January 2021

Black Duck & Dumplings On Va's Eastern Shore

Fox-Red Yellow Labs Make Fetch Happen

British Colonial Marines & the Fight for Freedom

Worth the Wait The world never stops turning—and her infinite wonders remain. With a new year and new horizons upon us, we have the chance to make up for everything 2020 was lacking. This is your time—to leave all worries on the dock, let the world dazzle you with her natural beauty once more, and discover a truly unforgettable vacation on the water…

VACATION WITH US AT MOORINGS.COM/CBM | 800.669.6529

The world’s first The true world’s boatingfirst network The world’s first true network When join Safe Harbor, you become a Member of our entire portfolio. trueyouboating boating network Your Membership includes you exclusive privileges and benefits that extend When When you you join join Safe Safe Harbor, Harbor, you become become aa Member Member of of our our entire entire portfolio. portfolio. acrossMembership our network giving you unparalleled freedom to explorethat the water.

Your Your Membership includes includes exclusive exclusive privileges privileges and and benefits benefits that extend extend across across our our network network giving giving you you unparalleled unparalleled freedom freedom to to explore explore the the water. water.

8 L O C AT I O N S O N T H E B AY 8 L O C AT I O N S O N T H E B AY 8 L O C AT I O N S O N T H E B AY

Safe Harbor Annapolis 519 Chester Avenue Safe Harbor Annapolis Safe Harbor Annapolis Annapolis, MD 21403 519 Chester Avenue 519 Chester Avenue (410) 268-8282 Annapolis, Annapolis, MD MD 21403 21403 (410) 268-8282 (410) 268-8282 Safe Harbor Bohemia Vista 140 Bohemia Vista Marina Road Safe Harbor Bohemia Vista Safe HarborCity, Bohemia Vista Chesapeake MD 21915 140 Bohemia Vista 140 Bohemia Vista Marina Marina Road Road (410) 885-2056 Chesapeake City, MD Chesapeake City, MD 21915 21915 (410) (410) 885-2056 885-2056 Safe Harbor Carroll Island 114 Carroll Island RoadIsland Safe Harbor Carroll Safe Harbor Carroll Island Baltimore, MD 21220 114 Carroll Island Road 114 Carroll Island Road (410) 335-490021220 Baltimore, Baltimore, MD MD 21220 (410) (410) 335-4900 335-4900 Safe Harbor Great Oak Landing 22170 Great Oak Landing Road Safe Harbor Oak Safe Harbor Great Great Oak Landing Landing Chestertown, MD 21620 22170 Great 22170 Great Oak Oak Landing Landing Road Road (410) 778-5007 Chestertown, MD Chestertown, MD 21620 21620 (410) (410) 778-5007 778-5007

Safe Harbor Hack’s Point 1645 Glebe Road Safe Harbor Hack’s Point Safe Harbor Hack’s Earleville, MD 21919 Point 1645 Glebe Road 1645 Glebe Road (410) 275-9151 Earleville, Earleville, MD MD 21919 21919 (410) (410) 275-9151 275-9151 Safe Harbor Narrows Point 428 Kent Narrow Way N,Point Safe Harbor Narrows Safe HarborMD Narrows Point Grasonville, 21638 428 Kent Narrow 428 Kent Narrow Way Way N, N, (410) 827-8888 Grasonville, Grasonville, MD MD 21638 21638 (410) 827-8888 (410) 827-8888 Safe Harbor Oxford 402 East Strand Safe Harbor Oxford Safe Harbor Oxford Oxford, MD 21654 402 East Strand 402 East Strand (410) 226-5101 Oxford, Oxford, MD MD 21654 21654 (410) 226-5101 (410) 226-5101 Safe Harbor Zahnisers 245 CHarbor Street Zahnisers Safe Safe Harbor Solomons, MDZahnisers 20688 245 C Street 245 C326-2166 Street (410) Solomons, Solomons, MD MD 20688 20688 (410) (410) 326-2166 326-2166

Membership benefits Membership benefits second to none Membership benefits second to none second to Facilities none World-class World-class Facilities Free Transient Nights World-class Facilities

Free Transient Nights Fuel Retail Discounts Free & Transient Nights Fuel & Retail Discounts Access to Signature Experiences Fuel & Retail Discounts The Safe Harbor Black Card The Safe Harbor Black Card The Safe Harbor Black Card

Access Experiences Unsurpassed Personal Care Access to to Signature Signature Experiences Unsurpassed Unsurpassed Personal Personal Care Care

SAFE HARBOR MARINAS

Explore all ourHnationwide S Aof FE A R B O R Mlocations A R I N A& S S A Fbecoming E H A R BaOMember R M A Ronline.

INAS inquire about Explore all of our nationwide locations & Explore all of our nationwide locations & inquire inquire about about becoming becoming aa Member Member online. online.

SHMARINAS.COM SHMARINAS.COM SHMARINAS.COM

SERVING THE CHESAPEAKE NEW LOCATION: ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND Bluewater Concierge and Mobile Service Now Available!

Our main Maryland office is now located in the heart of downtown Annapolis at the South Annapolis Yacht Centre, situated in one of the most highly visible and exclusive communities in the Upper Bay.

The Bay’s Largest Yacht Sales and Service Network Keeps Getting Better—For You. Tenured with vast amounts of experience, Bluewater’s Chesapeake team is at the core of our network that also includes world-class service at four MidAtlantic facilities with seasoned experts capable of handling projects of any size and scale. We believe that a strong service network is the backbone of any successful sales organization, and look forward to providing you with steadfast support throughout your boating lifetime.

HAVE US SERVE ALL YOUR BOATING NEEDS!

Maryland

Virginia

North Carolina

Florida

ANNAPOLIS

Volume 50

Number 9

PUBLISHER

John Stefancik

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Meg Walburn Viviano

MANAGING EDITOR Chris Landers

Cruising Editor: Jody Argo Schroath Multimedia Journalist: Cheryl Costello Contributing Editor: Susan Moynihan Editors at Large: Wendy Mitman Clarke, Chris D. Dollar, Ann Levelle, John Page Williams Contributing Writers: Rafael Alvarez, Laura Boycourt, Larry Chowning, Ann Eichenmuller, Henry Hong, Marty LeGrand, Emmy Nicklin, Nancy Taylor Robson, Karen Soule

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jill BeVier Allen

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

PRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick Loughrey

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mike Ogar

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

ANNAPOLIS

Publisher Emeritus Richard J. Royer

CIRCULATION Susan LaTour • 410-263-2662 office@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

CHESAPEAKE BAY MEDIA, LLC Chief Executive Officer, John Martino Executive Vice President, Tara Davis 601 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD 21403 410-263-2662 • fax 410-267-6924 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com Editorial: editor@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com Circulation: circ@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com Billing: billing@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

410.268.4975 A NNAPOLIS & SEVERNA P ARK ANNAPOLIS SEVERN A UTO BODY. COM 4

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

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 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC— Printed in the U.S.A.

Ready for any family adventure.

2021 Subaru Ascent.

Come over and try the family-sized Subaru Ascent.

Bring the dog too!

149 Old Solomon’s Island Road 443-837-1400 • AnnapolisSubaru.com

Annapolis Redefined

Resilient to the core, Annapolis has been redefining itself for nearly 400 years. This Navy town has a track record of rolling with the punches and emerging ever new. But don’t take our word for it. We invite you to hop in the car and drive to a place where life’s simple pleasures abound. Treat yourself to an afternoon of sailing or cruising the Chesapeake Bay. Dine and shop al fresco along centuries-old brick-lined streets. Bike or hike our miles of trails. Discover best kept secrets on a ghost or history tour before calling it a day at a historic inn or hotel. Discover Annapolis redefined.

P L A N YO U R S TAY AT V I S I TA N N A P O L I S . O R G

contents

CBM

Hunting Buddies p. 54

FEATURES

54 Dogged Pursuit

Marty LeGrand goes into the field with trainer Larry Hindman and his fox-red yellow labs.

Tim Grove on the formerly enslaved soldiers who fought on the British side of the War of 1812.

January/February 2021—Volume 50 Number 9

Where We’re Headed 18

TALK OF THE BAY

14 18 20

Barn Quilt Trail Judy Colbert follows

20 72

Ready Reserves Rafael Alvarez takes

20 Wye River

54

the folk art.

14

72

Anacostia River

54

Talbot County, Md.

14 Calvert County, Md.

a look at Baltimore’s mothballed ships.

Jeff Horstman Tim Junkin shares the

62

storied past of the ShoreRivers founder.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

38

18 Baltimore

62

Tangier, Va.

24

Bethel Beach, Va.

24

Boat Boom Check out the

On the Cover: Larry Hindman and his red-fox labrador retriever Keeper.

latest boats from the social distance of your favorite chair. Plus, the newest outboard tech.

Photo by Nick Kelley January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

LARRY HINDMAN

62

Colonial Marines

7

CBM

contents

28

Jan/Feb 2021

Columns

24

Chesapeake Almanac: Winter Walks Capt. John Page Williams is stop-

28

Chesapeake Chef: Black Duck and Dumplings Robert Gustafson

33

ping by the marsh on a snowy evening.

Departments

relaxes with friends and family around a classic ESVA dish.

33

Chesapeake Cocktail: Lumière

34

On Boats: Robalo 246 Cayman

10 12 80

Looking for something while the ducks cook? Robert Gustafson has you covered.

Perfect for a long afternoon aboard after a morning’s fishing trip. —Capt. John Page Williams.

72

72

From the Editor Online Stern Lines

Bay Partners

68 75

Real Estate Brokerage

Wild Chesapeake: Wood Duck Restoration Capt. Chris D. Dollar looks

in on efforts the help the Bay’s feathered friends.

The perfect day on the Chesapeake Bay — begins with Grady-White.

Learn more about the Freedom 325 or the many other Grady-White models in stock at Tri-State Marine. www.tristatemarine.com

8

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Deale, Maryland • Annapolis 2021 410.867.1447 • tristatemarine.com

Good-bye

2020, Hello 2021!!

2020 saw a very volatile market, which is likely to persist in 2021.

Stay calm and don’t let short-term events change your long-term financial goals.

Annapolis-based PPG Wealth/Premier Planning Group can help you plan & manage your wealth management road map.

Let Managing Partner & financial advisor, Stephen Holt, help you plan and monitor your portfolio to ensure that it continues to be in line for your financial success.

Best, Stephen R. Holt

Financial Advisor/Founder PPGwealth.com

Premier Planning Group is an independent firm. Securities offered through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Summit Financial Group, Inc., a registered investment advisor.

Summit and Cetera are affiliated and under separate ownership from any other entity. 115 West Street, Suite 400 Annapolis, MD 21401 - 443-837-2520

BOATING MADE SIMPLE

CBM

Get Out the Door

by Meg Walburn Viviano

TM

We Buy the Boats

You Join the Club

Get Free Training

Reserve and Enjoy!

888.781.7363

240.232.2331 CALL • freedomboatclub.com

rack_card_2018.indd 1

from the editor

W

inter on the Chesapeake is not for the faint of heart. Perhaps it’s the cold and damp, the lack of protection from wind off the water, or the bare trees against gray skies that seem uninviting.

Most years, only the hardiest outdoorsmen and -women really embrace the region’s winter climate. Hunters, watermen, and birders are among those willing to spend January and February tromping around frosty marshes or running an oyster boat.

As for the rest of us, our boats are carefully winterized and our houses are warm and cozy, thank you very much. We’ll embrace the indoors, maybe escape to Florida or the islands for a while, and resume enjoying the Bay in April or May. This winter, however, is a pandemic winter. Many indoor activities and events are canceled, or at best they’ve “gone virtual.” Winter getaways to warm places aren’t advised. Even winter boat shows, which remind us that boating season will come again, are off for 2021. Never fear, we’re still reporting on the newest boats and innovations in this issue’s special Boat Boom section (p. 38).

Adding to this grim set of winter circumstances is the fact that we’ve already spent a lot of time at home. Like…a lot of time. So, what now?

This is the year to discover the beauty of the Chesapeake in winter—the migrating wildlife, the views revealed when leaves are off the trees, or the reflection of a sunset over a thin layer of ice on the water. Yes, it’s cold, and sometimes damp and windy, but boredom is a powerful motivator. We can all become hardy outdoorsmen and -women if we simply get out the door.

If you’re dressed in the right layers, hiking through a forest of native trees to a Chesapeake Bay overlook is its own reward. And nothing tastes better than the hot coffee or soup waiting for you afterwards.

In our January/February issue, we invite you to walk with John Page Williams, who knows all the best paths and has a fatherly instinct for practical dressing (p. 24).

We take you to Talbot County with Marty LeGrand, a special group of hunting dogs, and the trainer who guides them in doing what they’re born to do (p. 54).

We invite you to Virginia’s Eastern Shore for the ancient tradition of black duck and dumplings, in which the hunting, preparation, and eating are a multi-generational family experience (p. 28).

This issue celebrates the wintering Chesapeake— a chapter of Bay living we tend to skim over. This year, let’s put on our boots and meet it head on.

11/18/2019 10:26:53 AM

Meg Walburn Viviano, raised on the Magothy River, spent her college years rowing on the Chester for Washington College. She wrote her first Chesapeake Bay Magazine feature as a 19-year-old intern. After a decade producing television news, Meg returned to CBM to launch the Bay Bulletin online news source. She now leads all of CBM’s media content, and lives with her husband and two young sons in Severna Park, Md. You can reach her at meg@chesapeakebaymagazine.com.

10

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

www2.bosTonwhaler.com/380

GO FARTHER GET CLOSER

These days, we’re spending more Time wiTh family Than ever.

And while our options for entertainment may be limited, the possibilities can still be limitless. Step aboard the 380 Realm, for example, and entire worlds open up. With its flawless performance, versatile amenities and remarkably easy operation, the Realm is designed to give your family all the distance you need —

and all the closeness you crave.

CBM

online FOLLOW US HERE!

@ChesapeakeBayMagazine on FACEBOOK Keep up to date on what CBM’s been up to, and join us in the Chesapeake conversation.

@ChesapeakeBayMag on INSTAGRAM

VIDEO: Rum Aged 1.5 Years in Belly of U.S.S. Constellation A southern Maryland distillery produces uniquely aged spirits with a hint of history. Here’s how it’s helping the circa-1854 museum ship survive the pandemic era. Cheryl Costello gets on board in Baltimore. Watch the video at chesapeake baymagazine.com/rum. u Read more and sign up for the Bay Bulletin, CBM’s free weekly e-newsletter online at

See the best Bay photos and take part by tagging your own. We host takeovers from awesome photogs.

@ChesBayMag on TWITTER Get your Chesapeake Bay news & views in tidy, bite-sized morsels.

chesapeakebaymagazine.com/baybulletin.

Enjoy the easy days on the Chesapeake Bay — on a new Parker Boat.

Learn more about the 2520 Sport Cabin or the many other Parker Offshore models in stock at Tri-State Marine. www.tristatemarine.com

Deale, Maryland • Annapolis 2021 410.867.1447 • tristatemarine.com

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”

seakeeper.com seakeeper.com

CBM

talk of the bay

Edgeley Grove Barn Quilt, Harford County

Blanket Coverage Following the barn quilt trails

by Judy Colbert

COURTESY PHOTOS

Q

uilting is a deeply personal and symbolic American folk art, with utilitarian roots in the colonies. Expensive imported fabrics could be replaced by scraps, laboriously sewn together to make squares, and from necessity was born a tradition. The patchwork became decorative early on, with designs to celebrate weddings and births, and family patterns emerged.

In 2001, Donna Sue Groves, an Ohio woman and representative of the Ohio Arts Council, painted one of her mother’s quilt square designs on the side of their barn. In doing so, she launched a barn quilt movement that has quietly swept the nation. The barn quilt program has expanded to more than 13,000 painted histories of our growth and imagination that can be seen in numerous other states across the country, as well as Canada.

Ingenious and industrious painters, carpenters, and building owners work together to give us a fun and glorious outdoor art and history museum when they create these “barn quilts”—painted plywood squares, usually eight feet to a side. There are three trails around the Bay, in Calvert, Caroline, and Harford

14

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

counties, as well as trails farther away in Garrett (with 38 quilts garrettbarnquilts.org) and Carroll (35 quilts carollbarnquilts.org).

“The Barn Quilt Trail,” says Hilary Dailey, tourism specialist for Calvert County, “is perfect for these COVIDera times as a person wouldn’t necessarily have to see or speak to anyone else while following the trail!”

Dailey has seen an uptick in page views of the Calvert Barn Quilt Trail link on its tourism website since the pandemic began in March 2020, thanks, in part, to a campaign presenting the Trail as a great way to get the kids out of the house.

To find the quilts, start at each county website (see sidebar) and download a brochure with pictures of the quilts, a map, and driving

BARN QUILT TRAILS

directions. Then, spend as much or as little time as you like exploring the county. Lots of social distancing.

Lots of opportunity to teach the youngsters about how our ancestors lived over the decades and centuries.

Along the way, you can stop for a selfie with a colorfully painted quilt, grab a bite of lunch at an eatery that’s as quaint as a quilt, or pick up a souvenir at the neighborhood antiques shop.

Calvert Barn Quilt Trail calvertbarnquiltrail.org 410-257-7005

Caroline County The Caroline County’s Stitching Stories of Freedom Quilt Trail was started by the Caroline County Council of Arts, the Caroline Office of Tourism, and the Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore.

Kat Stork, interim tourism director, says “The Quilt Trail is a four- to six-hour driving trip, figuring in lunch. Many stops are in locations that have additional historical or cultural

Caroline County Fiber Arts Council of the Eastern Shore fiberartscenter.com/quilt-trail 410-479-0009 Visit Harford visitharford.com/barn-quiltsof-harford-county 410-838-7777

Calvert County

Barn and Sunflowers, The Barn at Pleasant Acres, St. Leonard, Md.

JORGE GONZALEZ

The Calvert County Barn Quilt Trail is a program of the Arts Council of Calvert County and the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium.

The Trail stretches from North Beach to Solomon’s Island and from the Bay to the Patuxent River. Some of the 17 quilts carry traditional patterns, with names like Sister’s Choice (a threefabric grid layout of squares and half square triangles) and Carpenter’s Wheel (a large, starburst-like pattern).

Others—particularly the one on the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum and two depicting the oyster restoration program, also in Chesapeake Beach—are new designs created specifically for their location.

Each square tells two stories. One is the story of the square’s artwork; another is the story of where the square hangs.

