Pocomoke Shipbuilding Vane Brothers

Transcription

1 Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Summer 2007 Pocomoke Shipbuilding Vane Brothers

2 Chevy Chase Bank is a proud sponsor of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Call BANK, BANK (out of area) or visit chevychasebank.com

3

4 Four hundred years and counting WaterWays Summer 2007 Volume 5 Number 2 Editor Dick Cooper editor@cbmm.org Graphic Design/Photography Rob Brownlee-Tomasso Contributors Cristina Calvert Julie Gibbons-Neff Cox Rachel Dolhanczyk Robert Forloney Pete Lesher Melissa McLoud John Miller Stuart L. Parnes Kathleen Rattie Michael Valliant Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Navy Point, P.O. Box 636 St. Michaels, MD Fax editor@cbmm.org The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a private not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational institution. A copy of the current financial statement is available on request by writing the Vice President of Finance, P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD or by calling ext Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401, Our President and our (favorite) Queen recently celebrated the first permanent English settlement in the New World, in Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay. How did you react to the anniversary? I have been taking an informal poll. Some of us are enthralled. We find ourselves trying to picture life here 400 years ago. We can never fully appreciate the suffering and conditions that awaited the settlers, but we try. We want to understand what drove them to these shores. Some of us really care and want to connect to them. Others simply let the events wash over, a sound bite in the flood of news events. Why stop to look back on these desperate pilgrims? I reacted a third way. I treasure the past and the artifacts that have survived. I marvel at the strength of these pilgrims and I am stunned by their cruelty. Yet as I read the news accounts of the festivities, I find myself thinking about the future. Let me explain. History museums such as CBMM are firmly rooted in the past, but we are not just warehouses of old stuff. We study and preserve and share stories of the past to encourage thoughtfulness about the future. If museums use history to encourage reverence for the past, or nostalgia for the good old days, then we accomplish little. But, if our work can broaden perspectives, deepen understanding and perhaps even inform decision-making, then we serve both the past and the future. So when I look back 400 years to John Smith and the Jamestown colony, this is what I really wonder: What will life on the Bay be like 400 years from now? Can I imagine what a visitor to Jamestown or St. Michaels in 2407 will experience? While the quality of human life has improved beyond the wildest dreams of the colonists, the rich natural abundance described by Smith has all but vanished. This is what we Americans proudly call progress. But what have we learned? I wonder how much more progress we will inflict on the Bay in the next 400 years. In this issue of WaterWays, we will offer you a fascinating look a boatbuilding in Pocomoke City a century ago, take you aboard a tug to offer a view of a family-owned Baltimore company and recount the launch of the first log bugeye in almost 90 years. We will also offer you a glimpse into the future with a journey into some of America s disappearing marshlands, and a dip below the surface to meet some of the latest immigrants to Maryland s waterways. I hope each of these stories will help you adjust your perspective on both the past and the future. If they do, then we are doing our job. On the Cover Vane Brothers tug Nanticoke bearing down on the Baltimore skyline. The Company is building a new fleet of tugs and doublehulled barges. (See story, page 10) Stuart L. Parnes, President

5 Contents (Above) An eared grebe gives her young a ride. Their photo is one of 40 by photographer William Burt now on display at the Museum. (See Marshes, page 18.) Features Shipbuilding Powerhouse 6 Departments E. James Tull turned a sleepy Pocomoke River village into a major shipbuilding town more than a century ago, launching scores of Bay and ocean craft. By Pete Lesher Tugging into the Future 10 Events Calendar To the Point Wood Works Around the Bay Mystery Photo Answers Vane Brothers is a Baltimore tradition. A family-owned business evolves from a chandlery in the age of sail into a marine transportation company. By Dick Cooper Marshes Exhibit An exhibit of photographs by William Burt opens at the Museum documenting the beauty and the secrets of the disappearing marshes of North America. By Michael Valliant Christening a Bugeye The Katherine M. Edwards, the first log bugeye built on the Bay in almost 90 years, is christened at Sidney Dickson s dock in St. Michaels. By Dick Cooper Invasion of the Crawdads 27 The invasion of the big and ornery Louisiana crawdad into Maryland waters is driving the local crayfish out of their habitats throughout the state. By Jay Kilian 5

6 Shipbuilding Power on the Banks of the Pocomoke By Pete Lesher, Curator of Collections E. James Tull 6 E. James Tull transformed Pocomoke City from a small timber town to a major shipbuilding center, becoming the leading citizen of the community, its longtime mayor, and perhaps the most prolific builder of wooden ships on the Chesapeake. Although he was located far from the conveniences of an urban center, Tull adapted to changing technologies to build steamers and early gasoline-powered boats, as well as the last large sailing vessel on the Chesapeake. Beginning in the mid 19th century, a lumber industry grew up in and around Pocomoke City, then called Newtown, near the mouth of the Pocomoke River on Maryland s Eastern Shore, taking advantage in particular of the nearby stands of rot-resistant cypress. By 1880, five steam sawmills in and near the town were feeding not only a lumber trade along the East Coast, but a local shipbuilding industry that boasted three shipyards and two marine railways. The same year, the railroad built a bridge across the river at the town, initiating daily service to Philadelphia, which supplemented a steamboat connection to Baltimore. Although it had just 1,500 residents and 225 houses, Pocomoke City was growing rapidly. In the midst of this civic and economic growth, a young Tull trained as a ship carpenter at the yard of W. J. S. Clarke, a timber merchant who had expanded into shipbuilding in Tull s career choice was not uncommon in this town; by 1883, there were 54 current or former ship carpenters in Pocomoke City. 2 Tull was born on a farm near Westover, Maryland, in neighboring Somerset County, on January 19, 1850, and moved to Newtown, at age 18. After six years at the Clarke shipyard, he had learned enough of the business to go into partnership with the adjacent Hall Brothers yard. By 1882, he was supervising the construction of new vessels and certifying them at the Crisfield customs house. In 1884, Tull severed his 10-year partnership with Hall Brothers, rented the Clarke shipyard and became a sole proprietor at age After Clarke died in 1893, Tull purchased the yard. Tull s first vessels were the standard bugeyes, schooners, and sloops of the day, destined for the oyster trade or freighting around the Chesapeake. Bugeyes, the quintessential oyster dredging boats of the region, were likely products for a lower Eastern Shore boatbuilder in this period. The oyster trade was near its peak and demand for these boats soared. Earlier bugeyes were built with logs, and others were still building log bugeyes into the 1890s, but Tull appears to have built plank-on-frame bugeyes, from the start. At the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Tull exhibited a model of his 1885 bugeye Lillie Sterling with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in the Transportation Building, and won a medal for the design. The model is now at the Smithsonian along with Tull s own half-hull model for the same boat. Lillie Sterling was a relatively small bugeye, but typical of the type in almost every way, with a shoal draft,

7 house The four-masted schooner Lillian E. Kerr bound for New York with a load of Nova Scotia lumber in relatively flat bottom, and trunk cabin aft. She was steered with a tiller and lacked a patent stern platform or even a duck tail around the rudder head, all typical characteristics of earlier bugeyes. 4 A half-hull model, as Tull made for the Lillie Sterling, was the design tool for Chesapeake shipbuilders. Like other builders of bugeyes, schooners, and other commercial vessels, Tull had no formal training in engineering or naval architecture, a profession that was still in its infancy. Most shipbuilders did their own design work by shaping a half model, typically in half-inch scale (½ inch equals 1 foot), and lofted the frames full size by taking dimensions from the model. Tull probably learned this practice in the Clarke yard, and he clearly followed it himself, although few of Tull s models survive today. In 1880, steamers were introduced to the menhaden fishery on the Chesapeake with vessels brought from New England. 5 Not long after, the menhaden fishermen began ordering steamers from Chesapeake shipbuilders. Generally, steamers were built in urban shipyards where the steam engines and boilers could be made nearby. With his rural location, Tull was a notable exception. Although there were no engine builders or boilermakers in or near Pocomoke City, in 1888 Tull constructed the fish steamer Isaac N. Veasey for the American Fish Guano Company. At least 17 more menhaden steamers emerged from the yard from 1897 to Menhaden steamers were rather substantial vessels. Before the Isaac N. Veasey, Tull had launched at least four schooners of between 50 and 80 tons. The Veasey measured 95 tons, and each of his later menhaden steamers topped 100 tons, the last two exceeding 300 tons. The transition from building traditional Chesapeake oystering vessels to new fish steamers was one way Tull responded to changing technology. Perhaps more remarkable was his experimental gasoline engine boat, Bertie E. Tull, launched in Steam engines had been developing for most of the 19th century, but internal combustion engines were a much newer phenomenon. New steamboats in the 1890s were generally propeller driven, but sidewheelers were still preferred for service to the shallow tributaries of the Chesapeake, so Tull built 7

