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Hot Bluegrass from Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
APRIL 2020
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MASTERWORKS SERIES
Volume 49
Number 11
PUBLISHER
John Stefancik
EDITOR IN CHIEF Joe Evans
Managing Editor: Chris Landers Cruising Editor: Jody Argo Schroath News Director: Meg Walburn Viviano Multimedia Journalist: Cheryl Costello Editors at Large: Wendy Mitman Clarke, Chris D. Dollar, Ann Levelle, John Page Williams Contributing Writers: Rafael Alvarez, Laura Boycourt, Dick Cooper, Ann Eichenmuller, Henry Hong, Marty LeGrand, Emmy Nicklin, Tom Price, Nancy Taylor Robson, Karen Soule
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Contributing Photographers: Andy Anderson, Mark L. Atwater, Skip Brown, André Chung, Dan Duffy, Jay Fleming, Austin Green, Jameson Harrington, Mark Hergan, Jill Jasuta, Vince Lupo, K.B. Moore, Will Parson, Tamzin B. Smith, Chris Witzgall
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ADVERTISING Senior Account Manager Michael Kucera • 804-543-2687 m.kucera@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com Senior Account Manager Emily Stevenson • 410-924-0232 emily@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com Senior Account Manager Megan Tilley • 919-452-0833 megan@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
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Chesapeake Bay Magazine (ISSN0045-656X) (USPS 531-470) is published by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC, 601 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD 21403. $25.95 per year, 12 issues annually. $7.99 per copy. Periodical postage paid at Annapolis, MD 21403 and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes or corrections for Chesapeake Bay Magazine to 601 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD 21403. Copyright 2020 by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC— Printed in the U.S.A.
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contents On the Cover: Sandbar Shark.
CBM
April 2020—Volume 49 Number 11
Photo by George Grall/National Aquarium.
Features
58
Chesapeake Panfish
Fishing author and YouTube personality Shawn Kimbro fries up a mess of the little ones.
64 Old Time World
Alison Blake visits a time capsule in Upper Marlboro, Md.
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Where We’re Headed
84
20 96
70
The Shark Whisperer
84
Chester River
28
Severn River
20
Alexandria, Va.
96
Calvert Cliffs
70
Ocean City, Md.
Chris D. Dollar is going to need a bigger boat to follow Capt. Mark Sampson.
JOE EVANS
A Charter Captain’s Quest to Save the Sharks p. 70
April 2020
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
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CBM
contents
April 2020 Talk of the Bay
Columns
44
On Boats: Valhalla V-33
50
Chesapeake Almanac: Catch and Release John Page
20 24 28
A cutting-edge fishing platform from Viking Yachts’ new boatworks—Capt. John Page Williams.
Williams says put that back (safely) where you got it.
84
Jody’s Log: Chester River
Capt. Jody Argo Schroath takes the long and winding road to Chestertown.
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Stern Lines: Big Bite Calvert Cliffs Megalodon tooth by Mike Morgan.
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
April 2020
Dirty Kitchen Bluegrass #trashtag Light Tackle Newbie
Departments
14 36
20 84
From the Editor Bay Calendar
Advertising Sections
40 77 90 95
Kent County Tourism Real Estate Brokerage Marketplace
HARTGE YACHT HARBOR
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April 2020
f you haven’t already, you might as well give in to fishing. It’s good for you. It’s not that the primordial pursuit of fish is essential to life along the Chesapeake. People can avoid fishing and still enjoy much of what makes Chesapeake life worth living—the climate, the excellent food (courtesy of those who fish and crab), the view from a bluff across the Bay where others are busy fishing, and certainly other stuff that doesn’t come to mind right now. But I will argue that if you don’t fish, you’re missing a lot, and you would be healthier and happier if you did. Fishing is a form of low-impact exercise which begins with rigging-up, loading-up, walking-in, launching and boarding a boat, paddling or cruising out, searching, casting, and hopefully reeling-in something lively. It’s sublime, almost subconscious, exercise. In my neighborhood, I can slip out before breakfast with a mug of coffee and a spinning rod rigged with a casting plug and walk a couple of blocks down to the rocks to see if there are any stripers along the Severn River current seam. It works just as well after an early supper as the sun falls and the alpenglow hovers over the Eastern Shore. Fishing makes you relax and decompress. You can’t avoid it. You’re participating with Mother Nature, and you’ll have to dial down to her pace. You will lose yourself as you settle in and focus on catching something. Excellent subliminal perceptions of life and the world will bloom. That’s when a fish will bite and confirm that life along the Chesapeake is quite all right. Recent studies show that fishing is effective at reducing post-traumatic stress syndrome. A 2009 survey of combat veterans who participated in a three-day fly-fishing program experienced substantial reductions in feelings of hostility, guilt, fear and sadness. Learn more about that through Chesapeake Bay-based organizations projecthealingwaters.org, and starsandstripers fishing.com. When you are in the sunlight, ultraviolet B rays trigger cholesterol in your skin cells to promote vitamin D synthesis, which is essential to maintaining bone strength. Also, the fish you take home for dinner may increase your vitamin D quotient as well as your status with your family. Fresh broiled or pan-fried fish on the table with a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of Old Bay beats all. And you can preen about it, saying, “Hey, I caught that.”
Deltaville’s BIGGEST BOAT SALES EVENT of the Season! Fishing improves dexterity, beginning with tying intricate knots, casting your lure right to the spot, reeling in and landing your prize, then unhooking and releasing it back into the water or into your cooler...and repeat. For the truly obsessed, you can go off the dexterity rails by learning to fly-fish, in which case you won’t have to mess with the actual catching and handling of many fish. But that’s another story. You would be hard-pressed to find a place where fishing is as accessible and diverse as it is here. With nearly 12,000 miles of shoreline and a surface area of about 4,500 square miles, there’s limitless casting room and hundreds of gamefish species to pursue—striped bass, redfish, speckled trout, catfish, snakeheads, cobia, flounder, bluefish, croaker, chain pickerel, large and smallmouth bass, white and yellow perch, sheepshead, sharks (see The Shark Whisperer, page 70), brown, rainbow and brook trout, and a profusion of popular panfish species (see Chesapeake Panfish, page 58). Last, and perhaps most important, is the way fishing connects us in understanding and caring about the Bay. Anglers constitute a robust society of activists who work fiercely to protect and preserve this opportunity, while trading stories and tips about fish location, behavior, and conditions. Consequently, we organize and engage in efforts to keep this great thing going. Consider these ardent organizations–Trout Unlimited (TU.org); Coastal Conservation Association-Maryland (ccamd.org); Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association ( joinvssa.org). If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll join us.
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Stranded Harp Seal Rescued from Ocean City
It’s the first known attempt to paddle the Bay top to bottom on a SUP. Read about why he’s doing it at chesapeakebaymagazine.com/paddleboarder.
The National Aquarium steps in when a seal is found in bad shape at the beach. She’s the second rescued this year. Read about it at chesapeakebaymagazine.com/seal.
u Read more and sign up for the Bay Bulletin, CBM’s free weeky e-newsletter online at chesapeakebaymagazine.com/baybulletin.
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VIDEO: NOAA Tracks Oysters by Making Them Glow A dye invisible to the naked eye makes it easier to track oysters’ growth— and could someday help police catch poachers. Oxford scientists give Cheryl Costello (and her camera) a look at the glowing oysters. Watch the video at chesapeakebaymagazine.com/glow.
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LEFT TO RIGHT: Mike Munford, Frank Solivan, Chris Luquette, Jeremy Middleton—the Dirty Kitchen bluegrass band.
Dirty Kitchen Bluegrass Grammy nominee Frank Solivan and his band cook up a new bluegrass standard. story by Phillip Chorney & Joe Evans
COURTNEY MIDDLETON
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olks and folkies often consider bluegrass music an Appalachian thing. After all, this uniquely American idiom sprung from Kentucky, the Bluegrass state, and was defined by the late-great Bill Monroe in the late 1950s through the 80s. The music came to the Chesapeake along with Appalachian migrants looking for work in cities like Baltimore. It spread like wildfire and grew Chesapeake roots with front-porch pickers and notable proponents such as the renowned Seldom Scene band. It’s worth noting that the modern banjo was developed here in the late 1800s from the confluence of its African roots and emerging urban ingenuity when Baltimore drum-maker William Boucher imagined the possibilities and began producing the instrument in the form we pick today (Chesapeake Twang, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, December 2018). Now comes twice-Grammy-nominated and two-time International Bluegrass Association (IBMA) Instrumental Group of the Year (2014, 2016) Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen. Solivan fronts the band and has been nominated for Male Vocalist and Mandolin Player of the Year recognition. Baltimore-based 2013 Banjo Player of the Year Mike Munford, 2013 IBMA Momentum Award-winner Chris Luquette on guitar, and bass-player Jeremy Middleton complete the band. Together in a freeChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
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flowing collaboration they are setting the pace for contemporary string-band artists. The 2020 Grammy-nominated album is titled If You Can’t Stand the Heat, naturally, and includes red-hot originals and a remarkable “new-grass” interpretation of the Steely Dan classic “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” The Dirty Kitchen name was the result of a passion for hearty food and cooking that Solivan inherited from his mother. “She used to sit me on the counter to watch her cook,” he recalls. “Before long, I was making dinner for the whole family.” In the formative days of the band, they would play private parties and he would cook, leaving the clean-up for later. “We named the band after a cut off of my first CD,” he said. “It connects to all the great times we’ve had over the years cooking and playing together with family and friends— That’s what it’s all about for me.” Solivan’s chops developed in a house filled with music, His mother sang, and his father played banjo and guitar. By the time he was in high school he was playing local fiddle gigs and lapping up all he could learn in school and college music programs. In the summer of his 19th year, he went to Alaska and toured with professionals.
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Standing Room Only with Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen at the 2019 Charm City Bluegrass Festival
you can forget about cleaning up the kitchen. Phil Chorney is the founder of the Charm City Bluegrass Festival.
SAVE THE DATE 8th Annual Charm City Bluegrass Festival April 24-25, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore charmcitybluegrass.com
11th Annual DelFest May 21-24. Allegany County Fairgrounds, Cumberland, Md. delfest.com
MIKE OSWALD PHOTOGRAPHY
Virginia Festivals In 2003, he auditioned for the U.S. Navy Country Current band, and soon found himself in boot camp and then assigned to the White House and playing a Telecaster, mandolin, and fiddle in a continuous tour for America around the nation. He was based in the D.C. area and therefore connected with the area’s robust scene of bluegrass players, most notably Baltimore-based Munford, who was breaking new ground and turning heads with his solid technique and dazzling chromatic runs. At the end of Solivan’s six-year enlistment, he settled into the folds of the Chesapeake music scene and formed Dirty Kitchen to see where that might go. The band quickly drew a following through a steady tour of festivals and gigs around the watershed. Ten years later, they are looking back on seven CDs (four with the band and three solo) and tours across the country, Europe, Australia, Peru, and, of course, the Grammy nominations. They are looking ahead to the next album and a full slate of performances around the country. The band will perform at the 11th annual DelFest in Cumberland, Md. in May.
Meanwhile, Solivan has been endorsed by the Traeger Pellet Grill company as a pitmaster cook, and in early February, he introduced Crave, a dry-rub marinade (available at solfoodsflavors.com) named for one of his compositions, developed especially for seared steaks, perhaps because, when you’re picking and grilling,
At last count Virginia hosts more than 20 bluegrass festivals and fiddler’s conventions throughout the summer—too many to list here. But it’s safe to say that, for active pickers and cloggers, the Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, now in its 85th year, is the granddaddy. August 3-8 oldfiddlersconvention.com
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CBM
talk of the bay
John Naylor is a dedicated social trash-picker.