Susan Mills, chair of the Calvert Barn Quilt Trail, says, “There are several additions to the Trail coming in early 2021, including one at the Calvert Marine Museum and another at AnnMarie Gardens.”

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

15

CBM

talk of the bay

highlights.” The Byway Quilt Trail includes 16 quilt block replicas located in and around such towns as Preston in the southern part of the county to Greensboro in the north. They’re on or near historic structures that trace the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.

Among the quilt patterns are the Harriet Tubman Center Medallion, featuring a portrait sketched by a local artist based on an original photo of Tubman, and Sailboat, signifying the role of ship captains in transporting freedom seekers, along with many other symbols of the journeys made by slaves to areas of freedom through Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and beyond.

Kits based on the quilt designs are available from the Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore in Denton.

HAVEN HARBOUR MARINA 20880 Rock Hall Ave Rock Hall, Maryland 410.778.6697

Harford County The Harford County Barn Quilt Trail explores the entire rural county showcasing the farming community, gently rolling countryside, agribusinesses, nature centers, wildlife preserves, schools, and historic waterfront parkland. The themes highlight the history of the property and the farm’s current activities. The trail is bordered by the Bay and the scenic Susquehanna River.

As you ramble through the county viewing the 18 quilts currently installed, you’ll pass the Susquehannock Wildlife Society, which rehabilitates Bay watershed animals in trouble, the popular Falling Branch Brewery, and even Three Oaks Farm Alpacas, an educational farm and store.

Should your trail meanderings inspire you to pick up some quilting supplies of your own, you can participate in the Quilts Around the Bay Shop Hop between Friday, April 23 and Sunday, May 2, 2021.

Visit the six participating shops (Newark and Dover, in Delaware and Fallston, Columbia, Trappe, and Crofton in Maryland) and be entered for prizes. Also, each shop has a free pattern. facebook.com/ QuiltsAroundTheBay. For more information about barn quilt trail books by Suzi Parron and other trails, check this website: barnquiltinfo.com.

Judy Colbert is the author of 100 Things to Do in Baltimore Before You Die and It Happened in Maryland.

HAVEN HARBOUR SOUTH 21144 Green Lane Rock Hall, Maryland 410.778.6697

Discover the Inn at Haven Harbour Make an off-season getaway to our waterfront Inn at Haven Harbour, located on the secluded headwaters of Swan Creek in Rock Hall, Maryland. Plan your visit at HAVENHARBOUR.COM.

Escape.

Freedom 275

Freedom 375

POWERED BY

Uniquely Grady-White. gradywhite.com

CBM

talk of the bay

Baltimore’s ready reserve ships stand by.

In Reserve & at the Ready Federal Cargo Ships in Baltimore Harbor

by Rafael Alvarez

JENNIFER BISHOP

I

t felt, to her, something like what Jonah must have experienced after being swallowed by the whale.

Two decades ago, a Baltimore reporter with experience on all kinds of vessels found herself reporting an environmental story from the decks of the M/V Cape Wrath. The iron Leviathan, in whose belly Candy Thomson wandered with a notebook, is currently docked in Port Covington, on view to motorists heading north through the Fort McHenry Tunnel and locals walking their dogs.

“I’d been on big ships, even warships, but the Wrath was another level,” said Candy Thomson, a former outdoors writer now retired to Cape Cod. “It was like being a dot.”

The view of the 697-foot-long, nearly 52,000-gross-ton ship from the water is equally impressive. As are four other Department of Transportation/MARAD “ready reserve” ships docked in Canton and South Baltimore.

The Military Sealift Command ships in Baltimore—the U.S.N.S. Gordon and U.S.N.S. Gilliland—are administered by the Department of Defense.

“They dwarf the old piers,” said Chris Cleary, operator of an Association of Maryland Pilots launch. “To see them in Locust Point and down by Lazaretto Point reminds me how the shipping industry migrated from the Inner Harbor out to deeper water” to accommodate such behemoths.

18

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Indeed, the ready reserve vessels are not much smaller than the mammoth roll-on/roll-off car carriers from the Far East that come and go from Baltimore, said Jordan Biscardo, an official with the Seafarers International Union, which crews these ships and two from Military Sealift Command.

“It’s always a big production when Moran or other tugs are used to sail them,” said Mark Hannon, a deckhand and author living near the Fort Avenue piers where the M/V Antares and the S.S. Denebola are docked.

Hannon’s new novel, The Vultures, includes scenes of police scouring the Buffalo, N.Y., waterfront for a witness to a crime. Here in Crabtown, law enforcement has used the Wrath to train anti-terrorist agents to search ships so vast they could easily hide a platoon.

Indeed, said Cleary, pulling a coal ship out of Curtis Bay might take a half-hour, even in bad weather, “from

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

when they let go lines to when the docking pilot is done. A Military Sealift ship can take up to two hours or more to get underway and finish with tugs.”

They rarely move, sitting sometimes for decades at the ready, as their classification connotes, for orders to steam wherever the U.S. military deems necessary. The Antares and Denebola have been parked here for more than 20 years.

“I’m always curious about what’s inside them,” said Hannon. “Tanks?

Helicopters? Artillery? There’s a story that they have their own tugs on board which they can launch so they can dock anywhere in the world if they have to.”

What’s inside now is a void waiting to be filled with all of the above.

“Empty until deployed,” said John Paul Hoskins, S.I.U. port agent in Baltimore. Under sail, the dockside crew nearly doubles. The U.S. has moved cargo in every major war with civilian sailors.

A year after the end of World War II—in which more than 30,000 merchant sailors were killed as the Axis targeted Allied cargo vessels—Congress passed the Merchant Marine Ship Sales Act. It states that the nation maintains a fleet of ships in reserve for national defense and emergencies. In peacetime, the ships have been loaded with grain for humanitarian missions.

M/V Cape Wrath

Today, that fleet numbers some 100 vessels, mostly dry cargo ships like the Wrath and most of them anchored on the James River in Virginia, the Port of Beaumont in Texas, and Benicia, California in the Bay Area.

More than half were activated during the First Gulf War in 1990 and 1991, carrying some 3,000 civilian seafarers—many who hadn’t been to sea since the Vietnam War. In 1992, several were used to ferry food to the famine in Somalia. And once in a while, they leave the pier to blow the dust off and have some fun.

In 1998, the Wrath took a class of middle-school students from

Reisterstown on a short excursion to Chesapeake Bay Bridge to give school kids a gull’s eye view of that year’s Whitbread Round-the-World Race. In 2015, the hawser lines connecting the Antares and the Denebola became a perch for a couple of out-of-towners a long way from home: a pair of brown boobys, a seabird with a conical beak that calls the Dry Tortugas home.

And a few weeks before Thanksgiving 2020, “a booby returned for a rare visit to the MSC ships tied up at Locust Point,” said Cleary. “It was hanging out with the cormorants that perch on the dock lines.”

And then, said Cleary, the booby moved on. But the ready reserves sit and wait, providing steady work for a certain type of sailor who prefers a normal working life. “The type of sailor who doesn’t want to go to sea, who’s not looking for a 70-day trip to Kuwait and back,” said Hoskins, who worked on several of the reserve ships before taking the port agent’s job with the union. “I liked being on a ship that never went anywhere.”

Rafael Alvarez sailed as a laborer on S.I.U. contracted merchant ships as a teenager and again in 2001 after leaving the City Desk of the Baltimore Sun. He can be reached via orlo.leini@gmail.com.

Behemoths from below.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

19

CBM

talk of the bay

ShoreRivers founder and first director Jeff Horstman.

Jeff Horstman Prince of the Wye

by Tim Junkin

BETH HORSTMAN

J

eff Horstman was nine years old in 1968, living on a New Jersey beach, when his mother, Nina, adopted an abandoned seal pup. Coaxing it to drink mackerel pureé from a baby bottle, they raised it to become a 200-pound adult, teaching it obedience skills and tricks. Through a doggy door, the seal had free run of their house. It would come and go as it pleased, take off in the ocean to catch fish, swim alongside Jeff when he was surfing, and then waddle and hump its way onto their plastic covered couch, barking for attention and treats. Soon they adopted a second seal to keep it company.

Word spread about the expertise of this family of seal trainers and National Geographic published a profile. The following year the family welcomed the opportunity to move onto a research ship based in Marathon Key, Florida, studying marine mammals and

20

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Horstman spent much of his boyhood in the company of seals.

teaching them essential underwater tasks. Jeff lived on the ship for four years with no formal schooling. Dress code: cutoffs and a tee shirt. What he did learn was to free dive and SCUBA, spearfish and pilot, and to navigate the vicissitudes of island life.

At fourteen, Jeff and his mother were returning to Florida from a vacation when they stopped off at South of the Border to see a marine mammal exhibit advertised along the I-95 interstate. An injured, mistreated sea lion was on display. Nina angrily confronted the owners, then bought it on the spot, carrying the animal in her station wagon back to the ship. She named it Tinker Bell, and it liked to wander. One day the ship received a telephone call from Boca Grande that an animal with a collar reading Tinker Bell had ensconced itself in someone’s swimming pool during a garden party and was being fed cucumber sandwiches by the guests. Nina went to fetch it.

The owner of the pool was Arthur Houghton, an industrialist and heir to the Corning Glass fortune. Arthur fell in love with Nina, who by then had separated from Jeff’s father. Waging a successful courtship, Houghton sent his private plane to pick up Nina and her menagerie—Jeff and his three siblings, a parrot, several dogs, and five marine mammals—and fly them to his 2,000-acre plantation that sprawled for miles alongside the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Jeff went from four years of a Huck Finn-like existence to having to wear coat and tie at the table with a butler behind each chair and a strict new stepfather at its head. At fourteen, his world had been upended. He felt bereft and lost. As he describes it, he was in a very bad place.

What eventually rescued him, and what would offer solace and richness for the rest of his life, was the

Wye River. There was the old wooden bridge that became his diving platform. He explored the miles of shoreline on horseback, studying every cut and cove, following the waterfowl migrations and learning to hunt, fishing the ponds, and finding delight in the heron rookeries and the osprey harrying the bald eagles.

Jeff received private tutoring to catch up on his three Rs, attended Washington College, married his longtime sweetheart, Beth Church, and rehabbed an abandoned cottage adjacent to the bridge so he could walk to his first job with the Maryland Park Service, where naturalist colleagues steeped him in estuarine ecology. These were glory days for a young man of his temperament, but there were shadows over the landscape.

As he explained to me, it was “during those years that I witnessed marked changes to the river—the water losing its clarity, turning brown, the grass beds disappearing, the erosion of the land, the decimation of the fish and waterfowl populations.

These degradations weren’t taking decades, they were happening over the course of a few years. I wanted to do something about it. It was an itch I couldn’t scratch.”

Jeff went on to found a pension management firm outside Philadelphia, but remained involved in clean water issues. He served on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation President’s Advisory Council, the board of the University of Maryland’s Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, and was appointed to the Chesapeake Bay Trust board. In 2014, he decided to return to the Eastern Shore and came to work with me at Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (MRC) in Easton, first as the Miles-Wye Riverkeeper and then succeeding me as MRC’s director. As we built the

HARTGE YACHT HARBOR

PROTECTED HARBOR ON THE WEST RIVER

SLIPS & MOORING | COVERED SLIPS ACCOMMODATING HARBORMASTER HAUL & LAUNCH | 50 TON TRAVEL LIFT COMPLETE BOAT REPAIR SERVICES

4883 Church Lane Galesville, MD 20765 443-607-6306 buddy@hartgeyachtharbor.com

hartgeyachtharbor.com

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

21

CBM

organization, Jeff was already envisioning an expansive, stronger river advocacy program—one that could wield regional influence in protecting Maryland’s waterways.

During 2017 he realized his vision, orchestrating the successful merger of MRC with two other nonprofits—the Chester and Sassafras River Associations—to create ShoreRivers and becoming its first director.

Jeff retired last month, but the organization he framed and led now employs scientists, engineers, educators, and advocates, brings annual funding in the millions to our communities, and provides leadership in environmental education, agricultural restoration, policy advocacy, and community engagement throughout the Bay watershed.

“ShoreRivers has a fantastic staff,” he says, “what I call ‘staff magic.’

People we hired right out of college are now statewide leaders in their areas of expertise. Teachers throughout the state are replicating the education programs we’ve

Full service marina with covered & open slips available now.

• Gas, diesel, pumpout • Pool • Nettle-free beach • 50 channel cable TV • Ship’s store • Slipholder fuel discounts • 50T lift • Full service and parts • Wi-Fi • Mechanics on duty 6 days • A/C heads & laundry • Picnic peninsula • Water taxi service to moorings

410-885-2706 Contact us about slip ownership opportunities

1026 Town Point Road • Chesapeake City, MD 21915 www.bbyh.com • e-mail: info@bbyh.com

Calve alvert al vert Marina vert arina SOLOMONS, MD

ALFRESCO MARINA Means having dozens of picnic tables, over 40 acres of open space for dogs, kids and fun, walking paths, plentiful parking, large pool and deck, outdoor dining, a beach, lots of room to breathe and enjoy nature and view wildlife.

Formed from several smaller organizations, ShoreRivers has grown into a multi-million dollar environmental force.

CALVERTMARINA . COM

22

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

COURTESY OF SHORERIVERS

We also have open and covered slips available.

410-326-4251

talk of the bay

January/February 2021

created. Our farmers are appreciative of the approximate $15 million in innovative clean water projects that we’ve developed. For the first time the Eastern Shore has its own effective advocacy platform, and ShoreRivers is providing a strong and resounding voice in Annapolis and beyond to advance it. So, yes, in truth, I am immensely proud of what our team has accomplished and of what ShoreRivers will accomplish in the future. And I am grateful to our staff, board, membership, volunteers, funders, and communities, for recognizing the need and responding to the call for clean rivers.”

What is perhaps even more remarkable than Jeff’s achievement as the architect of ShoreRivers is the journey that led him to environmental stewardship—one populated with seals, a wounded sea lion, and his beloved Wye River.

Tim Junkin was a trial lawyer for 30 years, and is an award-winning writer, teacher, and environmentalist.

The all new 325 Conquest Made for boaters who don't want to choose between a highly capable fishing boat and a highly comfortable getaway boat, the 325 Conquest and 325 Conquest Pilothouse are superior all-around vessels that deliver impressive capacity and more ways to connect with the outdoors.

Plus, they have everything you need to spend the night aboard.

CHESAPEAKE

'v../HALERTD'v../NE GRASONVILLE 410.827.8080

I

ANNAPOLIS 410.267 . 9731

I

WHALERTOWNE.COM

CBM

chesapeake almanac community of migratory ducks, geese, and swans that grace our region now; mammals like raccoons, muskrats, and river otters are active, though the most common signs of them will be tracks.

But sometimes the best parts of a winter walk come from just watching, attentively, for a solid chunk of time without actively searching for anything specific. That kind of watching helps us see details we might otherwise miss, and it helps us contemplate questions like “I wonder what is going on underwater right now? What is it like to be an oyster right now, or a seaworm? How does it feel to be a blue crab, asleep in mud? Or a young rockfish, suspended deep in a channel?”

You may not have answers yet, especially if you are new to this kind of winter walking. It helps to find a knowledgeable friend to walk with.

Dogs and children are great additions, as long as you gauge their needs and weather tolerance. The key is to keep spending some time out there, and maybe do a little reading back at home. You’ll be surprised at how much the experiences add up.

Fox prints dot the snow.

What to Wear and Take Along

Winter Walks

by John Page Williams

WILL PARSON/CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM

W

24

inter slows down everything around the Chesapeake. Plants and coldblooded critters go dormant. We humans wisely become more conservative about how we spend our time outdoors. This is not the time for epic voyages over cold water.

That said, our Bay is very much alive at this season, and there’s much to see and think about. Super-low tides, driven by the moon and northwest winds, expose the bare bones of river shorelines and beaches. Empty tree branches help make for a different land-and-waterscape with its own kind of austere beauty. Clear skies let us see long distances. A fallen log in the sunny lee of a marsh becomes a great spot to sit, pull out thermos and oatmeal cookies, and simply watch.

Watch what? The obvious answers are the warm-blooded creatures still active at this season: water birds like herons and gulls, plus the diverse

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Let common sense and a weather eye dictate clothing and footwear. Study the weather before you go out. How cold will it be? What will the wind be like in the location where you’re walking? Will you be going on a long loop trail that commits you to a certain time out in the weather, or can you come in easily if you (or your companions) get cold?

If you’re new to being outdoors in a damp Chesapeake winter, pay attention to layers of insulation, with some kind of shell parka to break the wind. Standards include fleece and wool because they stay warm even when wet, with a moisture-wicking layer next to the skin. Gore-Tex or

some other breathable, waterproof, and windproof outer layer with a hood seals in body heat. Down parkas and vests are great on dry days, though the filling collapses when damp. Flannellined khakis and jeans shield legs.

Hats and gloves are musts for comfort.

“Sensible shoes” depend on your planned substrate. Athletic shoes with cushioned socks will work fine for a dry day over an established trail with a marsh boardwalk, like the one along the Susquehanna waterfront in Havre de Grace or the Potomac at Dyke Marsh in Alexandria. That said, it helps a lot to if footwear is waterproof.

Rubber-bottom “Bean Boots”— whether from L.L. Bean himself or somewhere else—make a lot of sense around the Chesapeake. The eightinch models have served me well for

decades, with cushioned insoles and medium-weight wool socks. They are light and comfortable to walk in. Just be sure to remove the insoles in the evening to let everything air out. Along beaches like Bethel in Mathews County, Virginia, and marshes like those at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge below Cambridge, knee boots (15–16") of rubber or PVC can allow freedom to explore deeper, and in some places, even hip boots are valuable.

Finally, plan to carry a simple daypack for gloves, hats, and shells so you can add or take off clothing as the day progresses. Add a thermos of something warm, and snacks.

Compact, illustrated field guides are always useful for everything from birds and trees to animal tracks. A pair of

binoculars (not necessarily expensive if you’re starting out) and a small first-aid kit round out the basics.

Where to Walk There are obvious major attractions for winter visits around the Chesapeake, like Blackwater, with its spectacular “big sky” views of the marsh country and its waterfowl; Sandy Point State Park, by the Bay Bridge east of Annapolis; Virginia’s Kiptopeke State Park, with sweeping views around the mouth of the Bay; and the James River Park on both sides of the water in Richmond. “Asking the Google,” as a young neighbor likes to say, yields many more in both Maryland and Virginia. The two state park systems are loaded with well-distributed,

Relax & Enjoy

Lovely waterviews and gorgeous sunsets in a quiet marina setting, just minutes from the best fishing and cruising the Chesapeake Bay has to offer.