8 The menhaden boat Delaware under construction in the Tull yard in Bertie E. Tull as a sidewheeler powered by gasoline engines. He operated this boat between Baltimore and Snow Hill for a few months in 1896 and 1897, but it was apparently unsuccessful, and it was later converted to a screw propeller driven by a Globe gasoline engine. 6 Tull s largest vessels were not steamers or power vessels, however. In the early 20th century, large schooners were in demand to carry coal, lumber, and fertilizer. For cargoes that did not need to arrive on a schedule, sailing vessels with minimal crews, could make the delivery for a lower freight charge without the fuel costs. Tull built four three-masted schooners between 1900 and His last, the slow but solidly constructed Lillian E. Kerr, later rerigged with four masts, remains the last large sailing vessel launched anywhere on the Chesapeake. 7 He launched his only four-masted schooner, Charles M. Struven, in Rams, specialized schooners with narrow beam, straight wall sides and flat bottoms, designed to pass through canal locks, were a further development of the three-masted schooner, and Tull launched one example, Reedville, in These late schooners relied on tugs to make their way in and out of port, especially when serving rural ports along the winding rivers of the Eastern Shore. Schooner barges, which were towed, but carried a relatively small amount of sail to assist, appeared on the Chesapeake at the beginning of the 20th century. Tull produced seven schooner barges between 1904 and The second of these schooner barges, the 640-ton, 182-foot Merrimac, was one of the largest vessels produced in his yard, slightly larger than the four-masted Charles M. Struven of 632 tons and 171 feet. Constructing larger vessels required more labor, so by the turn of the century, Tull was the largest employer in Pocomoke City with a workforce varying from 15 to 60, depending on the contracts at hand. 8 It took up to 10 months to construct a fourmasted schooner, and Tull expanded workforce to complete the new hull. Simultaneously, one or two smaller craft would be under construction next to the larger vessel. 9 Rams and schooner barges were not pretty vessels; their lines were determined by the practicalities of maximizing the size of the hold, not by aesthetics or even sea-keeping qualities. But Tull was able to build a pretty boat, too. The Lillie Sterling caught the eye of several observers, and Tull later built several yachts. Perhaps his first was Dixie, a bugeye yacht patterned after the common commercial craft of the day, but with a longer cabin. The idea of using a bugeye as a yacht had been proposed by yachting writer C. P. Kunhardt in 1884, but Dixie was among the earliest bugeyes built for pleasure. Dixie was launched in 1897 for writer Thomas Dixon, Jr., whose novel The Clansman inspired D. W. Griffith s film Birth of a Nation. Dixon praised Dixie in a 1905 autobiography. Such a craft is the most useful boat in Virginia waters a man can build. She will go more places and do more things than any other boat of her size afloat. She is so powerfully built that she stands up straight on a sandbar or mud flat as comfortably as afloat and without damage. We can anchor on the feeding grounds of wild fowl where the tide leaves her high and dry twice a day, and stay as long as we like. She is a powerful sea boat when she drops her centerboard and draws 10 feet of water Dixon had a clear idea of what he wanted in a yacht, and he chose Tull, an efficient builder of merchant work boats, to build her because he offered a significant savings in cost: the lowest estimate I could get on her in New York and vicinity was $11,000, without sails.... [Tull] built her hull. Her brass and iron work I had done in New York, and her sails were made at Crisfield. When she was finished she had cost me $3, In addition to the yacht for Dixon, 8 The bugeye yacht Dixie built for author Thomas Dixon, Jr.

9 Tull launched several other sailing and power yachts. In addition to new construction, Tull handled repair work on the yard s horsepowered marine railway. Repair work, always steadier than new ship construction, was a brisk business in Pocomoke City. From the time he started, there were two commercial marine railways in the town, and by 1895, there were three. 12 In an 1898 newspaper notice that may have indicated unusually high activity, the schooners Elizabeth Ann, Jeanette, and E. H. Taylor were all at Tull s yard for repairs, while four smaller vessels were at Charles W. Crockett s nearby marine railway. 13 Tull s yard expanded and contracted with the economics of shipbuilding. In the 1880s, when the oyster industry was booming, Tull launched up to nine vessels in a year. Leaner times followed the depression of 1893, but business again picked up a few years later. After the turn of the century, Tull weathered the changes in demand better than many other builders by learning to build new types fish steamers, power freighters, large schooners, and schooner barges when demand for bugeyes and smaller schooners waned. America s involvement in World War I created a sudden but short-lived demand for new shipping as war materiel was needed in Europe, and U-boats took their toll on merchant shipping. Tull s four schooner barges launched in 1918 were typical of the American shipbuilding industry s response to the emergency call for new hulls. The end of the war combined with surplus vessels to create a devastating depression in the shipbuilding industry, and Tull survived by shrinking his workforce and finding contracts for smaller motor freight boats, yachts, and one additional menhaden fisherman, this last one with an internal combustion engine instead of steam. Tull died in 1924, and the yard consequently closed. Overall, Tull built a remarkable variety of vessels bugeyes, schooners, sloops, skipjacks, fish steamers, tugs, motor freight boats, schooner barges, launches, sailing and power yachts, barges, and a ram some 200 in all, by a claim in his own 1917 advertisement. Measured either by number of hulls or total tonnage launched, no Eastern Shore shipbuilder out produced him. This successful shipbuilder and businessman rose to become Pocomoke City s most prominent citizen. In Celebrants crowd the deck of the ram Reedville at her 1911 launch. 1901, he was elected mayor, and he served, with some interruptions in service, up to his death. In addition to leading the town through the typical civic improvements such as water and sanitary service, he led the reconstruction of the downtown after a 1922 fire. Although owners of large shipyards were typically prominent citizens in their communities, there is probably no parallel on the Chesapeake to Tull s dual dominance in Pocomoke City s business and civic affairs. w Sources 1. Dr. Reginald V. Truitt and Dr. Millard G. Les Callette, Worcester County: Maryland s Arcadia (Snow Hill, Md.: Worcester County Historical Society, 1977), Listed by name in the Rev. James Murray, History of Pocomoke City, Formerly New Town (Baltimore: Curry, Clay, and Company, 1883), Portrait and Biographical Record of the Eastern Shore, (New York: Chapman Publishing, 1898), Howard I. Chapelle, The National Watercraft Collection (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1960), John Frye, The Men All Singing. The Story of the Menhaden Industry (Norfolk, Va.: Donning, 1978), S. S. Scott, Marine Review (Sept. 1910). 7. Quentin Snediker and Ann Jensen, Chesapeake Bay Schooners (Centreville, Md.: Tidewater, 1992), Portrait and Biographical Record of the Eastern Shore, Truitt and Les Callette, Thomas Dixon, Jr., The Life Worth Living. A Personal Experience (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905), Dixon, Sanborn Fire Atlas for Pocomoke City, [Pocomoke City] Ledger-Enterprise (Sat., 8 Oct. 1898). The bugeye A.G. Sterling at the dock in New Point, Virginia, showing signs of a hard life. 9

10 Tugging into By Dick Cooper, Editor Baltimore glistens in the morning sun as Captain Cutter Belote puts the tugboat Nanticoke through her paces. Sitting high in his leather armchair, steering the 100-foot-long workhorse with a practiced touch of the remote clicker in his right hand, Belote is in his element. The panoramic views from the wood-paneled wheelhouse, three stories above the water, help burnish the harbor, from the working bustle of Dundalk to the touristy gleam of Inner Harbor. Belote, a broad-shouldered man with a quick smile and a firm handshake, grew up on the water on Virginia s Eastern Shore. The son and grandson of men who worked the water, he is at home at the helm of the Nanticoke as the twin, 2,200- horse Caterpillar diesels churn the Patapsco into froth. When I was growing up, you either farmed or fished. Now, a lot of the guys who fished have gone tuggin, says Belote, 36, who has worked for 14 years for Vane Brothers and now lives in Richmond, Virginia. I got into tugboats early as a deck hand and I worked my way up. I got my Coast Guard license and worked to upgrade it. Then Duff gave me a shot at the wheelhouse. Duff is his boss, C. Duff Hughes, president of Vane Brothers, Inc., the 109-year-old Baltimore nautical landmark company that has revitalized a gritty part of the harbor and is a leader in the petroleum delivery business from New England to Texas. A family-owned business, with roots in the Chesapeake Bay schooner trade, Vane Brothers christened the 123-foot tug Brandywine and the 480-foot double-hulled tanker barge, Double-Skin 141, at a June 2 celebration on its Fairfield waterfront campus. More than a thousand guests listened as Hughes told them how the new vessels were expanding and shaping the future of Vane Brothers as a shipping company. The crowd cheered, boat horns blared and spray from fireboats filled the air as a ceremonial champagne bottle broke on the tugboat hull. The tug and barge, which were designed and built to work together to ship oil for Sunoco, are part of Vane Broth- Captain Cutter Belote has a sweeping view of the water from the wheelhouse of the Nanticoke. 10