#Trashtag Reduce, reuse, recycle & retweet. story & photos by Ashley Stimpson
J
ohn Naylor brings his own mug to Starbucks. It’s not the five percent discount that motivates him; it’s the principle. In fact, if you’re behind Naylor at a Starbucks and you have your own mug, he’ll buy your coffee, too. Naylor is on a self-appointed quest to rid his town (York, Pa.) and his river (the Susquehanna) of single-use plastics. Part of his method is campaigning for social change at places like his work, which happens to be the Starbucks roasting plant outside of town, and the other part is picking, as in picking up trash. Naylor collects litter from the banks of the Susquehanna, focusing mostly on single-use plastics (yes, there is so much trash that one can declare a
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specialty and still be overwhelmed). Under the Instagram handle @ Susquehanna_Plastic_Pickn_1000, he posts photos of his picks online. Usually he tries to arrange the trash artistically—a rainbow of bottle caps among discarded lighters lined up on the bed of his teal-green truck—and he always includes his totals for the day, the year, and everything since he started the account in early 2017. When I met Naylor on a mild January day, he was at a total of 8,831 singleuse plastics picked. I volunteered to go picking with Naylor to learn more about his mission. On our way to the river, he bounced around from one topic to the other, petrochemicals to politics. But he kept returning to the people who inspired him. There was his dad, a Depression-era York native who taught him that the Chesapeake Bay was “something to love and cherish.” There was Rachel Carson, of course, but also Jackson Browne. George Carlin is a hero. On the console between us were the books Naylor had brought to teach me about the history of the Susquehanna—what he calls the “workhorse of the country” and the “mother of the Chesapeake”—as well as the insidiousness of plastic and microplastics. When we stopped, he laid the books out on the hood of his truck and read for me the parts he had underlined. Then it was time for the dirty work. Literally. The banks of the Susquehanna River are a study in human refuse. Barrels come undone from floating docks. Water bottles and liquor bottles and baby bottles. An impressive assortment of dog balls. And lots of flip flops. Most of this stuff comes from miles upstream. “This is the last chance for us to get it before it gets to the Bay,” Naylor said. As we picked, we counted out loud, to make sure we recorded our
u Tag your own Bay clean-up efforts with #trashtag on social media. total for the day. This turned the undesirable work of tromping around in flotsam into something like a game. A depressing game. Naylor told me to dump out the contents of the containers whenever possible, to make recycling them more likely. “Except these ones,” he said, holding up a bottle full of nuclearorange liquid. “Why, what is that? I asked, expecting to hear the name of chemical or car fluid. “This is urine. We call these trucker-bombs.” I make a mental note. Naylor is singular for sure, but hardly alone in his online advocacy. Last year, an Arizona man issued a challenge to his Facebook followers, encouraging them to clean up an area in their town and then post a beforeand-after photo, using the hashtag #trashtag to flag it. The post went viral (to date it’s been shared 340,000 times), and people all over the world
took him up on the dare. Search among the 150,000 photos with the hashtag on Instagram, and you’ll find Russians pulling beer bottles from the snow and sea-turtle lovers culling plastic from the beaches of Ibiza. You’ll find accounts, like Naylor’s, dedicated to picking up trash in one place. @Chicago_ picker uses a luggage scale to weigh his buckets of litter in front of iconic Windy City buildings. @CleanupKassel offers an enticing stream of German candy wrappers. There are accounts about picking up trash on hiking trails, and “plogging”—picking up trash while jogging. Locally, Baltimore is wellrepresented by online litter warriors such as our very own Mr. Trash Wheel who leads the charge with 20,000 Twitter followers. This googly-eyed jokester is such a vocal proponent of litter control in the city, it’s hard to remember that he is a machine. But there are others. In 2018, Trash Free
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Maryland piloted the Less Litter, BMore Pickers campaign, which recruited residents to clean up their neighborhoods and post about it online, using the hashtag #LessLitterBMore. Ashley Van Stone, outgoing executive director of the non-profit, says the program incorporated the online component “in order to normalize the behavior and encourage more to join in the effort to pick up litter.” Participants found that posting online facilitated conversations about the problem and that many, “met neighbors for the first time or received commitments to join them the next time,” according to Van Stone. There are lots of environmental causes to get behind in the MidAtlantic, but battling litter is among the most important. The Chesapeake Bay Program has identified microplastics as a contaminant of mounting concern. While work is still being done to determine the impact of microplastics on animals, habitat, and water quality, scientists are certain that we need to curb the flow of plastic into local waterways for the health of the planet. Naylor is doing his best, online and off. He says the utility bills in his 1905 duplex average about $20 and he’s never owned a clothes dryer. His
truck has 277,000 miles on it, and he rarely leaves home without coming back with trash in its bed. When I pulled out a snack of fig bars, he pointed to the wrapper and said: “Single-use plastic,” and I’m chagrined to admit I hadn’t even noticed. On the way back to the city, I asked Naylor if he ever gets discouraged. “The Instagram account creates some buoyancy for me. For when I feel defeated,” he said. Naylor hopes that his photos will start conversations about single-use plastics and encourage others to get outside and pick up litter. Just watch out for the trucker bombs. Ashley Stimpson is a writer and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland University College.
BE A PART OF THE LITTERATI Inspired to clean up your own community? Consider downloading the app Litterati. In it, users document the location and types of litter they’re picking up, creating a massive dataset that can tell policy makers, CEOS and community leaders where the biggest pollution problems are and even how they might be addressed. Happy picking!
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According to the professionals, rockfish tend to hang around rocks.
Light Tackle Newbie A report from a half-day introduction to the pursuit. story by C. J. Hancock / photos by Joe Evans
C
oming into this writing assignment, I was vaguely aware of the differences between the classic Chesapeake-style charter fishing experience and the burgeoning light-tackle fishing endeavor. In the time-honored charter-boat trip model, you gather your friends and plenty of beer for an adventure aboard a substantial vessel that is fully-rigged and set up for a hosted trip by professionals (usually a captain and a mate) who will take you to the likely hot-spots, rig and set-up the lines for trolling or maybe some simple “bottom fishing”, and they will standby to coach you in the process of reeling in whatever might bite. The captain and crew set the agenda and do the work to provide a good time on the water. The light-tackle enterprise scales things down and puts the process in the angler’s hands in a test to discover if you can work it out on your own. The classic approach comes with a high expectation of success. The light-tackle approach, I discovered, maybe not so much, since it puts much more of the burden on the amateur, such as me. For my intro to the light-tackle adventure, I was to be guided by Captain Tom Weaver, a light-tackle guide with some 40 years’ experience, and Captain Joe Evans, Chesapeake Bay Magazine editor in chief and a former Orvisendorsed guide who was along to fish and take photos. The word on the street was that these were pretty good practitioners to show me the ropes, which was critical since I was starting from scratch.
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For the first half-hour of our foray, I was more concerned about accidentally hooking one of my hosts than a fish. Weaver showed me, in two swift and elegant motions, how to flip the bail on the reel and then fling the artificial bait 50 or so feet into a likely fish-holding spot. It’s not as easy as it looks. The lesson took place in the low light of dawn, so I felt that my first casts should be more safety and morale conscious than fish-focused. I moved to the opposite side of Weaver’s 23-foot skiff to obscure my feeble casting attempts. My first casts came up short and fell about 45 degrees off of the target area. Weaver and Evans left me alone for a while to work it out. I was beginning to get a feel for it when Weaver spotted some seagulls swirling over a patch of distant water, which indicated predator fish feeding on small forage fish on the surface. Without much warning, Weaver punched the engine in gear to race to the spot. As we zipped up the Severn
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River, Evans advised me to get ready and to drop the bait in the middle of the feeding gulls, which made me slightly uncomfortable as I felt that the chances of catching a gull were more likely than catching a fish, and that’s not something I want to write about. After a few casts, I felt a significant tug at the end of my line. “I’ve got a big one here boys!” I yelled with maybe a little too much enthusiasm. “It has to be at least three feet long,” I may have muttered as I furiously reeled the fish in. Weaver reached over the rail and pulled out the juvenile six-inch striped bass (rockfish) for the camera. Seeing the fish there in Weaver’s hand was a proud moment for me, and I felt the need to do it again. We took a minute to talk about appropriate lures for the chase. I learned that it’s best to start with a lure that looks and swims like something a striper is accustomed to eating. Duh… So, we were using small, white, soft-plastic baitfish imitations threaded onto steel hooks with weighted lead “jigheads” molded to look something like a minnow’s face including large, bright doll’s eyes. Yummy. The lead causes the lure to sink and swim up and down as it is reeled in. We also had rods rigged with floating “plugs” or “poppers”, which cause some commotion as they are reeled in to attract attention, as it if they are struggling baitfish, an easy mark for hungry predator fish. We tried them, but it seemed that these rockfish were too small to confront such large meals.
Despite the fact that the seagulls had led us to catch two feisty runts and a similar white perch, Weaver decided that it was time for us to move to a new location. “There’s a rule that you never leave fish to find more fish, but I break that rule at least once a day,” he said as we cruised to our next location, the Route 50 Bridge, a structure that is known to attract bigger rockfish. After just a couple of casts, I felt that now familiar resistance and I said, “I’ve definitely got something here boys!” My excitement faded into embarrassment when I heard Weaver yell back without even looking, “Yeah, it’s called a rock. You let your line sink too low before reeling it in.” So, apparently, there’s some element of finesse required. With no luck at the bridge we turned our attention to the ships
anchored out in the Bay. I learned that the tidal current will sometimes build pressure on one side of a freighter, which may provide a flowing smorgasbord of baitfish for hungry stripers to enjoy. I was gaining confidence in my casting ability, and I pinged my artificial bait off of the side of the tanker with all of the joy and enthusiasm of a fifth grader throwing pebbles at an abandoned building. We were all furiously casting as we drifted with the current alongside the ship, to no avail. As the sun rose to its zenith, we shifted our efforts to the rocks around the Thomas Point Lighthouse. We cast the lures into the rocks to see if any fish were lurking, and they weren’t. My two captains shrugged and agreed that this just wasn’t going to be our day.
April 2020
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
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April 2020
On the way in, I began to feel a warm satisfaction in learning something new and a building curiosity to know more. I asked about the gear and the cost of entry. It turns out that Weaver has organized a turn-key “Weaver Special Light-Tackle Combo” package with local tackle purveyor AllTackle. com for his clients who want to go the next step. It’s a St. Croix Triumph, six-foot, six-inch medium-fast rod paired with a Shimano-NASCI 3000 reel rigged with 15-pound, Hi-Seas braided 15-pound running line and a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader for about twohundred dollars. Add a handful of four-inch Bloody Point shad baits ($23 for 25), some 3/8-ounce BKD jig-heads ($6 for 4) and a hat (Fish4aCure hat $25 – good cause) and you’re good to go. “You think you got your story?” Evans asked as we pulled back into the slip. “Yes”, I replied. “I think I’ve got something.” C. J. Hancock is wrapping up a degree at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. He should not be confused with the middleweight MMA fighter of the same name. Totally different.
uncomfortable uncomfortable
/ ən-ˈkəm(p)(f)-tər-bəl / • [ uhn-kuhmf-tuh-buhl ] / ən-ˈkəm(p)(f)-tər-bəl / • [ uhn-kuhmf-tuh-buhl ] adjective adjective
Having to explain why your boat still rolls. Having to explain why your boat still rolls.
“HONEY... WE’RE ROLLING” “HONEY... WE’RE ROLLING”
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bay photo Joshua Hubbard, a waterman out of Hoopers Island, Md., dips striped bass and Atlantic menhaden out of the pound. PHOTO BY JAY FLEMING
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SATURDAY MAY 2, 2020
CBM
bay calendar
APRIL 4-5 Eastern Shore Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival Sea glass enthusiasts, dedicated
17-19 Bay Bridge Boat Show
time to get out on the water. First, though, you’re going to need
rock heavy and your animals uneaten? Then this is the extremely
to the idea that some beach trash is beautiful, take time off
a few things. (Possibly a boat?) Stock up! Bay Bridge Marina,
specific music festival for you. Rock out, humanely. RiffHouse Pub,
from their solitary pursuit of shiny objects to gather and share
Stevensville, Md. annapolisboatshows.com
Chesapeake, Va. facebook.com/RiffHousePub
18 Lock House Craft Beer & Wine Festival
20 Boatyard Bar & Grill Opening Day Catch &
their best finds at this annual festival. Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Md., cbmm.org
10-11 Chincoteague Easter Decoy & Art Festival Local and national carvers, artists, and
19 First Ever Vegan Heavy Music Fest
Like your
THRILL to the original 1840s lock-tender’s house, GASP at the
Release Rockfish Tournament
working swing bridge, and SAMPLE local beer, wine, and spirits,
this signature contest sets the standard for competitive catch &
Now in its 19th year,
along with crafts and food from around Maryland at Havre de
release fishing on the Bay, and the proceeds go to Bay and fish
photographers compete to become the year’s best (and for the
Grace’s Susquehanna Lock House Museum. Havre de Grace, Md.,
conservation (CBF and CCA) and the Annapolis Police Kids Fishing
special Children’s Award). Don’t miss the silent auction of hand-
lockhousebeerandwinefest.com
Program. Plus, a rockin’ Eastport-style after-party. Sponsored by
carved Easter eggs and “pre-loved treasures.” All to benefit the
Angler’s Sport Center and Chesapeake Bay Magazine. Annapolis,
Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Chincoteague Combined
Md. boatyardbarandgrill.com
School, Chincoteague Island, Va. chincoteaguedecoyshow.com
APRIL 4 Cherry Blossom Festival (Virginia Beach)
Who knows what this mild winter
will do to the spring cherry blossom blooms, but the twin cities of Virginia Beach and Miyazaki, Japan will be
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH
celebrating with cultural music, arts and crafts, and martial arts demos. Virginia Beach, Va. vbgov.com
36
Spring is here,
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
April 2020
THE MONTH OF THE MONTH OF
APRIL APR IL APOLIS I NI N AANNNN A POLIS
April in Annapolis! Not a better place to celebrate the changing of the seasons. As we
April in Annapolis! Notdays a better placeweather, to celebrate theplenty changing of the seasons. As we celebrate brighter and warmer there are of events in the capital to keep you busy! Make sure to include Annapolis in your plans this spring. celebrate brighter days and warmer weather, there are plenty of events in the capital to keep you busy! Make sure to include Annapolis in your plans this spring.