KNAPP’S NARROWS DREDGED

800-322-5181 • www.KNAPPSNARROWSMARINA.com

TRANSIENT GROUPS WELCOME

CBM Three great locations in Oxford, Maryland to service all your boating needs. oxford, md All the comforts of a full-service marina plus repairs, repowers and refits.

BACHELOR POINT · 410.226.5592 JACK’S POINT · 410.226.5105 TOWN CREEK · 410.226.0213

Floating docks to 100 ft. at Jack's Pt. & Bachelor Pt.

Boat Building H Restoration H Repairs Slip Rentals H Haul-Outs H Dry Storage

Year-round and transient slips

Full-Service Yacht Brokerage

On-site custom boat building

by Campbell’s Custom Yachts

Campbell’s Yacht Sales

Dealer • Repairs • Service

Certified Cummins Dealer

campbellsboatyards.com

For info. contact PJ at campbellsyachtsales.com

chesapeakebaymagazine.com/news 26

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

chesapeake almanac

spectacular choices, some remarkably close to urban areas and some more rural. Be sure also to search for the online Maryland Interactive Trail Atlas at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (dnr.maryland.gov) website and Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources website (dwr.virginia.gov) for its Where to View Wildlife page located under the Viewing tab.

In the latter, pay particular attention to Wildlife Management Areas such as Hog Island on the Lower James River.

County governments around the Chesapeake take public access to the outdoors seriously, so searching a specific jurisdiction’s website for parks is well worth the effort. Arguably the largest complex is operated by the Maryland National Capitol Park & Planning Commission, a joint venture between Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George Counties. If you’re based in that area, explore the Commission’s large Patuxent River Park, a remarkable oasis of highquality wetlands, woodlands, and waters just a handful of miles east of the Capital Beltway. In my time as a Chesapeake Bay Foundation field educator, I spent more than 400 days leading students, teachers, and public groups along its creeks and trails.

There’s always something interesting to see there, afoot or afloat.

Chesterfield County, on the south side of the James River opposite of Richmond, offers a map of 27 trails within the county. A favorite of mine is the Dutch Gap Conservation Area, behind Henricus Historical Park. But don’t neglect rural counties. Mathews County offers some equally spectacular public beaches fronting the widest part of the open Chesapeake. Search online for the Guide to Mathews County Owned Public Access Sites, a free PDF guide from the county to places like Bethel

Beach. Charles County, Maryland, offers the lovely Indian Head Rail Trail, whose lower section follows the tidal section of Mattawoman Creek, another oasis of rich natural habitat near our Nation’s Capital.

Even towns and cities offer winter walks. Indian Head, Maryland— mostly known for a Navy Surface Weapons Explosive Ordnance facility fronting the Potomac—had the great foresight to acquire land at its back door along Mattawoman Creek for Mattingly Park. The adjacent, townowned Slavin’s Dock offers boat launch facilities and great views of the creek’s tidal freshwater marshes, which are winter magnets for migratory ducks, geese, and swans.

A visit there is a great way to begin a walk along the Indian Head Rail Trail.

As to larger municipalities, Richmond’s linear James River Park System is hard to beat. Owned by the City, it has for several decades operated in a remarkable partnership between a very small staff and the nonprofit, volunteer Friends of the James River Park. It provides extraordinary access to the miles-long Falls of the James and the upper end of the tidal portion in downtown. The Friends describe the Park as “extending in 14 sections from the Huguenot Bridge in the west to a half mile beyond the I-95 Bridge in the east. It includes most of the fall line of the James River. Rocks, rapids, meadows, and forests make for an area of unspoiled natural beauty—a little bit of wilderness in the heart of the city.”

Winter on the Chesapeake?

It’s a pretty cool season. Go see for yourself. h CBM Editor at Large John Page Williams is a fishing guide, educator, author, and naturalist, saving the Bay since 1973.

ANNUAL SLIP HOLDERS RECEIVE 10% DISCOUNT ON • FUEL PURCHASES • DINING AT HEMINGWAY’S

500

$

** CALL FOR DETAILS**

SAVINGS FOR 1ST TIME ANNUAL CUSTOMERS BRAND NEW 30’ DOCKS FLOATING DOCKS | 25-70 TON TRAVEL LIFTS FUEL DOCK & PUMP OUT | FULL SERVICE YARD FITNESS CENTER & SAUNA | WIFI HEMINGWAY’S RESTAURANT & TIKI BAR

410.643.3162 WWW.BAYBRIDGEMARINA.COM 357 PIER ONE ROAD STEVENSVILLE, MD 21666 This is an introductory offer and is only available to first time BBM slip holders DEALER

B o a t. S h a re .

Brilliant!

Enjoy the Chesapeake without the headaches of ownership.

Sail and Power • Unlimited use • Annual Memberships from $2090

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

27

CBM

chesapeake chef

A black-duck decoy by Kenny Marshall stands sentry as the dough is rolled out.

Black Duck & Dumplings on the Eastern Shore of Virginia story by Robert Gustafson / photos by Helene Doughty

three. All black ducks,” my teenage son texted from a small skiff in “Wethegotmouth of a nearby creek on Thanksgiving morning.

I was mildly relieved. The hunt successful, he would be home in time for midafternoon turkey and trimmings. Plus, our larder was now abundantly stocked with the signature ingredient of one of the most traditional, basic, and largely hidden wintertime dishes of the Eastern Shore of Virginia: black duck and dumplings.

In the days of market gunning, Eastern Shore hunters packed redheads and canvasbacks into ventilated barrels and shipped them to hotels in Baltimore, where they fetched premium prices. In the early 20th century, Eastern Shore redheads brought $2.50 a pair and prime canvasbacks fetched an astounding $5 to $7 a pair. Black ducks brought just $1.25 a pair and were more likely to be turned into the hunter’s dinner.

Black duck and dumplings is not a fancy dish. A pot of duck and dumplings was traditionally served by Eastern Shore watermen’s families at home in the wintertime when not much else was available. “Just a simple, simple recipe,” says Dawn Chesser, renowned cook at the Holden Creek Hunt Club in Accomack County, Virginia. “They used what they had,” she adds. “Dumplings were a big

28

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

staple back in the day because they go a long way. You might not have enough meat, but you had plenty of dumplings and biscuits.”

Black ducks (Anas rubripes) are one of the largest of the ducks harvested by hunters on the Eastern Shore. Some weigh in at four pounds and are prized for their bulk as well as their flavor. Today, they are common but not abundant in the Chesapeake and seaside marshes as they migrate down the East Coast from their summer nesting haunts, which range from Newfoundland to New York.

Happily, black ducks are listed as a “species of least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), so we can feel good about preparing and eating this traditional dish in moderation.

Two days after the hunt, my friend Buck and I sat cleaning the ducks in front of the crackling woodstove in our

to get breaking news & updates, photos, articles & events.

century-old seaside clam house. Buck is a talented metal artist whose family came to the Eastern Shore in the first half of the 1600s. He has been eating black duck and dumplings his entire life and was more enthusiastic than I was about saving and cleaning the hard, silvery gizzards. A few cold beers and stories about past pots of black duck and dumplings made the task a little more palatable.

Then Buck, holding a plucked duck palm-down, plunged his enormous hand, tempered by years of welding, through the open door of the wood stove directly into the flames and moved the duck around. The smell of burning pin feathers filled the room.

Baptized by fire, the ducks were ready.

Black duck and dumplings can be made indoors on a stove, but at least once a season we like to invite friends and prepare it outside over a hardwood fire. As a thin stew or a thick soup, three black ducks can serve a dozen people because the meat is as much a flavoring for the broth and dumplings as it is the centerpiece of the dish.

This year, family and friends gathered on an unusually warm Sunday on the shore of a beautiful bayside creek in Northampton County.

Buck brought his big iron kettle and a tripod made of saplings. I brought the ducks, gizzards, and a bag of flour.

Coolers of beer, local Chatham Vineyards rosé, and a quart canning jar of Lumière cocktails spiked with Green Hat Gin (see Chesapeake Cocktail, p.

33) made the wait enjoyable for the adults as we prepared the meal.

The process is deeply rustic but yields absolutely delicious results. Into the pot went water, the ducks, onion, gizzards, salt, pepper, and baking soda (which is sometimes called “cooking salt” by old-timers who prize it for its tenderizing qualities). We brought it to a rolling boil over a cherrywood fire.

With the duck underway, attention turned to the dumplings. Dumplings are made in many cultures globally, ranging from Ethiopian tihlo and Mongolian buuz to the more familiar Polish pierogi, but there are two kinds of dumplings on Virginia’s Eastern

Follow us on

Captain George Doughty (Hog Island Lighthouse keeper) on his way to a hunt. He was also a renowned duck decoy carver.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

29

CBM

chesapeake chef

Shore: puff and slick. Puff dumplings are made of risen biscuit dough and float on top of a stew. Black duck in an iron cauldron calls for slick dumplings, which resemble large noodles that sink into the broth.

Buck’s high-school-aged daughter learned how to make slick dumplings from her grandmother. She kneaded water, flour, and a bit of Old Bay into a very stiff dough and then rolled it out on a floured baking sheet at a nearby picnic table. When the dough was thin, she used a pizza cutter to slice it into rectangles about half the size of a playing card.

In about 90 minutes, the duck’s tender meat was falling away from its bones. We hastened the process by breaking up the carcasses with a large spoon and reduced the heat. The kids took turns dropping the dumplings into the simmering liquid one by one to

Molly O’Neill says this food tradition goes back 200 years.

ensure that they did not stick together.

The excess flour on the dumplings is a critical ingredient that serves to thicken the broth. Ten minutes later we were ladling the brew into bowls and digging in, reserving the now-tender gizzards for the adventurous few who sought them out.

And it tasted absolutely great! The lightly-thickened, peppery brown broth and the chewy yet slippery dumplings that “stick your teeth together” were studded with flecks of the tender duck.

A perfect accompaniment to the cool evening and the smell of wood smoke.

In her iconic book on American foodways, One Big Table, Molly O’Neill wrote that that black duck and dumplings have been eaten on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for 200 years.

I like to think that the history goes back much further; that the Occohannock and Accomac Indians who lived

peacefully on these shores long before Europeans arrived would have quickly recognized the familiar sight of family and friends enjoying each other’s company and black duck on banks of a quiet creek as the winter sun slowly fell beyond the Chesapeake.

e r e H e iv L e W y h W g leblerabrtin eCe ating Why We Live Here CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

MARCH 2020

classic

D E L AWA R E

om

MARCH 2020 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

U.S. $7.99

U.S. $7.99

U.S. $7.99

MAY 2020

p. XX

p. XX

p. XX

2020

E

2020

U.S. $7.99

S

U.S. $7.99

S

ChesapeakeBayMagazin e.com

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

EDITION

DEA LE URB ANN A MAY HAVRE DE2020 GRACE HAM PTON ROCK HALL CAP E CHA RLES MAY 2020 DEALE URBANNA HAMPTON

Better D

JUNE 2020

JUNE 2020 JUNE 2020

20 for’20 for’ JULY/AUGUST 2020 JULY/AUGUST 2020

JULY/AUGUST 2020

SPECIAL

SPECIAL

EDITION SPECIAL

EDITION

EDITION

20 for2 JUNE 2020

JUNE 2020

MAY 2020

ay er sD B ettD Bett Ber ettD er aysays

Stand-Up Guys Paddle Horseshoe Crabs the Bay for Oysters Kayaking Virginia’s Chesapeake Seafood Delaware Fireflies Inn at Perry Cabin’s Chesapeake Seafood Return toVirginia’s Delaware Fireflies the Beaches Kayaking Horseshoe Crabs Stand-Up Guys Paddle Dragon Run Watershe Supply Innovations Turn Out Innovatio the Lightsns Crab Recipe Secrets Inn at Perry Cabin’s Supply d Turn Out the Lights Dragon RunCE Watershed Return to the Beaches the Bay for Oysters Stand-Up Guys Paddle Crab Horseshoe Chesapeake Seafood Terrapins Recipe Crabs Poplar Island Terrapins Islandof GRA Secrets Kayaking Virginia’s TheInn Ongoing Search for In Praise offor the Poplar Canoe Poplar Island—Terrapins the Canoe Delaware Fireflies DE Praise Canoe In — of the Search— Praise HAVtoRE InThe at the Bay for Oysters Perry Ongoing Cabin’s for Return Ongoing Search a Lesson the Beaches Supply Innovations Teach Students a Lesson Dragon Run Watershed Teach Maryland Crab The Bay’s First Students a Lesson Workboat First Turn Out theThe Bay’s Teach Workboat TheStudents Lights Authentic L CrabWorkboat Bay’s First The Maryland CrabCrab HAL Recipe Authentic Secrets ROC K Authentic Maryland

MAY 2020

MARCH 2020

MARCH 2020

U.S. $9.99

MAY 2020

Hot Bluegrass from Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

o Sings Hot Bluegrass from Shawn Kimbro Sings Hot Panfish Solivan & Dirty KitchenBluegrass from the Praises of Panfish Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

.

D.C

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

APRIL 2020

EDIT ION

U.S. $7.99

U.S. $9.99

U.S. $9.99

S

E

E S

M A RY L A N D

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

ChesapeakeBayMagazin e.com

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

U.S. $9.99

W

U.S. $9.99

M A RY L A N D

N W

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

APRIL 2020

APRIL 2020

M A RY L A N D

VIRGINIA N

E

U.S. $9.99

Issue 2020

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

VIRGINIA N W

E S

Things to Do & See in Talbot County

MARCH 2020

D E L AWA R E

D E L AWA R E

VIRGINIA

UST 2020

Shawn Kimbro Sings the Praises of Panfish

MARCH 2020

MARCH 2020

D E L AWA R E

CRAB HOUSES C R A B H O U S E S craft craft BEERS & MORE! SPECIAL B E E R S & M O R E ! craft BEERS & MORE!

W I LD LI D LD

U.S. $7.99

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

.

D.C

.

D.C

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food

classic

Canoe— In Praise of the Search for Workboat The Bay’s First ylandInCrab Praise of the Canoe— Poplar Island Terrapins The Bay’s First Workboat Teach Students a Lesson

W

W

Subscribe at ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com S

MARCH 2020

.

D.C

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue 2020

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue 2020

foodie

foodie

W E E K E N D S classi SPECcIAL classicC R A B H O U S E S

WEEKENDS

N

N E

VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA N

W

WW omen W omeom n en

MARCH 2020

Terrapins Poplar Island a Lesson Teach Students

U.S. $7.99

EDITION

WEEKENDS

craft

craft BEERS & MORE! B E E R S & M O RBE E! E R S & M O R E !

Fireflies SeafoodI Delaware Chesapeake Chesapeake Seafood Beneteau’s Oceanis 46.1 Getting to Know Our the Lights Jenn Innovations C Turn Out Kuhn Reshapes Supply Kayaking Virginia’s Beneteau’s Oceanis 46.1 Supply Innovations Virginia’s Crabs Chesapeake Seafood Delawa Guys Paddle KayakingHorseshoe Makes a Cruising Convert Dolphin Population Stand-Up Maritime Crabs from to Know History Horseshoe Hot Bluegrass Our Sings Dragon Run Watershed Shawn Kimbro Hot Bluegrass from Bay Litter Warriors Getting Sings Makes a Cruising Beaches Virginia’s to the Kayaking Horseshoe Crabs Stand-Up Guys Paddle Shawn Kimbro Return Stand-Up Guys Paddle Run Watershed Convert Warriors Supply Innovations Turn Ou for Oysters Dragon Bay Bay Litter thethe Dolphin Jenn Kuhn Reshapes Beaches Bluegrass from Kitchenfor Oystersthe Bay for Hot to Populatio Return Solivan & Dirtythe Beneteau’s Oceanis 46.1 Talking Sings the Praises ofn Panfish & Dirty Kitchen Trash Online Panfish ofSolivan Kimbro Dragon Run Watershed Return to the Beaches Oysters Shawn the PraisesKitchen Bay Getting to Online Know Trash Warriors Our Talking Litter Bay Maritime History Solivan & Dirty Makes a Cruising Convert of Panfish the Praises Population Talking Trash Online Dolphin

MARCH 2020

foodie

M A RY L A N D

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

JAN/FEB 2020

for

M A RY L A N D

classic classic

Jenn Kuhn Reshapes

EDITION Maritime History

EDITION

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

SPECIA L

SPECIAL

T H E I SF SOO T H E TF HOO E FDOO D UIESDS UI SES U E

JAN/FEB 2020

JAN/FEB 2020

U.S. $7.99

p. XX

SPECIAL

Thin

MARCH 2020

M A RY L A N D

W E E K E N D WS E E K E N D S

craft

D E L AWA R E

Wom W

D E L AWA R E

CRAB HOUSES C R A B H O U S E SC R A B H O U S E S

JUNE 2020

p. XX

gone negon e

Warriors h Online

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

MAY 2020

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue 2020

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue 2020

Better Days Better Days

Talbot County gs to Do & See in

D E L AWA R E

Jenn Kuhn Reshapes Gettin Oceanis 46.1 Beneteau’sMaritime History Dolp a Cruising Jenn Kuhn ReshapesConvert Beneteau’s Makes Makes a Cru Maritime History

MARCH 2020

D.C .

foodie foodie

classic

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Inn at Perry Cabin’s Crab Recipe Secrets

foodie

WEEKENDS

2020

gon e ’20egone 20 forgon

Delaware Fireflies Turn Out the Lights

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Supply Innovations

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020

Kayaking Virginia’s Dragon Run Watershed

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

2020 Chesapeake JUNE Seafood

’s Inn at Perry Cabin ts Crab Recipe Secre

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020

ies Delaware Firefl s Turn Out the Light

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020

Horseshoe Crabs Return to the Beaches

od Chesapeake Seafo s Supply Innovation

U.S. $7.99

U.S. $9.99

ia’s Kayaking Virgin rshed Dragon Run Wate

MAY 2020

ng With Outdoorswomen Go Rabbit Hunting With Outdoorswomen Go Hounds Field to Table The Pro & From His Hounds From Field to Table

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

U.S. $9.99

Horseshoe Crabs es Beach Return to the

Stand-Up Guys Paddle the Bay for Oysters

Outdoorswomen Go From Field to Table

MARCH 2020

D.C .

