Landfall Along the Chesapeake

Landfall Along the Chesapeake
Author: Susan Schmidt
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2006-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780801882968

As Schmidt circles the Bay counterclockwise from Jamestown, she explores Smith's encounters with Native Americans and the Bay's ecological changes over the past hundred years. On each river and creek, she quotes Smith's journals on matching wits with Powhatan, meeting Pocahontas, surviving thunderstorms, ambush, and a stingray's barb. Anchored on wild creeks, Schmidt observes swans and dragonflies, lightning and sunsets; in port she interviews colorful characters and working watermen about blue crabs and oysters.

Chesapeake Bay Deck Boats

Chesapeake Bay Deck Boats
Author: Larry S. Chowning
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2021-04-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467105198

During the 1880s, Chesapeake Bay boatbuilders began constructing small wooden open boats, referred to as deadrise boats, out of planks with V-shaped bows. As boatbuilders created larger deadrise boats, decks were installed to provide more work and payload space; these deck boats also had a house/pilothouse near the stern and a mast closer to the bow of the boat. Deck boats were powered by gasoline engines but also utilized sails and wind. From the 1910s to the 1940s, auxiliary "steadying" sails were raised to help steady the boat when encountering adverse seas. More deck boats were built in the 1920s than in any other decade. Over the history of the boats, several thousand worked the bay in the freight business, were used to buy and plant oysters, worked in the bay's pound net fishery, and dredged for crabs and oysters. Approximately 40 boats are left on the bay. A few still work the water. Some have found new life as recreational yachts, and others are education boats owned by museums and nonprofits. In 2004, boat owners formed the Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association, which holds an annual rendezvous at different ports as a way to educate the public about this unique aspect of Chesapeake Bay maritime history.

Barcat Skipper

Barcat Skipper
Author: Larry S. Chowning
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2008-08-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467846457

Tangier Island lies in the Chesapeake Bay about midway between Tidewater Virginia and Virginias Eastern Shore, about ten miles below the Maryland state line and about forty miles above Cape Charles. Since Tangier was settled, nearly three hundred years ago, most of the men who have lived there have worked the water, and to a large extent that is still the case. Until recent years, the islanders lived in remote isolation. They were an independent lot, self-reliant, and not infrequently rather eccentric. The tales in this collection are true. For the most part they recount events in the life of Elmer Crockett, born on Tangier in 1903, who has shared with Mr. Chowning the reminiscences of his lifelong occupation as a waterman. A few of the stories involve earlier generations of Crocketts and the accounts, handed down, have become part of the island lore. Sometimes two or more events have been woven together, sometimes names have been changed, a little poetic license has been taken, butall in allthe tales are a true mirror of life on Tangier Island. This is the real stuff, told by a natural-born storyteller, recorded by a sensitive reporter with an ear for the turn of phrase and the rhythm of the island speech. The barcat of the books title refers to a workboat characteristic of the Tangier areaa small skipjack, usually 26 to 28 feet long, with a catboat rig.

Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholers Guide, 4th Edition

Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholers Guide, 4th Edition
Author: William H. Shellenberger
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2012-10-12
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0071779698

"Shellenberger has perfected the art of gunkholing . . . An excellent book for both those who enjoy weekend cruises and those who merely want to know more about Chesapeake Bay." -- Daily Press (Newport News, VA) "With more than 3,000 miles of shoreline, the Chesapeake Bay offers a treasury of cruising spots. Shellenberger's book provides the key to unlock it." -- Virginian-Pilot "An 'insider's' look at the hundreds of places cruisers and weekend boaters love to hole up in. . . . It is also a loving portrait of the bay, its history, its people, its wildlife, and its environment." -- The Mariner "A truly monumental guide." -- Sunday Capital (Annapolis, MD) Dotting its more than 3,000-mile shoreline are creeks, coves, and inlets--or gunkholes in Chesapeake Bay parlance. They are as challenging as they are charming for cruisers to fi nd and enter, sometimes discouraging the less adventuresome. But thanks to author Bill Shellenberger, you will be able to enjoy these hidden treasures like an old pro. For more than twenty years, Bill Shellenberger's Cruising the Chesapeake has been the guide of choice for sailors and motor cruisers seeking to avoid the beaten path. Here Bill shares with you his engaging, heartfelt evocation of the Bay, its shores, history, wildlife, and people. No other guide to the region offers such complete, detailed coverage of virtually every point of interest on the Bay--from the secluded east fork of Langford Creek to the bustling hearts of Baltimore, Washington, and Norfolk. Find your path to Cruising the Chesapeake with A cruise planner with suggested itineraries for cruises of 3, 9, and 16 days, supported by overview charts and planning tips Waypoints for anchorages and key locations that make planning your cruises and integrating navigational data into your GPS unit a snap NOAA charts and aerial photos of key anchorages and tricky passages Updated information on piloting and shoreside facilities Expanded coverage up the Atlantic seaboard from the entrance of the Chesapeake to New York City and its anchorages that make this the ONE guide for the mid-Atlantic boater A comprehensive cruise planner and navigation guide and a vivid celebration of one of North America's natural treasures, Cruising the Chesapeake is a book no Chesapeake boater will want to be without.