APR 4
APR 4
MARYLAND CHICKEN WING FESTIVAL
APR 24-26
APR 24-26
MARYLAND CHICKEN WING FESTIVAL
ANNAPOLIS SPRING SAILBOAT SHOW
APR 18
APR 18
APR 25
38TH ANNUAL ST. JOHN’S & USNA CROQUET MATCH
38TH ANNUAL ST. JOHN’S & USNA CROQUET MATCH
2020 ANNAPOLIS BOOK FESTIVAL
V IEW O UR F U LL CA LEN DAR OF EVENTS ONLINE AT VISITA NNAPOL IS.ORG 2020 ANNAPOLIS ANNAPOLIS SPRING APR BOOK FESTIVAL SAILBOAT SHOW 25 Savor the Chesapeake: Plan your Trip to Annapolis & Anne Arundel County.
V IEW OU R F U L L C A L E ND A R OF E V E NTS ONLI NE AT V ISITANNAP OL IS.ORG
CBM
bay calendar
u To find more fun events around the Bay, visit chesapeakebaymagazine.com/events.
APRIL 24-25 Ocean to Bay Bike Tour
Join more than 2,500 cyclists of all ages and skill levels for
a variety of flat-terrain rides through Sussex County’s beaches and bays. Start the spring riding season with a 30-, 50-,
23-26 Spring DelMarVa Birding Weekend
24-25 Charm City Bluegrass Festival
Observe and tally the many feathered wonders of the
of world-class music, drinks (including Baltimore-based Union
the normally peaceful Riverwalk Landing and Watermen’s
DelMarVa peninsula at this annual event with land- and
Brewing as the festival’s beer sponsor), and good times in historic
Museum will be invaded by bloodthirsty marauders, hell-bent
water-based excursions for all. Various times and locations,
Druid Hill Park. Tickets range from one-day passes to full-on
on...(checks notes) educating people about pirate life in the 17th
delmarvabirding.com
hotel packages, with special late-night events both days.
and 18th centuries. Yorktown, Va. visityorktown.org
23-26 Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show
Two days
Baltimore, Md. charmcitybluegrass.com
27-28 Pirates Invade Yorktown
27-28 WineFest at St. Michaels
This weekend,
Explore
Come visit Chesapeake Bay Magazine at the show and check
27 Chicone Village Day
out the sailboats and sailing gear. Build your cruising skills with
Eastern Woodland people who inhabited the Chesapeake Bay
hundreds of domestic and international wines, including our local
a Cruiser’s University workshop or attend a First Sail workshop.
region and Mid-Atlantic coast from native historic interpreters and
favorites. Tickets are limited but they include unlimited tastings
Annapolis, Md. annapolisboatshows.com
representatives from Delmarva Native tribes at the Chicone Village
and an essential shuttle bus, so maybe plan to stay the night.
at Handsell hosted by the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance.
St. Michaels, Md. winefestatstmichaels.com
Vienna, Md. restorehandsell.org
38
COURTESY PHOTO
metric century, or century ride. Bethany Beach, Del. oceantobaybiketour.com
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
April 2020
Learn about the ancient
13 wine-tasting venues throughout St. Michaels, featuring
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Musing on
Kent County Museums There are vistas along Kent County’s shoreline that haven’t changed much since before Capt. John Smith sailed by more than 400 years ago, and that’s only one facet of how this stretch of forest and field, bounded by river and creek, comprises one big, open-aired museum of American history. Sprinkle its rolling landscape with 18th-century towns and 19th century watermen’s villages, dot its still waterways with historic ships and traditional Chesapeake Bay workboats, and you’ve got a destination on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that’s more than a get-away --it’s a way to slip back in time. While the very atmosphere is historic, there are museums geared to helping you interpret Kent County’s unique history and heritage, from the earliest people who were here to greet Capt. Smith to the pioneers of aviation. Each of the ten Kent County museums is open on a regular schedule or by appointment (details are posted on the county’s web site—kentcounty. com/attractions/museums). But you can visit all ten of the county’s museums and historic sites on the weekend of June 6 and 7. Each one will be open from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. each day as stops on the free Museums of Kent Driving Tour. Each museum will hold special activities and events, and you can win a prize by tagging photos with #tourMOK on your Instagram posts. The tour is organized by the Museums of Kent County committee, chaired by Chestertown resident Stephanie Gosman. Stephanie is not a native-born local, but she married one. Her husband, Michael, a retired Coast Guard officer, grew up in the area. They spent most of his 40-year career away, in places like Cape May and Salisbury, then returned about 10 years ago. He served several years as the captain of Washington College’s research vessel, the Callenectes. Meanwhile, Stephanie started volunteering at the Bordley History Center in Chestertown, where she began researching her husband’s family history. The Bordley Center is home to the Historical Society of Kent County. About a year ago, Stephanie attended a meeting of the Museums of Kent committee, a loose confederation of all the organizations. She had so many good ideas on how they
could help one another that the other members made her the chair, much to her surprise. “I have never served on a committee before in my life,” she says, “but I’ve heard from others that this is a really fun committee to be part of.” They share information about upcoming grant opportunities, volunteer training, and creative, engaging programming for their visitors. “It’s a fun group,” she explains, “we really work well together.” The driving tour is their biggest annual outreach program. It was expanded this year to include the new visitor center at the Eastern Neck Island Wildlife Refuge, and that inclusion expands the area the tour covers. So much territory, that they added a second day to allow visitors to cover it all and explore each of the sites thoroughly. That gives you a good excuse to spend a night or two at one of Kent County’s many historic inns or bed and breakfast accommodations. You can savor the flavor of the county’s Chesapeake Bay seafood, locally bred beef, fine wines or craft brews at a farm-stay winery, a dockside restaurant or in-town
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tavern. In between museum musings, you can wander among specialty shops and antique stores, art galleries and artists’ studios. There’s no particular order to the tour, so you can start at any one of the ten sites. Each one will have a brochure listing all the others. You’ll even get a Museum Pass that you can get stamped at each location. Fill up the pass with stamps and you’re eligible for prizes like rides on the schooner Sultana or gift cards to local restaurants.
regular events. Legacy Day, held annually in August, commemorates various aspects of the area’s African American experience.
The Lodge at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge This 2,285-acre island refuge supports a wide variety of habitats including brackish marsh, natural ponds, upland forest, and grasslands, providing habitat for more than 240 bird species. The new visitor center is in a renovated hunting lodge. Exhibits include decoys and Indian artifacts, information about the flora and fauna inhabiting the refuge and new exhibits depicting the history of Eastern Neck Island.
Here’s a preview of the museums:
Bordley History Center
Sassafras Natural Resources Management Area. Take time to explore the trails,
The Rock Hall Museum
home to songbirds, waterfowl and other
Learn about the hard life of the men and
wildlife or paddle the waterways.
women who worked the waters of the
Home to the Historical Society of Kent
Chesapeake Bay through this collection
African American Schoolhouse Museum
of authentic fishing tools and nautical
Chestertown holds a treasure trove of historical and genealogical archives
The interpretive panel at this quaint, one-
watercraft as well as a decoy-carving shop
including documents, photographs,
room schoolhouse in Worton, originally
diorama. You’ll also discover antique
artifacts and oral narratives. History
built as a church in 1890, celebrates the
nautical charts and fishing maps, a rare
Happy Hour on the first Friday evening
commitment toward education within
ice buoy—used to indicate patches of
of each month pairs wine and cheese
the county’s early black community and
thin ice—and other insights into the
with fascinating presentations of the
chronicles the lives and contributions of
early days of Rock Hall’s history.
past. Custom guided walking tours
students and teachers who attended the
can be arranged for your group.
institution until it was closed in 1958.
Knock’s Folly Visitor Center
Sumner Hall
and women at Haven Harbour Marina’s
Capt. John Smith and his crew landed
Sumner Hall, one of the nation’s two
Waterman’s Museum. See inside a fishing
on the shores of the Sassafras River
remaining African American posts for the
shanty and imagine the risks involved in
in August of 1608 where they met
Grand Army of the Republic, was built
a life of fishing and crabbing back in the
members of the Tockwogh tribe. What
in 1908 to serve as a community center
day. Explore the evolution of equipment
little is known of these people and their
for black Civil War troops. Today, the
and technological advances to learn how
encounter with Smith is showcased at
museum continues to honor the service
people brought both convenience and
the Knock’s Folly Visitor Center located
of African American Civil War veterans
safety to a trade that continues to sustain
in a 1796 Federal-style brick house.
and celebrates cultural traditions with
communities along the waterfront.
County, the Bordley History Center in
equipment, handcrafted models of various
Waterman’s Museum Celebrate Kent County’s watermen
Kent Museum Here you’ll discover artifacts telling the story of the county’s agricultural and domestic life from the past. You’ll also find Charley’s House, an 1840s-whitewashed, clapboard home relocated from an African American community near Chestertown. Both the Knock’s Folly Visitor Center and the Kent Museum are located in the
Massey Air Museum The horizons of historic Kent County aren’t limited to land and sea. Community aviators and aficionados of flight applaud the Massey Air Museum, where colorful and classic aircraft are displayed amid planes that still soar from the Massey
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Aerodrome. Explore a lumbering DC-3,
Betterton Heritage Museum
take a biplane tour or a glider ride.
The Hedgelawn Bluegrass Series presents The Dirty Grass Players
Betterton has enjoyed a celebrated past
Special events include the Chili Fiesta
Saturday, April 11, 8 p.m.
on the Chesapeake. Exhibits interpret the
Fly-in, when aviators and landlubbers
The Mainstay - 5753 N. Main St., Rock Hall
towns history, from its early days as a
alike convene for a chili cookoff; the
Hailing from Baltimore, The Dirty Grass
fishing and farming village to its heyday
Antique Aeroplane Fly-in, a competitive
Players have established themselves with one
as a bustling seaside resort town and
celebration of privately owned, vintage
toe-tappin’ foot in traditional bluegrass and
include decoys carved by the renowned
aircraft; Young Eagles Day when kids fly
blazing musicianship that pushes boundaries.
local craftsman, Charlie “Speed” Joiner.
for free; and the annual Open Hangar Day
Use your favorite digital screen to get a
and Fly-in, its public holiday potluck.
or if you’re looking to spread your wings,
Saturday, April 11, 1- 4 p.m.
preview of the museum on their recently launched virtual tour accessible from their web site, bettertonheritage.org. The virtual tour was created in cooperation with the Digital Scholarships in Museum Partnerships project and Washington College.
HAVEN HARBOUR MARINA 20880 Rock Hall Ave Rock Hall, Maryland 410.778.6697
Wine & Oysters
Whether you’re visiting by car or cruising through on your boat, Kent County’s historic and heritage sites celebrate the past and preserve it for the future. To plan your visit, log on to kentcounty.com/visitors.
Crow Vineyard & Winery - 12441 Vansants Corner Road, Kennedyville A local pairing of award-winning Crow wines and oysters from Orchard Point Oysters. The pairing includes samples of local Eve’s Cheese and Crow grass-fed Angus beef.