E

S

EDITION Maritime History

H ET HDFEOO DU EI DS SIUS ES U E I SFSOO T H E FTOO

N

Paddle Stand-Up Guys rs the Bay for Oyste

EDITION

JAN/FEB 2020 JAN/FEB 2020

VIRGINIA

Hot Bluegrass from Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

Rabbit Hunting With The Pro & His Hounds

SPECIAL EDITION

SPECIAL

JAN/FEB 2020

W ID L DD IL W IL W C e le b hW y Live W e LHere ebrating We Ce lebratraintiWhy e20Hree’20re gngWW hy e Liv eivHe

Show Drops r in Baltimore

Jenn Kuhn Reshapes

SPECIAL

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

n Go Outdoorswome Boat Show Drops Rabbit Hunting With Outdoorswomen Go Hunting With Rabbit Boat Show Drops Field to Table From Anchor in Baltimorein Baltimore The Pro & His Hounds From Field to Table Hounds & HisGo Promen The Anchor Outdoorswo Rabbit Hunting With From Field to Table The Pro & His Hounds CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

U.S. $7.99

E S

from Hot Bluegrass Kitchen Solivan & Dirty

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

craft

VIRGINIA

BEERS & MORE!

N

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

om

B E E R S C&R AMBO RH EO! U S E S

W

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

Boat Show Drops Anchor in Baltimore

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

craftclassic

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

ChesapeakeB ayMagazine.c

ChesapeakeB ayMagazine.c

M A RY L A N D

Getting to Know Our Dolphin Population

Liv eLive HereHe WWhy gWhy inhy LiWve eWe lebr Ce ingatW brat CeleCelebrating

M A RY L A N D

foodie C R A B H OWUESEEKS E N D S

W

Sings Shawn Kimbro Panfish the Praises of Shawn Kimbro Sings the Praises of Panfish

MARCH 2020

2020

SPECIAL EDITION — The Food Issue 2020

— The Food Issue

foodie

Beneteau’s Oceanis 46.1 Makes a Cruising Convert

Women

MARCH 2020

.

D.C

SPECIAL EDITION

ne e gogon

Maritime History

D E L AWA R E

WEEKENDS

Robert Gustafson is an Eastern shoreman by way of Chicago, Harvard, and a career on Capitol Hill. He lives near Exmore, Va., where he coaches the Broadwater Academy track and field team.

Women

MARCH 2020 Jenn Kuhn Reshapes

EDITION

D.C .

JAN/FEB 2020

BAY MAGAZINE

JAN/FEB 2020

CHESAPEA KE

SPECIAL

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

BAY MAGAZINE

TH E FOO D I S S U E T H E F OO D I S S U E

WI ILLDD

e

EDIT ION

SPEC IAL

CHESAPEA KE

Go Outdoorswomen Table t Hunting With From Field to ds ro & His Houn ps Rabbit Hunting With Outdoorswomen Go more The Pro & His Hounds From Field to Table

Our Getting to Know ation Dolphin Popul

is 46.1 Beneteau’s Ocean ing Convert Makes a Cruis

pes Jenn Kuhn Resha ry Maritime Histo

JUNE 2020

Things to Do & See i Thin

eHere Here

Black Duck & Dumplings

After Harriet Jean Wallace Thornton, Buck’s mother Serves about 16. Recipe can be scaled to accommodate the number of ducks you have on hand. Domestic duck could be substituted, resulting in a different flavored dish. Leftover black duck and dumplings can be kept in the refrigerator for several days and its taste improves with age.

INGREDIENTS 3 4 1½ 2 4 3 1½ 1 3½ 2

large black ducks, plucked and cleaned large onions, sliced Granny Smith apples cups sliced carrot and/or turnip (optional) gallons water for broth, plus 3 to 4 cups additional for the dumplings tablespoons salt tablespoons pepper teaspoon baking soda pounds all-purpose flour, about 12 cups tablespoons Old Bay seasoning (or more if preferred)

1.

Place half an apple, sliced, and half a large onion, sliced, in the body cavity of each duck to help remove any gamey flavor. Refrigerate up to three days or freeze for later use.

2.

Into a large cauldron place the whole stuffed ducks, 4 gallons of water, the additional onions, pepper, salt, baking soda, and optional carrot or turnip. Cover and boil on medium heat until the meat is falling off the bones and the onion and apple have dissolved, 60 to 90 minutes. Break up carcasses using a large spoon. Check for salt and adjust as needed.

3.

Mix two-thirds of the flour and Old Bay in a mixing bowl. Add enough water to make a wet dough and then knead in additional flour until the dough is very stiff and no longer sticks to your hands. Divide the dough into several pieces. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about one-eighth-inch thick.

Cut into rectangles approximately 1 ½ inches by 3 inches. Lightly flour the dumplings to keep them from sticking to each other and so the flour will thicken the broth. Repeat until all dough is used.

Yields several dozen dumplings.

Getting to Know Our Oceanis 46.1 Beneteau’sOur ng to Know Dolphin Population Makes a Cruising Convert Population phin s Oceanis 46.1 Getting to Know Our uising Convert Dolphin Population

omen nomen meW W

Inn at Perry Cabin’s Cabin’s Fireflies Delaware dInn at Perry Crab Recipe Secrets Crab Recipe Out the Lights TurnSecrets are Fireflies Inn at Perry Cabin’s ut the Lights Crab Recipe Secrets

r’ for ’ for ’20 20 202020

in Talbot County Things to Do & See in Talbot County ngs to Do & See in Talbot County

4.

Gently slip the dumplings into the simmering duck broth one at a time so they do not stick together.

Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then remove from heat. You do not want the dumplings to break up.

5.

Serve in shallow bowls, ensuring that each serving gets a share of dumplings and some pieces of duck meat.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

31

Purchase a year’s subscription (or renew for a year) for $25.95 and get two CBM gaiters mailed to you.

chesapeake cocktail

LUMIÈRE COCKTAIL Need something to do while you wait for the pot to boil? Robert Gustafson suggests this modern take on classic ingredients.

1.

2.

3.

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

Shake briskly and strain the mixture into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with a lime.

CBM

INGREDIENTS 1 ½ ounces gin, like New Columbia Distillers’ Green Hat Gin 1 ounce elderflower liqueur, such as St. Germain or St. Elder ¾ ounce fresh lime juice (or bottled) ¾ ounce green chartreuse (80 proof or 110 proof, bartender’s option) 1 dash Angostura bitters

CBM

on boats

u Learn more about the Robalo 246 Cayman at robalo.com.

Robalo 246 Cayman

by Capt. John Page Williams

T

he Robalo brand has been associated with big-water fishing since its original 19-foot center console skiff debuted in 1968. Since 2001, the brand has Robalo 246 Cayman belonged to Marine Products Corporation of Nashville, LOA: 24' 6" Georgia. They’re a large Beam: 9' boatbuilder with a reputation for Deadrise: 16° strong design, engineering, Draft: 12" (engines up) production, and quality control, Max HP: 350 who also build Chaparral Fuel Capacity: 90 gal. runabouts and tow sport boats.

Dry Weight: 4,200 lbs.

One mark of Marine Products Available through quality is its sturdy upholstery, Waterfront Marine with thick vinyl material, (waterfrontmarine.com)

COURTESY PHOTOS

and Whelan's Marina (whelansmarina.com)

34

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

high-density foam, and triple stitching. Another is precision lamination. Watch a video of this month’s On Boats subject, the Robalo 246 Cayman crossover center console, while it’s running at speed; you’ll note how precisely the chines and lifting strakes cut off spray and throw it out flat to the side. That kind of meticulous construction ensures that the hull performs the way its design team intended.

Robalo refers to the Cayman series (206, 226, and 246) as Bay Boats. The two smaller boats are oriented more to inshore saltwater fishing, though all three will serve families well for exploring rivers and creeks, picnicking, beachcombing, and general tow sports. With

Robalo’s proprietary V-Plane running bottoms (like a 16° transom deadrise on the 246), they float shallow but their self-bailing cockpits and flared-bow buoyancy make them capable sea boats in the open waters of the Chesapeake.

The 246, however, with its generous 9' beam, offers the space for an active family (or two, since it is NMMA-certified for nine passengers) to spend a long afternoon aboard after a morning’s fishing trip. This versatility qualifies the 246 Cayman as a crossover in today’s market.

Standard power for the 246 Cayman is a single 4.2-liter Yamaha F250 outboard. Our test boat ran an optional F300, a well-proven engine that is a natural fit for a rig designed to carry people, gear, ice, food, and drink, and to do some general towing. The 300 can push the 246 over 40 knots, but the V-Plane extensions at the transom on either side of the engine lift the hull easily to plane at lower speeds. Thus, it runs very efficiently at 18–25 knots, burning 6 to 9 gallons of fuel per hour for a conservative range of more than 250 miles (using 90 percent of the fuel tank’s capacity).

While the 246 is reasonably efficient at higher speeds, that lower range can still cover a lot of water while providing easy motion when

seas kick up if the skipper employs the (optional) trim tabs and hydraulic jackplate to good advantage.

Along with the F300, our test boat came with Yamaha’s second-generation Helm Master EX single-engine control system. Unlike the first generation of HelmMaster, the EX system can be ordered with the boat or added in stages by a local Yamaha dealer with a technician who has trained on it. The stages include fully electric power steering, an autopilot with heading sensor, a joystick control, and several automated features for controlling drift patterns and trolling speeds (including modes slow enough to fine-tune the action of spoons and surgical hoses). We got to play with the EX system a bit and were especially impressed with two aspects: precise slow-speed maneuvering with the joystick and neat installation. EX relies on a single control cable, greatly reducing rigging complexity in the conduit from console to the utility compartment at the transom, freeing up space there for additional storage.

On deck, the 246 offers large bow and stern casting platforms with precisely laminated and fitted hatches for storage beneath. They include dedicated anchor/ January/February 2021

ABOVE: (L) The 246 offers large bow and stern casting platforms with precisely laminated and fitted hatches for storage beneath.

(R) Astern, there’s a comfortable seat for two with a back that folds up atop the utility compartment, flanked by livewells.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

35

CBM

on boats

chain/rode space, three livewells (which can serve as release wells for larger fish or as coolers, too), lockable rod storage, and a large central utility compartment astern for wiring and plumbing. Additional rod storage is generous, including two horizontal racks under each gunwale and vertical holders in the aft edge of the hardtop, at the back of the helm’s leaning post, and in the gunwales.

So what kind of Chesapeake fishing would the 246 Cayman fit? Just about all of it. It’s large and able enough to handle anything the Bay could throw at a prudent skipper who avoids an excessively sporty day. With a bow-mount, 36-volt Minn Kota Riptide electric motor, it could handle a wide range of shallow water assignments, like bass and rockfish on the Susquehanna Flats or the Potomac near Washington. Ditto rockfish, speckled trout, and puppy drum from Tangier Sound to the Rappahannock, Mobjack Bay, Poquoson Flats, and the Lynnhaven River. The Riptide would also serve well for jigging and casting to fish breaking on bait anywhere from the mouth of the Chester River down past the mouth of the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

It would serve well for any fish around the lower Bay bridge-tunnels, from sheepshead to spadefish, and the Helm Master’s Pattern Shift speed control would allow precise trolling on tunnel tubes for large flounder.

Spring for the 247 Cayman HD with an upper steering station, making it a “tower boat”, and it becomes a cobia-spotting machine.

But stow the rods ashore and add cushions for playtime. The bow platform, recessed several inches below the gunwales, converts to a sunpad or a pair of forward-facing lounges, while a table is available to fit a receptacle on its after edge. The lounges, table, and the seat on the front of the console makes a

36

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

comfortable setup for three to eat and drink. The console swings open for access to a large compartment for storage and a portable toilet, with plenty of sitting headroom for adults (assuming they don’t play in the NBA).

Robalo’s engineering team takes the ergonomics of head compartments seriously, and the front-opening door makes it easy to back in or climb out, holding the lip of the doorway. Astern, there’s a comfortable seat for two with a back that folds up atop the utility compartment, flanked by livewells.

Like the head, the helm reflects careful thinking about ergonomics.

There’s plenty of space for a large, flush-mounted electronic display, a VHF radio, switch panels, and electronic engine displays like the one needed for the Helm Master. Add in a pair of cup holders, a grab handle for the passenger to port of the skipper, and plenty of places to hold onto the hardtop frame. A pair of secure trays with cushioned, non-skid surfaces and power plugs top the console, flanking the compass (though charging a

January/February 2021

phone there is probably not a good idea while navigating by that compass). The double helm seat has up-or-down bolsters, with a grab rail and rod holders on the back side, plus secure space for a food-and-drink cooler beneath.

Robalo’s Reel Deal price on a 246 Cayman with a full suite of both fishing and family options will run about $100,000, or about $115,000 for an SD model with an upper helm. You can work out the specifics on the Boat Builder program for those models at robalo.com. That’s an attractive price compared to other high-quality crossovers. Adding the complete Yamaha Helm Master EX system will cost approximately $14,000, depending on whether the buyer specifies it from the boatbuilder or has it installed in stages by a dealer.

CBM Editor at Large, educator, guide, and author of three quintessential Chesapeake Bay books, John Page Williams was named a Maryland Admiral of the Bay in 2013.

CAPTAINS LICENSE 6 Pack (OUPV)

Master Mariner

HANDS ON CLASSES Marine Diesel Electrical Weather Safety Navigation

ON BOARD TRAINING Junior Captains Course Docking Courses Women at the Wheel Course Basic Boat Operation Course

AnnapolisSchoolofSeamanship.com

Walk the Docks promotion at Annapolis Yacht Sales

BOAT BOOM

swings on into 2021

COURTESY PHOTOS

BY JEFF HOLLAND

38

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

I

n a surprising turn of events in an otherwise dismal year, the boating industry boomed in 2020 as families focused on spending quality time—and money—out on the water. Boat dealers and suppliers throughout the Chesapeake Bay region have adapted to the opportunities as well as the challenges that this sudden change in the industry presented.

“We were a little concerned in March when Governor Hogan decided to close the Bay,” recalls Mark Andrews, co-owner of Annapolis Yacht Sales (AYS). “We actively campaigned to get him to change his mind and thankfully, he did; and once he did we turned to some marketing campaigns to say, ‘You can’t do much else, so why not get out on the Bay?’” The Annapolis-based company has been in business since 1953, and currently has four locations selling new and brokerage power and sailboats, with a new location about to launch in Virginia Beach. “We saw most of the activity on the powerboat side in the 20- to 32-foot range,” Andrews reports. “We saw sales uptick in both new units and brokerage boats, across the spectrum to the point where AYS and other dealers are sensing there are supply-chain challenges on both sides.”

There are definitely fewer brokerage boats available, Andrews notes.

“On the new-boat side, there are going to be challenges because the manufacturers have so many orders from across the country. Edgewater is completely sold out until 2022. Fortunately, we ordered ahead of time, but if people want a new boat for the spring, they’d better order them sooner than later. If people are interested in selling their boats, now’s a great time; they’re getting top dollar.”

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Manufacturers in the U.S. and around the globe had to shut down production in the spring, which meant most dealers missed one whole quarter of sales. “But they’re all up and running, and we’re caught up in the supply chain,” Andrews notes. “Right down the line, parts, engines— everything was back-ordered and hard to get, but we’ve worked through those issues and we’re close to being caught up. We also got an uptick on the service side because the more you use boats, the more you repair boats.”

Many dealers had to modify their marketing plans on the fly when the fall boat shows were canceled owing to pandemic concerns, as have the winter shows. “We plan to shift a lot of our marketing strategy to more local sales events with limited crowds,” Andrews explains. “Our Walk the Dock promotion in the fall worked very well, so we’ll do more like that both in the spring and fall in 2021.”

AYS has taken advantage of a unique opportunity presented by the changes in 2020. “One of the most exciting things that came out of this epidemic is that the charter business is forever changed,” Andrews explains.

Since travel to the Caribbean has been hampered, the fleet of charter boats there has been idle. AYS has been acquiring some of these vessels and bringing them to the Bay for charter.

“We opened a new company called Chesapeake Bay Yacht Charters featuring Beneteau monohulls and Lagoon catamarans, to give people from across the country the opportunity to sail on the Chesapeake.

It allows us to take that customer from being two or three years away from owning their own boat to investing in a charter boat and being able to use it as much as they want to.”

Baxter Lusink, National Sales Director of Bluewater Yacht Sales, manages nine offices in four states, including a new location in Annapolis.

They represent seven brands of

powerboats, from center consoles to ocean-going yachts, plus brokerage boats. “We’re blessed that all of our territory from Florida through the mid-Atlantic is on fire,” he notes.

Their marketing effort relies heavily on video walk-throughs on digital media. “Our website hits, our social media numbers have gone up over 1,000 percent,” Lusink explains.

“We do the 3-D tours and drone footage,” he says, but not all of the presentations are so high-tech. “The 55 Viking tour, we did on a cell phone,” he notes, and the boat was sold just a few days after the video was posted on their website.

“It’s all about getting the listing from a for-sale sign on a post to experiencing the boat,” Lusink explains. “It’s not rocket science, but we’ve been amazed at the results.

Without question, every single video we’ve shot has had a serious buyer within days.”

Lusink notes that inventory is tight on certain boat models. “We’re selling

listing available that fits your criteria, jump on it now.”

When the U.S. Powerboat Show got canceled, Chesapeake Whalertowne hosted a 10-day, mini boat show of their own last fall at their location at City Dock in Annapolis.

“That was off the charts,” reports Rick Boulay Jr., Whalertowne’s general manager. “It was really meant to debut the 240 Advantage, the new bow rider we just launched to replace the 230. It’s got more of an offshore-capable stance that makes it perfect for the Bay.” The sales event was by appointment only, and “it was exactly what the buyers wanted,” Boulay recalls. The company has increased its social-media marketing along with its print ads in boating magazines. But “people still need access to the water to make a purchasing decision,” Boulay notes, “and the fact that we were able to provide that was a home run. That was one of the most successful events we’ve ever produced. We’ll have a follow-up one in the spring, and

It’s all about getting the listing from a for-sale sign on a post to experiencing the boat. through all of our used boat inventory,” he says. “It’s obviously a seller’s market.

Depending upon the brand, some sellers are getting more than they paid for their boat. The market is so hot, we’re always looking for good-quality listings to maximize the seller’s return.”

So this is not the time to be too picky, he cautions. “You’re never going to be able to get a summer of boating back, so if you’re waiting to get the perfect deal, you might lose a season.