11 the Future ers long-range plan to modernize and standardize its fleet of 60 vessels. Hughes, 49, the third-generation of his family to run Vane Brothers, says the company is building 15 news tugs and eight barges. The company that had five employees when it incorporated in 1958 now has 450 workers, 300 of them deployed in the fleet. Vane Brothers is a company that has lasted more than a century because it has been constantly changing, adapting and innovating. The story of the company and the families who built and run it, is chronicled in Time and the Tide: A Centennial History of the Vane Brothers Company, an in-house publication by Mary Butler Davies the company published in 1998 to mark its 100th birthday. Established by brothers William Burke Vane and Allen P. Vane as a ships chandlery in Fells Point, the company has moved around the harbor and shifted direction and focus several times, but it has long remained a vital part of Baltimore s attachment to the sea. The company sold everything a ship and its crew would need, from coffee to compasses to carpentry tools. Vane Brothers was a sailor s Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Safeway and social hall, all under one roof. Schooner Captain D Arcy Grant, known as Miss Stormy, wrote an article for the Baltimore Sun in 1940 about the importance of Vane Brothers as a place to gather and share stories. Midway of the store is the social circle. Its center is a stove, and in the winter, the circle of chairs surrounding it is never empty. Not too active now, Capt. Vane presides over the forum, and from the farthest reaches of the inland waterway, seafaring men bring him their news and yarns. Vane s is the one spot on the Eastern seaboard where you can look forward with any hope of certainty to meeting a sailing man you want to see, she wrote. During a recent tour of the new Vane Brothers campus, Duff Hughes met visitors in the Pot Belly Room, a richly paneled lounge with a large fireplace, comfortable armchairs and a sweeping view of the harbor. He says the room is used by sailors who carry on the tradition of the stoveside camaraderie. The Vanes were shipbuilders and sailors who moved to Baltimore from Dorchester County in the 1800s. In the 1920s, Claude Venables Hughes and his brother, Charles Fletcher Hughes from the Eastern Shore, joined the Vanes, believed by family members to be distant cousins. continued, page 14 11

12 From Schooners The evolution of the Vane Brothers runs a fleet of 60 tugs, barges, launches and tankers up and down the East and Gulf Coasts. Here are some examples of Vane Brothers vessels over time. For more than a half century, Vane Brothers owned schooners that worked the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal and Caribbean trade. One of the last of the great sailing ships the company owned was the Doris Hamlin, a fourmaster built in Maine in She was feet long and carried pulpwood, lumber, coal and logwood. She was sold by Vane Brothers in 1939 and torpedoed by a German U-boat in Vane Brothers diversified its fleet over time and in 1971 built the Duff, a 58-foot, 42,000-gallon tanker, used to deliver fuel to ships in and around Baltimore Harbor. The vessel was named for current Vane president C. Duff Hughes and christened by him when he was 13-years-old. 12

13 EBI 5 TON to Super Barges Vane Brothers Fleet The Willkate is a 65-foot launch used to deliver 500 gallon containers of engine lubricants to vessels in Baltimore. It was built in 1979 and is still in daily service in the harbor. BRANDYWIN E Elizabeth Anne, first tug bought by Vane Brothers, was built in 1980, rebuilt 1990 and renamed in honor of company Vice President Betsy Hughes, wife of former president Charles Hughes Jr., and mother of company president C. Duff Hughes. The 60-foot Elizabeth Anne is used to push oil barges in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina. BRANDYWIN E BRANDYWINE The Brandywine is the largest Vane tug at 123-feet. It was christened in June, 2007, along with its companion barge, Double Skin 141, a 480-foot, double-hulled barge that can carry 137,750 barrels of oil. They are under contract to transport oil for Sunoco for the next 10 years. DOUB L E S K I N 141 Source: Vane Brothers 13

14 from page 11 As well as the chandlery, the company owned schooners that ran the Coastal and Caribbean trade. One of their vessels, the 200-foot-long, four-masted schooner Doris Hamlin, sailed from Baltimore in the logwood trade to Haiti. In his youth, Robert H. Burgess, the late Chesapeake Bay historian and former curator of The Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia, was a crewmember. He took numerous photographs of his voyage. Some are on display in the new Vane Brothers headquarters. Two brass lamps from the Doris Hamlin flank the fireplace in the Pot Belly Room. Vane Brothers sold the schooner in 1939 and a U-boat sank it a few months later. In 1941, Allen P. Vane died and Burke Vane sold the company to the Hughes brothers. World War II ended the schooner trade and the Hughes brothers began to diversify their business. Davies, in her book about the company, wrote that during the war they supplied goods to picketboats private yachts commandeered to spy on suspicious vessels and otherwise act as coastal security. The picketboats would tie up at Pier 4 and hand over their store lists. Without asking too many questions, Vane Brothers provisioned them and then billed the Coast Guard. The bills were always paid. With the schooners gone, the working harbor fleet of tugs and lighters became Vane Brothers customers, setting the company on a course that it continues today. After his discharge from the Navy, Charles F. Hughes Jr. attended Johns Hopkins University, but left school to join the family business. He received his bachelor s degree from JHU in Under his direction, Vane Brothers continued to evolve. By the early 1970s, the 42,000-gallon tanker, Duff, was added to the fleet to supply fuel to ships in the harbor. The company continued to add tugs and specialty tankers. They delivered potable water and marine lubricants directly to ships. Duff Hughes says he grew up on the docks and decks of Vane Brothers and joined his father and grandfather in 1980 after graduating from Denison University. He worked in the fleet and received his 100-ton Coast Guard license four years later. In 1991, Duff Hughes was named president of the company. He says one of the business decisions that paid off for Vane Brothers was the purchase of a double-hulled oil barge in We started early, Duff Hughes says. We were already in the double-hull business when the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in March of He says the company is on course to have a double-hulled fleet in place well before the 2015 federal deadline. As Hughes walks from one building to another on his campus, employees greet him by name and he banters easily with them. Workers regularly refer C. Duff Hughes talks about the future of his family s company in the library designed by his mother, Betsy Hughes, a company vice president, editor and librarian. Vane Brothers operates a fleet of double-hulled barges to transport petroleum products. 14

15 Operations Manager Donald Browning keeps an eye on the Vane fleet in real time. relatives and friends for job openings at Vane Brothers. He says he grew up working with many of them. He refers to Vane Brothers Port Captain Russi Makujina, who has been with the company since 1972, as both a brother and a father. We have families within a family business, he says. In a gallery of photos, he points to the picture of four men in watch caps and plaid. They are all named Tokarski, he says. Aboard the Nanticoke, Captain Belote says he just received a birthday card, signed by Duff. That s the kind of company this is. As the Nanticoke cruises the Inner Harbor, a green rectangle shows her position on the GPS display in front of Belote. Across the harbor, Vane Brothers operations officers watch Nanticoke s progress on a nine-by-nine-foot monitor. From their desks, they follow every Vane Brothers vessel in use, anywhere. Viewed from the wheelhouse of the Nanticoke, Vane Brothers is heavy industry at work push and pull, muscle and brawn, strain and stress as heavy loads are moved on water. From a desk in the Operations Center, Vane Brothers is an Internet Technology company that happens to move a lot of oil. On his way to the Operations Center, Hughes points out the offices where 12 computer specialists build custom software for Vane Brothers, and then steps into a bright and airy room full of computers. This is the Ops Room, where it all cooks, Hughes says. Two things jump out at you: The huge computer display flanked by flat-panels set to the Weather Channel and CNN, and the lifesized figure of a pirate dressed in full swashbuckler garb suspended from the high-pitched ceiling. Hughes loves the lore of little-known English pirate Charles Vane who was hanged for his dastardly deeds in While there is no proven family connection between that evil Vane and the Eastern Shore schoonermen, Hughes plays it up. Faux pirate figures stand watch at several key spots in the headquarters building and the ship christening in June had a buccaneering theme. Donald Browning, Vane s operations manager, manipulates the computer display of the eastern half of the United States from his elevated workstation, keeping track in real time of all Vane vessels in operation. This is where we keep an eye on everything that is happening, at this moment, he says. He zooms in on the icon of a boat just off the Atlantic coast. With a click of his mouse, a menu appears and he clicks through a drop-down list of what is happening in and around the vessel. He clicks another icon and views a live feed from a camera on a Philadelphia wharf. We have the Weather Channel and CNN on all of the time because weather and news are things that can have an impact on the price of oil, he says. Hughes says the computers are programmed to alert the Operations Center when a vessel nears its destination. Workers on the docks are notified so they can be ready to off-load as fast as possible. Ten-15 years ago, we had offices in every port. Now we can manage the entire fleet from this building, he says. We have it wired 10 ways to Sunday. w Ops Room employees monitor news, weather and Vane vessels around the clock. 15