HAVEN HARBOUR SOUTH 21144 Green Lane Rock Hall, Maryland 410.778.6697
Make this year’s fishing season count Have a successful fishing season with the professionals at Haven Harbour Marina Resorts. Our two marinas boast complete yachting facilities that include a full-line Yamaha Outboard dealer and factory-authorized service technicians. Learn more at HAVENHARBOUR.COM/Yamaha.
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10th Annual Earth Day Festival
Emmanuel Church Concert Series
Saturday, April 18, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Friday, May 8, 7:30 p.m.
Downtown Chestertown - Memorial Row
Emmanuel Episcopal Church -
50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Cross Street, Chestertown
Learn about growing local foods, native
Organist Andrew Sheranian is a graduate of
plants, and living more sustainably with
the New England Conservatory of Music and
the environment. Free and convenient.
the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music.
Bluegrass Block Party
Mid-Shore PRIDE
Saturday, April 18, 12 - 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 9, 1- 6 p.m.
Join the Dirty Grass players for a concert in the
Fountain Park, Chestertown
The Sheltered Harbor on the Sassafras
300 block of Chestertown to welcome Spring.
RiverArts Paint the Town: Plein Air
Chili Fiesta Fly-In at Massey Aerodrome
Thursday, April 23 - Sunday, April 26
Saturday, May 9, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Various locations throughout Chestertown.
Massey Aerodrome - 33541
Artists paint the local scene for three days and
Maryland Line Rd., Massey
make their paintings available for sale at the
Antique & classic aircraft, taildraggers &
Wet Paint Reception and Sale on Saturday at the
biplanes. Hear the unique sound of radial
RiverArts Gallery in Chestertown. On Sunday,
engines. Tour the Massey Air Museum, DC-3
there is a two-hour Quick Draw; these paintings
& hangars. Free Admission. Family-Friendly.
are shown in Fountain Park from 11 a.m. – 12
If you have a motorcycle, vintage/show car
p.m. These works are judged, and also for sale.
or hot rod, come early, park up front around
Participate in the “People’s Choice Award.”
the DC-3 for everyone to see and admire.
RESONANCE Concert: Julia Mintzer, Mezzo-soprano
Chestertown Tea Party Festival
Sunday, April 26, 3 p.m.
Throughout Downtown Chestertown
St Paul’s Church 7579 Sandy
Held over Memorial Day weekend, this
Bottom Rd, Chestertown
event marks the anniversary of one of the
Hailed by Montreal’s La Presse as “a true
area’s most notable historic events, when
Carmen: extremely sensual, with the grace
the citizens of Chestertown—in an act to
of a serpent, the violence of a tiger, and
show resistance to British rule—tossed
a mezzo of penetrating depth,” Julia has
a ship’s cargo of tea overboard into the
performed principal roles at Washington
Chester River in 1774. The festival’s Tea Toss
National Opera, Die Semperoper Dresden,
Reenactment is the centerpiece of the event,
and The Glimmerglass Festival.
which also includes a Friday night block
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Friday, May 22 - Sunday, May 24
party, Saturday 5K and 10-mile races, craft
Dom Flemons The Radical Baggage of the Banjo
beer and local wine samples, craft vendors,
Saturday, May 2, 7 p.m.
Sunday is the wacky raft race at Wilmer Park.
street performances, a parade and more.
Sumner Hall - 206 South Queen Street, Chestertown
National Music Festival
Do you know the history of the banjo? Become
Sunday, May 31 - Saturday, June 13
a part of the journey Dom Flemons takes
Venues throughout Kent County
listeners on when he traces the history all
The National Music Festival transforms Kent
the way back to its Afro-Caribbean roots.
County into a hub of music for two weeks every June. The nationally recognized event pairs gifted apprentice musicians with world-class mentors. These performers set out together for open, free, rehearsal and incredible performances.
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CBM
on boats
u Learn more about the Valhalla V-33 at valhallaboatworks.com.
Valhalla V-33 Viking’s Valhalla 33-footer presents a high standard for outboard-driven yachts. by Capt. John Page Williams
I
COURTESY PHOTOS
t sounds funny to describe the new V-33 from Valhalla Boatworks as an “entry-level center console fishing boat from a new company,” but Valhalla V-33 that’s the literal truth. What the description doesn’t say LOA: 32' 10" is that Valhalla is a Beam: 9' 9" subsidiary of 56-year-old Draft: 2' 1" (engines up) Viking Yachts, now under Weight: 7,770 lbs. the ownership and Max HP: 800 supervision of the second Fuel Capacity: 335 gal. and third generations of the Water Capacity: 40 gal. founding Healy family, and Available through Bluewater Yacht that it is built in a Viking Sales—bluewateryachtsales.com. plant on the Mullica River in
44
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
April 2020
New Jersey, managed by fourth-generation boatbuilder John Leek IV. Yes, the V-33 is the smallest offering from Viking, which builds semi-custom convertible sportfishermen and motor yachts up to 93 feet, but it’s a thoroughbred. Viking yachts are well-known on bluewater world-wide, but what struck us at Chesapeake Bay Magazine, especially after we took a sea trial in the V-33 last fall, was how well this splendid “little” boat could play multiple fishing and family roles here on the Bay. First off, it’s classically beautiful, with Viking’s trademark s-curve sheerline, faux-teak toe rails, and flawless finish. Second, it’s both
fast and efficient. Though Viking’s extensive design and engineering team draws most models, this hull and its V-37 and V-41 sisters ride on patented Stepped-V, Ventilated-Tunnel running surfaces from Michael Peters Yacht Design. Viking’s designers collaborated closely with MPYD to integrate the SVVT to the rest of the hull. The SVVT design effectively reduces hull-to-water friction at speed by drawing air under part of the running surface while ensuring precise handling across a wide spectrum of loads and sea conditions. Twin 400-hp Mercury Verados powered our test boat for a spin in two-to-three-foot seas off of Annapolis with Viking’s Justin Healy and CBM’s Editor, Joe Evans aboard. Healy throttled us quickly up to 50 knots with the promise of more, but we thanked him and said we’d take the promise on faith (top end with these engines approaches 60 knots). At 50, the V-33 sliced through the chop easily, and it held course perfectly in tight turns, an acid test for slippery stepped hulls, which, if not designed with great care, have a tendency to spin out. Peters designed the hull to run slightly bow-proud, to present the sharp bow entry to oncoming seas while planting the stern firmly on course.
What was even more impressive was the boat’s efficiency. I watched the fuel consumption numbers in the engine management screen on one of the helm’s two Garmin displays as the boat accelerated through the twenties and the thirties. In the twenties, it made about one nautical mile per gallon, but at 30-35 knots, efficiency improved. The two big Verados were burning about 25 gallons per hour together, providing 1.2 nautical miles per gallon. I remember seeing figures like that twenty years ago from a much smaller 23-foot bowrider with a single 250-hp, old-style, thirsty two-stroke outboard. Those numbers give the V-33 a conservative range of about 400 miles. That’s what a well-designed stepped hull can do when pushed by top-class modern four-strokes. Our test boat, V-33 Hull #1, was fitted out for serious fishing. The basic layout is conventional, with an open bow; a twoperson lounge on the front of the console; a compact cabin beneath with electric head, vanity, and single berth; a helm module with three-person bench or triple teak chairs; and a tackle station that includes a slide-out cooler which doubles as a two-person, aft-facing mezzanine seat for watching trolling lines. The transom holds a 52-gallon livewell April 2020
ABOVE: (L) The massive helm station features seating for three, copious instrumentation space, and a beautiful chunk of varnished teak. (R) The 52-gallon livewell is flanked by a pair of fold-down jump seats.
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flanked by fold-down jump seats. From bowto stern, the sole contains five overboard-draining, in-deck fish boxes, including a 98-gallon hold at the bow. The fiberglass hardtop includes bases for antennas and outriggers, spreader lights, an overhead electronics box, and a six-rod rocket launcher on the aft edge. What makes the V-33 stand out, though, is the attention to detail in design and execution. For example, the under-deck compartment just aft of the tackle station is configured to receive an optional Seakeeper 2 gyro stabilizer. Sightlines at the helm are excellent in all directions at the hull’s designed running attitude. The console, tackle station, and side decks
all offer toe-kick space for keeping feet firmly planted in rough seas. The sole is gently crowned to send any rain or spray that might come aboard into cockpit-side gutters leading aft to grates directing it overboard. The door on the port side of the console slides forward on an ingenious mount to make it easy to enter and exit the cabin safely. Later on, I visited Valhalla Boatworks to see how these rigs go together. The company sweats the details in places we normally can’t see. John Leek took me on a tour to see the building process, from initial hull layup and resin infusion of the stringer grid and liner to final assembly and quality control. Then I shadowed Travis Hayes, an
application engineer from Mercury Marine, to watch him train Valhalla’s rigging technicians in the installation of the complex fly-by-wire electronic steering and control systems that make handling these boats so easy and smooth. True to form, Valhalla “house-makes” its wiring harnesses, and the Viking subsidiary American Marine Electronics installs whatever systems each boat’s prospective owner requests. So, what makes the V-33 a good boat for the Chesapeake? It’s big enough to take offshore to the Chesapeake Light Tower or run open Bay waters anywhere from Virginia Beach through the mouth of the Potomac to Baltimore, but it’s still small enough to maneuver easily
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along the Chesapeake Bay BridgeTunnel, the buoy line off Cape Charles, the Targets below the Patuxent, the Stone Rock off the Choptank, or the Bay Bridges at Annapolis. It’s fast and able enough to try multiple spots in a day. It’s also adaptable for anything from trolling, jigging, and chasing gannets over breaking fish (especially with its open-array “bird” radar) to bottom fishing for tautogs, sea bass, or small pan and sportfish. The open bow offers space for casting a fly. Add an optional Palm Beach Tower (another Viking subsidiary) for cobia season. Family features include a port side door and a transom platform for swimming and towing toys, the
comfortable cabin with head and berth for a nap, an optional pair of forward-facing bow lounges, and the comfort of a wave-damping Seakeeper. By the way, the lounges are positioned to allow casting while bracing against the coaming at the bow. With seating for eleven (including the bow lounges), it would work well for watching sunsets, and it could easily serve as a Wednesday night or Saturday morning race committee platform. Valhalla’s new V-33 may be “entry level” for some people, but a Chesapeake angler with a water-loving family might well decide to stay right there for years. Built to the exacting standards of
Viking Yachts, it’s going to last a long time with proper care, and its versatility will make it useful for many assignments throughout the Mid-Atlantic seasons. year. Base price with twin 400-hp Mercurys is $325,000. The V-33 is also available with twin 300-hp Yamaha V-6 engines and Mercury’s 300-hp V-8s. Those engines reduce the cost and still offer top speeds around 50 knots, with efficient cruise speeds from 25 to 40 knots. h CBM Editor at Large, educator, guide, and author of three quintessential Chesapeake Bay books, John Page Williams was proclaimed to be a Maryland Admiral of the Bay in 2013.
Welcome to Southern Maryland! Welcome to
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WHO THE HECK IS
North Point Yacht Sales?
At first meeting on a dock, at a boat show, or when someone stumbles into the office, the first question often is: who the heck are you guys? The short answer is: we are a yacht sales team who sells sail and power, new yachts and select used boats. We strive to demonstrate fierce honesty in our relationships and transactions with buyers and sellers. We hope that any buyer, seller, supplier, lender, co-broker or any other party to a transaction with us leaves with that impression and a desire to work with us again. Shame on us if we don’t. The rest of the answer is we are a collection of boat-centric folks (boat nuts) with individual and collective skills to put you into the perfect boat for your family’s life on the water. We help when needs change, and find the client for whom your boat is a perfect fit when it comes time to sell. Amongst us are racing sailors, coastal cruisers, passage makers, sport fishermen from bay skiffs to billfish, traditionalists to edgy modernists. Our team is ALWAYS on the water, every weekend in fact, because boating is not only our job but it's our passion. We like nothing more than letting you put our obsession with boats and the sea to work for you. We are specialists in the transfer of a complex machine that provides an abundance of fun and adventure, at a fair price, and in an orderly fashion. - Peter Bass, Yacht Sales Professional at NPYS
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Buying Brokerage: Is It Worth It? Tips for buying a boat through a buyer’s broker By Grady Byus, Yacht Broker, North Point Sales
T
he first question we’re always asked is, “What does it cost me, the buyer?” The answer is—nothing! A buyer’s broker splits the brokerage fee with the listing broker. Used boats, or brokerage boats, make up the majority of the boats purchased in the U.S.. But, buying a brokerage boat is still a commonly miss-understood process. Here are a few tips on how a first-time or lifetime boat buyer can make the most of the buying process.