The industry is slowly catching up with demand, but if there’s a build slot for a new boat or if there’s a brokerage

Bluewater Yacht Sales offers 3-D Tours

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

39

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

probably several of those, with the absence of boat shows. That’s how we’re going to reach our customers.”

Sales of boating accessories and custom add-ons have been booming, too. Seakeeper, which manufactures gyrostabilizers for boats 23 feet and longer, is planning to increase production more than 40 percent in 2021 to keep pace with demand, according to Kelsey Barrett, Seakeeper’s communications manager.

“I don’t think anybody expected just how many people are buying boats,” she admits. “That’s a big plus, but it’s also a big challenge. We’ve had to increase production; we’re working day and night, everybody’s pulled out all the stops. We’re preparing now for a strong year ahead for us.”

Their biggest focus for this whole year has been on 23- to 30-foot center consoles, Barrett explains. “The Seakeeper I and II are seeing the biggest growth. They’re bringing stabilization to the people who have never had that before, and people who are new to boating appreciate having the option. It’s one less thing to have to

worry about, and everybody on board is more comfortable, so it’s been helping that new boater as well.”

Dave Baumgartner, owner of Riverside Marine in Essex, Maryland, has been selling new and pre-owned powerboats since 1976. He’s found this past year challenging, but he’s come up with creative ways to adapt his marketing strategy to make the most of the opportunities this new set of circumstances has presented.

“We’re selling boats,” he reports.

“I’ve got more new boats on order than I’ve ever had in December. Our big fishing boats are backed out until the fall of 2021. I’ve got one customer who might have to wait until January 2022.

We can’t keep used boats in stock. We trade them as soon as they come in.”

Baumgartner secured orders for a decent supply of new boats from Bayliner and other new boat manufacturers to present an event he’s marketing as “Maryland’s only winter boat show” at Riverside Marine from January 4 through February 28, 2021.

He’s purchased a tent the size of one of the larger exhibit tents at the Annapolis

show and he’s filling it with trailerable boats up to 35 feet long.

“The boats will be on display just like at the Baltimore show,” Baumgartner explains. “That’s how we’re going to get through the winter.

We’re going to give the customer a chance to come and see the boat on an appointment basis. That way, the customer can get all of the options and accessories they want, built to order.”

As to pricing, “all of the boats will be ‘show priced,’” he says. “They come here, they order it, and they can have it for the summer.” [Editors’ note: Please check with Riverside Marine for their latest plans due to the fluid nature of pandemic restrictions].

CBM has an online resource for all of the new winter and spring boat dealer events as they’re scheduled. You can find it at chesapeakebaymagazine. com/boat-boom.

The message from these dealers seems clear: There are new and previously-owned boats available, but the demand is high and now’s the time to buy if you want to get out on the water this summer. h

Chesapeake Whalertowne's Mini Boat Show

40

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Yamaha's new outboards feature advanced steering controls.

SMARTER OUTBOARDS

BY JEFF HOLLAND

Y

and provide the ability to hover over fishing holes against the wind and tide without having to anchor.

Helm Master EX fits all current Yamaha Digital Electronic Control outboards. It can be installed by the boat builder at the factory or by dealers when repowering customer boats at the dealership, allowing boaters to customize their Helm Master EX system. For more information, visit yamahaoutboards.com.

COURTESY PHOTOS

amaha Marine has introduced Helm Master EX, the next level of customizable, integrated boat control.

While this system has been available in multiple outboard applications, this new version extends most of its remarkable capabilities to single outboard boats as well, including joystick docking and maneuverability and “Digital Electric Steering” that replaces hydraulic systems.

Programmable push buttons get you to your destination efficiently on autopilot

42

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Suzuki Marine has developed an innovative filter that collects microplastics from outboard motor cooling water. Microplastics are an emerging ecological threat posed by countless tons of plastic waste polluting oceans and waterways like the Chesapeake Bay. Plastic breaks down into minute particles that can be ingested by fish and other aquatic life.

Suzuki’s microplastics filter is mounted at the outflow of the motor’s cooling system, so it doesn’t impact the cooling or efficient operation of the engine. It can be installed on most Suzuki models 40hp and larger. It will be available as an optional accessory this year and will become standard equipment in future model years. For more information, visit suzukimarine.com.

WINTER BOAT SHOW

TH STARTS JANUARY 4 TH

410-686-1500 | 800-448-6872 600 Riverside Drive | E s s e x , M D 2 1 2 2 1

Baltimore Boat Show: C A N C E L L E D Ocean City Boat Show: C A N C E L L E D

MARYL AND’S ONLY Winter Boat Show

Star ts Januar y 4 th

• • 30 30 Boats Boats On On Display Display • FREE Admission • FREE Admission • • Huge Huge Heated Heated Tent, Tent, Covid-Friendly Covid-Friendly • Personalized • Personalized Appointments Appointments •Demo Rides Rides All All Winter Winter If If Weather Weather Permits Permits •Demo • Winter “Boat Show” Prices • Winter “Boat Show” Prices • We We Have Have Inventory Inventory To To Sell Sell •

CALL TODAY TO MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT! Order Your Your Boat Boat Now Now and and have have it it by

by Summer!

Summer!

Order

302 CC

OPEN 21-35’ SERIOUS ANGLERS

HERITAGE 21’-25’ FAMILY FRIENDLY

ELEMENT / DECKBOAT / VR SERIES

TROPHY FISHING SERIES

BAYLINER, TROPHY, SPORTSMAN Available for Private Appointment Demo Test Rides All boats have been Discounted DOWN to Boat Show Pricing, Plus a little Extra, You won’t be Disappointed!

Call or go online to Make Your Appointment Today!

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

Two Beautiful Downeast Boats MJM 3z NEW

THE NEW DAY YACHT

Ideal for the Weekend Adventurer The 3z delivers the swift, soft ride of an advanced Doug Zurn hull design. The digital technology of the 3z’s twin Mercury Verados delivers quiet running with joystick piloting and Skyhook station, keeping low maintenance costs and easy pre-flight checks.

Family and friends will love her three distinct social areas, including the enclosed HVAC controlled pilothouse where you can escape sudden inclement weather while enjoying 360-degree views.

A luxury performance day yacht built for family fun & entertaining.

Learn More

Visit: northpointyachtsales.com Maryland: 410-280-2038 | Virginia: 804-885-4090

SPONSORED CONTENT

Tips for Selling Your Boat in the Winter

By David Cox, Certified Professional Yacht Broker, North Point Yacht Sales

O

ftentimes, we are asked, “should I keep my boat listed for sale in the winter?”

Sure, there are some challenges when it comes to winter weather. Luckily with the internet, people do not stop searching for their dream boat. Selling a boat is an opportunist sales cycle, meaning your boat needs to be available to sell when the buyers present an opportunity, which could come in January or June. In fact, because this is a large purchase many buyers don’t want to get in the crunch of a spring time decision so they buy in the middle of winter. Here are a few tips for listing your boat in the winter:

Make Sure Your Boat is Clean and Accessible

Remember, you are trying to make a good first impression. A clean boat, located in a way that buyers can easily get aboard and walk around will make a huge difference when it comes to selling your boat.

Choose a Boatyard that will Launch in the Winter

If you get an offer and the buyer wants to do a survey and sea trial, the boatyard must be willing to launch and haul the boat. The obligation of a boat seller in the standard Purchase Agreement is to “prepare the boat for the survey and sea trial” and the obligation of the buyer after the survey is to “restore the boat to the condition it was in prior to the survey”.

Protect Your Boat from Winter Weather

It’s best to present your boat in the best light possible whatever the conditions may be. If you have a nice winter cover, buyers will see that you take great care of the boat and it will enhance the value of the boat. Similarly, with winterizing the engine, air conditioning, and domestic water systems.

Put Yourself in the Buyers Shoes

If you want to sell your boat, step back for a moment and look at your boat as if you were a serious buyer. Would you buy a boat with dirty bilges, closets full of “stuff”, or dock lines that need to be replaced? Sure, some may overlook minor problems, but to get the best price for your boat, you need to present the boat in its best condition possible. If the boat looks well cared for you have a better chance to get a higher price any time of year.

BOATS NOT TO MISS W

hile you’re cooped up inside this winter, it’s only natural for your thoughts to turn to warmer days ahead and getting out on the water. If your plans include a new boat, we’ve got you covered. Whether it’s an upgrade or a first vessel, there are plenty of choices from local dealers to fit any float plan. For fishing, cruising, sailing, or just mucking about, don’t sleep on these can’t-miss options.

JEANNEAU SUN ODYSSEY 410 To design the Sun Odyssey 410, Jeanneau reached out to longstanding design partner Marc Lombard , who was assisted by Jean-Marc Piaton. Together, they delivered on the challenge of bringing the classic Jeanneau styling into a modern yacht. Like the 440 and 490, the Sun Odyssey 410 features a generous beam and walk-around deck, ensuring life on deck is comfortable and spacious, either under way or at anchor.

Simple sail handling is ensured through an integrated bowsprit, inboard winches, and recessed wells for controls.

The Lombard-designed, hard chine hull combined with a high aspect cathedral rig, add to its performance. The fine entry wave-piercing bow significantly reduces drag, while giving the boat a distinctive look. In addition, careful consideration has been put into weight distribution and balance in the sail plan, bringing a new level of performance to the Sun Odyssey line. Even the most competitive sailor will love the speed, responsiveness, and ease of handling while at the wheel. Available from Crusader Yacht Sales in Annapolis: 410-269-0939, crusaderyachts.com.

PRINCESS F45 FLYBRIDGE

GRADY-WHITE FREEDOM 307 Start planning for summer fun with the Grady-White 30foot dual console, the Freedom 307. Perfectly suited for the family that wants the flexibility to do it all, this boat’s design was derived from customer requests for a roomy cruiser with Grady-White’s heritage of fishing features, rich amenities and exceptional performance. You’ll find no boat more luxurious in its size and class.

Grady-White thought of every comfort when they designed this elegantly rugged, reliable boat. From the expansive console with head, sink and bulk storage to the roomy cockpit with wet bar, optional grill and refrigerator, this is an excellent choice for the family looking for a wellappointed boat that’s suited for a variety of coastal waters— all on the industry’s best-riding hull, the SeaV2®. GradyWhite’s Freedom 307 is an evolutionary step up in recreational boating and sure to make all your summers memorable. Available from Tri-State Marine: 410-867-3669, tristatemarine.com and Taylor Marine: 410-213-1391, taylormarinecenter.com.

The exceptional new F45 flybridge delivers unparalleled space, quality and flexibility for the ultimate on-water experience. Its extended flybridge includes a seating area with teak dining table and forward L-shaped seats that convert to a sunpad when required. At the touch of a button, the unique, electrically-sliding transom seating arrangement extends the length of the cockpit area to deliver notable main deck space for a 45-foot yacht. Below deck, a full beam owner’s cabin complemented by a forward ensuite cabin await. Powered by Volvo IPS 600’s and reaching a top speed of 31 knots, the F45 is both powerful and beautiful.

With elegant full-length hull windows and unusual design detail, the F45 is set apart among small flybridge yachts.

Available from Bluewater Yacht Sales, with nine locations along the East Coast and a brand new full-service sales and repair facility in downtown Annapolis: 877-269-3021, bluewateryachtsales.com.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

47

BOSTON WHALER 250 DAUNTLESS

CORONADO 23 CUDDY CABIN Constructed with many of the high-quality materials found in larger models, this craft offers stunning good looks on a super-durable Vinyl-Ester Epoxy Resin hull that is foam filled and resin sealed to render the Cuddy safe and virtually unsinkable. A precisely balanced, variable-deadrise hull is stable at rest yet dry and comfortable in chop. This hull design produces much greater performance with less horsepower than other 23-foot boats. The savings in power package costs allows for the finest components and materials during the construction process without breaking the bank. With seating for eight, modest sleeping accommodations below deck, and a head in the cabin, a fun day on the water can be extended overnight. There is a wide range of options that encourages each owner to put their unique signature on a cuddy cabin that turns heads at every port. Available from Annapolis Yacht Sales: 410-2678181, annapolisyachtsales.com.

48

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

For decades, the Boston Whaler Dauntless series has led the industry in confident performance and multitasking capabilities. The tradition carries into the future with the 220 and 250 Dauntless. Each model combines inshore fishing excellence with offshore cruising comfort. Much more than an average bay boat, the 250 provides a spacious layout with plenty of seating and smart amenities for fishing, watersports and cruising. The 250’s inviting bow lounge has folding backrests and lockable storage and room for 7-foot rods. The head has an enlarged door for easier access, and the new fold-up stern deck seating area complements a sleek, redesigned hull. Available from Chesapeake Whalertowne: 410-827-8080, whalertowne.com.

14 - 18 - 24 - 27

•

* AVANT-GARDE IN BOATING - PHOTO: © JEAN-BAPTISTE D’ENQUIN

*AVANT-GARDE AVANT-GARDEIN INBOATING BOATING- -PHOTO: PHOTO:©©JEAN-BAPTISTE JEAN-BAPTISTED’ENQUIN D’ENQUIN

- 24 - 27 new14 - 18brokerage

TOGETHER, LET’S LAUNCHLIFELONG A LIFELONG OBSESSION TOGETHER, TOGETHER, LET’S LET’S LAUNCH LAUNCH A A LIFELONG OBSESSION OBSESSION

power

Once you’ve been introduced to the thrill of sailing, you’re a sailor for life. The BENETEAU Once you’ve been introduced to the of sailing, aa sailor for life.

The BENETEAU Once you’ve introduced tojourney. the thrill thrill of sailboats sailing, you’re you’re sailor for for life.lazy The BENETEAU First range willbeen help you begin your First are mellow enough afternoon First range will help you begin your journey.

First sailboats are mellow enough for First range beginspeed your and journey.

First sailboats mellow enough for lazy lazy afternoon afternoon cruises, butwill canhelp alsoyou deliver intensity for those are who are performance-hungry. cruises, but can also deliver speed and intensity for those who are performance-hungry. cruises, can also deliver each speed andcanintensity those and whoramp are launched. performance-hungry.

Featuringbut a swing centerboard, First be easilyfor trailered Sailing Featuring a swing centerboard, each Featuring swing centerboard, each First First can can be be easily easily trailered trailered and and ramp ramp launched. launched. Sailing Sailing adventuresabegin with First! adventures adventures begin begin with with First!

First!

See the First 18 at Annapolis Yacht Sales. Please call 410-267-8181 for more information.

See See the the First First 18 18 at at Annapolis Annapolis Yacht Yacht Sales.

Sales. Please Please call call 410-267-8181 410-267-8181 for for more more information. information.

ANNAPOLISYACHTSALES.COM

WWW.BENETEAU.COM/US WWW.BENETEAU.COM/US WWW.BENETEAU.COM/US

•

sail

LIV LI LV IVE VE LI LIF LF IFFE E AT SEA SE EALE LEV EVE VEL EL

RANGER TUG 41 CB

Factory Direct Pricing!

5-YEAR ENGINE WARRANTY ON ALL VOLVO ENGINES SPECIAL CLOSEOUT SAFETY PACKAGE INCLUDED 30 DAY DOCKAGE 2-DAY ORIENTATION AND CAPTAINS TRAINING ON EVERY BOAT!

R-23 | $114,937

R-25 | $154,937

R-27OB | $199,937

w/250hp Yamaha

w/F300hp Yamaha

R-29S | $294,937 w/Volvo 300hp Diesel

R-31S | $ 339,937

w/200hp Yamaha

C-24CW | $99,937

C-24C | $114,937

C-24DC | 99,937

C-30CB | $324,937

C-32COUPE | $309,937

w/250hp Yamaha

w/Yamaha 250hp

w/ 250 HP Yamaha

w/435 HP Volvo

w/twin 300 HP Yamaha

w/320 HP D4 Volvo

Contact Us for a VIP Appointment!

Cutwater & Ranger Tug models in the water & ready to ride!

Located at 314 Evans Ave., Grasonville, Maryland LOW RATE FINANCING • QUALITY TRADES ACCEPTED

Pocket Yacht Company

LOCATIONS: New Bern, NC Grasonville, MD • Jensen Beach, FL 888-519-9120 • sales@pocket-yacht.com

www.pocketyacht.com

RANGER TUGS R-41 CB

NAUTICSTAR BOATS 2302 LEGACY The Legacy Series comes loaded with incredible standard features as well as a wide range of options, and the 2302’s rugged hull is up to any challenge brought by avid sportsmen and recreational boaters alike. High, flared sides ensure a dry ride for everyone on board. The helm holds a wide station with room for two chartplotters, a deluxe leaning post, and rod management with storage for up to 10 rods. At the transom, three-across seating doubles as livewell and storage. The 2302 Legacy’s stable, wide fishing deck is easily converted to a picnic area, and bow seating features include back rests that fold flush with the gunnel when the fish start to tug the lines. The staunch 2302 Legacy will get you to fish your best—and bring friends and family to the game.

Available from Port Annapolis Marina: 443-837-7272, nauticstarboatsmaryland.com.

The new R-41 from Ranger Tugs is as luxurious and comfortable as it is strong and seaworthy. With two private staterooms, each with en suite head and shower, there’s plenty of room to comfortably entertain guests. The R-41 is packed full of innovative new features that will make your life on the water stress free and fun. Designed and built by hand in the USA, the R-41 will turn heads and collect fans everywhere you go. You’ll love the massive cockpit, with transom seats that rotate open to present a pass-through to the oversized swim step. Abundant seating, ice maker, sink and a joystick docking station can also be found in the cockpit. The spacious, light-filled salon is the heart of the R-41. With a conversational layout and seating for 12, you’ll make a lifetime’s worth of memories with friends and family in this warm, inviting space. Available from Pocket Yacht Company: 888-519-9120, pocketyacht.com.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

51

BAYLINER VR4 OB The latest in Bayliner’s VR Series of highly evolved bowriders, the VR4 is easy to tow, launch and store—and really fun to use. The smallest VR Series model delivers plenty of interior space thanks to the BeamForward™ design, which carries the full beam further forward for more comfort and capacity than traditional pointed bows.

Our AftAdvantage™ design increases the rear seating area by shifting it to the aft-most point of the running surface, allowing the swim platform to extend beyond that. That means more room for comforts like movable backrests for versatile seating configurations, available bow wind block and optional filler cushion that together create an additional bow seat, optional sun pad cushion inserts that expand the sunbathing area, and plenty of convenient storage throughout. Available from Riverside Marine in Essex, Md.: 410-686-1500, riversideboats.com.