16 Through innovative solutions and state-of-the-art technologies, we never stop looking for ways to strengthen the communities we serve so that we can all wake up to a brighter tomorrow. Choptank Electric Cooperative Proudly serving the St. Michaels District WOULD YOU CHOOSE LUXURY, SAFETY, OR CONVENIENCE? At David Wheeler Volvo you get all three. When you purchase one of our cars, you not only get a luxurious vehicle made by the company who leads the world in automobile safety innovation, you also get Valet Service. We come get your car, service it, and we bring it back to you once all of the work is completed. How s that for convenience? Stop by to let us show you how we make owning a David Wheeler Volvo the very best car ownership experience you have ever had. EXPERIENCE THE LUXURY OF LIFE. dw david wheeler David Wheeler Volvo Route 50 in Easton

17 The Boating Party 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 6:00pm on Navy Point N. Hammond 2007 Cocktails, dinner, dancing under the stars to oldies and today s music by Golden Gup, plus a one-of-a-kind auction that only CBMM can offer Rockin The Boat Itinerary Cocktail or Nautical Attire Suggested 6:00pm Cocktails and Hors d oeuvres on Navy Point 7:00pm Spirited hands-up auction followed by dinner catered by PeachBlossoms Raffle prize drawing for a 2007 Mini Cooper S 9:00pm Dancing under the stars Consider Becoming a Boating Party Patron! With support at the Patron and Benefactor level, enjoy a Patron s-only evening of cocktails and luscious hors d oeuvres at the extraordinary waterfront home of Charlie and Carolyn Thornton on Saturday, August 25, from 6pm to 8pm. Preview the exciting line-up of unique Chesapeakeinspired auction items and test drive the 2007 Mini Cooper S before the Boating Party! The 10th Annual Boating Party is generously sponsored by Benson & Mangold Real Estate Chevy Chase Bank 17

18 First Name Last Name Daytime Telephone Address City State Zip Please make checks payable to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Benefactor Ticket ($1,700 is tax deductible) Table of 8 (To include 8 Boating Party tickets and 4 Patron Preview Party tickets) $2,500 Please charge my credit card: VISA Mastercard AMEX Discover Patron Ticket ($250 is tax deductible) (To include one Boating Party ticket and one Patron Preview Party ticket) Individual Ticket ($75 is tax deductible) (One Boating Party ticket) $350 $175 Card number Exp. date Signature I/We are unable to attend. Please accept a contribution of $ Please respond by August 17, A portion of your ticket/table is tax-deductible. I/We will join the table of I/We will host a table of 8. (Additional guests $175 each) My/Our guests include: Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip Name Address City State Zip 18 Complete and mail with your check payable to CBMM or credit card information to: The Boating Party, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD or call ext. 122

19 Calendar Summer 2007 Boating Party Saturday, September 8, 6pm Cocktails cheers! Elegant Dinner. Spirited, live auction. Dancing under the stars. Favorite songs preformed by the Golden Gup. Toast with us as we enjoy our 10th Boating Party and fundraiser on Navy Point. By invitation, please call the Museum if you would like to attend. October Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival Saturday, October 6, 10am 5pm July Crab Days (New Times!) Saturday, July 28th, 12pm-8pm Saturday Only: All-U-Can-Eat, 4:30pm-8pm Sunday, July 29th, 12pm-5pm Don t be crabby celebrate the 25th anniversary of Crab Days with us! Enjoy the food that Maryland does best! with steamed crabs, soft-shell crabs, crab cakes and soup. Once you ve gotten your fill of crabs, enjoy live music, boat cruises down the Miles, local chef demonstrations, wine tastings, or discover buried treasure in Kidstown. Don t miss Saturday evening s sunset cruises and Moonlight Mixer concert! August Saturday, August 18th, 7:30pm It s summertime! Don t miss your last chance to relax on Navy Point and listen to an exciting band under the stars. Commemorate 25 years of the Small Craft Festival this year with us at the Museum. Enjoy amateur and professionally made skiffs, kayaks, and canoes, or catch paddle and sailing races! Children s activities, workshops, and demonstrations will also take place. See the John Smith replica shallop fresh from its recreation of Smith s journey (shallop will be on display through October 28). September OysterFest Moonlight Mixer Boat Auction (Live Concert) Saturday, September 1, 1pm-5pm Forget about the 3 R s, it s the 4 B s to remember now. Boats, BBQ, Bluegrass, and Beer at this year s 10th anniversary Boat Auction. Celebrate with us and purchase the boat of your dreams. Your choices range from classic sailboats, to wooden skiffs, to modern power cruisers. Once you ve purchased that B don t forget to enjoy the other 3! (New Weekend!) Saturday, October 27, 11am-4pm Sunday, October 28, 12pm-4pm 20th Anniversary of OysterFest. What better way to kick off a celebration than with CBMM s 2nd Annual Oyster Slurp Off. Join in on the fun as amateurs and the occasional professional compete for the fastest time, or take part in all in things oysters, cooking demonstrations, tonging trips down the Miles River, KidsTown and more. Have a boo-rific time at the Museum s Haunted Halloween while at OysterFest. 19

20 Education Programs Saturdays for Kids Children and their families are invited to visit the Museum the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month for storytelling, special tours, and hands-on art activities designed just for them. September 1st Crabbing Pull up a crab pot and run a trot line on the Katie G. See and learn to identify crabs up close. Find out about all the different jobs it takes to bring a crab to your plate. September 15th Seasons Fall is around the corner. What makes the seasons so important for the animals and the watermen of the Chesapeake? Find out how and make a waterman puppet. October 6th Chesapeake Icons What makes you think of the Chesapeake? How do you feel about oysters, skipjacks, blue crabs, and waterman? Explore these icons up close in this unique exhibit, Chesapeake Icons. October 20th Explore the 28-foot reproduction of Captain John Smith s shallop or open boat that will be on display. Learn about Captain Smith s and his crew voyage on the Chesapeake 400 years ago. On-Going Programs Community Sailing Program At 10:30 kids, ages 3 to 7 years old, can enjoy Tidewater Tales, listening to an exciting story about the region in one of our exhibitions. Boys and girls will learn about Bay animals, local legends, history, and more. Drawing, exploration of objects, and other activities will be part of these programs. Tidewater Tales is free with admission. Our Sailing Program continues through the summer with offerings for basic, intermediate, and advanced sailing, and don t miss our Tuesday Evening Member Sails on our JY 15s! For more information and a detailed schedule, please visit Children can also participate in an art making or handson activity inspired by one of our exhibits. During special guided tours, participants will learn about the different ways that the Bay has shaped the lives of local people. At 11:30, 1:00, or 3:00 children (ages 6 to 12) can drop by to take part in a unique hands-on experience. The program fee is $3 per child. July 7th Shiver me timbers, it s pirate day! Pirates were more than treasure maps and eye patches. Learn the differences between the image and reality about pirates on the Chesapeake. July 21st Birding Explore the local population of birds. Learn how to identify some of the most common species by sight and call, and how you can make your own backyard a friendlier habitat for local birds. August 4th Hooper Strait Lighthouse It s summer vacation, and time to visit the lighthouse! Come experience what life would have been like on a lighthouse long ago. August 18th Marshes Learn why marshes are important to humans and the critters that call them home. Capture the beauty of a marsh through drawing or photography. 20 Boaters Safety Courses Any Maryland boater born after July 1, 1972, is required to have a Certificate of Boating Safety Education, in order to operate a vessel. The Certificate is obtained by passing a Department of Natural Resources-approved boating safety course, and once obtained, the Certificate is valid for life. Participants completing the Museum s course will receive this Certificate. The course is also recommended for anyone looking to become a safer, more experienced boater. The Boating Safety Education courses are offered at the Museum in St. Michaels on the following dates: Session 4: September 11 & 12, 6-10pm All classes will be held in the Museum s Steamboat Building. Advanced registration is required. Members and Non-Members: $25