1
Use a Buyer’s Broker
2
Understanding Price
3
Boat buyers often Google search the boat they want and call the broker who has it listed. While this can be a safe and successful way to buy a boat, wouldn’t you want an impartial party to represent you? A good buyer’s broker will help define your search criteria, discuss options, and help narrow-in on the right boat. Then, they will set up showings to walk you through the best boats. Once found, the buyer’s broker will handle negotiations, draw-up the paperwork, line-up the surveyor, and execute closing documents. Sounds like a lot of value, doesn’t it?
One of the best ways to understand your budget is to get pre-qualified. This helps you understand what the ceiling on your boat search is before you even start. If you are planning to “pay cash” for your boat but can’t quite make the dollars add up to get to the boat of your dreams, you might consider a loan to bridge the gap. Rates remain very favorable for most buyers. Also, find out what the resale value of your boat will look like a few years down the road should you decide to move up, down, or onwards. One common mistake many buyers make is confusing the value of the boat with the cost of ownership. Consider the cost of storage, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
Cast a Wide Net
If you are fortunate to live in a boating hub like the Chesapeake, it’s often easy to just look in your area. A good broker will contact brokerage firms throughout the country. Then, when the right boat turns up, be prepared to make an appropriate offer to have the best chance at getting the boat. If the right boat isn’t available today, your broker can notify you when the right boat hits the market and strike right away!
What to expect next?
You’ve bought a boat! Hopefully you know where you plan to keep the boat. Your broker is a great resource for that and other things like insurance, tow memberships, maintenance plans, and more. Our job isn’t done when you have finalized your purchase. It is our hope to continue to build our relationship with you and help ensure that your time with your boat is enjoyable. We treat all of our clients like friends and family, and we strive to earn your trust so we may to work together again in the future.
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Careful Catch Become part of the solution by practicing and planning solid catch and release technique.
AUSTIN GREEN
by Capt. John Page Williams
50
It's best to keep the fish in the water.
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I
f the primary purpose of fishing is to catch fish, why would we want or need to turn them loose? Well now, with fish resources pressured by many forces, there are lots of reasons for letting them go. They might be too small or too large to suit the legal limits, or out of season, or above the proscribed daily harvest limit. Maybe we are fishing solely for sport and not for the table? In any case, the act of catching and releasing a fish deserves concern and careful consideration for the well-being of the fish and the resource. We all want these fish to survive and thrive. The recently confirmed troubled state of the striped bass population has forced us to confront the reality that recreational catch and release activity is the largest cause of Atlantic striped bass mortality. To be sure, commercial and recreational harvest mortality is substantial and needs some moderation to help us get back on track. But, with a steady increase in recreational fishing in the Bay and the last year's harvest limits of two 18-inch or longer fish per day per angler (probably headed to one fish for 2020), very many undersized and over-thelimit fish are being caught and released. Fisheries biologists have determined that an average of nine percent of them don’t survive. The mathematical result of so many people fishing and releasing fish and the nine-percent mortality is shocking. Consequently, we face tighter restrictions on harvest and targeted catch-and-release. No, we’re not headed for a striped bass moratorium like the one we endured in the late 1980s. Our science is much better now, and the stock is not in crisis, but warning lights are flashing. It’s time to pay serious attention. And not just to rockfish.
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Fish in and out of water Consider the struggle. No matter how tough the battle may have been on the angler, you can be sure it was much worse for the fish. The combination of the reel’s drag, the resistance generated by the line moving through the water, and the shock-absorbing design of the rod are intended to tame or exhaust the fish. The fish soon uses up its oxygen and its muscles shift to anaerobic respiration, which causes substantial distress from the buildup of lactic acid. The fish tires and needs to recover, just as the angler would if the situation was reversed. But most often, the fish will be lifted from the water to be admired, photographed, and “thrown back”—a common but unfortunate word choice. Water density is nearly 800 times that of air. Expressed another way, air
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at sea level has about 0.1275% of the density of water, a huge difference. Think about how water supports you when you swim and float. A fish is built to suspend in water. Out of its element, a fish’s gill filaments, which suspend in the water to present as much surface area as possible to absorb dissolved oxygen, collapse and the fish loses much of its oxygen absorbing capacity just when it needs it most. Also, the uniform support of being submerged is important for the function and safety of a fish’s internal organs and structure. Out of the water, the vanquished gamefish may be entirely supported by a hook in its lip or by the angler’s grip in it lower jaw. What is happening to that fish’s bone structures? If it’s hanging from a lipping device, is the pull of gravity separating its vertebrae? Are the internal organs
sagging or being compressed by the weight of the body above them? What happens if the fish is accidentally dropped onto the deck? Or, in the care of an informed and careful angler, the fish may be supported, even cradled, in his forearm or in a soft-rubber net before being revived and released. Of course, the longer a fish is out of the water, the more it is stressed. Another major issue is the difference in temperature between the water and the air. Summertime Bay water can easily reach 85 degrees or more, rockfish are already uncomfortable, and warmer air adds even more stress. Biologists estimate that 90-degree air temperature can result in a 50-percent mortality rate, even if the fish is handled gently and quickly. What about hook wounds? Research has shown that a simple hole
Here, the complete angler is prepared with a handy lipping tool to control a striper before the release.
easier to see how catch-and-release mortality can be so high, especially in the summertime. The good news is, there are scientifically documented ways to reduce the stresses. Let’s take them one at a time.
Selective Harvest Selective Harvest describes a plan for deciding in advance what species you will target and what you will do when you catch them. Will you keep some of them or let them all go? How many will you keep? Do you have everything you need to preserve the fish you keep and the tools and a routine for carefully releasing undersized fish? How will you orchestrate the photography and release? Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it?
AUSTIN GREEN
in the membrane inside the lower lip of striped bass and other similar fish heals quickly, but some fish, such as sea trout and gray trout have mouths that are more fragile. Hook wounds can be minor, but they can also be major causes of release mortality, especially if the fish swallows whatever lure or bait it has struck, so that part of the hook ends up inside its intestines. Handling can rub off the protective coating on the fish’s skin, which acts as a barrier for pathogens. Rough, knotted nets, dry human hands, and non-skid decks are especially effective at removing the fish’s slime. The effect may not be immediate, and the fish may appear to swim away strongly, but a break in its slime coating may allow a lethal bacterial attack. Okay, this is pretty dismal stuff, but understanding the risk factors makes it
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Minimizing Hook Wounds If you’re fishing with natural bait, use non-offset circle hooks, which almost always catch fish in the corner of the jaw instead of deeper in the internal organs or gills. In Maryland, circle hooks are required for fishing with natural bait. Virginia encourages the practice through the state’s Fish F.A.S.T for Striped Bass Program— Focus on a quick release; Always use approproate tackle; Swim the fish to re-oxygenerate it; Try to remove the hook while the fish is in the water (mrc.virginia.gov/Notices/circlehooks). Crimp down the barbs to make the release process less damaging and easier. Opt for lures with single hooks, an easy choice when fishing with flies, jigs, spoons, and soft plastic lures because that’s how they come. Poppers, spooks, crankbaits, and suspending jerkbaits often come with treble hooks. Clip one tine off each treble and crimp the remaining barbs. The resulting double hooks still catch effectively, and they are much easier to remove from the fish, especially with a pair of pliers or a de-hooker tool. They also minimize the chances of hooking the fish in two places. If the removal of tines upsets the lure’s balance, replace the existing trebles with larger hooks and still remove the tines to keep the total hook weight the same as with the stock trebles. Or, even better, replace the treble hooks with large single hooks.
Fight Stress Use tackle that is up to the task to minimize the fight time. Let your rod and your reel’s drag work for you to absorb shock and pressure the fish into succumbing. Shortening the fight time will reduce stress on the fish.
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At Hand When the fish comes to hand, you’ll need to control it. The best course for a fish you will release is to slip the barbless hook out of its mouth right there in the water, without lifting the fish out of the water, and let it swim away. You can very well take a photo of a memorable catch while it is in the water, even with a measuring device held alongside to indicate its length. If you must lift it out of the water, be sure to support it by its body and allow it to lie flat without scraping off protective slime. The best tool for this job is a flat-bottom net with rubber or coated, knotless netting such as the cradle nets used by Midwestern musky and West Coast steelhead anglers. If using just your hands, support the head with one and the body under the anal fin with the other. If you must lay the fish down to measure it, lay it on a wet towel. Anything you can do to keep the fish calm helps, like turning it upside down or covering its eyes with a wet towel.
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Time Out of the Water Planning ahead is the key to minimizing the fish’s time out of the water. If you are going to photograph your fish, make a plan in advance including positioning for good lighting and camera angle. Keep the camera ready. A good rule of thumb is to keep the fish out of the water no longer than you can hold your breath—about 30 seconds.
De-Hooker Tools Young rockfish and white perch are like hyperactive pin cushions. Handling them is not good for their health or your hands. Learn to release
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them with a de-hooker, a process that takes no more than a couple of seconds. Basically, this button-hook tool inverts the hook so that the fish drops off, into the water with a gentle shake. It works much better if the hook’s barb is crimped and the fish is close to the water when it comes off. You’ll be amazed at how much time this tool saves, as well as the benefits for the fish and your hands. It’s easy to make your own de-hooker with stiff, heavy-gauge wire or welding rod, but many tackle shops sell them readymade for just a few dollars. Hemostats and longnose pliers also do a good job of removing a hook.
Avoid Stressful Seasons Avoid fishing at times when warm water conditions are stressful for fish, especially striped bass., which prefer cold, salty water. The prime example is the dog days of summer, July and August. This is a good time to consider other, smaller game fish such as white perch and catfish, which tolerate the heat better. Or hunt snakeheads, which thrive in tepid, shallow waters, and they are challenging to catch and delicious to eat. In the lower Bay, go for sheepshead, spadefish, red drum or cobia. The Chesapeake’s many fish species peak at different times of the year. Fishing the seasons will teach you a lot, make you smile, and feed you well. CBM Editor at Large John Page Williams is a fishing guide, educator, author, and naturalist, saving the Bay since 1973. In 2013, at the urging of CBM's current editor-in-chief, the state of Maryland proclaimed him an Admiral of the Bay.
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AP EAKE ANF I S H Finding, catching, & cooking small local fish
A
lmost everything I know about fishing, I learned from panfish. I think most dedicated anglers would say the same. It all started with yellow perch, white perch, bluegill, and crappie. Panfish is a colloquial term used by generations of anglers to describe various species of small fish. The earliest definition I can find is in a 1796 Webster speller, which describes panfish as: “Any small freshwater food fish, considered too small to be classed as a game fish, that is the right size to fry whole in a frying pan.” That definition has certainly changed over the decades. Most panfish are now considered to be gamefish, and due to their abundance, are often filleted instead of fried whole. When we speak of panfish today, we usually include some saltwater species. Since this is about panfish in the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay, I like this definition—A panfish is a relatively small fish that is usually good to eat and often caught in large numbers using light tackle. Many panfish are in a family called Centrarchidae, which includes a bucketload of primarily sunfish species comprised of bluegills, black crappie, white crappie, pumpkinseeds, redears, redbreasts, rock bass, green sunfish, and warmouth bass. Yellow and white perch are not Centrarchidae, but they are considered panfish by anglers in the Chesapeake Bay region. Though I’ll say more about individual species later, it’s worth noting that most anglers don’t worry too much about definitions. We know a panfish when we see one. Anglers are more likely to focus on their habits and how to catch them than on nomenclature.