52

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

PARKER 2100 SE Common sense, time-tested design and a straightforward approach, combined with the uncompromising dedication to quality construction practices, has earned the entire Parker line the reputation of strength, simplicity, and seaworthiness. All Parker boats are hand-laid from the finest roll stocks and resins available. Deck hardware is thrubolted stainless steel with backing plates.

The tradition continues with the 2100 SE. Whether inshore fishing, offshore trolling, or enjoying water sports with the family, the 2100 SE checks all the boxes in an efficient and affordable package. Parker’s Special Edition (SE) center consoles offers Mod-V hulls and forward platforms for additional seating or casting to provide flexibility for both inshore and offshore use. The Deep-V, with its sharp entry and wide beam, is ready to handle sporty and extreme offshore conditions with ease.

From big seas to shallow creeks, the Parker 2100 SE has the flexibility, strength, and seaworthiness to get you to your destination safely and comfortably. Available from Tri-State Marine: 410-867-3669, tristatemarine.com.

PURSUIT S 328 The Pursuit S 328 broadens the range of Pursuit’s popular Sport Series. The athletic exterior is complemented by a forward wrap-around lounge at the bow, just opposite of the forward-facing seating in the console, to create a nice place to socialize.

Below is a two-person berth, head, and sink with vanity that could let you overnight and freshen up for a dinner shore side. The aft cockpit accommodates serious fishing and, with its fold-away fore and aft seats, quickly converts to a social area at the dock.

Available at North Point Yacht Sales: 410-280-2038, northpointyachtsales.com and Bosun’s Marine: 410-2861350, bosuns.com.

chesapeakebaymagazine.com/boating

53

DOGGED puRSuit

NICK KELLEY

Larry Hindman breeds and trains distinctive fox-red yellow labs—his preferred hunting companions.

by Marty LeGrand

T

he calendar says mid-September. The weather, crisp as a Winesap apple, foretells fall. But Larry Hindman and the two yellow labs pacing in his pickup’s metal dog chest are thinking months ahead, anticipating a frosty hunting blind at dawn as geese descend on a spread of decoys.

On this morning, a fellow hunter’s farm ponds host rehearsal for the Eastern Shore waterfowl season as Hindman puts Keeper, 4, and Pepper, 2, through their retrieving paces. Retired after more than four decades with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, much of it as chief waterfowl biologist, the Talbot County resident and son of the South has found his new calling breeding, training, and hunting dogs of a different color: “fox-red” yellow labrador retrievers. Their striking auburn coats are a throwback to the yellow lab’s original hue of more than a century ago, gradually bred to pallor as popular taste in the canines changed.

In that sense, Hindman’s fox-reds make fitting companions for their old-school minded owner. A respected biologist and lifelong hunter, he earned a reputation for his quiet-but-steady commitment to waterfowl conservation at DNR, an approach that occasionally clashed with public demands.

As we pull into a dirt driveway, Hindman hails the farm’s owner on his cell phone.

“You fishing today, Butch?”

“Nah.” “Okay, we’re coming over to train.”

“Alrighty.”

Hindman stops the truck between two smallish training ponds punctured by several peninsulas. As we walk through Butch’s rough-cut field to the nearest pond, crickets scatter in all directions. It’s breezy with a nip in the air. There are no waterfowl in sight.

For training purposes, Hindman deploys buoyant white bumpers—soft plastic, nearly foot-long knurled batons—to simulate a downed duck or goose. He handtosses or mechanically launches these splash-test dummies, sometimes two or three at a time, to teach his retrievers patience and discipline as well as verbal commands, visual cues, and the art of the “blind retrieve,” when the dog must locate a felled bird it cannot see.

Hindman returns to the truck and unlocks Pepper’s kennel first. She clatters down a ramp from the truck bed and they proceed to the water’s edge. Hindman flings two bumpers for the dog to mark. Pepper sits obediently at his feet as he tries to get her to start prematurely.

“Butch!” he yells sharply. She stays put.

“Larry!” Her soft ears twitch but she’s otherwise motionless.

“Pep!” Off she goes, launching her lean body into the water and swimming toward the first bumper about 30 yards away. Securing it gently in her mouth, she paddles back, delivers it to him on command (“Fetch!”), sits at his side (“Heel!”), and releases the bumper (“Drop!”).

A piercing training whistle helps alert her when needed. When Pepper can’t locate the last bumper of the next round Hindman throws, he blows the whistle and, waving his hands like a referee signaling out of bounds, “casts” her left toward the bumper. It’s important, as positive reinforcement, that the dogs are able to find the marks, he says. “They’ve got to trust that there’s something there.” Practiced over and over, the drills condition retrievers for hunting. “They learn through repetition.”

They get lots of that. Hindman belongs to a social circle of a half-dozen or so trainers from Talbot and Dorchester counties who, when they’re not hunting, gather on weekends at one another’s farms to school their dogs and hobnob.

“Labradors are kind of situational learners. They learn something in one place and you take them to a new place and it’s like they forgot it,” he says. “So we train in multiple places to make our dogs more well-rounded and get them to do what we want.” Most of the dog owners who train with Hindman also hunt with him.

Gentle, doe-eyed, and extremely devoted, labradors are America’s all-around favorite dog. The breed’s physical attributes— a thick, so-called “otter” tail that serves as a rudder; large paws for paddling; an insulating, water-repellent coat; and a keen nose that can detect a bird in the middle of the densest marsh—also make labs

accomplished hunting companions, particularly in water. In Newfoundland, where they were first worked (“Labrador” being a misnomer of baffling origin), fishermen used them to haul nets and fetch fish that escaped their trawls.

Not all waterfowl hunters employ dogs. They should, says Butch, a stocky man dressed somewhat unseasonably in shorts, who’s just driven up on his ATV. Without dogs, the two friends conjecture, hunters may fail to retrieve up to 30 percent of the birds they shoot, including wounded escapees only retrievers are likely to locate. “They’re a great conservation tool,” Hindman likes to say of his dogs.

For 42 years, conservation was Hindman’s primary focus at DNR. Raised in rural Kentucky, where he hunted squirrels and rabbits in nearby farm fields, he went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at

DrOP!

It’s important that the dogs

MD DNR

are able to find their markers.

56

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Eastern Kentucky University before coming to Maryland.

When he took his DNR biologists’ examination in Baltimore, the city-shy applicant camped in a state park, sleeping in his International Harvester Scout. Offered employment with both the agency’s fish and wildlife divisions, he chose the latter and became a district wildlife manager at Havre de Grace in 1973 before landing a job he craved in DNR’s waterfowl division.

He was mentored by a legend in the field: Vernon Stotts, DNR’s then senior waterfowl biologist, known for his studies of black ducks and pioneering work on aerial bird surveys. When Stotts retired in 1981, Hindman succeeded him as waterfowl project manager for DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Division. He forged his own notoriety with one of the Chesapeake’s iconic waterfowl species, Canada geese.

By 1995, the population of Atlantic migratory Canada geese—

birds that traditionally winter on the Eastern Shore in vast numbers—had fallen more than 75 percent in less than a decade, reaching an alarming all-time low of 29,000 nesting pairs at their breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic. Joining other U.S. and Canadian Atlantic Flyway Council partners, Maryland imposed what would become a five-year moratorium on the hunting of migratory Atlantic Population (AP) Canada geese, then a $40-million industry on the Eastern Shore. As DNR’s waterfowl project manager and chairman of the Flyway Council’s Canada goose technical committee, Hindman had to explain the closure’s science-based rationale to Marylanders whose livelihoods were dependent on goose hunting. Many weren’t inclined to be persuaded.

“He went against the grain of something he knew was going to be unpopular,” recalls Steve Meyers, who

as president of the Potomac River Waterfowlers Association and a member of Ducks Unlimited, sat in on Hindman-led public meetings and came to know him better. At times, the resistance was downright menacing, Meyers says. “There were threats against him and he had state police and Natural Resources police bodyguards.”

“I had outfitters calling me, raising hell with me,” Hindman acknowledges. “We had public meetings, and for a few of them I had to wear a bulletproof vest.” But he persevered, unharmed and unruffled.

“Larry didn’t waver. He did the right thing,” says Meyers, who has since retired to Delaware and remains friends with Hindman. “That tells you so much about that man’s character.

Everybody looking back on it knows that what he did was the right thing.

People were looking at waterfowl [from the perspective of] their own personal enjoyment and economic

PEP!

At the sound of her name, Pepper launches herself into the water.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

57

The retrievers’ fine sense of smell helps them locate downed birds.

58

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

value. Larry changed a lot of people’s attitude about the resource.”

“I don’t have any regrets. It’s something we felt we had to do,” Hindman says of the hunting ban. He credits then-DNR Secretary Torrey Brown with making the difficult call.

When wildlife officials determined that the geese’s nesting population had regained sustainable numbers, Maryland lifted its moratorium in time for the 2001 hunting season.

To bolster the science behind hunting regulations, Maryland’s goose point man helped implement a first: a breeding-ground monitoring plan that took him all the way to the birds’ nesting territory in northern Quebec’s Ungava Peninsula. There, Hindman dined on caribou, stayed in an Inuit fishing camp with other biologists, and tramped the tundra monitoring the birds’ nests, which are hollowed in the snow. Breeding ground surveys still influence the Flyway Council’s Canada geese population management.

“Currently we target a harvest rate of no more than seven percent of the adult population,” Hindman says, lapsing into his former role.

Confronting skepticism with scrupulous data collection, Hindman, a soft-spoken scientist who retains his Southern accent, guided DNR’s waterfowl management program for decades while maintaining his ties to hunting.

“He took his responsibilities very seriously and always has,” says Chip Heaps, recently retired senior director of development for Ducks Unlimited’s mid-Atlantic division. Heaps worked with Hindman as a member of the state’s Migratory Waterfowl Advisory Committee (now the Migratory Game Bird Advisory Committee), beginning in 2002.

“His number-one concern was the waterfowl resource, but number two was the hunter,” Heaps says. “He realized the importance of hunters in the conservation community and all they do for waterfowl.”

An avid upland bird hunter for years when he owned Brittany spaniels, Hindman transitioned to waterfowl after a friend presented him with a black lab named Pete. The spaniels and Pete were also workmates. “They didn’t get paid by the DNR, but they got in on some neat stuff,” he says.

The Brittanies spotted woodcock nests, enabling Hindman to catch and band the chicks. And Pete once accompanied his owner when the biologist investigated a die-off of tundra swans on Marshyhope Creek. In a single outing, Pete managed to retrieve 18 swans for necropsy from the creek’s boot-sucking muddy bottom. “He was a tough dog,” Hindman says.

He began breeding labs 14 years ago. One of Hindman’s waterfowl hunting pals, a retriever field-trial judge, put him in touch with a breeder from Oklahoma. He purchased Teal, the fox-red yellow lab he owned until the dog passed away in 2019.

“I’ve had retrievers ever since,” he says. He currently has three: Keeper, Pepper, and 8-year-old River, all females he breeds for his business, Yellowdog Retrievers. They live on the eight-acre farm Hindman owns with his wife, Joy, in Trappe. Every morning, Hindman visits the dogs’ compound to feed and hang out with them. As they chow on high-protein kibble, he watches the morning news on a TV in the office, which is festooned with the labs’ prize ribbons and trophies.

NICK KELLEY PHOTOS

“They’re a great conservation tool,” Hindman likes to say of his dogs.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

59

January/February 2021

AWW!

LARRY HINDMAN PHOTOS

“They’re almost like your children,” Hindman says.

“They’re almost like your children,” he says. (When I first met Hindman two years ago, he scrolled through dog photos on his iPhone like a grandfather showing off his grandkids.) “They’re affectionate and they love to do what they’re bred for. The only bad part about having a dog is having to deal with the loss. They just don’t live long, you know.” His thoughts drift back to Teal, whose 13 years matched a labrador’s typical lifespan. “She was hunting the day she died, probably rabbits,” he says. “You get so attached to them.”

Yellowdog Retrievers isn’t a for-profit venture. The proceeds Hindman takes in from selling puppies at $2,000 apiece cover the $12,000 to $15,000 he spends annually on his labs’ premium dog food, veterinary bills, medications, kennel and training equipment, plus entry fees and travel costs for retriever competitions. He prefers selling to buyers who will train and hunt his puppies, although a few become strictly pets.

Hindman’s female labs attract stud suitors from across the country whose

60

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

Training dogs can be lucrative, but Hindman prefers to work with his own dogs.

owners prize the dogs’ unusual fox-red coat and pedigreed bloodlines.

They’re bred by artificial insemination, usually in the spring, in consultation with a canine reproductive specialist from Philadelphia. Litters are born in a heated whelping box in Hindman’s office. The pups are sold at eight weeks old after they’ve been health-tested so Hindman can guarantee they’ll have sound hips and elbows as adults.

Professional retriever training can be a lucrative gig. Hindman prefers to work only with his dogs, entering them in competition every spring and fall. River, whose father was a national field champion but whose own competitive career has been limited, is his best retriever, Hindman says. She’s particularly adept at blind retrieves. “You give her the line [align her spine to the mark] and she’s exceptional on running a straight line,” he says.

Keeper has earned several retriever titles, including the Maryland Retriever Club’s senior hunting retriever for 2019.

And, based on training sessions like today’s, Hindman has high hopes for Pepper, who’s nicknamed “Little Red Corvette.”

Gentle, doe-eyed, and extremely devoted, labradors are America’s all-around favorite dog.

When Hindman finishes Pepper’s training, he releases Keeper, who’s even livelier than the little ’Vette. She jumps and twirls in the air, her tongue tasting the breeze. We walk downhill to the second pond, which envelopes a grassy island. Hindman throws a bumper on the far side of the island and on command Keeper, her folded ears rising like wings, belly-flops into the water, gallops over the grassy isle, and quickly locates her mark on the other side.

She returns as enthusiastically as she departed.

She could have taken a roundabout but drier route by following the pond bank until she neared the bumper, but she’s been “decheated,” a training term for teaching dogs to perform straight-line retrieves. After several more drills, Hindman loads up Keeper and heads home with his dogs. “You always want them to be eager when you finish,” he says. “You want them to need more.”

Hindman and his friends see to the adult dogs’ formal training, which begins at age six months. His family helps rear Yellowdog Retrievers’ puppies. The Hindmans’ son and daughter have

hunted with their father and—though too young to hunt—the couple’s granddaughters, Kherington, 8, and Kylie, 6, love to get hands-on with the pups.

“Both our granddaughters help socialize all the pups in the litters we produce, giving them lots of attention,” Hindman says. The girls also accompany him in the field. “They help me put decoys out,” he says.

“They like dressing up in the camo.

They just like being out there with Pop-Pop.” The season will soon begin for AP Canada geese, the birds Hindman most likes to hunt. In December and January you’ll find him sipping coffee in a blind on his or his next-door neighbor’s farm, side by side with his hunting companions, human and canine. For 41 years, Hindman flew on the Atlantic Flyway Midwinter Waterfowl Survey, a joint federal and state aerial count of more than 500,000 ducks, geese, and swans along the Chesapeake and Atlantic coast shorelines. He oversaw DNR telemetry studies that monitored thousands of ducks, including wigeons, canvasbacks, and ruddies. He never tires of watching waterfowl, from above or below.

“I’m mesmerized watching ducks and other birds working out in the wind.” From the cover of an evergreenbrushed hide this winter, Hindman will call the birds he once staked his reputation to protect. “I love seeing geese set up and cut the wind. I love to see them coming in and then flip upside down to lose altitude,” he says.

As they come closer, wings spread, he’ll aim and fire. Then River, Keeper, or Pepper will spring into action. The retrievers are as much a part of his love for the sport as the shooting, Hindman says. “We probably wouldn’t hunt if we didn’t have dogs.” h Maryland native and award-winning contributor Marty LeGrand writes about nature, the environment, and Chesapeake history.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

61

Fighting the Power Enslaved people in the Chesapeake region found an unlikely ally in the struggle against slavery: the British.

62

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

by Tim Grove

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/ ©GERRY EMBLETON

o

n August 14, 1814, British commander Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane’s ship, the H.M.S. Tonnant, had just arrived in the Bay from Bermuda with its fleet of support vessels, joining up with Rear Admiral George Cockburn’s fleet to form a fearsome armada. To Lieutenant George Gleig, an 18-year-old Scottish soldier sailing with Cochrane, the sight was “as grand and imposing as any I ever beheld; because one could not help remembering that this powerful fleet was sailing in the enemy’s bay, and was filled with troops for the invasion of that enemy’s country.” Gleig’s journal identified the force as including “an hundred negroes lately armed and [trained] …”

Word swept through Cochrane’s fleet that Cockburn had recruited former slaves to help fight the Americans. The Chesapeake region featured good farming land and many farmers had become wealthy by growing tobacco, a crop in great demand in Europe. However, tobacco cultivation was a lot of work and the use of enslaved African labor had grown in popularity. In Great Britain, Parliament outlawed the international slave trade, but slavery was still legal. The American government, too, outlawed the importation of enslaved people, and all of the northern states had either abolished slavery or set measures in place to abolish it. But in both Maryland and Virginia, the ownership of humans was legal and had become a foundation of the economy, deeply rooted and widespread.

When Cockburn’s ships had first entered the Bay the previous year, the British were under orders not to stir emotions or encourage slave revolts. If enslaved people came to them seeking freedom, military orders dictated that officers aid them and offer protection and the opportunity to resettle in a place they would be free. According to Maryland and Virginia law at the time, slaves were considered property, so helping them escape was equivalent to stealing.

Only a few decades earlier, during the American Revolution, the British had promised freedom to runaway slaves in the region. With the recent British arrival in the Chesapeake, the Union Jack flag again symbolized the hope of freedom. Word spread quickly among the enslaved communities. Slaves desiring freedom faced several options. They could escape and flee to the British and request protection. If caught during the attempt, they faced certain punishment. Fleeing to the British required trust that they would in fact be offered a new way of life and not taken someplace like the Caribbean and sold back into slavery. It also meant they might not ever see their families again. It was usually more complicated and dangerous for groups of slaves to escape at the same time. If they chose not to escape, they had no idea if they would ever find a future opportunity to gain freedom.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

63

January/February 2021

Aiding slaves was viewed by many British officers primarily as a war tactic and not a humanitarian endeavor. For the British, there was a cost to welcoming these refugees. Often they arrived at British ships with no personal items and little clothing. The British needed to feed and clothe them and to ensure their freedom, which meant transporting them away from the area. Every day the British were in the Chesapeake, enslaved people found their way to British ships. As a military tactic, the British decided to use the existence of slavery to their advantage. Freeing the slaves

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

“Modern Philanthropist,” published by Smith New York. American Antiquarian Society, ca. 1813. The text on the paper reads, “Liberté des Negroes.”

