Cambridge, Maryland. Built in Guilford, Virginia in 1904. Working dredge boat. Dredge #12.
# ''Wilma Lee'', Annapolis, Maryland. Built in Wingate, Maryland in 1940. Operated by Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park, arriving June 20, 2018 from Ocracoke, North Carolina. Dredge #24.
Documented destroyed and wrecked skipjacks
# ''Esther F''. Built in Fairmount, Maryland in 1954. Sunk at moorings in Wittman, Maryland, broken up in 2009, formerly on theNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. Dredge #2.
# ''Ethel Lewis'' Built in Onancock, Virginia in 1906. Burned in 2010 after it was determined to be beyond repair.
# '' Flora A. Price''. Built in Champ, Maryland in 1910. Sunk at moorings in Cambridge, raised and burned 2013.
# ''Lorraine Rose'', remains are in Knapps Narrows, Tilghman Island. Built 1949 in Reedville, Virginia.
# ''Maggie Lee'', remains are in West Denton, Maryland on the Choptank River. Built 1903 in Pocomoke, Maryland. Dredge #9.
# ''Ralph T. Webster'', remains are in Knapps Narrows, Tilghman Island, Maryland., next to ''Lorraine Rose''. Built in Oriole, Maryland in 1905. Dredge #3.
References
Citations
Sources
Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks
from State of Maryland Archives site
for Chesapeake Skipjack ''Hilda M. Willing'' *
Bibliography
*External links
Youtube: 1930s photos of the skipjack fleet at Chesapeake
{{Oysters Chesapeake Bay boats Types of fishing vessels Oysters Ship types