Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks

Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks PDF

Author:

Publisher: Cornell Maritime Press/Tidewater Publishers

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780870334511

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In the 1900s, skipjacks were a familiar fixture in every port on the Chesapeake. Their captains and crews were tough, hardy souls who earned a living in the harsh conditions of the wintertime Bay, dredging for oysters under sail. The author has gone among skipjack captains, gathering stories of exciting events in their lives and reminiscences of how it was in the good times when oysters were healthy and plentiful. They told too about the bad times, when storms endangered their lives, or ice threatened their boats, the times when harvests were meager or the price they could get for oysters was too low to cover their expenses. Throughout, the author threads the history of the skipjack, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century when dredging by sail was the only legal method, to the 1990s when the twin scourges of disease and water quality threatened to put an end to the country's last commercial sailing fleet.

Maryland's Skipjacks

Maryland's Skipjacks PDF

Author: David Berry

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738553634

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Chesapeake is an Algonquian word meaning "great shellfish bay," and for decades, the oyster was the undisputed king of Chesapeake Bay shellfish. Early settlers reported them to be as large as dinner plates, and the reefs or rocks in which they lived were large enough to be hazards to navigation. In 1884, fifteen million bushels of oysters were harvested and shipped around the world. The skipjack was the perfect vessel for sailing into the Chesapeake Bay's shallow waters and dredging for oysters, and each winter, hundreds of these wooden craft set out across the bay's cold waters. The oyster population of the 21st century is a fraction of what it once was, and the skipjacks have disappeared along with them. No longer economically viable, the boats have been left to rot in the marshes along the bay. Only 25 boats are still operational, and fewer than five still dredge.

Skipjack

Skipjack PDF

Author: Christopher White

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2009-11-10

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 142998483X

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In Skipjack, Christopher White spends a pivotal year with three memorable captains as they battle man and nature to control the fate of their island villages and oyster fleet. Through these lively characters, White paints a vivid picture of life on a skip - jack, a wooden oystering sailboat as they dredge for oysters—a favorite staple of iconic American seafood cuisine for over a hundred years. But this last vestige of American sailing culture is rapidly dying. State officials have mismanaged the waters, putting sport above business, and modernization above tradition. These captains must set aside their rivalry to fight for their very livelihood. With so many obstacles, it is not certain the fleet will survive the season. Hinging on its success, the viability of the nation's premiere estuary and the survival of a classic American town hang dangerously in the balance.

Skipjack

Skipjack PDF

Author: Christopher White

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1442210885

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In Skipjack, Christopher White spends a pivotal year with three memorable captains, each at the helm of a wooden oystering sailboat unique to the Chesapeake Bay, in what has become the only wind-powered fishing fleet in America.

Chesapeake Oysters

Chesapeake Oysters PDF

Author: Katherine J. Livie

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2015-10-26

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1625853920

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This cultural and ecological history explores the rise of Chesapeake’s mighty mollusk from Colonial-era harvesting to contemporary cultivation. Oysters are an essential part of Chesapeake Bay culture and cuisine, as well as the ecological and historical lifeblood of the region. When colonists first sailed these abundant shores, they described massive shoals of foot-long oysters. In later years, however, the bottomless appetite of the Gilded Age and great fleets of skipjacks took their toll. Disease, environmental pressures, and overconsumption decimated the population by the end of the twentieth century. To combat the problem, Virginia began leasing its waters to private oyster farmers. Today, these boutique oyster farms are sustainably meeting the culinary demand of a new generation of connoisseurs. But in Maryland, passionate debate continues among scientists and oystermen whether aquaculture or wild harvesting is the better path. With careful research and interviews with experts, author Kate Livie presents this dynamic story and a glimpse of what the future may hold.

No Time to Reef

No Time to Reef PDF

Author: C.R. Webster

Publisher:

Published: 2013-05-16

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9781483972220

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This book is about the Maryland State Ship, the Skipjack. They are working boats that work on the Chesapeake Bay. They were first built in the late 1800's with a fleet of 1500. Now there are less than 25. These Skipjacks dredge for oysters or "drudge" as the Captains call it. They make their living dredging and I never knew what hard work was involved or the upkeep expenses which explains why many ships are no longer working vessels. The scenes are centered on the Tangier Sound, where I was raised. My Dad and grandfather were waterman. My Dad had a severe injury on the Claude Somers, captained by Captain Zack Taylor, when his arm got caught in the winders that pull of the dredges that drag the bottom of the Bay. He survived but was unable to work on the water. I still remember that day. There are many small chapters in this book, information taken directly from surviving captains or their families. Each year the Skipjacks race in the Deal Island Chance Lion's Clubs Annual Skipjack Races. The Skipjacks are as old as 100 years. One of the Captains is 91 and the youngest is 41. They told me tales of close calls, of blinding storms and ice treachery. I found it to be fascinating, a heritage passed on to their families. This book is a keepsake for them to have forever.

Working the Chesapeake

Working the Chesapeake PDF

Author: Mark E. Jacoby

Publisher: University of Maryland Sea Grant Publications

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780943676531

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In 1966 Congress passed the National Sea Grant College Program Act to promote marine research, education, and extension services in institutions along the nation's ocean and Great Lakes coasts. In Maryland a Sea Grant Program -- a partnership among federal and state governments, universities, and industries -- began in 1977, and in 1982 the University of Maryland was named the nation's seventeenth Sea Grant College. The Maryland Sea Grant College focuses its efforts on the Chesapeake Bay, with emphasis on the marine concerns of fisheries, seafood technology, and environmental quality. A description of the Chesapeake's waterman, this book details fishing for crabs, oysters, soft clams, hard clams, eels, cat-fish, menhaden, and other fish. Each chapter describes a day with a waterman, capturing the personality of the boat's crew as well as the techniques they use to catch their prey. Bay artist Neil Harpe has produced original lithographs for the book, and the combination of words and pictures helps to capture a slice of time in the lives of the watermen. The full-color cover reproduces an original lithograph by Neil Harpe of two skipjacks dredging the oyster beds of Tangier Sound.

Chesapeake

Chesapeake PDF

Author: James A. Michener

Publisher: Dial Press

Published: 2013-12-17

Total Pages: 1026

ISBN-13: 0812986288

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In this classic novel, James A. Michener brings his grand epic tradition to bear on the four-hundred-year saga of America’s Eastern Shore, from its Native American roots to the modern age. In the early 1600s, young Edmund Steed is desperate to escape religious persecution in England. After joining Captain John Smith on a harrowing journey across the Atlantic, Steed makes a life for himself in the New World, establishing a remarkable dynasty that parallels the emergence of America. Through the extraordinary tale of one man’s dream, Michener tells intertwining stories of family and national heritage, introducing us along the way to Quakers, pirates, planters, slaves, abolitionists, and notorious politicians, all making their way through American history in the common pursuit of freedom. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener's Hawaii. Praise for Chesapeake “Another of James Michener’s great mines of narrative, character and lore.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] marvelous panorama of history seen in the lives of symbolic people of the ages . . . An emotionally and intellectually appealing book.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Michener’s most ambitious work of fiction in theme and scope.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “Magnificently written . . . one of those rare novels that is enthusiastically passed from friend to friend.”—Associated Press

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