64

would hurt the local economy. But another idea took hold, one that would inflict more damage on the Americans.

The Navy’s leadership decided to use these fugitive slaves to bolster their number of fighting forces. While based in the Caribbean a few years earlier, Vice Admiral Cochrane had successfully recruited a force of former slaves.

He quickly realized that besides providing more fighting troops, training former slaves to fight could serve as a significant psychological blow to southern slaveowners. Laws

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

prohibited slaves from carrying guns or serving in the military. The fact that the British were using their “property” against them would unsettle the Americans. The former slaves also knew the land and could provide valuable information to aid British movement.

In spring 1814, Cochrane had ordered Cockburn to “find and get possession of some convenient island or point within the Chesapeake…which might serve as a place of refuge for the negro slaves from the surrounding shores.” Cockburn selected Tangier Island, a small, sandy island sitting in the bay east of the mouth of the Potomac River. Its location provided easy access for both the upper and lower parts of the Bay and to the enslaved communities in the region. The island became a base for refugees and later a training camp and barracks for the black soldiers.

By the end of May 1814, the troops had built Fort Albion on that tiny spit of sand in the sparkling Chesapeake. Named for Cockburn’s flagship, and the ancient name for England, its cluster of buildings eventually included barracks, a church, a hospital, and dwellings with gardens. It became a temporary home to more than one thousand escaped slaves who fled to freedom.

New recruits from this group would form the Colonial Marines. Cockburn didn’t think many young men would choose to join the military and was doubtful as to their usefulness in this capacity. At first, he claimed that the refugees were “naturally neither very valorous [courageous] nor very active.” But as he watched the first 80 recruits train, he

DON TROIANI

The British Colonial Marines were made up of formerly enslaved Black men from the United States and Caribbean islands.

LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA ARCHIVES RESEARCH SERVICES MAP COLLECTION

One in the series of county maps preliminary to Boye’s nine-sheet map of Virginia, published in 1827.

66

gradually changed his mind. He soon boasted that the new troops “are getting on astonishingly and are really very fine fellows.”

He admitted “they have induced me to alter the bad opinion I had of the whole of their Race and I now really believe these, we are training, will neither show want of zeal or courage when employed by us in attacking their old Masters.”

The Colonial Marines had their first test in battle at the end of May 1814 and their commander later reported that the “new …

Black Corps … gave a most excellent specimen of what they are likely to be, their conduct was marked by great spirit and vivacity.”

As the British had predicted, the prospect of freed slaves fighting for the British against their former masters horrified many Americans. One newspaper was outraged at the savagery of Cockburn (who the American press had dubbed “the Great Bandit”) and his “negroes in uniform.” For his part, Cockburn wrote to his superior that “the Colonial Marines, who were for the first time, employed in Arms against their old Masters, … behaved to the admiration of every Body.” By midsummer 120 men had enlisted, and the force would eventually reach almost 250.

One person who joined the Colonial Marines was Ezekiel Loney, a 27 year old working the Corotoman plantation in northern Virginia. When British barges ventured near the plantation, the person in charge of the slaves ordered them to scatter into the woods

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

in fear that they would escape to the enemy.

Three young men, including Ezekiel Loney, seized the opportunity and did just that. Often young men who managed to escape wanted to rescue family and friends as well. Four days after Loney escaped, he returned in the early hours of the morning with British soldiers to free a total of 69 enslaved individuals, the largest number that escaped from a Chesapeake Bay area plantation at one time during the war.

Sadly, not much is known about the refugees who briefly lived on Tangier or fought in the Colonial Marines. Researchers at Historic Sotterley Plantation in southern Maryland have managed to identify four men who became Colonial Marines, out of the 48 enslaved people of Sotterley who escaped to nearby British ships in June 1814. They were Peregrine Young, Joseph Wood, James Bowie, and Crowley Young.

The Americans kept watch on waterways and tried to prevent slaves from going to the British. Some slaveowners even visited British ships under a flag of truce to try to convince their former slaves to return to them. The British encouraged the masters to do so, to counter any charges that the British captured slaves by force, but insisted that the ex-slaves should decide their own fate. A British officer was required to be present at all times. The Captain assembled the fugitives on deck and announced, “Your masters come for you, you are at liberty to follow them, but recollect that you are as free as themselves.”

Rarely were the slaveowners successful. Until they established the base at Tangier Island, the British generally sent the refugees first to their base in Bermuda, and later to the colony of Nova Scotia after a short time on the ships.

They employed them on Navy projects and paid them a minimal wage.

The whole enterprise was ironic given the fact that the English had brought slavery to the New World and it was still legal in most of the British Empire. For this brief moment, however, while the British sailed the Chesapeake, they represented the hope of freedom to the enslaved communities who dared escape and come to them. While the British could boldly claim they would free

Tim Grove lives in Falls Church, Virginia, and strives to tell the stories of America’s forgotten voices. This article is adapted from his new book for young adults, Star-Spangled: The Story of a Flag, a Battle, and the American Anthem (timgrove.net).

Meet Charles Ball

Not all escaped slaves sided with the British. Charles Ball enlisted with the Americans. Years later, he published a book describing his experiences during the war.

Born into slavery on a tobacco farm in Maryland, Ball was about twelve when his owner died. Enslaved people had no control over their lives and often owners sold slaves due to financial difficulties. To settle debts, Ball’s family was sold, and he was brutally separated from his mother.

Years later, his owner sold him to someone in Georgia. Charles managed to escape and follow the stars north back to his wife and children in Calvert County, Maryland.

Proclaiming himself a free man, he found work as a farmer and a fisherman. In December 1813 he enlisted in the Chesapeake flotilla as seaman and cook.

He fought with this group at Bladensburg and at Baltimore. After the war, slave catchers tracked him down and dragged him back into slavery in Georgia. He eventually escaped again. His autobiography titled A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Charles Ball. A Black Man first published in 1837, offers a shocking account of Ball’s amazing life.

January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

slaves, the reality of limited food and clothing, along with people who didn’t want them in Bermuda and Nova Scotia, meant life in this new freedom would not be easy.

Over 200 Colonial Marines served in the Chesapeake regiment during the war and fought in various engagements, including the attacks on both Washington and Baltimore.

Four were killed at the Battle of Baltimore. Of the Sotterley men, both Peregrine and Crowley Young died while in the Colonial Marines.

At the end of the war in February 1815, the Colonial Marines and refugees evacuated from Tangier Island with the British army in early Spring. The British sent the Marines to Bermuda where they helped build a dockyard for the Royal Navy. After 14 months, the Navy allowed the Colonial Marines to leave military service and offered to settle them as farmers on the British island of Trinidad. About 400 accepted the offer, including some from other regions of the United States. Along with their families, they created villages, many staying with colleagues from their military companies.

They identified as Americans and called themselves “the Merikins.” Ezekiel Loney and his family were among them, as were two Sotterley men, Joseph Wood and James Bowie.

The Tangier Island History Museum on the island includes a small exhibit about the Colonial Marines. Unfortunately, the site of Fort Albion now sits underwater, about a half mile into the Bay. An 1821 hurricane known as the “Great September Gust” inundated the island and washed away the fort’s remains.

Tangier itself keeps losing land to rising seas and faces an uncertain future.

Much of what is known of the refugees comes from reparations claims made by slave owners to the British after the war. A commission was established to compensate owners for their losses. Hopefully researchers will uncover more of the Colonial Marines’ story in years to come.

67

garrett

Realty Partners Building Futures Together

garrett Realty Partners presents

COASTAL VIRGINIA’S finest $1,100,000

$1,400,000

taylor farMs

Truly ONE OF A KIND home lacking nothing!! Seller has invested over 2.2 mil in home!! Heated pool, outdoor shower and bathroom, massive pool deck, covered patio, 3 car garage, whole house generator.

$949,500

herons Walk

Private wild-life sanctuary-like setting on Moore’s Creek in Tabb. Minutes from almost everything, 3 acres of private wooded and waterfront property, navigable tidal water to Poquoson River and Chesapeake Bay.

$599,000

$895,000

Gloucester Waterfront

5 acres of privacy! Enjoy the sounds of nature from this 19th Century farmhouse with upgrades and improvements throughout.

Estate includes in ground pool and tennis court. Charming sunroom view!

$495,000

$565,000

north Waterfront

12+ acres of privacy! Own your own beautifully landscaped peninsula with water on 3 sides! No flood insurance required! Canoe, fish, swim off your floating pier, enjoy the fire pit, or bird watch!

the Woods on Mansion rd

ocean VieW

Modern design with a splash of Victorian elegance! Open concept floor plan downstairs w/ hardwood floors. Great location within walking distance to several marinas, restaurants and other amenities.

$495,000

$495,000

Bright & Spacious Custom Built Home on almost ½ Acre! Family Room w/cozy fireplace open to Casual Dining Area and Kitchen w/Stainless Appliances, Granite Counters, Center Island and Gas Cooking.

fords colony

Luxurious, 3-story home on the water in desired WILLIAMSBURG, award winning Fords Colony community... Stunning water views from many vantage points! Whole house gas generator & MUCH MORE!

Greater Wythe

Waterfront overlooking the Hampton Roads Harbor! Includes waterfront parcel across the street w/ possibilities for installation of private pier. Wood burning fireplace, slate roof, 2 car detached garage with half bath.

757-879-1504 s 1-800-GARRETT

dandy

Large family home w/ GIANT dining room, GIANT closets, GIANT screened porch, BIG bonus room or 5th bedroom, large deck and hot tub.

greg@ggrva.com

Greg Garrett

75 92 0....

E 210 C N I N S I D L SO Y ETASR !

AHGI SE N

L T 3 ’5T+MLI SOS COAU T FAFGIECNETS DON OL OLC A C4A LLLOACLA

Dymer Hall

Blue Heron Hideaway

McSwain Residence

The Dews Sold Over 100 Homes in 2020!

Voted Best Real Estate Firm 7 Consecutive Years!

Visit our Website for Videos, detailed information & More! Serving All Northern Neck & Middle Peninsula H O R S L E Y R E A L E S TAT E . C O M

Call/Text: Call/Text:

David Dew 804.436.3106 Katie Horsley Dew 804.436.6256

DavidEDew@gmail.com • HorsleyRE@yahoo.com

Your Northern Neck & Middle Peninsula of Virginia Real Estate Specialists

Virtually tour all our listings!

www.RappahannockRiverLuxury.com

First offering of this fine home on the Rappahannock River. It features first floor bedroom en suite, open floor plan, waterside screened porch & patio. Enjoy big water views, incredible sunsets & pier with 4 ft. MLW. Builder designed and built for personal use.

$974,000

www.LancasterCreek.com

Live the island life! This incredibly built home is located on Pearsons Island with huge water views. Truly relax surrounded by water with multiple decks, walls of windows, main level bedroom, large second floor en suite and speakers throughout the home. Pier with 4 ft. MLW.

$499,000

Please visit our property websites to view interactive floor plans, aerials, maps and more!

www.DymerCreek.com

This beautiful one level home sits on over 1 private acre, close to amenities with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Offering 2 bedroom en suites, screened porch w/ ipe floor, waterside deck, attached 2 car garage, detached 2 car garage, pier with 3-4 ft. MLW with access to the Bay.

$665,000

www.WeemsWaterfront.com

Discover peace and quiet at this beautiful waterfront property on over 4.5 private acres with pier on Taylors Creek. The home is impressive with vaulted & tray ceilings, updated kitchen, main floor bedroom en suite, waterside sunroom, deck & 2 car attached garage.

$599,000

804.724.1587

www.BeverlyShultz.com

SPONSORED CONTENT

Has your home increased in value?

Y

ou might be thinking I am referring to monetary value. And maybe your home has increased in monetary value. However, I am referring to the growing desire for an improved lifestyle at home.

With the pandemic, we all have been forced to stay at home, work from home and go to school at home. We have also been trying our best to find ways to safely socialize with friends and family while maintaining a safe distance. Wow, what a year.

My clients have come to us with a major increased personal value placed on their home and want to improve its functionality and livability. Now that the home has so much more purpose in so many different ways, new designs and spaces with different purposes are necessary. Homeowners have new needs now based on working and school that can require proper desk space, office equipment and possibly sound proofing to family time, socializing with friends and personal quiet time. We are commonly asked to “create the feel and luxury of my last vacation get-away destination”. My clients want their home to be a place of happiness, relaxation and peace that they are always anxious to come home too.

If this feeling is familiar, start writing your thoughts down and discuss with your family what is truly important to you. Then put the items you come up with in priority order. You are now ready to start the transformation. I don’t see this changing anytime soon; rather I see it continuing to increase in importance over the years. Also remember with good, smart design, not only will your livability increase in value, but done correctly, your monetary value can increase as well.

Quick Tip: If you enjoy hanging holiday lights and such, BE SAFE. Always make sure your ladder is set with the proper angle and someone is at the bottom of the ladder spotting you for safety.

“John August” Johnson 410.867.0407

john@remodelthebay.com

CREATIVE SPACES CREATIVE SPACES CREATIVE SPACES CREATIVE SPACES R E MO OD DE ELLIIN I NGG RE EM M O D R R E M O D EELL I NNGG

Specializing Specializinginin Specializing Specializing inin WATER FRONT HOMES WATER FRONT HOMES WATERFRONT HOMES -- FRONT HOMES WATER

A A DESIGN-BUILD DESIGN-BUILD FIRM FIRM Providing COVID-19 Safe Practices A DESIGN-BUILD FIRM Full Architectural Services Afor DESIGN-BUILD FIRM the Safety of our Clients Clear Communication andtoour Staff Providing COVID-19 Safe Practices Proven Construction System FullDesign Architectural Services Extraordinary Craftsmanship for the Safety Clients Custom Homes Fullour Remodels •of Clear Communication Additions Spaces System and•toOutdoor our Staff Proven Design Custom HomesConstruction • Full Remodels Extraordinary Custom Homes Full Remodels remodelthebay.com Additions Spaces •Craftsmanship • Outdoor

Additions • Outdoor Spaces 410.867.0407 remodelthebay.com Custom Homes • Full Remodels remodelthebay.com Additions • Outdoor Spaces 410.867.0407

410.867.0407 remodelthebay.com 410.867.0407

CBM

wild chesapeake

The wood duck population is on the rise, leading to more sightings year round.

Restoring the Bay’s Wood Ducks

by Capt. Chris D. Dollar

SCOTT SURIANO /MD DNR PHOTO

M

72

any moons have passed since I sat across from Cliff Brown at Holly’s Restaurant on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. There, I listened to his vision of how to repopulate Maryland’s woodlands with the brilliantly colored wood duck.

Decades of habitat loss had driven down the woodie population, and he was intent on doing his part to reverse that trend.

That iconic restaurant, long a gathering spot of waterfowlers and travelers along Route 50, is gone. But Brown’s Maryland Wood Duck Initiative (MWDI) lives on. An ardent waterfowl hunter, Brown founded the grassroots initiative to build and post nesting boxes throughout the state for these colorful birds. He wanted MWDI to be volunteer-driven, especially by students. With buy-in from the state’s Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service, Brown and scores of partners and volunteers have, in the intervening decades, installed thousands of wood duck boxes at scores of locations that have undoubtedly resulted in many thousands of hatched ducklings since 2005.

Paul Peditto, Wildlife and Heritage Service director, told me back then that the MWDI is the “perfect template” for private/public conservation efforts. As a result of Brown’s efforts, in 2006 Ducks Unlimited named him its first Maryland “Conservationist of the Year” recipient. The following year, Maryland’s citizen-led Wildlife Advisory Commission chose him as its own Conservationist of the Year.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

(Full disclosure: I served as board chairman of the WAC during that time.)

Five years later, Brown was one of six finalists for Field & Stream’s Heroes of Conservation award, which honors individuals whose conservation ethic and volunteerism benefits the hunting and/or fishing community.

“Certainly it’s wonderful to be recognized but I share [these accolades] with the thousands of students, hundreds of volunteers, and many groups who have helped over the years,” Brown told me at the time.

I caught up with Brown in the fall of 2020 to talk about MWDI and its involvement with a project on the Anacostia River. He was quick to credit the group’s longevity to a “core group of dedicated volunteers who handle the monitoring of the public nesting sites.”

He said, “This is a continuous process which ebbs and flows subject to numerous personal circumstances. As we have matured our efforts these past 15 years, we are now starting to cull some generally lower-quality nest sites where volunteer recruitment and relatively fewer boxes are located.”

Over the past 15 years, funding for MWDI has varied widely, according to Brown. His organization does not solicit funds, but they have several site sponsor agencies that routinely provide funding for their sites, and run a few corporate events to raise money for box materials.

“We’ve also been fortunate to have been awarded two useful grants,” Brown adds. “We were a finalist in the Heroes of Conservation program and a

Recently I spoke with Emma Gesiriech, who was involved in the MDWI-ECC project on the Anacostia River. The Anacostia courses through the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County and Montgomery County in Maryland. Its watershed covers 176 square miles, in which more than one million people live. Decades of development, industrialization, and deforestation have left the Anacostia sorely polluted. Despite its degradation, however, there still exists a surprisingly and remarkably diverse number of species, including rare and endangered species, birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, and insects. Advocates are working hard to restore the Anacostia River watershed and are encouraged that this is a river on the mend.

Gesiriech explained that the partnership began in 2009 when the husband of ECC’s development director facilitated the wood duck boxmonitoring program and built the wood duck boxes with that year’s corps.

According to Gesiriech, it was a good match since Earth Conservation

Corps was one of the first organizations “to take part in restoring the Anacostia River at its most vulnerable time. The wood duck box monitoring program fits in with ECC’s mission because it allows youth the opportunity to take part in connecting with the Anacostia River through citizen science.”

Gesiriech shared that although the Anacostia River runs past their neighborhood, without being involved in MWDI “they’d have never gotten the chance to explore the river in a positive way. The wood duck box monitoring program gives the youth an opportunity to get on a boat (many for the first time), learn about the species and why they are endangered, and monitor the nest boxes throughout the process of egg laying and fledging. This empowers the youth to care about the river and all that inhabit within the ecosystem, including themselves.”

Gesiriech remembers, “During my time with ECC, we had a group of ninth-grade girls from Banneker High School that participated. They helped in setting up the boxes with nesting

WILL PARSON/CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM

recently won a grant from Exelon (via Delmarva Power) for the best environmental program this past year.