21 Lighthouse Overnight Program Become a lighthouse keeper with your family or friends. Experience the life of a 19th century keeper through planned activities. Take a hands-on tour of the lighthouse, perform the tasks of a traditional keeper, participate in an induction ceremony and more Family Programs Select Saturdays in July, August, and September. Non-members: $41, Members: $35. Cost includes program activities, two days admission to the Museum and dinner. July 14 July 28 August 4 August 11 August 25 September 1 Scout, Student, and Youth Group Programs Fridays and Saturdays in April, May, June, September, and October. Limited dates remaining for the Spring, book now for Fall Cost: $550 for up to 15 people. Cost includes program activities, two days admission to the Museum. Special lighthouse badge available for Brownie, Junior, and Cadet Girl Scout groups. New for this year s Boating Party Special Preview Party Saturday, August 25, 6-8pm An elegant evening at Thornton House, the magnificent waterfront home of CBMM Board member Charlie and Carolyn Thornton. Music by Free & Easy. Cocktails and catering by Gourmet By the Bay. Patron tickets are $350 and include one Boating Party ticket and one invitation to the Preview Party. Visit for invitation or raffle tickets Win a MINI! Drawing is September 8, 2007 Take a chance at winning a fully-loaded 2007 MINI Cooper S. $125 per ticket, only 700 tickets will be sold. Call ext. 113 to use your credit card. 21

22 Spartina Tufts, (above) taken by William Burt in 1981, Old Lyme, Connecticut. Black Rail At Nest, (below) taken in 1985, Elliott Island, Maryland. Marshes The Disappearing Edens It has taken renowned photographer William Burt 30 years of prowling marshes and stalking birds to capture his striking and serene images of vanishing wetlands. It will only take visitors a drive to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to enjoy the products of Burt s labor. The Museum has opened an exhibition of 40 photographs by Burt entitled, Marshes: The Disappearing Edens. Burt s photographs and stories can be seen in Smithsonian, Audubon, National Wildlife and other magazines. His photographs have been exhibited in museums across the United States and Canada. The Marshes exhibit comes to CBMM from the 22

23 Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and after its six-month stay in St. Michaels, the show will travel to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas. Burt has mucked through marshes all over North America, with images in the exhibit including vistas, textures, and inhabitants from the Chesapeake Bay, Maine, Connecticut, Everglades National Park in Florida, and Saskatchewan, Canada, to name a few. He is drawn to marshes for their mystery, for their numerous and rare King Rail, (above) taken in 1975, Great Island, Old Lyme, Connecticut. birds, and for their beauty. Salt Marsh In Fog, (below) taken in 2000, Great Bay, near Tuckerton, New Jersey. No place has the wildness any more, of the neglected marsh, says Burt. I ve been dipping into marshes for some 30 years, leafing through, watching, and waiting, scanning always for that rectangle worth hauling the camera in for so I can try to snatch some of that beauty, frame up a slice of it, take it home and keep it. The Marshes exhibition will be on display in galleries in two of the Museum s buildings, connecting the Bay History and Waterfowling buildings. The exhibition has been made possible in part through grants from the Town Creek Foundation and Verizon Maryland, who are also supporting special programming. Summer and fall at CBMM will include a number of special programs related to Marshes, including an artist talk and book signing by Burt on July 26 and collaborative programs with Adkins Arboretum, Environmental Concern, and University of Maryland s Horn Point Laborawith its gorgeous greens and golds. But more fundamentaltory. Programs related to the exhibit will include lectures, ly, Burt s photographs capture in sharp detail an exquisite book signings, tours, day trips, kayak tours, as well as beauty that anyone can appreciate storytelling and activities for children. Marshes: The Disappearing Edens is on display at CBMM Curator of Exhibitions Lindsley Rice feels the Museum through December 16, For more inforthe exhibit has a broad appeal to residents and visitors to mation and a schedule of programs related to the exhibimaryland s Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake. tion, visit or call w These photographs are extraordinary, says Rice. They bring us up close to rare and beautiful birds and Michael Valliant, plants of the marshes, as well as capturing the feel of Director of Marketing and Media Relations being surrounded by marsh both earthy and ethereal, 23

24 An Indomitable Bay A New Bugeye is Christened By Dick Cooper, Editor John Hawkinson works on the deck of the Katherine M. Edwards at Sidney Dickson s dock on the backwaters of Broad Creek off the Choptank River in St. Michaels. For 27 years, Sidney Dickson s dreamboat has been a work in progress. Dickson and his long-time friend and boat-building buddy, John Hawkinson, have been futzing around the edges of the vessel so long, they finish each other s sentences. On May 27, in front of scores of friends and supporters, the first log bugeye built on the Bay since 1918, was launched and christened the Katherine M. Edwards at Dickson s dock in St. Michaels. The bugeye is a distinctive Bay craft that evolved after the Civil War to harvest shallow oyster beds and deliver freight and produce. The Katherine s hull was made with 11 hand-shaped logs, a boat-building practice that dates to hollowed log canoes made by Native Americans. The Edna E. Lockwood, the flagship of the CBMM floating fleet, was built on Knapps Narrows in 1889 and is the last known nine-log bugeye afloat. Nobody in today s world recognizes what a good boat this is, Dickson says with the pride of a new father. Kather- Hawkinson 24 applies epoxy to the bugeye he and Dickson started building in Nobody in today s world recognizes what a good boat this is.

25 Lady ine s low free board, clipper bow, varnished bright work and tiller steering give her a sleek, yachty look. She is back on land next to Dickson s dock after taking on water following the christening. Anyone who knows anything about wooden boats would expect it to leak at first, he says. We will have her finished in three months and be sailing by fall, Dickson says. He named her after his late, great aunt, Katherine May Edwards of Pittsburgh. He says she was an indomitable woman, who was born in 1873 and lived an adventurous life that included driving an ambulance during World War I and being an early aviator. She formed the Pittsburgh Ambulance Corps, he says. She bought an ambulance, had it shipped over and drove it to the front to pick up wounded soldiers. The two-masted, man-and-boy rig will make the Katherine easy to handle with a crew of two, he says. He plans to use her to deliver fresh produce to ports on the Bay, selling his products under the Bugeye Brand. Dickson, who describes his previous occupation as moving large, live trees with machinery, says building the bugeye came from a desire to revive the classic Bay workboat that has all but disappeared. He and Hawkinson collaborated in the...but then we took a 17-year hiatus, because we were occupationally handicapped. We had jobs. Dickson gives the history of his collection of boat-building tools mounted on the wall of his workshop office. 25

26 From cranes and front-end loaders to delicate carving knives, we used everything we needed to use. Photo by Bill Thompson A crane lowers the Katherine M. Edwards into the water as celebrants watch from Dickson s dock during her christening May 27. early 1970s to build the Spirit of Wye Town, a log canoe they campaigned on the race circuit for several years. They started Katherine in 1980 gathering logs from around Talbot County, but then we took a 17-year hiatus, he says. Hawkinson, a retired gynecologist, says the Katherine, a sweet-looking vessel with mahogany topsides and patent stern, took so long to build because we were occupationally handicapped. We had jobs. Neither man has engineering training, but both have an eye for detail. Dickson says he used computer assisted design to build both boats, with the computer being the brain. Back in the woods on his 37-acre property is Dickson s workshop, the barn-sized building where Katherine spent her formative years. It is almost as much a museum as it is a very large workspace. The walls are covered with artifacts of the boat-building trade. Axe heads, some dating back more than 400 years, are tacked up in a random display. Ships tackle and fittings hang from the rafters. Dickson opens some of the tool chests used regularly in the building of the bugeye to show the intricate workmanship of the boxes within boxes. A library of rare and arcane books on Chesapeake boatbuilding is tucked in a sawdust-covered corner. The wooden half-models that he made to build the Katherine shine with an oft-handled glow. The models are better than drawn plans, he says. You can hold them and turn them in your hands and visualize what you are making. Taking measurements from the model, carved on a three-quarter-inch to one-foot scale, gave Dickson and Hawkinson the dimensions they needed to cut the wood to build the boat. Another friend and craftsman, Ellicot Mac MacConnell, is building the yawl boat for the Katherine out of an old wooden sailing pram and a 60-horse Yamaha outboard. He and Dickson joke as he shapes the decking for the small boat that will push the engineless bugeye. The building of the Katherine has been a community effort, Dickson says, with volunteers donating time and material for her construction. The 50- foot foremast and 55-foot main were shaped by volunteers from the Alexandria Seaport. Old and new tools were loaned and donated. We used only the tools that worked, Dickson says. From cranes and front-end loaders to delicate carving knives, we used everything we needed to use. He says that the simple beauty of the vessel has attracted people to help build her. These boats were built as work platforms, he says. But yachtsmen recognized them as being good-looking boats. I just had an urge to bring it back. w 26