WRITTEN
BY SHAWN KIMBRO
W I T H I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY E VA N I C H O L S
While some consider panfish as minorleague players for bigger sportfish, there are many experts in the Chesapeake region who specialize in catching them. These are ace anglers who have enjoyed a life-long fascination with these intriguing fish. They are dedicated players who have honed their skills to an elite level and would rather go after panfish than anything else. Taken together, panfish are the Chesapeake’s most abundant game species. They can be caught in tributary rivers, tidal creeks, and irrigation streams as well as in the main channel of the Chesapeake Bay. Go fishing in some flowing water anywhere in the Chesapeake watershed, and chances are you’ll find some panfish. Count me among those who consider the pursuit of panfish to be a major-league pastime. I put perch, crappie, and bluegill right up there with crab-cakes, oysters, and baseball as part of what makes our region great. No matter where you go or what time of year you fish, there are panfish waiting for you in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. They are the harbingers of spring and an excuse to hide out in the shade during the heat of summer. They provide us opportunities to enjoy the vivid colors of autumn, and they save us from dreariness of winter’s cabin fever. Whether beneath the dripping branches of a willow tree in August, or below the ice on a frosty day in January, there are always panfish eager to take a lure. Panfish are great equalizers. They aren’t picky about social class or fortune. They make it just as easy to take a limit by fishing from the
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riverbanks as by casting from a boat or kayak. Panfish can set a novice to bragging like a crackerjack just as easily as they can reduce a savvy pro to whining like a rookie. Panfish teach us basic fishing skills better than any other species. They can be landed on a hook baited with a redworm just as easily as with an expertly tied fly. They are routinely caught on cane Shawn Kimbro with poles, expensive baitcasters, Yellow Perch and just about every possible fishing contraption in between. Once I put a grasshopper on a safety pin and caught bluegill with bailing-twine wrapped around a soda bottle. Throw in the fact that they are delicious and incredibly prolific, and they are the perfect quarry. I’ve never met a kid between the ages of two and 102 who doesn’t enjoy fishing for, catching, and eating panfish. The striped bass (rockfish) is the first fish that comes to mind when we think of the Chesapeake Bay. It’s the Maryland state fish and the most sought-after species in Virginia. I’ve written two books about catching striped bass. But as much as I enjoy fishing for rockfish and being surprised by the many other species that I occasionally catch in their pursuit, I’ve obsessed over panfish my entire life. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t fish for them. The longer I live and the more I fish, the more I long for simplicity. To me, panfishing is therapy—a welcome counter to the competitive and fast-paced world of run-and-gun striper fishing. I can stand on the creek bank for hours casting for perch or crappie. It makes me feel like I’m connected to nature as an observer and participant. When I’m panfishing, I never think I’m wasting time. In return, my pursuit of
The Essential Panfish Kit ROD: 6- to 6 ½-foot, fast-action, ultra-light spinning rod. Fast-action rods don’t bend as much so they are more sensitive and make it easier to detect subtle panfish strikes. REEL: size 500 to 1500 spinning reel with a slow (5:1) retrieve ratio. LINE: 6- to 8-pound test braided polyethylene. Power-Pro, Spectra, SpiderWire, Sufix, Berkley Firewire…all good brands. LEADER: 6-to 8-pound fluorocarbon LURES: • • •
Soft-plastic small grubs, curly-tails, split-tails, tubes, paddle-tails, or stingers on 1/32- to 1/16-ounce jig heads. Floats and flies: 1/32- to 1/16-ounce feather or hair flies tied a few feet under a small bobber. Natural bait: Bloodworms, minnows, nightcrawlers, grass shrimp and just about anything that’s alive and available at the tackle shop or along the shoreline will do.
HOOKS & SINKERS: #2 and #7 hooks with split-shot to get the lure to sink. HAT: Any dark-billed baseball, boonie, explorer, Desert Storm, Stetson, or sombrero will keep the sun off, reduce eye strain, and help you be cool.
ACCESSORIES: Polarized sunglasses, wading boots, gear-bag, nippers, hemostat, stringer, hip flask, cigar.
LOCATIONS: During the spring spawning runs, look for them first in the deepest holes of the tributaries. They’ll move shallow just before they spawn. There’s a comprehensive list of publicly accessible fishing spots in my panfish book, or check DNR’s website for traditional yellow perch locations.
TIMING: Like most fish, panfish prefer to feed in low light situations, but they aren’t that picky. Just go when you can because they’ll also bite at high noon!
TECHNIQUE: Cast soft plastic lures across and slightly upstream and reel back slowly. If that doesn’t work, change the pace of the retrieve, go slower, or faster. No luck? Try a float and fly or resort to live bait. Still no bites? Move on to another spot.
Crappie
Float & Fly
panfish has blessed me with the skills necessary to make me a better all-around angler. As an added bonus, panfish are good to eat. I’m a strong proponent of catch and release fishing, especially for imperiled species like our
Chesapeake striped bass, but you won’t see me throwing back too many perch or crappie. I typically release the biggest spawners, but it doesn’t bother my conscience a bit to take home a bucket full of abundant panfish for the stovetop or grill. Even Yellow Perch
though I won’t hop on the “take-allyou-want-they’ll-make-more bandwagon,” there is absolutely no harm in keeping an occasional “mess” of perch, crappie, or bluegill. Long before the eat-local trend and well in advance of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sustainable seafood tracking program, catching and frying up panfish was the quintessential exercise in local, sustainable sourcing. And it builds character. h Shawn Kimbro is the author of three popular fishing books—Chesapeake Light Tackle-An Introduction to Light Tackle Fishing; The Right Stuff-Gear and Attitudes for Trophy Light Tackle Fishing; and How to Catch Chesapeake Panfish. He recently launched the Chesapeake Minute, brief and to-the-point YouTube and IGTV video fishing tips and lessons. He is also the technical director of the George Washington University Sleep Medicine Program.
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Preparing, Cooking, Eating Cooking panfish is quick and easy but it takes quite a few fish to make a “mess.” Figure at least four per person. Start out by popping the top off a cold RAR Brewing Nanticoke Nectar. It’s not for making the cooking batter. It’s for enjoying the process. I like to fillet the fish with an electric fillet knife; but any sharp knife will do. Start at the head and slice down to the backbone, then follow the backbone back to the tail cutting through the ribs. It’s easy to slice back up and remove the skin, or you can scale them if you want with a Bicco fish scaler. Cut out the rib cage and wash the fillets. Pat them almost dry, then dredge in House-Autry seafood breading mix and sprinkle with Old Bay. Drop them in a skillet of hot oil or grease until golden brown on both sides. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with a little more Old Bay. Make up some cocktail sauce by mixing ketchup, ground horseradish, and well, Old Bay. Slap the fillets on the plate with a lemon slice, some French fries, and coleslaw sprinkled with, you know, Old Bay. Serve beside another Nanticoke Nectar, and a can of Old Bay, just in case!
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V I S I T U S O N L I N E A T : W W W. R I V E R S I D E M A R I N E . C O M
Howard P. and Cheryl Johnson maintain Old Time World, an extraordinarily happy place.
OLD TIME
ORLD
When the phone rings at Howard Percival Johnson Jr.’s house, somebody with an orphaned wooden runabout, a classic cruising powerboat, or a vintage automobile might be on the line. If you’re a guy like Johnson, your heart sinks a little every time you hear about one of these treasures in need of repair or salvation. If you’re Howard Johnson, you want to take it home and restore it back to life. Because you love these boats so much, you want to share them. That’s how you end up living at Old Time World, a one-of-a-kind compound spread over seven acres near Upper Marlboro, Maryland. With his wife Cheryl, he collects, refinishes, and deals in relics from his favorite moment in time—post-World War II recreational boats and the cars of his childhood. Five buildings of varying size and overlapping purpose are scattered across the property and house about 100 boats and 37 vintage cars from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. The Arena, The Workshop, The Cheryl Shop, The Museum, and The Shed feature workbenches, as well as Whirlwind skiffs, Chris-Craft cruisers, and rows of Chryslers, Buicks, and Chevys. “He probably has the largest classic boat collection I know of,” says John Into, former president of the Antique and Classic Boat Society’s Chesapeake Chapter. “He’s just trying to save them all, and it’s not an easy thing to do. “The love people have for these boats, it’s kind of hard to describe. It’s a passion. Howard’s dedication is probably as great as it gets.” Raised an only child, Johnson’s fond memories of exploring the Severn River and the Chesapeake Bay with his parents, first aboard a 22-foot Maine-built lapstrake day boat, then aboard a 32-foot 1929 American Car & Foundry (ACF) Sport Cruiser called The Leda, anchor his lifelong devotion. With their sleek lines and mahogany planks and trim, these are examples of individual craftsmanship and design from around the country, says Johnson, 74. After all, it’s been nearly 60 years since massproduced wooden boats were replaced by fiberglass. “And they’re family-related. Almost every single boat came from an individual family to begin with. These are a piece of the country’s history,” he says. “So, it’s about the stories.”
STORY BY ALLISON BLAKE // PHOTOS BY JOE EVANS
Howard P. & Cheryl Johnson maintain a working museum of treasured boats and cars, just because.
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A WHIRLWIND ROMANCE Johnson’s father ran a large truck repair business in Baltimore and knew his way around an engine. His mother refinished furniture. Johnson worked alongside both of them from a young age. The first boat Johnson ever refinished was during his childhood, a 12-foot rowboat with a 5½-horsepower engine and a canvas cover he made with his mom. The first boat he fell in love with was a Whirlwind. “They were the size a child could manage,” he says. The infatuation continued. “It is fast, light, easy to handle and puts you right next to the water for a thrilling ride,” says Johnson. He so loves the cheerful runabouts that he authored Wild About Whirlwinds, a self-published book you can buy on his website. Thirty Whirlwinds are located around the property and several are
A bird's-eye view of the Old Time World Arena collection.
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stacked along one side of Old Time World’s largest building, called The Arena. The deck on one boat, under restoration, is currently held in place by 140 clamps; three others were restored over recent winters. Built in Cockeysville up until 1962, Whirlwinds emerged from Allied Aviation, a company that started out making molded plywood gliders for combat in World War II, then, after the war orders dried up, the company shifted the unique building techniques to boat production. “The Navy decided the gliders were too dangerous to use,” says Johnson. “The hulls were molded out of mahogany veneer.” Tim DiGennaro met Johnson years ago over one of the 14-foot runabouts. “I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and had a Whirlwind when I was a younger man, and I wanted another one,” says DiGennaro, an antique motor mechanic. “I heard he was
selling them, so I went to Upper Marlboro to purchase one. “We both like nostalgia. Old cars, old boats, old airplanes. You name it.” Just this winter, the two buddies were collaborating. DiGennaro had passed along a 1976, 85-horsepower Mercury some years back. “I said, ‘Hey, you need to put this on a boat.’ Six or seven years later, he comes up with the boat—a wooden lapstrake Lyman, early ‘60s vintage. We brought the motor to my shop and I replaced the carburetor, fuel pump, hoses, wiring, and water pump. I took it up to his shop and we rigged it on the boat,” DiGennaro recalls.
DOES IT WORK?
“It runs great on a hose,” DiGennaro laughs. “We’ll see in the spring how it runs in the water.” Something like 150 outboards reside in Johnson’s workshop or around the
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: 1941 Model 65 Oldsmobile restoration; tools of the trade; Howard P. Johnson welcomes us onboard a restored 33-foot, 1940 Chris-Craft Sport Cruiser; a fleet of perfect Whirlwind runabouts in the Old Time World Museum building.
property. Twelve orphaned outboard cowlings sit across from one of Johnson’s five workbenches, which are testaments to his careful attention to detail, organization, and craft. Endless rows of labeled drawers hold cabinet latches, molly bolts, rubber grommets. “Look at these nails from England,” he says. “They’re pin nails, made of galvanized steel. I got them in Bermuda. Not an easy thing to come by.” One hundred nine–count ‘em, 109–screwdrivers line a single workbench. “We’re just trying to keep the past alive,” he says. In addition to working on boats, Johnson started repairing cars in Severna Park when he was in high school. In the 1960s, he restored the old clock in the Chase-Lloyd House on Maryland Avenue in Annapolis. Eventually, he became the self-styled Antique Doctor, devoted to refinishing antique furniture. Then the boats and cars elbowed in. He moved to his spread, a former tobacco farm, in the 1980s.
For a while, this 1947 Ventnor race boat was the mascot of the Chesapeake Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society.
THE BUILDINGS The buildings at Old Time World came along as circumstances required. First came Johnson’s workshop, a converted tobacco barn. Step one: clearing out the tobacco. Step two? Replacing the mud floor. The Cheryl Shop houses Cheryl’s workbench. “My father taught me to be a mechanic,” she says. It was built with money Johnson earned restoring a Chris-Craft. The Arena was built over the course of two years, after a guy called up Johnson one day and said, “Hey– want some trusses?” Johnson spent a winter welding the trusses into a grid. Five guys spent a Sunday putting up the 60-by-160-foot sheet metal roof. The next day, Johnson got a call from the Alexandria Seaport Foundation. “They said, ‘We have a cruiser. Would you like it?’ I went down to Fort Washington; it was a wonderful vessel and I had to get it under a roof. It had been owned by a family in Annapolis who donated it. A 1940 Chris-Craft, 33 feet, in original condition.” The Chris-Craft is one of seven cruisers here, all accessible via planked steps and ladders so you can climb aboard. There’s also the 1948 Owens, (built in Annapolis and later Dundalk, Maryland), a 42-footer that sank in the
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Middle River. The boatyard where it lived raised it and helped pay to bring it to Old Time World. Today, strung with festive colored lights, you can hang out and enjoy its three-stateroom comfort and perfectly restored mahogany. As a young man, Johnson knew Charles Owens, an owner of the company, and occasionally did work on his personal yacht. Old Time World’s other two buildings come with their own distinct personalities. The Museum is a 40-by-100-foot monument to post-war pop culture. The shelves and tables feature antique radios such as a Zenith Philco, an RCA Victor, and a GE transistor in its own leather carrying case. On the classic jukebox you’ll find Jackie Wilson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon. Boats and cars pack the place, including a spectacular 1947 Ventnor race boat, Hurry Home, which for a while served as the mascot for the Chesapeake Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS). “It was a test boat that wasn’t successful,” says Johnson. “It lived in an upstate (New York) barn where a friend found it.” In this Shed stand six cars, including a 1948 Dodge with 17,000 miles on it, identical to the one Johnson had in high school. Until recently, the car collection included a breakout star: a Packard that’s now central the Baltimore Museum of Industry’s
permanent Fueling the Automobile Age exhibit, which opened in 2018. The car was modified for exhibition purposes by the exhibit’s fabricator, says Jane Woltereck, the BMI’s Director of Collections & Exhibitions. Painted pale green, its driver’s side door is modified to stay permanently open and its trunk is cabled shut. “Howard was very generous in offering the car at a very low price that fit our fabrication budget,” she said.
WHAT’S NEXT? The collection continues to grow. Last summer, Howard and Cheryl traveled to Upstate New York to the ACBS International Boat Show. There it was—a mystery boat, well preserved and well-constructed with bronze ring nails. Johnson couldn’t resist. They brought it home. “It’s an unusual design–the bow is so pointed, but there’s this twist in the hull and again at the stern. The bottom is flat. It would be hard to steer. We’re not going to race it; we’re just going to finish it and run it around.” The mystery, by the way, has since been solved: it’s a needle-nosed race boat used by American Powerboat Association members back in the ‘60s. On deck for this restoration are Cheryl’s 10-year-old twin
granddaughters Allison and Madison, who have already scraped off the finish. Johnson will add a keel. He’s also planning to add strakes to throw water off the stern, instead of into the boat. “The twins are helping rehab the boat,” Johnson says. “My father taught me to work, and we’ll help them along. Maybe we can take it to the Antique and Classic Boat Show in St. Michaels over Father’s Day weekend.” Their mother, Meagan Wharton, sees the twins finding a new love for boats. The race boat is the first one “they’ve actually put elbow grease into.” “The biggest thing for them is working with Howard and my mom,” she said. “They’re learning how to be hands-on. They’re learning to take ownership of something.” It’s a lesson worth learning. “We’re hoping,” says Johnson, “there’s new blood in the Old Time World.” h
TELL ME MORE! The Johnsons occasionally offer private tours of their unique collection. Contact them through oldtimeworld.com or 301-627-2114. Look for them and their boats in St. Michaels, June 19 & 20 at the Antique & Classic Boat Festival on the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum campus—cbmm.org. And May 2 & 3 at the 20th Chesapeake Antique Boat & Engine Show at the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, Md. Allison Blake’s credits include National Geographic Traveler, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Baltimore Magazine. She is the author of The Chesapeake Bay Book and Maryland Curiosities.
Classic cars and boats pack every inch of Old Time World
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the
SHARK whisperer MARK MOODY/NATIONAL AQUARIUM
by
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CAP T. CHRIS D. DOLL AR
Captain Mark Sampson charts the way for shark fishing and research.
T
here wasn’t a kid alive in the summer of 1975 who wouldn’t sprint out of the water when hearing someone shriek SHARK! Jaws remains a favorite, but the film’s genius aside, it had a negative impact on the world’s shark populations, at least for the animals’ public relations. Shark experts say the movie fomented undue fear and myths about sharks, which drove shark populations down even to the brink of extinction for some species. Sadly, not much has changed in the decades that followed the film’s release. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, “More than 30 percent of the shark species and their relatives assessed by the organization are threatened with extinction.” Estimates vary as to exact numbers of sharks killed by commercial fisheries each year, but the number could exceed 200 million. And the worst of it is that most sharks are killed solely for their fins used in shark fin soup. Moreover, biological factors such as the small number of pups produced per brood, the slow growth rates, and the time it takes for sharks to reach sexual maturity make many shark species particularly vulnerable to overfishing. There is some encouraging news, however. Professional anglers like Captain Mark Sampson are working to reverse this disturbing trend by assisting researchers with important information on shark population status and educating people on the important role sharks play in the ocean’s ecosystem. Based in Ocean City, Maryland, Captain Sampson is a pioneer in shark conservation, perhaps atop the field among fellow charter captains. On a gorgeous fall day last year, I tagged along with him, his first mate Tyler Hill, and his longtime client Murray Adams to experience his efforts to save sharks.
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BORN TO FISH
Sampson has worked in the recreational fishing industry since he was a kid—first as a dock boy and eventually as a marina manager. Since 1987 he’s made his living running charter fishing trips out of Ocean City, which is better known for white marlin fishing than sharks. In recent years, he has guided in the Florida Keys during Maryland’s offseason. He also published the book Modern Sharking in 2008, and he has written dozens of articles for various publications. Oh yeah, he also holds a 6th-degree black belt. His wife Charlotte is an integral part of the operation, handling bookings, trip coordination, and countess other behind-the-scene tasks to keep things running smoothly. She was introduced saltwater fishing when she moved to Maryland from her native Ohio and married Sampson. She is now an accomplished saltwater angler with several world records to her credit.
JOE EVANS PHOTOS
DEDICATED TO SAVING SHARKS
There are plenty of captains who can catch sharks. What sets Sampson apart is his dedication to shark conservation and his contributions to shark research. He has worked with the Guy Harvey Research Institute, the Save Our Seas Shark Center at the NOVA Southeastern University Oceanographic Center, and the University of Rhode Island. He is also a volunteer for the National Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Program and an advisor to the National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel. Recently, he partnered with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources on a hook study, and, since 2013, he has run unique trips with the goal of attaching Smart Position and Temperature (SPOT) tags, which are transmitter tags fastened to shark dorsal fins. Aboard Sampson’s 40-foot boat Fish Finder, the trips blend together fishing, education, and research. These are definitely hands-on excursions, with the clients hooking the fish on conventional tackle. Once a shark is onboard, the research part kicks in. Sampson and his crew quickly
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subdue the fish by placing a wet towel over its eyes and then inserting a purpose-built PVC tube and hose in its mouth to deliver a steady flow of seawater through it gills. Then they measure, tag, and photograph the shark. Sampson takes a blood sample and sometimes a clip of the fin, which he will send off for DNA testing, which provides scientists data on the shark's stress, range, and
feeding. Sampson then administers a dose of tetracycline, which will serve as a marker for fish biologists who may have the opportunity to study the animal later. He will also note incidental information including location, sex, estimated weight, bait used, hook-type, where the hook was embedded, water temperature, air temperature, and fishing gear specifics, which will go out to various research
centers for their work. Then they move the shark onto a measurement/release sling, remove the seawater tube, and carefully slide the shark back into the ocean, seemingly no worse for the experience. It happens quickly in a wellrehearsed and practiced routine. “Because we are involved with assisting scientists in a number of different shark research projects, every shark we catch provides some measure of data to one or more studies,” he explained. “Some sharks are simply measured, released, and recorded. Some are tagged with basic recapture type tags while some are fitted with expensive satellite transmitters. Every shark landing is important and CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Captain Mark Sampson; the unique anti-deep hook "blocker" rig; administering a dose of tetracycline; a custom saltwater feed tube keeps the shark breathing; Sampson's homemade "snooter" tool for controlling a shark.
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JOE EVANS PHOTOS
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: logged into our daily shark data sheet. The act of finning live sharks but not the Captain Sampson records every data is made available to shark researchers possession or sale of fins by licensed detail for various shark research and marine managers.” commercial operators. Harvesting a programs; angler Murray Adams sizes up his catch; a 100-pound When asked to name the most pressing prohibited shark species carries the same dusky shark safely hooked in the conservation issue facing shark populations penalties in Maryland and Virginia. “But,” jaw, as planned. today, Sampson answered, “Shark fin soup. Sampson says, “way too many sharks still Around the world, sharks are being killed in end up dying after being unintentionally unsustainable and unimaginable numbers to feed that caught by those fishing for other fish. It's crucial for shark demand. The worst overfishing of sharks occurs off the populations and the overall health of our oceans that, in coasts of countries that either don't have the necessary places where it is occurring, the overfishing and incidental regulations or don't enforce the ones they do.” killing of sharks be exposed and brought under control.” In the U.S., shark regulations are stringent. There are Paramount in Sampson's operation is ensuring every twenty shark species in the Mid-Atlantic zone that shark destined for release is given the best chance for recreational and commercial fishermen are prohibited survival. He has developed specialized tools and from keeping. The white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) techniques to safely bring sharks on board and to insure of “Jaws” fame is on the list. Regulations on those who successful releases. One such invention is Sampson’s target sharks are strict, and the penalties are severe. For “blocker rig, “ made of material you’d find at any hardware instance, in the 12 states (including Maryland) that have store. Basically, it is a short length of plastic pipe mounted banned the sale and possession of shark fins, fines can run perpendicular on the leader above a circle hook, which from $1000 to $2000 and up to a year in jail. In New Jersey, “greatly reduces the chance that sharks will be hooked it’s $5000 to $55,000 and year in jail. Virginia prohibits the anywhere but in the corner of the mouth,” he explained.
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"Way too many sharks still end up dying after being unintentionally caught by those fishing for other fish." “We realized that, even with circle hooks, we were Captain Mark Sampson's custom -made shark measeeing at least five percent suring and release board deep hooking in the 500-600 in action. sharks we catch each season. We’ve spent years developing, tweaking, and testing this rig, and it has proven to be about 99-percent successful at eliminating deep hooked sharks.” He added that the invention has been adopted for use by research scientists in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and it was recently demonstrated in a Discovery Channel Shark Week show by a researcher studying white sharks off of Mexico. Another tool that allows working closely with sharks in a way that protects both angler and shark is the "snooter," his homemade noose on a pole that allows him to safely lift a shark out of the water and place it on the deck. Another cool tool, closely associated with the snooter, is a customized measuring board, which measures three by six feet. What makes it unique is it has a ruler engraved in it and cut-outs for handles. “The board allows us to measure sharks quickly and consistently, and the handles on either side allow us to use the board as a sling to lift a shark off the deck and slide it back into water,” he says. Add to that some custom made de-hooking tools, the special set-up for pumping saltwater over the shark’s gills, and a custom-made davit and sling for lifting and returning exceptionally large sharks out of and back into the water, and you have the complete shark-whisperer set-up.
THE TRIP
We ran out of the Oceans City inlet for about six miles to Great Gull Shoal, a popular spot for anglers. On this day,
we had it all to ourselves. Hill rigged some cut bait on circle hooks and allowed them to drift back in the current. Then we talked and walked thorough the catch-measurerelease routine. It is impressive to realize how Sampson’s clients have bought into the catch-and-release concept. It’s a credit to his efforts, leadership, and congenial personality. He is a bona fide expert without a hint of being a know-it-all, a rare and refreshing combination. “My whole take on catch-and-release fishing is that no matter what you're fishing for, it's always going to be more enjoyable if you can get away from worrying about what you are or are not putting into the cooler,” he says. “Recreational fishing is fun—period! Bringing home fish for dinner should be considered as a little icing on an already great cake, and it's always refreshing to fish with anglers who have that mind-set.” Murray Adams, who was along for the ride that day, personifies this kind of angler. The Baltimore native is an April 2020
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amiable, easy-going sort who loves to fish. Now in his sixties, he’s been fishing out of Ocean City since he was a teenager and fishes with Sampson at least twice a year. In fact, he holds the boat record for the largest mako release estimated at ten feet long and 500 pounds. On our trip, Adams broke the boredom between shark bites by manning the “pea-shooter,” a light rod better suited for small pan-sized fish. He hooked and released a few weakfish and croakers, and he made it seem that all was right with the world, as long as he has a fishing rod in his hands. Most of the sharks he landed this day were spinners, a spunky species of shark that takes its name from the spinning jumps it makes once hooked. We also teased up and
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caught a dusky shark of perhaps 30 pounds. Each one received the full regimen of measurement and tagging. The biggest shark of the day joined us for a finale and put Adams to the test. The stout dusky shark lapped the boat twice, trying to break free of its tether by rubbing the heavy fishing line on the boat’s ground tackle. Sweat poured from Adams’ forehead as we baked under the late summer sun. In the end, Adams’s experience along with Hill’s diligence and guidance whipped the fish. In one smooth motion, Sampson lassoed and hoisted it over the gunwale where it rested upon the measuring board. After the sampling was done, it was sent back into ocean to swim and perhaps fight another day. For the record, Adams’s dusky measured 80 inches with an
estimated weight of more than 100 pounds. “If we happen to catch a shark or any other type of fish that's good to eat, legal, and ethical to keep, and the client wants to bring it home for their own consumption, I have no problem with them doing so. But I'm not going to be the guy who encourages it,” Sampson said. “Fortunately for me, there are a lot of people out there who enjoy the heck out of having an exciting hands-on experience of fishing for, interacting with, and learning about sharks without worrying about bringing any of them back to the dock.” h Captain Chris Dollar is a licensed fishing guide, tackle shop owner, and all-around Chesapeake outdoorsman with more than 25 years experience in avoiding office work.
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jody’s log
Greys Inn Creek
Chester River The Chester River is 90% beautiful and 10% odd. story & photos by Capt. Jody Argo Schroath
I
t’s winter, and I’m sitting on my boat waiting for my water tank to leak again so I can fix it. It’s a long wait, so while I’m watching hawk-like for the first drip, I decide to re-make a boat trip in my mind, like essayist and sailor E.B. White used to do while waiting to get his hair cut. I decide to replay the most recent trip I made up the Chester River. The Chester is beautiful, and always worth thinking about with its interesting side-trips and pleasant anchorages. But it is also a little odd. No, that’s not quite right. It isn’t odd in itself, but it has some fascinating oddities. In point of fact, I was making this latest trip to say good-bye to one of these, one that I was very happy to lose. The others, I’d just as soon keep. It was not good weather for a trip anywhere. I’m talking about last summer’s long heatwave, when all a sane person wanted was a spreading oak tree and a cold drink. Nevertheless, my daughter Kris was in town from St. Louis, which knows a thing or two about heat, so we took a short cruise because that’s what we always do. Over the years, we have spent a lot of time together on the Chester, though usually not on purpose. We end up there because of meteorology plus
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RATHER PADDLE OR TRAILER? The Chester River is navigable by paddle craft and shallow-draft trailer boats beyond Chestertown as far as Millington, another 15 or so miles away. The entire river and all its tributaries make great paddling and trailer-boating as well as cruising. Paddlers can check paddlethechester.com for lots of good suggestions. Two especially inviting trips are a circumnavigation of Eastern Neck Island and the trip between Millington and Crumpton. There are also a number of boat ramps. Check the county regulations for users’ fees.
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geography. If you are heading north out of Annapolis and you pop out from under the Bay Bridge and find the water particularly rough, or a storm coming, or the water full of Conowingo Dam debris, the Chester is your safe escape. It’s usually away from oncoming wind, seas, or weather, and it turns so many different directions that you are bound to find good water somewhere along the way. So off we went, cutting east through the haze of a breathless morning to Love Point, then south on
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QUEENSTOWN
the first five-mile leg of the river. Here we came to the first one of those oddities—Kent Narrows, which connects the Chester to Eastern Bay. I think it’s the only place on the Bay where you can cut from one body of water to another without going back out to the main stem of the Bay or to one of the big sounds like Tangier or Pocomoke. “I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s true,” I said. Kris responded, “hmm.” It wasn’t always so. Kent Narrows began life as a broad, marshy area
separating Kent Island from the mainland. Here, people variously waded across the shallowest part, took a ferry from one side to the other or, later, crossed by bridge. Eventually, (1876), a channel was dug through the marsh to create the Narrows. Fifty to a hundred years ago, the east side of the Narrows was lined with seafood processing plants; now it’s alive with seafood restaurants and dock bars, and it’s a handy waterway for watermen and recreational boaters between the Chester and Eastern Bay. April 2020
nc
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Rock Hall Harbor
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Chesapeake Bay
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Indian Pt
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Possum Pt
FAIRLEE TOLCHESTER GEORGETOWN
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jody’s log
Four miles beyond the Narrows, after we had rounded the big horseshoe and begun the trek north, Kris and I came to the Chester’s first usable tributary—Queenstown Creek. This is a place we’ve anchored several times on our bail-out trips. This time, we went on by. Five miles later, just as it jogs east, the Chester has a burst of productivity and begins to sprout tributaries like a Greek Hydra. We passed Greys Inn Creek, which appears on the north shore, Reed and Grove creeks on the south side, then Langford Creek on the north and the Corsica River on the south. Five fairly significant tributaries within a mile. A record? “Maybe,” I said. “Hmm,” Kris said. In any case, it’s time to point out perhaps my favorite of the Chester’s anomalies because it’s so, well, old-school. You see, one of the best
ways to find your way into both Queenstown and Greys Inn creeks is to use good-ole-fashioned landmarks. Really. Both creeks have narrow entrances that are tricky because of shoals encroaching on established markers. Boaters over the years have used landmarks to get them safely through. It’s a navigational technique as old as boats. The directions for Greys Inn have probably been around since steamship days at least. I do know that they have been in the Guide to Cruising Chesapeake Bay since its first edition, about 50 years ago. When I inherited the guide’s editing job a bunch of years ago, the first thing I did was to make sure the instructions for Greys Inn still worked. They did. Here they are: “The best way to avoid the long shoals on both sides of the entrance channel is to leave green “1” close to port and head for just off the
end of the wharf at Spring Point on the west side. Then keep 50 yards off the wharf and continue up the creek, staying in mid-channel.” See? Old school. Charming…In fact, the old wharf is no longer there, but the dock remains, and its owners have painted the tops of the pilings white, which makes them easier to see from out on the river. The directions for Queenstown Creek, which has a shallower, trickier entrance, are, if anything, even duckier. Again, quoting from the Cruising Guide, “Ample water will take you to the first green “3”, but the skinniest stretch is between “3” and “5”. Stay close to “3”. Now line up the tall tree with the water tower behind it and use that as a range marker to get to green “5”. Past “5” it’s about 8 feet again.” Works like a charm. Just ask Kris. I could spend the rest of this column describing the long history and fine
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anchorages on both these creeks, but then we’d never get to Chestertown. I’ll just mention that if you follow the west fork of Greys Inn Creek, you come to the lost town of New Yarmouth, which was the site of the first Kent County courthouse until it was moved to New Town, today’s Chestertown. The Yarmouth courthouse is possibly how the creek got its name: One of London’s Inns of Court is named Greys Inn. “That’s my theory,” I said. “Hmm,” said Kris. I’m going to give Reed Creek only a short mention here. Reed also has a narrow entrance, though it does not to my knowledge benefit from landmark directions. Instead, I suggest you dial up the sonar-chart function on your Navionics app or read the directions in the Cruise Guide. Over the years, I have used both methods. Reed does have some lovely anchorages, though, whichever way you get in. Its neighbor,
Langford Creek
April 2020
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jody’s log
Grove Creek, is shallow, so avoid it unless you draw very little or are paddling a canoe. Langford Creek is the star of Chester River tributaries, and quite rightly, Kris’s favorite. The Corsica River is pretty, but Langford Creek is beautiful. Langford has two nice marinas near its entrance with locations to die for— Long Cove is in a well-protected corner a mile upstream, and Lankford Bay sits on a lovely bay two miles up. Just beyond, lies popular Cacaway Island, where the water is deep nearly to shore on the east side, making it one busy place on summer weekends. From there you can take either the East Fork or the West Fork an additional two to three miles. At the head of the West Fork and a bit down Ricauds Branch Road that you’ll find old St. Paul’s Church and its excellent cemetery. I’m not going to tell you how to get there, because you have to dinghy up as far as you can go, then skirt a bit of private property to get there, and I of course wouldn’t recommend that. But if you do find yourself in the neighborhood, turn in at the old mill pond to find the cemetery. It is worth the trip on its own, but it is also the final resting place of Tallulah Bankhead. If you don’t know her, look her up. And if you go, don’t forget your map app, dah-ling. Okay, we really need to move on here. The Corsica is a short but exceedingly pleasant river with some nice anchorages. If you have a fairly shallow draft (maybe three feet) you can get all the way upstream to Centreville, where there is a bit of space along the municipal watermen’s dock. From there you can walk into town. I’ve done it but not on Moment of Zen (a 36-foot Endeavor Sailcat.) All that is very nice and interesting and worth the trip, but the Corsica has a very special peculiarity of its own: a Russian dacha. You can spot the red-brick main house through the trees from the Chester. It sits on the Corsica’s
south shore at Town Point. The house and grounds were originally the estate of John Jacob Raskob, a general all-round tycoon best known for building the Empire State Building. The Soviet government bought the property in 1972 as a recreational spot for their embassy employees. Locals immediately speculated that nuclear submarines would soon be surfacing out on the Chester. The dacha was most recently in the news in December 2016 when President Obama ordered it closed after evidence came to light that Russia had meddled in the presidential election. Perhaps those submarines were real after all. After Langford Creek and the Corsica, the Chester narrows considerably, and Kris and I followed the channel as it continued generally northeast, with zigging and zagging and making a few tight turns. At Devils
Reach, we made the final turn and came at last to Chestertown. And here too we have my final anomaly. Chestertown, an important shipping port and shipbuilding center for centuries, has not had a decent marina for years. Visiting boaters have had to anchor out in the river and dinghy in. Not a good option if you didn’t have a dinghy or the weather was kicking up out on the river. It was a port city without a port. Odd, yes? But now, finally, we can cross that anomaly off the list. The city of Chestertown last year opened a revamped marina with some floating docks and nice amenities. Now it is possible to cruise upriver, dock at the city marina and walk downtown. And that was what we did. We tied up went for a stroll, keeping to the shady side of the street, of course. We stopped for fresh bread at Evergrain Bread Company. We found a few books to
read at the Bookplate. That evening, we had cold drinks overlooking the river at 98 Canon Grille, ordered crabcake dinners at the Kitchen and, in the cool of the evening, took the dogs for a good-night stroll through Wilmer Park. The next morning, we walked to Play It Again Sam’s for breakfast and a morning paper. We lunched late at Figg’s Ordinary and eventually settled down for another night. The next day, we awoke early and pulled in our docklines. We watched the sun break the horizon as we worked downriver through the dead-still early morning river. “Maybe it won’t be as hot today,” I said. “Hmm,” Kris said. h CBM Cruising Editor Jody Argo Schroath, with the help and not infrequent hindrance of ship’s dogs Bindi and Sammy, goes up and down bays, rivers and creeks in search of adventure and stories.
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WWW.FORMULAX2MIDATLANTIC.COM January/February 2020 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
April 2020
87
ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
95
CBM
stern lines
A
Megalodon shark tooth, roughly 14- to 18-milion years old, exposed by the tides on the beach at Calvert Cliffs State Park. Calvert Cliffs is a world-famous fossil-collecting area stretching 24 miles and rising as high as 100 feet along the Bay’s western shore in Maryland between Chesapeake Beach and Drum Point. You never know what you might find. photo by Mike Morgan
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BIKE DORCHESTER Cycling Guide Features Scenic Eastern Shore Routes
With hundreds of miles of open roads and scenic Chesapeake vistas, Dorchester County is the perfect ride for every age and ability. See the spectacular scenery of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Enjoy a casual ride through timeless waterside villages. Or glide along picturesque country roads and take in sites like Spocott Windmill. Download or order a hardcopy of the Dorchester Cycling Guide from our website.
HEART OF THE CHESAPEAKE
DORCHESTER water moves us
VisitDorchester.org 410.228.1000