We converted abandoned utility poles to nest box sites along railroad right-ofways that traversed sensitive wetlands.”

Brown explained that removal of the poles would have been destructive to the wetland, so MWDI advised Delmarva Power on the nesting program, for which their engineers could direct the discretionary award grant to MWDI. The Chesapeake Chapter of the Safari Club has also been a consistent supporter, says Brown. The state duck stamp license program, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Ducks Unlimited have all been instrumental in wood duck restoration efforts.

In the past decade and a half, his group has partnered with scores of organizations, and MDWI volunteers have logged tens of thousands of volunteer hours building and installing thousands of nesting boxes on private and public land throughout the state.

Today, MWDI needs funds for roughly 100 boxes annually, and the poles are provided by the State Highway Administration.

Often, the group works on a grassroots level where they engage with non-profit groups and hundreds of school and youth groups who reap the benefits of taking an active role in MWDI projects. For many of these youngsters, this is their first, and perhaps only, chance to see up-close wetlands and the wildlife that inhabit these critical buffers.

One of these groups is the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC), a nonprofit founded in 1989 that, according to its website, provides “hands-on environmental education, job training, and community service opportunities for all ages with an emphasis on serving at-risk youth from Washington, DC.” The ECC’s mission is to “empower our endangered youth to restore the Anacostia River, their communities, and their lives.”

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

73

Mark Furr, left, and Jake McPherson of Ducks Unlimited tend to a wood duck box on Furr’s property.

January/February 2021

CBM

wild chesapeake

materials, monitoring for predation control and the total structure of the box. The girls went out with us monthly and monitored for egg laying and then to see how many fledged.”

Says Brown, “The habitat was relatively poor compared to most other sites. We felt it would be a beneficial project as success would be a testimonial that the Riverkeeper and other efforts to clean up the river would be working. About six or seven boxes were installed with the kids but initially subjected to periodic river trauma. Use was almost non-existent. I think we had one nest in the first six years. With some renewed vigor by the staff, we have now embarked on resurrecting the program, selecting some different sites and bringing the boxes and guards back up to shape. This past season we did have one successful nest, though COVID-19 has totally disrupted our plans temporarily.”

Brown has done this long enough to be realistic about the odds for a boom in the wood duck population on the Anacostia. Yet he says the educational benefits “are real…There is the potential for meaningful improvements” to the river’s wetlands and water quality.

The past year has been unlike any in most of our lifetimes for several reasons. Spending time outdoors has been a respite, a godsend even, to ease the mental stress caused during these difficult times. There have also been some impressive gains on the conservation front, including the Great American Outdoors Act. It marks the single greatest financial commitment to increasing public land access and opportunities for sportsmen and -women in our lifetime. Also of great importance is passage of the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act, which will help improve fish habitat, restore

ANNAPOLIS ANNAPOLIS 410.269.0939 410.269.0939

54’ 2015 Riviera - Belize 54 DayBridge ...... $1,150,000 54’ Yachts - Our Docks $675,000 54’ 2020 2015 Jeanneau Riviera - Belize 5454 DayBridge .........$1,150,000 53’ 53 Yachts CC ........................................

54’ 2004 2020 Oyster Jeanneau 54 - Our Docks... $409,000 $675,000 51’ 53’ 1983 2004 Passport Oyster 5351 CC........................................... ........................................ $225,000 $409,000 51’ 1983 WASA Atlantic 51 ................................... $64,500 51’ 1983 Passport 51 ........................................... $225,000 50’ 1988 Transworld Fantail 50 ....................

51’ 1983 WASA Atlantic 51...................................$240,000 $64,500 50’ Viking Princess V50 ........................... $299,900 50’ 2004 1988 Transworld - Fantail 50 .................... $240,000 47’ 2004 2011 Viking Monte Princess Carlo 47V50 ...................................

50’ ........................... $459,000 $299,900 47’ 47 LRC 47’ 1999 2011 Caliber Monte Carlo 47..................................... ................................... $259,000 $459,000 45’ .............................................

47’ 2017 1999 Hanse Caliber455 47 LRC ..................................... $329,500 $259,000 44’ 4400............................................. ........................................... $327,500 45’ 2005 2017 Tartan Hanse 455 $329,500 44’ 44’ 2009 2005 Tartan Tartan 4400 4400........................................... ........................................... $349,000 $327,500 44’ 2021 Jeanneau SO 440 In Stock ...................

CALL 44’ 2009 Tartan 4400........................................... $349,000 44’ 1993 Pacifi c Seacraft 44 ............................. $215,000 44’ 2021 Jeanneau SO 440 - In Stock ...................

CALL 43’ ...........................................

44’ 2018 1993 Tartan Pacific 4300 Seacraft 44 ............................. $497,000 $215,000 42’ Sabre 426 43’ 2006 2018 Tartan 4300............................................. ........................................... $285,000 $497,000 42’ Ray 420.............................................

Sedan Bridge ............. $279,900 42’ 2005 2006 Sea Sabre 426 $285,000 42’ SWSedan 42 ...................................

42’ 1985 2005 Hinckley Sea Ray 420 Bridge ............. $259,000 $279,900 41’ SO42 410 - In Stock ...................

CALL 42’ 2021 1985 Jeanneau Hinckley SW ................................... $259,000 41’ ..................... $230,000 41’ 2016 2021 Beneteau Jeanneau 41 SOPlatinum 410 - In Stock ...................

CALL 40’ 1981 Nautilus 40 Pilothouse ..................... $115,000 41’ 2016 Beneteau 41 Platinum ..................... $230,000 40’ 1981 Nautilus 40 Pilothouse ..................... $115,000

wetlands, invest in clean water solutions, and boost Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration efforts.

Specifically, it reauthorizes annual funding to the Chesapeake Bay Program at $90 million through FY2025.

These national legislative wins are important, but just as important are local efforts, like the ECC-MWDI’s work on the Anacostia, which inspires people to take an active role in restoring their local river and the wild animals that live there. Multiply this effort by hundreds if not thousands of times by similar efforts across the Chesapeake watershed, then we just might have a shot at making our waterfront healthy again.

Chris Dollar is a fishing guide, tackle shop owner, and all-around Chesapeake outdoorsman with more than 25 years experience in avoiding office work.

SOLOMONS SOLOMONS 443.906.0321 443.906.0321

Featured Brokerage Featured Brokerage

40’ 2000 Caliber 40 LRC ..................................... $156,655 40’ Hood ................................ $119,000 40’ 1977 2000 Gulfstar Caliber 40 LRC40 ..................................... $156,655 40’ Boat - JHood / 120 40 ........................................ $90,000 40’ 1998 1977 JGulfstar ................................ $119,000 40’ 1998 Pacifi c Seacraft 40 .............................

40’ 1998 J Boat - J / 120 ........................................$195,000 $90,000 40’ 1997 Pacifi c Seacraft 40 ............................. $229,000 40’ 1998 Pacific Seacraft 40 ............................. $195,000 40’ 1997 Pacifi c Seacraft 40 ............................. $295,000 40’ 1997 Pacific Seacraft 40 ............................. $229,000 39’ # 6 - 40 February .......................

CALL 40’ 2021 1997 Tartan Pacific 395 Seacraft ............................. $295,000 39’ Excess 395 12 Catamaran - IN Stock ........... CALL 39’ 2021 2021 Tartan # 6 - February .......................

CALL 39’ ...................................... $120,000 39’ 1999 2021 Mainship Excess 12 390 Catamaran - IN Stock ...........

CALL 38’ 38s5........................................ $42,500 39’ 1994 1999 Beneteau Mainship 390 ...................................... $120,000 38’ 115 .................................................

38’ 2006 1994 C&C Beneteau 38s5........................................$129,000 $42,500 38’ 38 CC ..............................................$129,000 $59,900 38’ 1984 2006 Irwin C&C 115 .................................................

38’ 2021 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389 ....................

CALL 38’ 1984 Irwin 38 CC .............................................. $59,900 38’ 2000 Lagoon 380 ......................................... $199,000 38’ 2021 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389.................... CALL 38’ $65,000 38’ 1986 2000 Vagabond Lagoon 38038........................................... ......................................... $199,000 38’ CT38 ...................................... $125,000 38’ 1984 1986 Warwick Vagabond 38........................................... $65,000 38’ 1984 1985 Warwick Wilbur 38CT38 Downeast Fly ......................$125,000 $79,500 38’ ......................................

38’ X-Yachts .........................................

38’ 2000 1985 Wilbur 38382 Downeast Fly ......................$130,000 $79,500 37’ 373......................................... .........................................$130,000 $95,000 38’ 2006 2000 Beneteau X-Yachts 382 37’ 11 Catamaran - In Stock ............

CALL 37’ 2021 2006 Excess Beneteau 373 ......................................... $95,000 37’ 2001 Jeanneau SO 37 .................................... $75,000 37’ 2021 Excess 11 Catamaran - In Stock ............

CALL 37’ 2001 Jeanneau SO 37 .................................... $75,000

CRUSADERYACHTS.COM CRUSADERYACHTS.COM

37’ 2002 Pacific Seacraft 37 ............................. $120,000 37’ CCR37 .................................

37’ 2007 2002 Tartan Pacific 3700 Seacraft ............................. $249,000 $120,000 37’ .........................$249,000 $34,000 37’ 1979 2007 Tartan Tartan 37c 3700- OFFERS!!!

CCR .................................

37’ 2006 Tartan 3700 ...........................................

37’ 1979 Tartan 37c - OFFERS!!! .........................$210,000 $34,000 37’ 2008 Beneteau 373 ...................................... $109,900 37’ 2006 Tartan 3700........................................... $210,000 36’ 2005 Bavaria 36 ............................................... $80,000 37’ 2008 Beneteau 373 ...................................... $109,900 36’ Free & Easy ...................... $79,500 36’ 2008 2005 Hunter Bavaria 36 36 -............................................... $80,000 36’ 36 -#Free 8 - Annapolis .............. $545,000 36’ 2019 2008 Legacy Hunter 36 & Easy ...................... $79,500 36’ .......................................

CALL 36’ 2021 2019 Tartan Legacy365 36 #- April 8 - Annapolis .............. $545,000 36’ 2021 2006 Tartan Hunter365 36 --Trimeme ............................ $89,500 36’ April .......................................

CALL 35’ ....................................................

36’ 1986 2006 Baltic Hunter3536 - Trimeme ............................ $69,000 $89,500 34’ 2021 Jeanneau SO 349 In Stock ...................

CALL 35’ 1986 Baltic 35 .................................................... $69,000 34’ 2021 1990 Jeanneau Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 ............... $89,000 34’ SO 349 - In Stock ...................

CALL 34’ 34 ...........................................

34’ 2009 1990 X-Yachts Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 ...............$137,000 $89,000 33’ 2013 Beneteau Antares 11.................................

CALL 34’ 2009 X-Yachts 34 ........................................... $137,000 33’ 2013 2013 Beneteau Marlow Hunter 33 ................................. $89,000 33’ Antares 11.................................

CALL 33’ .............................................

33’ 2015 2013 Tartan Marlow101 Hunter 33 .................................$139,000 $89,000 32’ Carmen101 32............................................. ...................................................

CALL 33’ 2007 2015 Tartan $139,000 31’ 2007 2015 Carmen Ranger Tug - Command Bridge .... $249,900 32’ 32 ...................................................

CALL 30’ Pilot 30 II Rum Bridge Runner.........$249,900 $89,500 31’ 2007 2015 Mainship Ranger Tug - Command 24’ 1989 Dana 24 .................................................... $49,000 30’ 2007 Mainship Pilot 30 II Rum Runner ..... $89,500 24’ 1989 Dana 24 .................................................... $49,000

Worldwide Yacht Sales | Yacht Charters | New Yacht Construction

FO

RS AL

E!

FO R

SA L

E!

2001 47’ Catalina - $198,000

Jason Hinsch - 410.507.1259

1980 43’ Viking - $75,000

Ed Pickering - 410.708.0633

FO

RS AL E!

FO

RS AL

E!

2011 28’ Mako - $89,000

Anthony Sayo - 757.427.4042 To see more details about these

2007 22’ Chris-Craft - $35,000 and all o ther yac hts

David Robinson - 410.310.8855

around th

e globe, p

lease visit our website below.

Annapolis, MD • St. Michaels, MD • Delaware City, DE • Deltaville, VA • Woodbridge, VA Telephone: 410.919.4900 • Email: info@curtisstokes.net

www.curtisstokes.net

SPONSORED CONTENT

boat of the month

 Visit bluewateryachtsales.com for more information on this yacht.

BLUEWATER YACHT SALES HAMPTON, VA Call Chris Hall, Jr. 757.509.0742 challiv@bluewateryachtsales.com

SPECIFICATIONS LOA ........................................................ 52’ 3” BEAM ...................................................... 15’ 4” DRAFT .......................................................3’ 9” WEIGHT ...................................... 39,000 lbs FUEL.................................................... 525 gal WATER ............................................... 160 gal POWER............................................ 1,100 HP PRICE ........................................... $1,249,900

2018 Sabre 48 Salon Express A wonderful example of the ever popular Sabre 48 Salon Express, “Christine” boasts twin Volvo D8 engines with IPS 700 drives with 290 original hours. Purchased new from Bluewater Yacht Sales by the current owner, this vessel has been cared for perfectly and it shows. A long list of options include the Volvo IPS drive system, sunroof, crews quarters, teak cockpit and much more. The boat was polished in November of 2020, the varnish has been constantly maintained to perfection, and the bottom was just freshened up. This Sabre 48 is in need of nothing but a new name.

Please feel free to contact Bluewater Yacht Sales for more information or to set up a time to come and see her for yourself!

76

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

January/February 2021

877.269.3021 Maryland

BLUEWATERYACHTSALES.COM Virginia

North Carolina

Florida

w

78’ Princess 2019 - Call Today: 877.269.3021

70’ Princess 2007 - Call Clark: 919.669.1304

65’ Princess 1999 - Call Chuck: 703.999.7696

63’ Lagoon 2017 - Call Matthew: 410.206.2755

58' Grand Banks 2004 - Call Mark: 757.406.1673

58' Hatteras 1977 - Call Jud: 757.846.7909

55' Neptunus 1997 - Call Scott: 757.570.3944

54' Hatteras 1990 - Call Scott: 757.570.3944

53' Elco 1937 - Call Jud: 757.846.7909

49' Grand Banks 1999 - Call Chuck: 703.999.7696

49' Grand Banks 1993 - Call Joe: 252.241.1316

48' Sabre 2020 - Call Today: 877.269.3021

48' Sabre 2016 - Call Chris Jr: 757.509.0742

46' Maxum 2000 - Call Hank: 804.337.1945

45' Formula 2010 - Call Roger: 410.456.3659

44' Sea Ray 2006 - Call Chris Jr: 757.509.0742

43' Grand Banks 2014 - Call Chuck: 703.999.7696

43' Cranchi 2008 - Call Chuck: 703.999.7696

43' Grand Banks 2002 - Call Matthew: 410.206.2755

41' Grand Banks 2009 - Call Mark: 757.406.1673

41' Back Cove 2020 - Call Today: 877.269.3021

38’ Regal 2006 - Call Chuck: 703.999.7696

37' Back Cove 2017 - Call Chris Jr: 757.509.0742

IN

80’ Hatteras 2004 - Call Clark: 919.669.1304

K! OC ST

IN K! OC ST

BOATING’S BEST BRANDS (New model representation varies by territory)

BLUEWATER HAS EVERY VALHALLA, REGULATOR, JUPITER, SABRE & BACK COVE MODEL IN STOCK OR ON ORDER!

Solid, dry and well-maintained by Bay professionals!

SPECIFICATIONS: • 40’ X 13” with 3.5” Draft • 6.8L (224hp) John Deere Marine Diesel + 2 50 gallon Aluminum Fuel Tanks • 2-Station Hydraulic Steering, Trolling Valve, Radar, Fathometer, Garmin 4208, Saltwater Wash Down, Cockpit Heater, “Rocket Launcher” Rod Holders • Idles at 4.5 knots • Cruises at 6-8 knots • Full Power at 15 knots

Jim Hawks at 757-641-3755 or jhawkslaw@aol.com Recent survey will be emailed upon request. Showings and inspections performed at Ingram Bay Marina.

boat brokerage brokerage boat

Located: Annapolis

$130,000 OBO! 1984 37’ Pacific Seacraft 2013 42’ Lyman-Morse

2005 42’ Nordic Tugs

2017 28’ Cutwater LE

$795,000 OBO! $329,900 OBO! $169,900 OBO!

W E’ R E S O L D O U T !

R E A DY TO S E L L ?

NOW ANNOUNCING!

NEW COMMISSION INCENTIVE! 7% DIRECT SALE 8% COMPLIMENTARY 10% CO-BROKERAGE LISTING We will successfully market your yacht from her current East Coast location or arrange delivery to our secure dockage on the Severn River for yachts from 30’ to 80’ (Power/Sail ). Located 20 minutes from BWI airport, our listings are easily inspected and demonstrated to prospective buyers. Targeted print advertising & Yachtworld.com MLS internet exposure with wide angle/high resolution photos and video. 30 yrs proven customer service!

IN BUSINESS FOR 30 YEARS! Email us your boat details: we specialize in selling high quality, well maintained power or sailing yachts in less than 90 days

443.223.7864 YACHTVIEW.COM

CBM

stern lines

A Rendezvous with Destiny

F

DR and friends keep an eye on the state of the union from a field in Croaker, Virginia. Part of a Presidents Park at Colonial Williamsburg, the 43 way-largerthan-life busts were moved to their current location after the land owner, hired to destroy them when the park closed, couldn't bring himself to do it. Photographer John Plashal offers tours of the ruins through his website, johnplashalphoto.com.

80

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

photo by John Plashal

January/February 2021

Crusader Yacht Sales is Now the Annapolis Dealer for Jeanneau Sailboats!

EXPERIENCE THE AWARD-WINNING WALK-AROUND SERIES

MAKING MOVEMENT ON-DECK A BREEZE!

SUN ODYSSEY 410

|

SUN ODYSSEY 440

|

SUN ODYSSEY 490

HERRINGTON HARBOUR. NORTH

HERRINGTON HARBOUR. SOUTH 7149 Lake Shore Drive North Beach, Maryland 301.861.3022

389 Deale Road Tracey's Landing, Maryland 410.286.1116

&Ape-(o

f{tnltt~fott f{tirl,our fJttnNe¥

tt(4U +fent~fottlwbour.co*