27 Cultured Crawdads By Jay Kilian are Pincered Pests The blue crab is the most recognizable Chesapeake Bay icon, and is undeniably Maryland s most famous crustacean. This renowned tidewater species is not, however, Maryland s only delectable decapod. Another 10-legged, pincer-wielding invertebrate has found its way into Maryland waters. It is large, it is red (prior to steaming, no less), it tastes just as good smothered in Old Bay as its blue crab cousin, and it is just as easily chased with an ice-cold beer. Despite its culinary appeal, the red swamp crayfish is a non-native species that poses a significant threat to Maryland s stream ecosystems and has recently sparked considerable concern among state biologists of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). This species, one of many dozens of non-natives causing or threatening trouble in the Bay watershed, has been the subject of recent surveys conducted by the MDNR, and is now known to be far more widespread than once believed. It is lurking in the fresh and brackish water portions of many Maryland streams and rivers. The red swamp crayfish, a native species of the lower Mississippi River and Gulf Coast drainages of the southern U.S., is the archetypical Louisiana Cajun crayfish. Due to its large size, environmental hardiness, and low-maintenance disposition, the red swamp crayfish is the most widely cultured crayfish species in the world, having been cultured on every continent, excluding Australia and Antarctica. For as much economic benefit as this species has brought, the ecological costs of rearing this species outside of its native range have been immense. A form of biological pollution, introductions of the red swamp crayfish have been linked to declines in submerged aquatic vegetation, declines in amphibian populations, changes in stream community composition, and loss of native crayfishes. This species has become a nuisance in many countries because of its tenacious burrowing behavior; it has caused damage to crops and reservoir dams despite efforts to control its spread. The red swamp crayfish has also been blamed for the spread of the crayfish plague, a North American fungus that has been inadvertently introduced into Europe, causing the near decimation of that continent s native crayfish. So, how did it get here? This non-native species was first stocked The red swamp crayfish is red, mean and on the loose. 27

28 Aquaculture ponds where the red swamp crayfish was once cultured Watersheds with feral stream populations of red swamp crayfish now established The invaders have been found in most Maryland streams and have established significant populations in the areas in red. 28 in ponds located on the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge near Laurel in The intention of this introduction was to provide a food source for waterfowl and wading birds during their annual migration. Refuge biologists dropped what amounted to a handful of crayfish into the ponds. Following the introduction, the crayfish were largely forgotten. The next introduction of the red swamp crayfish did not occur until 18 years later, when a group of farmers became interested in the idea of culturing crayfish for profit. Most Maryland residents would be surprised to learn that a commercial crayfish industry, albeit small, exists within the state. Unlike most aquaculture, commercial culturing of crayfish requires little more than a farm pond, a little patience, and a few chicken-wire traps. In fact, add a few pounds of live crayfish, throw in some food every now and then, and in a year s time, a relatively small farm pond can produce a profitable harvest. That is exactly what attracted several farmers to the idea of crayfish culturing. It all began in 1981, when a small group of farmers on the Delmarva Peninsula pooled their resources, and sent one brave soul to Louisiana with a refrigerated truck, with $5,000 in cash and a shotgun on his lap to protect his bounty. The cash bought seed stock from a Louisiana crayfish farmer. Once back in Maryland, the crayfish were spread among three ponds near Salisbury as part of the Worcester County Crawfish Trial of This trial was conducted to determine whether or not crayfish aquaculture was possible in Maryland s climate. The crayfish survived their first Maryland winter, and grew quickly throughout the year. The results of the trial were promising and indicated that crayfish aquaculture was not only feasible, but also profitable. In 1983, the Mid-Atlantic Crawfish Association was established. Armed with 250 members (at its peak) and the catchy slogan, The tail is the best, you can suck the rest, this association promoted crayfish aquaculture throughout the region. Thereafter, the original Louisiana crayfish were used to stock farm ponds and drainage ditches throughout the Delmarva and southern Maryland, many undocumented. Unlike many finfish, crayfish are nearly impossible to contain in a pond. After a heavy rainstorm, it is quite common to find them walking about. They are also adept at colonizing new areas. Thus, the culture of crayfish, like the red swamp crayfish, often results in the establishment of feral populations in nearby waterways. This has occurred throughout the world and Maryland is no exception. In 2006, the MDNR Maryland Biological Stream Survey conducted surveys of streams and rivers throughout the state s Coastal Plain, including areas near known aquaculture ponds. During these surveys, biologists discovered feral red swamp crayfish in 14 watersheds. They were discovered adjacent to every known location where this species was once cultured in ponds, including portions of the Patuxent River near the site where they were first introduced in So, why is it a concern? North American crayfish, the most diverse in the world, are considered the second most imperiled group of animals on the continent, behind only freshwater mussels. The most pervasive threat is the introduction of non-native species. Crayfish tend to be fierce competitors and physically fight one another for prime feeding and shelter habitats in streams, rivers, and lakes. These conflicts usually end in the death of the smaller, less competitive crayfish. Introductions of large, non-native species usually occur to the detriment of smaller, and therefore less competitive, native crayfish species. Non-native crayfish introductions have caused declines and outright loss of crayfish throughout the world. Maryland, home to nine native species, has already experienced this phenomenon. The virile crayfish, another

29 Under the surface of Maryland streams, the crawdads are gaining control. non-native species, was introduced, primarily by bait fisherman, into streams and rivers throughout the central portion of Maryland. The effects of this introduction have been quite dramatic. A coincidental decline of one native species, the spiny cheek crayfish, has occurred as the virile crayfish has spread throughout most of the major river basins in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan area. The spiny cheek crayfish, once the most abundant and widespread native species in this region, has been eliminated from many areas. Given the negative effects that the virile crayfish has had in Maryland waters, the presence of feral populations of the red swamp crayfish, as documented in 2006, is cause for alarm. The red swamp crayfish has the potential to negatively affect Maryland stream biodiversity. This may have already occurred. In 2006, native crayfish were rarely observed in streams in which the red swamp crayfish was found. This is another indication that Maryland s native crayfish are at risk. Although the red swamp crayfish was brought here with the best of intentions, this crayfish now joins the long and growing list of non-native aquatic species established in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The short-term economic benefits that this species once provided will likely be overshadowed by its long-term ecological impacts on Maryland streams and rivers. Although its introduction is irreversible, MDNR will continue to monitor this species, and document changes in native crayfish populations and other components of stream biodiversity that it may cause. MDNR, in passing recent Aquatic Nuisance Species regulations, also aims to slow the spread of the red swamp crayfish, and prevent the introduction of other deleterious decapods in the state. For more information on these regulations, and Maryland s native and non-native aquatic species, visit md.us/invasives. w Jay Kilian is a biologist with the Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He currently works on the Maryland Biological Stream Survey, a statewide survey conducted to assess the health of Maryland streams. Photos and map by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 29