Chesapeake

Chesapeake
Author: John Page Williams
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2006
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781426200694

This richly illustrated, informative, and inviting book intertwines two fascinating stories of discovery. The first, among the earliest classics of New World adventure, recounts Captain John Smith's exploration of Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago; the second revisits this stunning landscape as it is today--both to showcase its still-unspoiled splendors and to issue a timely warning of looming threats to its vibrant but fragile ecology. Dozens of dazzling full-color contemporary photographs evoke the Chesapeake spirit in all its many moods, while a wonderfully wide-ranging selection of archival images span the four centuries since John Smith first sailed, rowed, and wandered its woods and waterways, mapping the wilderness shores of an untamed America. The author, a veteran naturalist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, has spent decades leading tours and teaching classes about the region. An ideal guide, he shares both his delight in the Bay's glorious diversity and his deep concern for its future. In addition, his unique blend of experience, environmental sensitivity, and historical expertise offers modern visitors a rare opportunity to discover the Chesapeake as Smith did so long ago, leaving beaten paths and familiar waters behind to learn why Congress will soon designate it as the first of America's official National Historic Water Trails. For history buffs, conservationists, armchair travelers, tourists planning a trip, and anyone who simply loves first-rate nature photography, this beautiful book more than meets the high standard readers have come to expect from National Geographic.

Chesapeake Sailing Craft

Chesapeake Sailing Craft
Author: Robert H. Burgess
Publisher: Cornell Maritime Press/Tidewater Publishers
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:

Thirty years have passed since the 1975 publication of Robert H. Burgess's classic Chesapeake Sailing Craft, and while the original edition of this book has been out of print for many years, this new expanded edition brings alive the author's photographs and recollections for a new generation of readers. Within these pages, Burgess presents a rare photographic record of the period 1925âe"1975, depicting the bay sailing craft from log canoe to four-masted schooner. Robert H. Burgess's photographs show the vessels in all phases of their activities on these waters, including loading and unloading cargoes, under sail and in port, in shipyards, details of rigging, fittings, and decks, interior views, as powerboats, and abandoned hulks. No one has so thoroughly photographed the Chesapeake sailing vessels as Burgess. He applied himself to the task as though he were getting paid for it. But it was purely through a feeling for the history of the bay and its craft, an awareness that a change was taking place, that he pursued his subject so persistently. If he had not undertaken this labor of love, most of the sailing vessels in this volume would have passed on with no photographic record of their ever having existed. This edition showcases the original text, photos, and captions and adds 150 new photos with captions by William A. Fox. The result is Chesapeake Sailing Craft: Recollections of Robert H. Burgess, a new and expanded edition of the original volume for bay enthusiasts to enjoy. As in the original edition, all the photos in this book were taken by Robert Burgess. They appear as he saw them through the viewfinder of his camera and as he printed them in the darkroom, uncropped and unretouched.

Pirates on the Chesapeake

Pirates on the Chesapeake
Author: Donald G. Shomette
Publisher: Cornell Maritime Press/Tidewater Publishers
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1985
Genre: History
ISBN:

Here is a dazzling array of swashbuckling pirates, picaroons, and sea rovers pitted against the often feckless representatives of an outpost government authority in the Chesapeake Bay region. It is an exciting and dramatic 200-year history that begins grimly with the starving time in the Virginia colony in 1609 and ends with the peaceful resolution of the Othello affair with the French in 1807. In between lies a full panoply of violent and bizarre buccaneering incidents that one is hard pressed to imagine.

Exploring the Chesapeake in Small Boats

Exploring the Chesapeake in Small Boats
Author: John Page Williams
Publisher: Cornell Maritime Press/Tidewater Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1992
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780870334290

Tantalizing descriptions of the bay's intricate waterways--word pictures of how they are transformed over the four seasons of the year--and an informative discussion of the bay's geology, ecology, and human history will entice the reader to get out and poke around in and on the water. Author John Page Williams, director of special field programs for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and author of the Naturalist's Almanac in Chesapeake Bay Magazine, writes in a lucid, easygoing style as he introduces these waterways that he has been exploring for over thirty years. He fills readers in on all they need to know about water safety, boat selection, and seamanship, including discussions on the various ways to propel their boats--motoring, rowing, paddling, and poling. In addition, there is a chapter on natural history gear, such as binoculars, field guides, cast nets, books, and maps. In the second section, the author focuses attention on a single example of each of a wide range of waterways that represent the varied ecological niches that ring the bay. These trip descriptions include information on access points, a short historical overview, physical characteristics of each watercourse and its banks, and remarks on the flora and fauna to be found there, in a narrative that at once stimulates and inspires.

Skipjack

Skipjack
Author: Christopher White
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2011-12-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442210885

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.