30 To the Point 30 From the Chairman Thanks to your generous support, we re well on our way to enriching the experience for CBMM visitors. Your generous gifts made the Annual Fund a success. You contributed $457,000, beating the year s goal of $425,000. Congratulations to you, and Thank You. You are the wind in our sails. In an earlier Chairman s message I said the Museum was striving to expand education programs and enhance our exhibits. We view these as important next steps in the Museum s growth, designed to make us an even more interesting place to visit and revisit, and to better serve the Bay communities. Your generous support during the fiscal year, which ended on April 30th, enabled us to: Create new gallery space in the Steamboat Building for special exhibitions, and open the first two changing shows: Waters of Despair, Waters of Hope: The African American Experience and the Chesapeake Bay, and Their Last Passage: The Collection of Robert H. Burgess; Open the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Orientation Building to help visitors orient themselves to the many cultural and historic sites around the Bay; Launch our first Bay Day on April 21, a celebration of the Chesapeake s environment and ecology; Prepare a great menu of education programs for FY that is gearing up for our high season Lighthouse Overnights, Community Sailing, Bay Combers Club and the list goes on. Expanded education efforts and enlivened exhibits are what the Museum is about. However, these activities cost money. When we write to you in the fall about the Annual Fund, please continue to contribute; see if you can increase your gift; and if you haven t given recently, please try this year. Your support makes our new programs and exhibits possible. Fred Meendsen, Board Chairman Fred Meendsen, Chairman of the Board of Governors. Gilmore is New V.P. of Operations Bill Gilmore better make good coffee. As CBMM s new Vice President of Operations, Gilmore will be moving into CBMM stalwart John Ford s Eagle House office, where staff, Board members, and volunteers have become accustomed to looking for fresh-ground coffee. Ford is happy to pass the mantel of V.P. a position he has held since CBMM adopted an organizational structure of President and four Vice President positions in 2002 and that of barista along to Gilmore. During a search for the vacant position of Facilities Manager, Ford found Gilmore, the Director of Campus Planning at Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It became evident that Bill brings to the table everything that we need at the Museum from a facilities and operations perspective, says Ford. We have grown so quickly especially over the last 10 years, and we need someone who has Bill s Bill Gilmore is the Museum s new V.P. of Operations. experience and vision for where we need to go from here. It was also evident to Ford that in order for Gilmore to relocate from Rhode Island and leave Bryant s 450-acre campus, the Museum needed him in a V.P. capacity. So Ford took the Facilities Manager position and hired Gilmore as V.P. of Operations. Ford will oversee the day-to-day use and maintenance of CBMM s campus, while Gilmore moves forward leading capital, facility, physical plant, and energy efficiencies. During more than 17 years at Bryant, Gilmore was responsible for a range of initiatives from new equipment specifications to procurement of energy for the college. He was instrumental in numerous energy conservation projects, from simple lighting to complex geothermal heating systems. Gilmore knows the maritime field as well. Directing activities for an apparatus repair facility in Providence, Rhode Island, he was responsible for NAVSEA contracts in Boston, New London, Connecticut, and Bath, Maine. He was also quality assurance officer for the complete rewiring of the U.S.S. Constitution. See St. Michaels, From the Water This season, visitors to CBMM can experience the Heart and Soul of the Chesapeake Bay from the decks of the sailing skipjack H.M. Krentz or the Museum s replica buyboat, Mister Jim. Both vessels will be leaving the Museum docks on scheduled tours of the harbor and the Miles River. The Krentz is an authentic Chesapeake Bay skipjack built

31 The Museum s replica buyboat Mister Jim. in 1955 to dredge the oyster beds of the Bay. She carries up to 32 passengers. Mister Jim was built to resemble the buyboats that brought oysters from the dredgers working out on the Bay to sell them in port. She carries up to 30 passengers. The boats are certified by the U.S. Coast Guard and are piloted by U.S.C.G. licensed captains. Museum Volunteers John Stumpf, Jerry Friedman, Don Parks and Ed Bird are serving as captains on Mister Jim. When purchased with a CBMM admission, the two-hour sail on the Krentz is $40 for adults, $35 for seniors and $22 for children. A 45-minute cruise on the Mister Jim is $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and $12 for children. Tickets for just the Krentz sail can be purchased for $33 for adults, $30 for seniors and $17 for children. Museum members tickets are $30. Members can buy tickets for Mister Jim tours for $8 for Adults and $5 for children. Check at the CBMM Admissions Office for times. Museum Surveys Members As CBMM comes out of a period of institutional growth, bringing on new staff, construction and fund-raising, we feel that the time is right to reassess our members needs, our programs and activities. To that end, we will conduct a survey this summer to: Gain a better understanding of what you expect from CBMM and how well these expectations are being met; Determine the value of the Museum s existing programs and learn about new programs that you would like to see; Determine what CBMM can do to remain relevant to our diverse membership and within a changing community. The survey invitation will be mailed to a randomly selected set of members in early summer. It will ask you to visit a web site to answer multiple choice questions, and will only take about 20 minutes to complete. We believe that this is a critically important effort but it cannot succeed without your time and effort. It is our sincere hope that those who receive the invitation will take a few minutes to provide their views and help us to continue to improve the Museum experience for all. After the survey is completed, we will publish a short summary of the results in WaterWays. Saturdays are Special for Families Children and their families are invited to visit CBMM the first and third Saturdays of every month for storytelling, special tours, and hands-on art activities designed just for them. At 10:30am the visitors, ages 3 to 7, can enjoy Tidewater Tales by listening to an exciting story about the Chesapeake region in one of the Museum s exhibitions. Boys and girls will learn about Bay animals, local legends, history, and more. Drawing, exploration of objects, and other activities will be part of these programs. Tidewater Tales is free with admission. In addition, children can participate in an art-making or hands-on activity inspired by one of CBMM s exhibitions. During special guided tours exploring the Museum s collections, participants will learn about the different ways that the Chesapeake Bay has shaped the lives of local people. At 11:30, 1:00, or 3:00pm children, ages 6 to 12, can drop by to take part in a hands-on experience. The program fee is $3 per child. Upcoming Special Saturdays include sessions on how to spot and identify birds, what the life of a lighthouse keeper was like, and the importance of marshes. For more details, see the calendar in this issue of WaterWays. Changing Exhibits Visitors to CBMM have until August 12 to view Waters of Despair, Waters of Hope, the exhibit exploring the integral role of African Americans in the cultural history of the Chesapeake region. The exhibit uses artifacts, images, and audio/visuals to enliven stories of slave importation and labor as well as the many slaves who, such as Frederick Douglass, employed maritime rouses or routes to escape to the north. Other stories tell of African Americans in times of war who boldly allied themselves with the enemies of their enemy, or alternately have made, and continue to make, crucial contributions to the American military. On September 7, a new exhibit entitled Chesapeake Icons examines how images of log canoes, oysters, skipjacks, lighthouses, blue crabs, and watermen have been used to symbolize the Chesapeake Bay. Used by artists, writers, and salesmen of all types, these 31

32 To the Point 32 Log canoes have become Chesapeake Bay icons. representations of the Bay make up much of the collection of the Museum. The exhibit will be on the second floor of the Steamboat Building. Profile: Lad Mills Have a Boat? He ll Sell it Selling donated boats to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum started almost as an afterthought, but under the direction of Lad Mills, it has evolved into a significant line item in the Museum s annual budget. Mills, the Boat Donations Manager, has been on the Museum staff since 2001 after being in and out of the boat business all my life. What started as a small part of his job, turned into his only job. Mill s supervisor, John Ford, says, I ran the Boat Donation program for a number Boat Donation Manager Lad Mills. of years prior to Lad s arrival. In his first year at the job, he tripled my best season and has since topped it five fold. And it s no wonder; he s constantly on the move and his non-stop hard work has provided terrific support to the museum. After moving from the Washington, D.C. area to Easton in 1980, Mills said he has worked in a variety of boat and auto retail businesses and worked for Fawcett Boat Supplies in Annapolis for six years before joining the CBMM staff. He says that his Museum job is very satisfying. It is a win-win-win. I get to help the donors, the purchasers and the Museum. Mills says the annual Boat Auction, set for September 1 this year at the Museum, has turned into an exciting event for everyone who attends. Through the live auction and year-around sales, he now moves 150 boats a year, with all proceeds going to the Museum and all tax benefits going to the contributors. We are helping people who have unsold, unwanted or unused boats get rid of them, he says, And we are finding buyers who can utilize them. Mills says he is always looking for more boats to sell and has traveled from Maine to South Carolina to pick up donated vessels. The boats Mills sells are an eclectic collection that range from dinghies and canoes to racing sailboats and cabin cruisers. I have sold boats for $10 and six figures, Mills says. When someone buys a boat from us, he knows he is going to get a great deal on the boat he has been looking for. Mills markets the boats on the CBMM web site, and the popular commercial sites, and We have had people come from Missouri and Texas, South Carolina and New Jersey, to buy boats, he says. I have even shipped boats to Europe and the West Coast. Once a boat is donated, Mills says he does all of the work required for the sale. When the boat is sold, he sends the previous owners the documentation that allows them to claim The Museum s annual Boat Auction is September 1. the proceeds as a charitable contribution on their taxes. The process is very quick and easy, he says. Paperwork takes only five minutes and then the donor is immediately relieved of all responsibility and cost of ownership. Before new IRS regulations were put into effect, there was little control over how donated property was valued. Now, the deduction cannot be claimed until the boat is sold, and then its sale price sets the actual value. We follow the letter of the law, Mills says. To get more information about donating or buying a boat from CBMM, contact Lad Mills at ext. 112 or lmills@cbmm.org. To view the list of boats for sale, go to and click on Boat Donations & Sales. Dick Cooper

33 A Delaware ducker under sail. AFAD s next project. Mobile Chop-Shop Pays a Visit The sawdust flies as sawyer John Sudder slices an 80-foot loblolly into neat stacks of skipjack replacement parts. Sudder, a retired Navy man who has been turning logs into lumber for 16 years, adjusts the calibration on his sawmill-on-wheels next to the CBMM marine railway, secures the plugs in his ears, and runs the high-speed band saw through the pine. Loblolly # 1 was the first of six 125-foot pines cut in February in the Pocomoke State Forest in search of new spars for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation s signature skipjack, the Stanley Norman, and the privately owned oyster-dredger, Caleb W. Jones. It didn t make the cut to become a mast because its heartwood was off center and its annual rings were spaced too far apart, weakening its strength. Mike Vlahovich, Director of the Coastal Heritage Alliance, is overseeing the repairs to the vessels. The 20-footlong, 2 1/4-inch-thick boards will be used to plank the bottom and sides of the Caleb, built in 1953 and now on the National Register of Historic Places. Vlahovich and Coastal Heritage apprentices have been restoring the Caleb at the CBMM docks. This is a pretty piece, Sudder says as he examines a cut. The log didn t move much when I cut her. Some of them tend to jump around. Sudder, who lives near Denton, Maryland, says he bought John Sudder saws a loblolly log into skipjack planks. the 21-foot-long mobile sawmill mounted on a trailer, in 1991 and has been cutting wood all around the Delmarva. He milled the Wye Oak after the 460-year-old Maryland landmark toppled in a 2002 storm. Wood from the majestic old tree was used by Eastern Shore furniture makers Jim McMartin and Jim Beggins to create the Maryland Governor s Desk. Visitors to CBMM will see the shaping of the spars in progress over the summer, Vlahovich says. AFAD to Build a Rare Bird Boat Yard Manager Rich Scofield says that the Apprentice for a Day Program is finishing off the second of two flat-bottomed rowing skiffs for the Inn at Perry Cabin before starting on a Delaware ducker, a sleek little boat once thought to be extinct. Scofield says the ducker started off about 1860 as a lightweight boat designed for hunting in the bays of Delaware and New Jersey. It was so fast that they began to race them, he said At the height of its popularity in the late 1800s, ducker race results were regularly reported in Field & Stream Magazine but no duckers were known to have survived until the late Joe Leiner, a well known wooden boat builder from New Jersey, discovered two in a Pennsylvania barn. Scofield says there were no existing plans for a ducker and Leiner took the lines from the old boats he found to build one that is on display in the Boat Shop. The thin, lapstrake-hulled boat with its curved dagger board looks delicate next to the two-masted crabbing skiff that is near completion in the Boat Shop. Tug Delaware Back in the Water The tugboat Delaware is sitting pretty on her lines after the cosmetic surgeons in the Boat Yard gave her a shapely new stern. Vessel Maintenance Manager Marc Barto and the Boat Yard crew spent most of the spring replacing rotted frames and planks on the 95-year-old workhorse. The cabin top has been recanvased and the 671 GM diesel that was installed in 1947 is awaiting a rebuild. The Delaware is being repainted to give her good-as-new shine. We are just working on the cosmetics, but structurally, she is put back together, Barto says. w 33

34 Arvie Smith, Baltimore my Baltimore (Detail), 2006: Courtesy of the Artist Quilt Assembly: Photo by Aidah Aliyah Rasheed New History Exhibits Open in Baltimore The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Society in collaboration with Maryland Institute College of Art and students in the Exhibition Development Seminar present At Freedom s Door: Challenging Slavery in Maryland. The landmark exhibitions explore the history of slavery in Maryland and the vestiges of slavery that still remains in society. The exhibits bring together historical artifacts with contemporary artworks, including new works by internationally known artists, including William Christenberry, Sam Christian Holmes, and Joyce J. Scott. The exhibition runs through Oct. 28 at the Lewis Museum, 830 East Pratt Street and at the Historical Society, 201 David Claypool Johnston, Early Development of Southern Chivalry, c West Monument Street, both in downtown Baltimore. This exhibition tackles a subject crucial to the understanding of Maryland s history and future. Through research, students in the Exhibition Development Seminar came to discover that the history of slavery in Maryland is complex and often contradictory due to Maryland s unique position as the northernmost southern state and southernmost northern state. At Freedom s Door: Challenging Slavery in Maryland intends to engage visitors in a civic dialogue on the modern issues of freedom, race, and social injustice by questioning how both enslaved and free Marylanders responded to, challenged, and defeated slavery as a legal institution. It seeks to dissolve myths and untruths concerning the history of slavery, as well as challenge the public perception of slavery and freedom. The exhibition juxtaposes a rich repository of historical artifacts and contemporary works of art. Visitors to the exhibits learn that anti-slavery activity was of critical importance in Maryland on both a personal and national level. With the existence of more than 100,000 free people of color in Maryland at the beginning of the Civil War, the historical part of the exhibition showcases how black and white Marylanders worked together to swing the weight of history in favor of freedom and helped change American history. The exhibitions contemporary component reminds visitors that the struggle for African Americans to achieve parity in American society was just beginning after the Civil War and, through the inventive use of contemporary art, illustrates that it has not yet ended. For more information, visit or call the Lewis Museum or the Historical Society at , ext

35 Mystery solved, it s Annapolis Annapolis, 1934 The Mystery Photo on the back of the Spring issue of WaterWays drew only eight correct answers on the location of the busy harbor. Only readers Rick Rhine, Karen Winters and St. John Martin were close on the date. The photo was taken in Annapolis in 1934, probably from the deck of the Claiborne-to-Annapolis Ferry that docked at the foot of Prince George Street and is from the B. Frank Sherman Collection. See the new Mystery Photo on the back page of WaterWays and submit you answer by to editor@cbmm.org. 1 Annapolis? Looking in the harbor from USNA area? 1930s? Rick Rhine 2. Spa Creek with Spa Creek wooden bridge and St Mary s on Duke of Gloucester St Annapolis. Probably around years in the a.m. in the winter. G. Irving 3. This is a picture of the Annapolis Harbor with St. Mary s Roman Catholic Church in the background. The picture appears to be taken from the base of Prince George Street where it meets the waterfront. The trees indicate that the picture was taken during winter months when the fleet was in harbor and the shadows show that the sun is in the east, so it is morning. I cannot be precise regarding the date that the picture was taken but it was prior to 1948 when the low wooden bridge seen in the background crossing Spa Creek was replaced by the current drawbridge. I would guess that it was the 1920 s or 30 s. Karen Winters 4. The place is easy...annapolis Harbor (Spa Creek), looking SW toward St. Mary s Church. The time is tougher. I d guess early 20th century, pre-ww1. William Kranzer 5. The photo appears to be one looking up Spa Creek in Annapolis probably sometime in the 1930 s. St. Mary s Church can be seen on the right. St. John Martin 6. The busy bay harbor mystery is Annapolis and I would guess about Charlie Willimann 7. The photo is Annapolis Harbor from the Eastport side of Spa Creek and my guess is the photo was taken before 1947 when the bridge over Spa Creek was changed from 4th St. to 6th St. on the Eastport Side. Bruce Morse 8. The mystery photo is of Annapolis harbor probably around the turn of the 20th century. I ll guess Judy Parks 35

36 Mystery Photo Can you identify the location of this Chesapeake Bay harbor? The answer and the names of the readers who get it right will appear in the fall issue of WaterWays. Send your answers by to Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Navy Point w PO Box 636 St. Michaels, MD Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum