Chesapeake Bay Magazine June 2020

CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

Chesapeake Seafood Supply Innovations

JUNE 2020

Delaware Fireflies Turn Out the Lights

Inn at Perry Cabin’s Crab Recipe Secrets

JUNE 2020

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Things to Do & See in Talbot County

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Steamed blue crabs, seasoned with J.O. No. 2—or a custom J.O. blend— is the flavor people experience at crab establishments all over. Many people credit this crabhouse seasoning to another product, but J.O. is the crabhouses’ seasoning of choice. J.O. Spice—started by J.O. Strigle and his wife Dot in Baltimore City in 1945—is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

A native of Tangier Island, J.O. Strigle brought the seafood spice blend he created in his island kitchen to Maryland. Jane McPhaul, J.O.’s daughter, took over operations of the family business in the late eighties, while her son, Don Ports, was serving in the Marines. In 1990, Don joined his mother in the family business with a vision to expand. “In the summer of 1991 I met my spice girl, Ginger, with the pickup line ‘You’re destined to be mine; you’re named for a spice,’” said J.O. Spice Company president Don Ports.

Twenty eight years later, the duo—alongside their children Brittany, Tyler, and Bethany—are at the helm of Halethorpe-based J.O. Spice Company.

“We can provide crabhouses with everything they need for the crab eating experience minus the crabs,” Don says. The company has added crab boxes, crab paper, bushel baskets, crab knives, crab mallets and a variety of other items to their offerings. “We purchased our first laser engraver and that opened the door to the retail gift world and personalized options,” Don says. They are more than seafood seasonings. J.O. specializes in customblended seasonings for pizza companies, pit beef stands,butchers, potato chip companies, and more.

“My children—the fourth generation—and our amazing team work side by side to make all of this happen,” Ginger says. “At J.O., we are all family who enjoy working with so many other family businesses.

We are blessed.”

Visit them at jospices.com.

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CELEBRATING

75 YEARS OF 4 GENERATIONS

Volume 50

Number 2

PUBLISHER

John Stefancik

EDITOR IN CHIEF Joe Evans

Continuously open and fully CDC compliant.

It’s time to get out of the house, safely.

100 Chesapeake Ave. Annapolis, MD

410.268.1126

Managing Editor: Chris Landers Cruising Editor: Jody Argo Schroath News Director: Meg Walburn Viviano Multimedia Journalist: Cheryl Costello Editors at Large: Wendy Mitman Clarke, Chris D. Dollar, Ann Levelle, John Page Williams Contributing Writers: Rafael Alvarez, Laura Boycourt, Larry Chowning, Ann Eichenmuller, Henry Hong, Marty LeGrand, Emmy Nicklin, Tom Price, 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

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Publisher Emeritus Richard J. Royer CHESAPEAKE BAY MEDIA, LLC Chief Executive Officer, John Martino Chief Financial Officer, Rocco 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 Chesapeake Bay Magazine (ISSN0045-656X) (USPS 531-470) is published by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC, 601 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD 21403. $25.95 per year, 12 issues annually. $7.99 per copy. Periodical postage paid at Annapolis, MD 21403 and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes or corrections for Chesapeake Bay Magazine to 601 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD 21403. Copyright 2020 by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC— Printed in the U.S.A.

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SHE’S BEAUTIFUL BUT SHALLOW (IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY!)

Introducing the highly agile GB54 Looks can deceive.

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DISCOVER ANNAPOLIS

300 Years Young Once the nation’s capital where founding fathers met to make peace and draft plans, Annapolis now draws entrepreneurs, artists, and adventurers - from water enthusiasts to history buffs. Its brick lined streets and preserved buildings properly salute the years past and the Midshipmen that still walk among them.

From the near shores of the Chesapeake, Annapolis glistens at night and during the day - visitors meander through different shops and galleries, sailors and paddle boarders alike take to the Bay, tables don the street for dining under the stars, cocktails are masterfully crafted, and live music floods through open doors.

Come for what is preserved, stay for what is new. Annapolis waits to be discovered.

contents

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On the Cover: The main ingedient at the

June 2020—Volume 50 Number 2

Crab Claw Restaurant in St. Michaels, Md. Photo by Mark Sandlin/Talbot County Tourism

Features 18

watermen hard. Jay Fleming takes a look at the damage and the options.

Where We’re Headed

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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20 for ’20 Talbot County’s sights

and sounds, exquisite tastes, and unforgettable experiences—TourTalbot.org.

60 Lights Out

The unique Bethany Beach firefly struggles to survive in a tiny portion of Delaware—Andrea Appleton.

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Baltimore

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Talbot County, Md.

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Bethany Beach, Del.

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Ocean City, Md.

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Potomac River

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Cape Charles, Va.

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Bay to Table During COVID-19 p. 38

JAY FLEMING

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Jammed Up The shut-down hit

June 2020

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contents

June 2020 Talk of the Bay

Columns

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Chesapeake Almanac: Drum Fish John Page Williams is spot-on

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Chesapeake Chef: Crab Rolls & Fritters Chef Gregory James of

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On Boats: Parker 26SH Bay Boat This 26-foot sport hybrid is a

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Wild Chesapeake: Spearfishing

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Stern Lines: Crab pot season

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for the Bay’s panfish.

The Inn at Perry Cabin gets cracking and cooking.

multi-tasker—Capt. John Page Williams.

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Capt. Chris D. Dollar finds out what it takes to go down where the fish are.

Colorful, practical, and not at all propellorwrappy—Dan Duff y.

All boaters can dock at The Wharf to explore our vibrant neighborhood.

Experience our world-class restaurants, bars, shops, music venues, and the Municipal Fish market - all within walking distance of the monuments, museums, and other Washington, D.C. landmarks.

FOR DOCKING INFORMATION, VISIT WHARFDCMARINA.COM

Trunk Show O Say Can You See Finding Cussler Potomac Paddle

Departments

10 12

From the Editor Online

Advertising Sections

46 67 75 78

Talbot County Tourism Real Estate Brokerage Marketplace

WHEN SEEING RED IS A GOOD THING

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from the editor

by Joe Evans

M

y Father’s Day wish is to go fishing with my daughter.

But if it’s raining and blowing a gale, I will ask her to pour me a mug of coffee and deliver it to the place where I like to sit, and I will reread Dan Rodrick’s excellent book—Father’s Day Creek.

If somehow you don’t know, Rodricks has been writing his sharp, often funny, thoughtful, and otherwise fiery Baltimore Sun column three days a week for more than four decades. That’s more than 6,000 columns. Along the way, he’s won regional and national awards, hosted radio and TV shows, produced the Roughly Speaking podcasts, written two other books, and developed fly-fishing skills, which brought him to the pertinent question in his intro to the book—“Where would you want to be if you knew the world would end tomorrow?”

For Rodricks, the answer is a certain trout stream somewhere in the Chesapeake watershed. Like most keen anglers, he does not share the name, vicinity, landmarks, or, God forbid, the coordinates of this special place. You’ll have to find your own creek, which is the point, but not the heart, of the book.

The story takes place over 18 brief essays covering three hours in that creek on Father’s Day morning in 2000, wherein the author had an epiphany about fishing, fatherhood, and life. Each vignette begins with a time-stamped journal excerpt from the morning, and then shifts to recollections of those who have helped define his relationships to the

water, fish, the earth, and people.

Out of that flow comes thoughts on childhood, fatherhood, and a lifeaffirming sense of place.

Along the way, he summons advice from Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce—”We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, and that hereafter he will give every man a spirit-home according to his deserts.”

Enlightenment of this sort occurs while fly-fishing because it’s archaic, inefficient, rhythmic, and humbling. It compels you to focus on the water, and it clears your mind of the workaday tedium. No fishing method stacks the deck in favor of the fish more than this. It’s troublesome and delightful in equal measure. The leafy branch that hangs over the spot where you see a trout rising will take all of your attention to avoid, and it will cause you to forget about the tree behind you that will permanently snag your back-cast on the first shot.

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There’s nothing for it but to break off your fly, rebuild your leader, tie on another fly, and start all over. It’s hilarious if it doesn’t make you crazy.

Or maybe that is the definition of crazy. According to Rodricks, it’s not about catching fish, really. “It’s about getting your mind off the raucous world, the one that screams and roars beyond the ridgeline above the creek.”

We agree.

Famed fishing writer, photographer, and mentor Lefty Kreh contributed the foreword with his remembrances of fishing with his son just a few weeks before he passed away at 93. It’s probably his last bit before leaving. We miss him, which reflects the theme of getting it right while you can. Lefty certainly did.

Rodricks sums up his evolution as a father, angler, and human being by sharing that fishing, like life, is a holistic experience, “It was not about gathering food for the body but about gathering fuel for the soul, about wading through the natural world and feeling a part of it, about assuming the debt of stewardship for a place that still seemed perfect.

Put another way in his introduction, he recommends that we “take emotional possession of a place, away from the rush of modern life, where you can feel at home and at peace—a place that deepens your love of the natural world, makes you happy to be alive and downright militant about saving our messed-up planet.”

Amen.

joe@chesapeakebaymagazine.com

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VIDEO: Animal Care Essential at Bay Museums The popular river otter attraction at Calvert Marine Museum is closed to the public, but looking after the otters is a full-time job. Cheryl Costello looks behind the scenes. Watch the video at chesapeakebaymagazine.com/animalcare.  Read more and sign up for the Bay Bulletin, CBM’s free weeky e-newsletter online at

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This 156-foot yellow poplar in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore is Maryland’s tallest registered tree.

Trunk Show John Bennett measures notable trees in the footsteps of Maryland’s original tree hugger story & photo by Brennen Jensen

I

think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree, wrote the poet Joyce Kilmer. Now, you really can’t measure or quantify loveliness, but you can certainly measure a tree. Just ask retired special-ed teacher John Bennett, who’s measured the height, spread, and trunk circumferences of over a thousand trees as the volunteer coordinator for the Maryland Big Tree program.

No, Maryland doesn’t have the vast, trackless forests of some western states or anything approaching California’s skyscraping redwoods. But Maryland does have the nation’s oldest Big Tree Program to measure sylvan standouts and record them on one of the world’s largest online big-tree databases. Mdbigtrees.com provides locations and statistics of more than 2,200 sizable trees representing more than 75 species—Alder to Zelkova.

Why measure and catalog big trees? Bennett says we owe it all to Fred Besley, Maryland’s first state forester who served from 1906 to 1942. “He was kind of like a P.T.

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Barnum of the forest world,” Bennett says. By that, he means he wasn’t above using stunts and gimmicks to spark citizen interest in trees and woodlands.

“He started the Big Tree Program in 1925 originally as a contest to see who had the biggest trees in Maryland,” Bennett says.

“People who have nothing to do with forestry might become interested in protecting the trees in their yards.”

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service ultimately picked up the program, and most states developed big-tree programs of their own. Virginia’s program is coordinated by Virginia Tech’s Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, which maintains a database of hundreds of trees. In 1940, the conservation group American Forests (then, the American Forestry Association) launched a competition to locate and preserve the largest American tree specimens. The result is the National Register of Champion Trees.

When the budgetary ax felled Maryland’s program in 2007, it became an all-volunteer affair. That’s about when Bennett got involved. Wanting to better maintain his wooded property near Northeast in Cecil County, he joined the county forestry board and learned to measure trees, and he discovered that he is the proud owner of the 97-foot-tall, state-champion blackjack oak. Now, Bennett is the point man for the program, working with 45 or so volunteers across the state who measure trees and maintain the Big Tree List.

These dendrophiles tend to do the fieldwork in the cooler months when the leafless trees are easier to measure, and ticks and mosquitoes are at bay.

“I just love seeing big trees,” says Bennett, in explaining what set him out to measure some 300 trees last year.

“It’s a great way to get exercise and enjoy companionship traveling up and down the state. But measuring is the fun part. There’s also a lot of paperwork. For trees on private property, we contact the owners and

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talk of the bay

get their permission to measure in writing.”

Listed trees are remeasured every 10 years and this alone keeps Bennett and crew busy. Citizens also nominate new trees to be measured for potential Big-Tree listing. There are county champions for each species, state champions, and nine Maryland trees are national champions or co-champions— the biggest trees in the country! Also, back in 1975, the state created a list of nearly 300 Bicentennial Trees that were alive in 1776 (dated via core samples or by finding references to the trees in local histories). The Big Tree crew has started updating this list as well. Folks with listed trees on their properties receive a certificate and a “Proud Owner of a Maryland Big Tree” bumper sticker.

Much has changed in the woods since Besley’s day. For instance, Bennett uses a sophisticated laser range finder and an electric clinometer to measure trees. An old-school method for estimating tree height that some might have learned in scout camp involves eyeballing a tree and a handheld yardstick and performing some triangulations. However they are measured, trees are ranked across the country using a numerical point system that Besley devised back in the day— trunk circumference in inches combined with the height in feet and one-quarter of the average crown spread. Thus, a Montgomery County sycamore scores 475 points as Maryland’s largest tree. A bald cypress in Southampton, Virginia holds that state’s top honor with a score of 612.

These days, Maryland’s mountainous regions are home to the state’s greatest forests, and there are bound to be some towering trunks out that way. But Bennett’s band can only do so much. “We could use volunteers in Western Maryland right now,” Bennett says. “But we also don’t have volunteers in St Mary’s County, and Charles County is tough for us as well.” History has

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sharply shaped the wooded landscape in some areas. “In Frederick, Carroll, Chesapeake Bay’s Premier Marina in Deltaville,Virginia and Washington counties, you had the Civil War coming through,” Bennett says. “They don’t have many trees that are much older than the 1860s because they were chopped up for firewood.”

It turns out, specimen trees around houses, institutions, and particularly old estates, tend to be bigger and healthier than their wild counterparts. “When people fertilize their grass or water it, that ends up at the tree roots,” Bennett says. “Plus, these trees have less competition for sunlight, nutrients, n Protected harbor n Swimming pool water—everything. And many people n 200+ open slips n Wifi, ice & laundry do take care of these trees because n 10 covered slips n Playground they’re part of their family.” For their n Easy Bay access n Dog-friendly last outing, Bennett and dedicated n 33 acre park-like setting n Well-managed volunteer Joli McCathran from Montgomery County measured Call: 804-776-7272 n stingraypointmarina.com 13 trees at Talbot County’s Colonial-era located on Broad Creek in Deltaville, Virginia Wye Plantation, home to some N 37° 33.710 | W 076° 18.450 19167 General Puller Hwy (Route 33) county champions.

Of course, no story about Maryland’s biggest trees can fail to mention a certain sylvan tragedy: Talbot County’s storied Wye Oak, blown over by a storm on June 6, 2002. “I think we all remember that day,” says Bennett.

Besley himself first measured this mighty white oak in 1909 and it was thought to be more than 450 years old at the time of its demise. With a trunk 4.5 x 4.75 more than 30 feet around and a total 1/3 page square point score of 506, it remains the largest Chesapeake Bay Magazine tree ever measured in Maryland and the MEANS SCOUT CART largest White Oak ever recorded in the GOES ANYWHERE YOU GO! United States.

Some researchers managed to create a few Wye Oak clones, one of which is growing in the remains of the old stump. Maybe some intrepid tree measurers will be marveling at a branchy beast here in the year 2470 or so.

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talk of the bay

Fort McHenry

Star Spangled Story The birth of an anthem at the Battle of Baltimore story & photo by Tim Grove

O

n the night of September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key found himself in a place he never expected to be—held captive behind enemy lines and forced to watch the British attack Baltimore’s Fort McHenry from a front-row seat.

At some point in school, most American students learn that Key was watching the battle unfold, anxious during the night as to which side was winning. At first light of morning, he breathed a sigh of relief to see the stars and stripes still flying over Fort McHenry. Inspired at the sight, he penned a poem that became the words to our national anthem.

“O, Say Can You See?” is one the most familiar five-word phrases in America.

Yet, many Americans are only vaguely aware of our national anthem’s origin story.

They cannot correctly identify the setting or the war: the War of 1812 (a confusing name since the war lasted from 1812-1815). While most of the world’s national

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anthems are about the virtues of a nation’s people, America’s is about a historic event that took place in the Chesapeake Bay region: The Battle of Baltimore in 1814.

Like many Americans, Key had been adamantly opposed to what he called “this abominable war,” which President James Madison had declared in 1812. Key was a lawyer practicing in Georgetown, a port on the Potomac River near the new national capital, but as the British began to terrorize the inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay area, he decided that he needed to defend his growing family of six and his country.

He’d briefly served in a local militia and was embarrassed by the Americans’ lackluster defense of Washington.

During the course of the British attack on Washington, the enemy captured a local doctor, William Beanes, a friend of Key’s. They took him to their ships and held him prisoner. Beanes’s friends tried various actions to obtain his release, then as a last resort received permission from the president to negotiate directly with the British military leadership. They needed someone very persuasive and thought of Key. He had argued cases in front of the Supreme Court and his oratory skills were widely acclaimed. Key agreed to the mission, traveled to Baltimore, and boarded the truce ship which would attempt to find the British fleet somewhere in the Chesapeake.

Prisoner negotiation was common during wartime, but it included some risk. Beanes, as a civilian, should never have been captured, and there was a chance that Key, too, could be detained.

Key’s party finally found the HMS Tonnant, the flagship of the fleet, whose crew welcomed them on board. Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane invited him to join the officers for lunch, a standard courtesy. Cochrane was the highest-ranking British officer in North America, responsible for military strategy. He hated Americans for various reasons; he called them a “corrupt and depraved race.” They had killed his brother at the Battle of Yorktown, they

were inhumane to their slaves, and they had treated his loyalist in-laws horribly.

Also at the table was Rear Admiral George Cockburn, a man who, before Cochrane had arrived, had led raids on towns around the Bay and had damaged much personal property. The American press dubbed him the “Great Bandit,” and Americans despised him. Key never expected to be eating with the enemy.

Then, to Key’s surprise, the British quickly agreed to release Beanes with little negotiation, and Key prepared to head home. But Cochrane had just approved an attack on Baltimore.

Originally intending to sail to Rhode Island, Cochrane had suddenly changed his mind. Key was there at a crucial moment and would have seen preparations underway for the attack.

He had overheard some of the plans, so Cochrane had to hold him to keep his secret safe.

Why Baltimore? The British called it a nest of pirates. Shipbuilder Thomas Kemp, owner of one of the most famous shipyards in Fells Point, was one reason.

The city’s privateers had harassed and captured British ships, damaging the British economy. Kemp’s fast schooners, including his most famous, the Chasseur, gained a reputation across the nation.

Key was stuck. He had no way to alert the Americans, and he feared what a British capture of Baltimore would mean to the new country and to America’s third-largest city. In a letter he later wrote to a friend, Key mentioned his anxious state during the bombardment. At dawn the following day, when he finally confirmed that the Americans had held the fort and the city, his relief poured into poetry. While still a captive, he took out an envelope and began scribbling the words to the famous song.

Key spoke publicly only once about his feelings in the moment: “In that hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, the heart spoke. Does not such a country and such defenders of their country, deserve a song? With it came an inspiration not to be resisted and if it had

been a hanging matter to make a song [I] must have made it.”

Key’s object of inspiration was an American flag. Mary Pickersgill, a businesswoman who sewed the stars and stripes, never knew her handiwork would one day become one of America’s national treasures.

The British finally released Key and he finished his poem at a Baltimore hotel. His friends were so impressed with it that, with his permission, they took it to a printer. Gradually, it appeared in newspapers up and down the East Coast. On October 12, 1814, the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore presented the first public performance of the song with its new name, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It did not become America’s official national anthem until 1931, long after Key had died.

History is fickle. Key’s story has managed to live on in history books, yet other stories fade to obscurity. Most people don’t know of Cochrane, Cockburn, Kemp, or Pickersgill, but their motivations and actions greatly affected the story. The true hero of the day is also lost to history. General Samuel Smith, an illustrious Maryland politician, led Baltimore’s defense. His planning and coordination saved the city. Though his funeral was the largest Baltimore had ever seen up to that time, his grave in Westminster Cemetery in Baltimore is overshadowed by the nearby grave of Edgar Allen Poe. The Colonial Marines, a British regiment of formerly enslaved men who fled to the British for freedom, trained on Tangier Island and fought at Washington and Baltimore. They ended up living free in Trinidad.

Despite their absence in history books, the many people who played a part in the story of America’s national anthem have a story worth telling. And, there is always more to the story. h Author Tim Grove lives in Falls Church, Virginia, and strives to tell the stories of America’s forgotten voices. His new book for young adults, Star-Spangled: The Story of a Flag, a Battle, and the American Anthem, is now available. Timgrove.net

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Clive Cussler in 1977.

Final Departure For millions of readers, Clive Cussler brought sea adventures to life

by Rafael Alvarez

“Dirk Pitt is the consummate man of action who lives by the moment for the moment...without regret!”

—Clive Cussler, adventure writer, 1931-2020

I

found myself in a supermarket near Curtis Creek at 6 a.m. not long ago, allowed in before the regular crowd because, though the number seems alien to me, I am over 60-years-old. The courtesy came as Maryland braced for the you-knowwhat in the wake of the terrible beating it had wreaked in New York.

Books for sale were at the far end of the paper-goods aisle (makes sense) while nary a roll of Mr. Whipple’s main-squeeze nor a package of the “quicker-picker-

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upper” was to be had. At the other end of the all-but-empty aisle, in a rack with true crime, mysteries, romances, and tell-alls was Clive Cussler’s Celtic Empire.

The flip of a few pages revealed the murder of U.N. scientists in El Salvador, a raid on ancient tombs along the Nile, and the smash-up of vessels near a place more exotic than El Salvador and the Nile combined— DETROIT! I took a disinfectant wipe to the book and with gloved hands, put it back, and kept shopping.

Cussler, who died on February 24 at the age of 88 in Scottsdale, Arizona, wrote what is known as “airplane” books. Yet just about every one of his titles (85 altogether with sales over 100 million copies) were about the sea.

“You could always, always, always find a Cussler book in an airport newsstand,” said Tim Marshall, an education consultant and frequent flyer who grew up fishing and crabbing in Prospect Bay near Kent Narrows and below the Bay Bridge.

“I would always leave the finished book on a chair or table at an airport for the next person to enjoy,” said Marshall, 61, now retired and living in Dallas.

In the world of popular sea stories, Patrick O’Brian wrote about the days of sail. The vessels in books by the mysterious B. Traven (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Death Ship) make their way by steam. And Cussler, a diver of old wrecks who founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency [NUMA], wrote about ships propelled by diesel.

Cussler’s oeuvre is like the Hardy Boys series for grown-ups, if Frank and Joe were a couple of Navy SEALS masquerading as able-bodied seamen.

His primary hero, Dirk Pitt, was described by the New York Times as an “endearing blend of Boy Scout, Doc Savage and James Bond.”

We are not deconstructing Joseph Conrad here, and Cussler would be the

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first to say so. The horror he presents has a comic book feel to it, and, though literary candy, it’s good and chewy and seasoned with sea salt.

“Because of the time I spent crabbing and fishing with my grandfather at Half Pone Point on the Patxuent, I have always been drawn to tales about the sea, everything from ancient mariners to underwater explorers,” said Michael Gerlach, 60 and once again living in his childhood community of Catonsville. “Captain Nemo, Blackbeard, Magellan, and Jacques Cousteau.

But it was in Cussler’s novels, Gerlach said, “that the sense of adventure and mystery was taken to a different level. I’d found the stories I’d been looking for.”

What especially enthralled readers like Gerlach was that Cussler, once fame allowed him to invest in his

passion, was an ardent explorer who took many a voyage to the bottom of the sea.

Through NUMA (the real-life counterpart of the organization featured in his books), Cussler led and took part in expeditions that located some five dozen wrecks, though there is debate about some of the finds to which he is credited.

Among the undisputed claims is the Carpathia, the first ship to reach survivors of the Titanic in 1912 (sunk a half-dozen years later during World War I by the Germans); and the Confederate ironclad Manassas, which went down in the Lower Mississippi in 1862.

“He brought those experiences to life in his novels,” said Gerlach. “The Dirk Pitt books especially go back to the days of Saturday afternoon movie serials. I loved how NUMA conquered the world’s most notorious foes just

like the Lone Ranger did in the past.

Cussler thrilled millions.”

Millions of readers—folks looking for a non-toxic escape—bought, read, traded, left behind, and mislaid a bounty of read-it-in-a-day thrillers like Arctic Drift, Atlantis Found, Golden Buddha, and his breakthrough blockbuster in 1976, Raise the Titanic!.

(Love the exclamation mark, which did not follow the story to the big screen in 1980 when Pitt was played by Richard Jordan and the great M. Emmet Walsh (Blood Simple) as Chief Vinnie Walker.)

Even folks who can’t swim and don’t like boats are fans, many of them women, though Cussler, like Frank Zappa and the Three Stooges, tended to draw a male audience.

Ann Roberts Arbaugh was introduced to Cussler by a younger sister and was soon following the

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exploits of Kurt Austin in “The NUMA Files” series.

“It’s the way he adds small details of previous adventures into a current story that makes it fun to figure things out,” said Arbaugh, a 57-year-old from Reisterstown who posted news of Cussler’s death on her Facebook page.

“In Pharaoh’s Secret, (No. 13 in the NUMA series), water is disappearing,” said Arbaugh, who works in accounting and often found a Cussler title on the “take one/leave one” bookshelf at work. “When some of the characters were standing near an empty lake, I felt like I was standing there beside them.” What more could a writer ask?

Many Cussler devotees are also fans of Tom Clancy, the Baltimore-born espionage writer who died at age 66 in 2013 and is also a marquee byline in airports, train stations, and supermarkets.

The difference between Cussler and Clancy, besides the fact that Clive did not hold a minority interest in the Baltimore Orioles...?

“I find Cussler tends to weave a better story overall,” said Sam McLane, Sr., 53, a chef who spent his early childhood in Linthicum and now works in cyber-security in Salt Lake City. “If I want to learn about the origins of the M1 Abrams tank, Clancy is the guy.”

Like other writers whose audience was vast, their stories leaving readers wanting more (and more), the Dirt Pitt and NUMA books will likely go on as long as there is money to be made from them. As Cussler went from old to elderly, several of his novels were co-authored with his son, Dirk Cussler.

“I don’t want it to be going away,” said the younger Cussler a decade ago.

“As long as the fans keep reading them, there are no plans for [Pitt’s] demise.” h Rafael Alvarez has never read a book by Clive Cussler. He can be reached via orlo. leini@gmail.com.

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All Access Kayak touring along the nation’s river.

by Ashley Stimpson

RALPH HEIMLICH

W

hat if I told you there was a road with no traffic or complicated directions that connects the region’s historic, natural, and cultural treasures? That on this road you could watch planes take off from Ronald Reagan International and bald eagles land at their cliffside nests? That you could see George Washington’s birthplace, his homestead, and the War of 1812 fort that bears his name? That along the way you might ogle ghost ships, colonial manors and a famous Marine base? You’d say there is no such road, and you’d be right—it’s a river.

The Potomac River is sometimes called the nation’s river, but for many years, getting on the water was easier said than done. When the EPA released it’s 2010 Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, it called on the National Park System to increase public access to the Bay and tributaries by adding 300 new public access sites by 2025, a 40-percent increase over 15 years.

Boosting access would boost engagement, the thinking went. According to the NPS’s follow-up report, “The sense of place that evolves from outdoor experiences along Chesapeake waters often leads to a feeling of shared responsibility for the resources.” Now, more than two-thirds of the way through the EPA’s original

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timeline, new access sites are popping up all over the watershed, and the Tidal Potomac is no exception.

Just ask Ralph Heimlich. Googlesearch “kayak” and “Potomac” and Heimlich’s name will be scattered throughout the top results. He’s been leading trips down the river for the Chesapeake Paddlers Association for decades. If anyone understood the need for access—parking areas, launch sites, campsites—it was him. The Ellicott City resident is a fan of kayak touring— packing everything you need in your boat and heading out on the water for days—and he has plenty of stories of aborted trips thanks to the onceunnavigable distances between access points.

This meant missing out on what Heimlich calls the “startling scenery,” of the Potomac River—beaches full of fossils, towering cliffs, and history on all sides. He’s been heartened to see the efforts that Maryland and Virginia have made in creating new ways onto the water, and so far, he’s tried them all.

Heimlich is the mastermind behind Potomac Passagemaker Tours, which creates kayak touring itineraries along the river. His hope is that one day he’ll be able to launch in DC and spend six or seven days on the water, ending up at Point Lookout State Park in Maryland where the Potomac empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

I reached out to Heimlich to provide a virtual tour of the Potomac for anyone looking to make a long haul down the river.

He begins by recommending that we launch from Pohick Bay Regional Park in Lorton, Virginia, for its reliable and safe overnight parking. Sixteen miles downriver on the Virginia side, kayakers will find new paddle-in sites at Leesylvania State Park, which also boasts that elusive primitive campsite feature: a bathroom. The second leg of the trip features another twenty miles of paddling to Smallwood State Park, Maryland where intrepid (and in-shape) wayfarers can leave their campsites for a foray further up Mattawoman Creek.

Captain John Smith referred to this biodiverse wonderland as “Mataughquamend,” an Algonquian compound meaning, “where one goes pleasantly.”

The next ten miles downstream feature Mallow’s Bay and its famous ghost fleet on the Maryland side as well as two of Virginia’s newest riverside campgrounds, including Caledon State Park, which Heimlich refers to as “the best of the best.” These sites are located on a bluff overlooking the Potomac and miles from the nearest parking lot. A couple of miles upstream, Widewater State Park has added water-adjacent sites, though you’ll be sharing your accommodations with the car-camping set.

Before paddling under the US 301 bridge, campers will find refuge at Friendship Landing and Chapel Point State Park, both in Maryland. Here the river begins to widen significantly.

Heimlich warns that paddlers exercise extreme caution in crossing, as the weather and wind can change quickly and create dangerous conditions. But this is also the most scenic part of the journey, a place where the water clears, revealing the aquatic life below, he says.

At Virginia’s Westmoreland State Park, an arduous 24 miles from Chapel Point, the recently added paddle-in sites adjoin the area’s popular fossil beds.

“You can feel like you’re in a zoo,”

Heimlich says of the busy campground.

There are quieter places to rest your head across the Potomac at Newtowne Neck State Park in St. Mary’s County.

One site looks out over Breton Bay and another rises above St. Clements Bay. Newtowne Neck is on the National Register of Historic Places as it was once home to the Piscataway Tribe as well as the site of the first European settlement in Maryland. From there, it’s a hustle down to the mouth of the river to Point Lookout State Park where traditional campsites are close enough to the water to be considered paddle-in.

While the NPS and its partners continue to install access sites, the Potomac River is more ideal for overnight trips rather than consecutive days of kayak touring, akin to sectionhiking the Appalachian Trail. But if, like Heimlich, your ambition is to paddle from DC to the Bay, consider joining the Chesapeake Paddlers Association. The 700-member organization hosts monthly excursions and holds frequent clinics, including an introduction to kayak camping. Additionally, it’s a good place to meet like-minded folks to round out your flotilla. With more access, will come more adventures.

“When you’re done with the Potomac,” Heimlich says, “you can start on the Patuxent.” h

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The author poses with perhaps his first gray trout, some time ago.

Drum Fish Sciaenidae: the Chesapeake’s best-loved family.

by John Page Williams

M

y father grew up in a Richmond family that always ate spot for breakfast on Sunday mornings—even in winter when the fish had to be soaked because they had been packed in salt. They dredged them in cornmeal and fried them so the hungry brothers and sisters could pick the succulent meat off the bones.

We happily maintained that tradition at our summer cottage on the lower Potomac when I was a boy. We would clamp our five-horse Johnson outboard onto our 15-foot skiff and chug to the oyster grounds out front to catch them.

Our tackle consisted of cotton handlines wrapped around sticks, rigged with two snelled, #2, Eagle Claw hooks and a two-ounce bank sinker. A bushel basket

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served as our tackle- and fish-box. Our bait was chunks of peeler crabs that we dipped from our dock pilings. The spot were the primary rewards, but there was always a variety of fish, like big croakers, which pulled so hard on the handlines, and beautiful, yellowfinned, gray trout. I have a photograph my mother took of me, aged about six, proudly holding a trout caught on my first fishing rod.

That family of fish—spot, croakers, trout, and their kin,—represented the basic economy of the Chesapeake then, and they still do, though several members are not nearly as plentiful as they use to be. They form several of the Chesapeake’s most prized recreational and commercial fisheries. Scientists refer to them as Sciaenidae—the drums—a broad and diverse family distributed world-wide. Local members also include red drum, black drum, speckled trout, and the often-scornedbut-actually-tasty silver perch. All have stout internal air bladders, which they use to adjust to pressure changes at different depths. Several species possess specialized muscles that, when contracted forcefully around the bladder, produce a drumming or croaking sound used to communicate with one another.

Most of our sciaenids winter on the Atlantic’s continental shelf. The Bay serves as a warm-weather feeding and nursery ground for them. Some juvenile fish, especially croakers, spend the winter in the Bay, but others, like spot, are moving in now as the Chesapeake warms, riding the deep bottom currents sweeping in through the Virginia Capes.

The adults are coming to take advantage of the winter’s growth of critters on oyster reefs and the season’s first soft crabs. All but the two trout species have underslung mouths fitted especially for bottom feeding on marine worms, shrimp, mud crabs, mussels, and clams. Most of them also feed on small fish such as bay anchovies, peanut menhaden, and even their own young. Here’s a rundown:

Spot or Norfolk Spot These are super panfish, which grow to as long as 14 inches, but are more common in the eight- to 10-inch range. They are excellent quarry for young anglers. Spot are here to eat the Chesapeake’s marine worms. They are true denizens of oyster reefs, and, unlike most of their kin, they show little interest in artificial lures, and they don't croak. Spot spawn in the Atlantic in late fall and winter with juveniles appearing in the Bay in late spring to feed all summer in shallow waters as far north as the Bay Bridge, where they become prey for rockfish.

Atlantic Croaker or Hardhead Croakers are larger than spot, and they average 12 to 20 inches as adults. The world record, caught off New Point Comfort Light, went a surprising 27 inches and weighed 8.7 pounds. They are highly vocal when caught and when

feeding, especially at dawn and dusk.

(There’s a story from World War II that a school of croakers set off lower Bay hydrophone alarms set to detect enemy submarines.) They feed through the summer on reefs, around marsh banks, and in grass beds. Juveniles move into deeper Bay waters for their first winter.

Because this species is at the northern edge of its range here, severe winters can kill those juveniles, wiping out whole year classes. Thus, our croaker stock is notoriously variable. We hope the past mild winter has helped them.

Croakers will take flies and jigs. In shallow water, they are powerful fighters. Some anglers refer to them as silver drum. The standard recipe for croakers at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s education centers in Tangier Sound is to dip skinned fillets in milk, roll them in panko with Old Bay, and bake them at 450 degrees until they flake—15 to 20 minutes.

Speckled Trout or Spotted Sea Trout Specks are beautiful, highly soughtafter sport fish that feed heavily on small fish, crabs, and shrimp. They strike flies, jigs, spoons, and plugs, and they put up a hard fight with lots of surface thrashing in their shallow water habitats, especially along marsh edges and grass beds. Like croakers, they are a southern species and susceptible to winter kills, but the population is looking good for 2020.

They spawn in the lower Bay and offshore in late spring, and they feed here through summer and fall before mostly moving offshore. A few of them winter in deep lower Bay tributaries where anglers catch them, mostly to tag and release for Virginia’s Saltwater Sport Fish Tagging Program. Young specks spend their first summer in Bay tributaries where they turn up around grass beds at least as far up as

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Annapolis. Fresh fillets from 14- to 20-inch specks broil beautifully with lemon-butter and fresh-ground black pepper.

Gray Trout or Weakfish Over one college-year summer, I worked at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on a pound-net survey team, visiting crews landing fish at wharves in Gloucester and Mathews counties. Retired watermen would walk down to see the catches and trade produce from their vegetable gardens. The range of fish species showing up in those lower-Bay nets was fascinating, but invariably, such a patriarch would choose a nice gray trout to boil with butter beans and tomatoes for lunch. The flavor of larger trout is substantially enhanced by wood-smoke. Close kin to specks, the grays tend to summer in deep water, feeding over shell bottoms in 15 to 50

feet anywhere from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel up past the mouth of the Potomac to Annapolis from May through October, and sometimes later, before moving out to the Atlantic for the winter. Historically we caught them on bottom rigs with bait, especially peelers, and on jigs worked vertically or swum horizontally over shell reefs and stone piles. Gray trout stocks have been low for the past ten years for unknown reasons. We miss ‘em a lot.

Silver Perch or King William The King William looks like a bleached, white perch with yellow fins, but it is a sciaenid that turns up on lower Bay bottom rigs baited for spot.

Maximum size is about nine inches, so most people don’t keep them, but their fillets are as tasty as any of their kin's.

Go ahead and cook the next big one you catch.

Black Drum Black drum are the behemoths of the clan, averaging 40 to 60 pounds and growing to more than 100 pounds.

Their size and large swim bladders make them especially noticeable on sonar. With their whisker-like chin barbels to help them feel for prey, they forage oyster reefs, rocks, bridge structure, and the bottom from the Virginia Capes to Annapolis. Though they primarily eat shellfish, they also take forage fish, and thus jigs and even large flies. There’s even a small cult of lower-Bay fly anglers who catch them on sinking lines around the bridgetunnel. They are powerful fighters, though not known for speed, and they are good choices for release, since the meat of the large specimens can be coarse and wormy.

Small black drum however, are delicious with a flavor that compares to red drum.

The centers for the fishery are off of Cape Charles and over the Stone Rock at the mouth of the Choptank River, but they can surprise anglers virtually anywhere. Some yearling black drum with their distinctive dark vertical bars spend the summer in Bay grass beds and oyster reefs as far north as Annapolis where they occasionally take baits and lures. “Puppy drum” in the five- to 10-pound range are well worth filleting, skinning, and baking or blackening.

Red Drum (Redfish, Channel Bass, Spottail Bass) If the current trend of a warmer climate continues, red drum will become even more important to Chesapeake anglers. They have been effectively managed and protected, and they have increased their range along the mid-Atlantic coast. Adults spawn on the continental shelf in late summer and fall with young-of-the-year fish

sometimes appearing in Bay waters if winds and currents sweep them in.

I remember running a high-school field trip around the well-known Hole in the Wall fishing spot at the southeastern end of Gwynns Island, Virginia in the 1970s. One pass of the 30-foot minnow seine picked up several hundred, inch-long, baby redfish, all perfectly formed with their characteristic bronze backs and spotted tails. The current recreational slot-size harvest limit in Virginia is 18 to 26 inches with a three-fish per day creel limit. In Maryland, it's 18 to 27 inches and one fish per day. Redfish are fairly common in lower Chesapeake shallows with occasional catches as far up as Rock Hall. If you catch one of these young fish, it's admirable to let it go, but it's also perfectly fine to take it home to a preheated cast iron pan (about 400 degrees), filet and coat in butter and

creole seasoning, and quickly fry it.

You'll be satisfied.

A red drum can live as long as fifty years. The large “bull reds” tend to stay offshore, but in recent years they have begun foraging in the shallows around Fisherman’s Island and Cape Charles, producing great thrills for fly and light tackle anglers.

In June, some turn up hunting the marsh banks of Tangier Sound. In late summer, some of them chase bait fish up the Bay as far as the Choptank, where they strike jigs and large trolling spoons.

It's easy to see why we love the drums so much.

CBM Editor at Large John Page Williams is a fishing guide, educator, author, and naturalist, saving the Bay since 1973. In 2013, at the urging of CBM's current editor-in-chief, the state of Maryland proclaimed him an Admiral of the Bay.

CBM

chesapeake chef

The Inn at Perry Cabin has been a commanding presence along the Miles River in St. Michaels since 1816.

Chef Gregory James

Perry Cabin Crab Magic

T

he historic Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels boasts the AAA Four-Diamond STARS restaurant anchored by Chef Gregory James. James is a product of a professional food-and-hospitality family tradition, the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, and 25 years of top-shelf kitchen experience. After developing his classic cooking chops in New York, James set out to work in American food hot spots such as Charleston, South Carolina and Napa Valley.

The Inn at Perry Cabin called, and all it took was a visit to Maryland’s Eastern Shore with its endless acres of produce and the Bay’s fresh seafood treasures to convince him he had found a new home.

Since arriving here, he has convened sessions with local farmers and watermen to exchange ideas and develop the critical relationships for dependable and fine Bay-to-table dining. According to glowing OpenTable reviews, the proof is on the plates at the inn’s dining venues.

Here, he shares his unique twists on three crab dishes, the Chesapeake’s true measure of an excellent chef.

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IPC STARS CRAB CAKE It all starts with the STARS Crab-Cake Mix: 1 teaspoon crème fraiche ¼ cup Dukes mayonnaise ½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning ½ tablespoon chives, fine mince ½ lemon, zested 1 egg, beaten (Note: There’s no binder/filler.

The egg holds it together.)

1. Drain a pound of crab meat uncovered on paper towels in a sheet pan for at least two hours, preferably overnight. TIP: Use a black light to look for and remove any remaining shell pieces.

2. Whisk together the crème fraiche, Dukes, Old Bay, chives, lemon zest, and beaten egg.

3. Carefully fold in the crabmeat without breaking up the meat.

4. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, coat pan with oil and heat until shimmering.

5. Add crab cakes and cook in batches, until golden and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes per side.

6. Serve with spinach, tomato, cucumber, or avocado, and pair with a nice Pinot Grigio.

June 2020

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chesapeake chef

PARKER CRAB ROLLS WITH GREEN APPLE AIOLI & PICKLED CELERY

Green Apple Aioli

1 lb. STARS crab cake mix including fresh crab meat (as in the crab cake recipe) ½ cup apple aioli 1 cup pickled celery 2 tablespoon softened butter 16 Parker House rolls

Combine and whisk together: 1/3 cup Dukes mayonaise 1/3 cup finely diced (brunoises) green apples 4 teaspoons chopped dill 4 teaspoons chopped parsley 4 teaspoons lemon juice + zest 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar ½ teaspoon garlic powder

1.

Pickled Celery

2.

3.

4.

5.

Lightly butter the ends of the Parker House rolls and place into medium hot skillet.

Allow to brown and flip.

Remove from the heat, make a slit on the top, and place crab mixture into the slit.

Repeat for the remaining rolls.

Top each roll with a dollop of apple aioli and 2-3 pieces of pickled celery.

3 cups cold water 2 cups tarragon vinegar or apple cider vinegar 1 cup sugar 1 cup celery, shaved on mandoline or thinly sliced 1 tablespoon pickling spice 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Bring vinegar, sugar and spice to a boil.

Remove from the heat.

Pour the boiling mixture into a large bowl with very cold water.

Add the celery.

Allow to pickle for 2 hours.

CRAB FRITTERS This “cousin to the crab cake” hush puppy is kept simple with a spicy Comeback sauce.

1 lb. STARS crab cake mix with crab meat ½ cup Comeback sauce 2 cups fine white cornmeal Canola oil Old Bay Lemon zest Kosher salt Garnish

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Comeback Sauce Combine and whisk together: 1/2 cup Dukes mayonaise 2 tablespoons chili sauce 1 tablespoon ketchup 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon Fresno chile sauce 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard 1 pinch black pepper

Form the crab mix into 1-oz balls.

Roll into the cornmeal.

Fry in canola oil heated to 325 ° F. Cook until golden brown on the outside and 145° F internally.

Remove from the hot oil and place onto paper towel.

Sprinkle with Old Bay, salt, and lemon zest.

Serve with Comeback sauce and garnish with sliced lemons, grilled lemons, petite herb salad, micro greens, or nothing at all.

June 2020

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CBM

on boats

 Learn more about the Parker 26SH at parkerboats.com.

The Parker 26SH Bay Boat Parker Boats’ new 26-foot sport hybrid is just the thing.

by John Page Williams

S

COURTESY PHOTOS

olid boat sense comes from hands-on experience, and Linwood Parker has plenty of that.

It matters in boat design, which has always been a blend of art and engineering.

Parker's new 26SH (sport hybrid) is a good example—a sweet-looking bay boat that will serve families well Parker 26SH while being certain to meet the needs of anglers up and down LOA: 26' 6" the Chesapeake.

Beam: 9' 6" Parker grew up around Draft: 15” (engine up) boats and boatbuilders on North Weight: 5,073 lbs.

Carolina’s Harkers Island in the Max HP: 400 1950s, a time when boys who Fuel Capacity: 97 gal. wanted skiffs built their own. He MSRP: starts at $125,751 worked on the water and in the

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boatyards before and during college.

Afterwards, he spent time drafting the lines of the local vessels, which were traditionally built by “rack-of-eye” without drawings. He worked on sportfishing boats and he built shrimp trawlers. He knew what worked through hands-on experience by designing and building boats, and fishing in his notoriously rough home waters.

By the 1970s, he saw that fiberglass was taking over the market while increasingly reliable outboards became the preferred power for inshore watermen. His first model, the 25-foot Sou’wester, was a simple, seaworthy, and reasonably priced skiff with unmistakable Carolina sheer and bow-flare, and a shallow-V running surface, which flowed forward to a

sharp, wave-cleaving forefoot. We remember when a Crisfield-based boat dealer introduced the Sou’wester to Tangier Sound where it quickly set a new standard, and the rest is history.

Watermen, guides, anglers, state fishery agencies, university laboratories, and natural resource law enforcement officers became enthusiastic customers for a line of Parkers, which grew to include nineteen models from 18- to 28-feet, including center-consoles, sport-cabins, walkarounds, and a dualconsole design.

The model mix has evolved over the years, based on customer requests, advances in materials, and improvements in construction processes, but it still hews to the tagline, “Everything you need, nothing you don’t.” The concept for the 26SH goes back to the 1990s, when Linwood visited a prospective dealer on the Texas Gulf Coast where anglers love to wade the barrier islands surf and the shallow lagoons in search of speckled trout, redfish, and flounder. Strength, simplicity, and seaworthiness are important there, but so is a low freeboard aft to allow anglers to easily slide overboard to wade the flats and to climb back in.

With Carolina-style bows and self-bailing cockpits, these "bay boats" could handle the open seas and still serve their shallow-water purposes. The first Parker bay boats were inexpensive and plain in 21-, 23-, and 25-foot sizes. Professional fishing guides loved them, and the boats spread east to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. (We were able to fish one of them ten years ago in the marshes outside Delacroix, Louisiana.) Families also learned that they made great taxis for day-trips to local sandbars.

Over the last few years, Parker and his design team and his dealers sensed “a maturing market for well-appointed bay boats.”

He began re-thinking those Gulf-Coast hulls, envisioning a new model that could fish well but also provide comfortable accommodations for family excursions, tow-sports, and swimming. Thus, the 26SH. Her nine-and-ahalf-foot beam, a hull deadrise that flows from 18 degrees at the transom to a sharp forefoot, the Carolina bow flare, sharp lifting strakes, and double chines that turn up gradually to follow the sheer, provides a rock-stable hull at rest that lifts easily onto plane at speeds in the low teens, throwing spray out flat to the side.

The hull is deep and roomy enough to provide June 2020

ABOVE: (L) The low freeboard aft allows easy access for fishing and swimming, and the optional Power-Pole anchoring system will make it quick and easy to hold in just the right shallow spot.

(R) The padded aft deck features seating, plenty of storage, and access for bait, stuff, and utilities.

WHERE TO BUY Dare Marina & Yacht Sales Norfolk & Yorktown, Va. 757-898-3000 daremarina.com Garrett's Marina Bowlers Wharf, Va. 804-443-2573 garrettsmarina.com

Tri-State Marine Deale, Md. 410-867-1447 tristatemarine.com

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CBM

on boats

space in the console for adults to change clothes or use a portable head. It also offers secure space to mount up to five batteries— one for the engine, one for the house, and three for an optional, 36-volt, bowmounted, trolling motor, which keeps the total battery weight of about 300 pounds centered low in the hull.

The standard Yamaha F300 comes bolted to a hydraulic jackplate fastened to a transom motor pod, which allows the 26SH to run in shallow water. In our sea trial, courtesy of Parker Boats and Dare Marina & Yacht Sales, the engine matched the 5,000-pound hull well and provided efficient cruise speeds of 23 to 27 knots and a top end of 40 knots with plenty of power to spare for towing and carrying a full crew.

The 97-gallon fuel tank provides a

conservative range of 200 nautical miles. For our lower Bay test run on a gray February day, Linwood’s daughter, Robin, who handles marketing for the company, wished us “snotty seas out there to show what the boat can do.” Unfortunately, the Chesapeake was calm, but the hull is clearly capable of handling any Chesapeake seas that a prudent skipper would take her out in. As Linwood said in a phone conversation, “It’s all in how you use the boat. She’s got a nice bottom and enough weight to ride well. The rising sheer and the flare mean the bow can’t go down into a sea without creating resistance. The flare peels water off, increasing buoyancy.”

Above the waterline, in the Parker tradition, the 26SH’s accommodations are simple but ample with a sturdy

T-top and a three-panel windshield integrated with the console to provide shelter at the helm, which comes with a compass, a choice of 12- or 16-inch Garmin displays, an interconnected VHF, and a Fusion stereo. Comfortable seating includes room for two forward of the console with a cooler beneath, two more at the helm-seat/leaning post, and two more on a fold-down seat in the center of the stern deck.

The broad bow deck offers plenty of room to spread out a picnic. The two decks provide ample storage, including lockable horizontal racks for six fishing rods up to seven-feet long in the port and starboard bow compartments. It’s worth noting that Parker takes storage seriously: the compartments have lights, and the hatches have stout hinges, gas shocks, and gaskets with drain gutters.

HARBOUR COVE MARINA FAMILY OWNED & FAMILY FRIENDLY SINCE 1992

STORAGE, SERVICE & 2020 SLIPS AVAILABLE!

FULL-SERVICE MARINA * * * * * * * * * *

Best Kept Secret on the Chesapeake Bay!

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5910 VACATION LANE, DEALE, MD 20751 - WWW.HARBOURCOVE.COM - 301.261.9500

To ensure the boat self-bails at rest, the deck is crowned about an inch in the center, with scuppers at the sides of the cockpit three inches above the waterline. The scuppers are covered with stainless grates to prevent clogging, and their pipes are covered by one-way flaps at the transom.

Even with the 26SH’s low freeboard, the hull’s interior provides 19 to 21 inches of cockpit depth with padded bolsters inside the gunwales for bracing.

The console has horizontal racks for four seven-foot rods on each side.

Under the gunwales areracks for four, seven and a half-foot rods, and there are padded, foam fish rulers against the sides to protect your reels. Also beneath the gunwales are two tilt-out storage bins. The leaning post features a pair of tackle drawers with a slide-out cooler beneath.

The aft deck area houses a livewell and a double seat with a storage bin in the center. Both lift out to provide excellent access to the well-organized bilge, which includes a sea chest to serve the live wells.

A raw-water washdown system is standard. A freshwater system and shower wand are optional. At the transom, the jackplate has mounts for a pair of optional Power-Pole shallow-water anchors. There’s also a retractable ladder, which helps make the boat a happy swim platform.

Sport Hybrid? Yes, this 26-footer can serve multiple assignments with flare and style, and with her stout construction, she’ll do that for a long time. Parker Boats has another winner.

CBM Editor at Large and author John Page Williams is an educator and Maryland fishing guide. In 2013, the State of Maryland proclaimed him an Admiral of the Bay.

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June 2020

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J AMMED UP Coronavius Cripples Bay Seafood Industry

In mid-March 2020, Maryland, D.C., and Virginia adopted strict social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, forcing the region’s restaurants to close their doors to dine-in services. While some restaurants continue to offer pick-up and delivery options, others opted to shut down entirely.

With restaurants operating at reduced capacity, demand for oysters, crabs, and fish plummeted. The economic shockwave was first felt by restaurants then spread to the rest of the supply chain.

Approximately 70 percent of all seafood consumed in the United States is consumed through restaurants. Without a consistent demand from the region’s restaurants, the Chesapeake Bay’s seafood wholesalers, processors, watermen, and aquaculturists responsible for supplying those restaurants were left to find other buyers to keep operations afloat.

“We could see the writing on the wall” As concerns about COVID-19 mounted in early March, Jason Ruth, co-owner of oyster shucking house Harris Seafood in Grasonville, Maryland, noticed a downturn in sales for shucked and live oysters. Restaurants consume the overwhelming majority of Harris’ packaged oysters, while only a small percentage goes to seafood retailers and grocery stores.

Then, on March 16, Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order closing Maryland’s dine-in restaurants in an effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Virginia followed suit on March 23.

“When the governor made the official announcement that shutdown restaurants, many of our customers backed out of their orders that day,” Ruth explained. “We could see the writing on the wall and cut the oyster season short by two weeks.”

Truncating the oyster season meant that Ruth was no longer buying the daily catch from more than 100 boats, which harvested a total average of 1,100 bushels of wild oysters each day.

Without oysters to process or sell, Ruth was forced to lay off 18 local shuckers, six laborers, and three of his management staff. According to Ruth, other shucking houses in Maryland and Virginia took similar actions after the market for oysters dropped out.

STORY & PHOTOS

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by Jay Fleming

Nick Crook sets his crab pots for the 2020 season.

June 2020

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39

With shucking houses winding down early, watermen missed the chance to capitalize on the final stretch of a surprisingly robust oyster season. Despite predictions for a lackluster oyster yield in the 2019 to 2020 season, Ruth explained, “Watermen were still doing well, [and] certain gear types were catching limits until the end.” Ruth estimates that watermen could have harvested an additional 20,000 bushels from Maryland waters, amounting to $1-million in dockside market value.

Pound netters specializing in restaurant favorites such as white perch, flounder, striped bass, and black drum are also losing out on potential income.

After dockside prices on summer flounder dropped from around $2.00 to 75 cents a pound, long-time Hoopers Island, Maryland pound netter Larry ‘Boo’ Powley claimed he could not remember a time when flounder prices were less than a dollar in the spring. Powley’s buyer also lowered the price of jumbo white perch to fifteen cents, down from the usual 80 cents to $1.00 this time of year. As fellow Hoopers Island pound netter Burl Lewis puts it, “The market for good fish is jammed up.”

Hoopers Island watermen harvest a pound-net, menhaden haul to sell and use as crab bait.

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Adapting under pressure

Mike Manyak of Sapidus Farms has developed partnerships and no-contact, direct -sale options to provide his cultivated "Happy Oysters " and other products such as this oyster and Lost Boy Cider package in Alexandria .

COURTESY PHOTO

Before the coronavirus pandemic took root, Mike and Angelina Manyak, the husband-andwife oyster farming team behind Sapidus (Happy Oyster) Farms in Reedville, Virginia, were gearing up for a banner year. The Manyaks had more than one million marketsize oysters in the water that were ready for sale in 2020—up from just 300,000 in 2019— and they were expanding their market to new restaurants and catering companies.

All that changed when the restaurant shutdown hit Maryland and Virginia. “Every event and order that we had lined up got cancelled,” Mike said. “Our sales were 100 percent gone.” And although they had restaurant customers who were still offering carry-out or delivery orders, Mike explained, those restaurants were not selling raw oysters due to temperature control and other food safety concerns.

The Manyaks immediately recognized they would need to explore new streams of revenue to keep their farm running. While restaurants can offer their dishes on mobile food delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats, these platforms are less adaptable to aquaculture operations like Sappidus Farms. The pair knew they would need to chart their own path.

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Luckily, the couple’s experience distributing directly to restaurants in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia helped inspire a plan to get their oysters in the hands of consumers. Mike started working with a local waterman in Northumberland County, Virginia who harvests striped bass, hard crabs, and soft crabs.

“We wanted to make our delivery service more appealing to people who aren't big oyster eaters, and help local watermen get a higher profit margin,” Mike explained. After advertising through social media, friends, and

family, the couple set up a location in Montgomery County, Maryland where customers could do contactless pickup— encouraging Paypal or Venmo payments in lieu of cash or credit.

The Manyaks are optimistic that this new market will sustain their oyster farm until restaurants reopen, and even hope they can continue selling directly to their customers in the future.

“The response was overwhelming,” Angelina said, “but I am not surprised since everyone loves Chesapeake Bay seafood.”

“The crabs will be crawling” Maryland’s crab season began on April 1, just over two weeks into Maryland’s restaurant shutdown. Since then, Maryland crabbers have been reporting strong catches near the Maryland-Virginia line. Likewise, the crabbers of Virginia, who started crabbing on March 17, reported good catches of sooks, or mature female crabs, at the start of the season.

“It’s not a resource problem,” said Jack Brooks, co-owner of J.M. Clayton Seafood Company in Cambridge, Maryland. Sooks make up the bulk of the catch for crabbers working from the mouth of the Choptank River south to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. J.M. Clayton and other picking houses

Idle oyster-shucking stations at Harris Seafood in Grasonville, Md.

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Bay-to-Table Direct Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of watermen have established their own retail delivery programs or started selling seafood right off the boat. Buying direct not only means that you are getting the freshest product, it means you are directly supporting people and small businesses in your community. Helping the watermen and the processors achieve a fair profit for their hard work is incredibly helpful now in this difficult time.

Below is a partial list of individuals and businesses from all corners of the Chesapeake region who are licensed to sell directly to consumers.

EASTERN SHORE Scott Budden, Orchard Point Oyster Co., Stevensville, Md.— Oysters orchardpointoysters.com 443-480-0302

Tommy Eskridge stacks traps for the 2020 crab season on Tangier Island.

Ryan Manning, Chestertown, Md.— Fish and Live Crabs 443-480-6341 Nick Crook, Kent Island Md.—Live Crabs 410-490-8177

process sooks into the crab meat that restaurants use for dishes like crab cakes, crab soups, and crab dips.

With restaurant sales down, Brooks anticipates he will need to find new ways to get his products to the consumer. And although Brooks is hopeful that business from roadside stands and small retail markets will pick up, he cautions that this demand “wouldn't come anywhere close” to making up for the loss of demand from the restaurants.

The coronavirus pandemic is not the only crisis crab picking houses encountered this year. By the start of the 2020 season, H2-B non-agricultural work visas, which permit laborers to enter the country to work for a business selected in the federal government’s

lottery system, were not secured for six of the nine crab picking houses in Maryland.

Similarly, Virginia’s largest crab processing house, Graham and Rollins in Hampton, had not secured its pickers by the start of the season, and smaller operations in Virginia suffered from the same lack of labor.

For the crab picking houses that were able to secure labor through the H2-B process, current travel restrictions aimed to curb the spread of COVID-19 prohibit many pickers from entering the country. And beyond that, J.M. Clayton, Russell Hall, and A.E. Phillips— the three Maryland picking houses that received H2-B visas—have expressed apprehension about operating at full capacity in light of the restrictions on the restaurants.

“Our picking room is not full,” said June 2020

Cory Legg (C Legg's Seafood), Kent Island Md.—Live Crabs 410-829-0994 Bunky Chance, Bozman, Md.—Live Crabs, Oysters 443-496-1369 JM Clayton Seafood, Cambridge Md.— Crab Meat, Live & Steamed Crabs 410-228-1661 Hoopers Island Oyster Co., Cambridge, Md.—Oysters oystersales@ hoopersisland.com

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Phillip ‘Buck’ Jarusek, Frenchtown Md.— Soft Crabs, Live Crabs 443-614-5695

Brooks, explaining that J.M. Clayton brought in only 25 percent of the H2-B workers it employed last year.

With fewer pickers at work, the watermen who depend on selling female crabs to the picking houses will encounter decreased demand. This could be particularly devastating for watermen in the lower bay where the catch is predominantly female crabs.

Ruth, whose Harris Seafood also buys crabs for catering events and distribution to restaurants, agrees. “At the start of the season, we are seeing off-the-boat prices that are one-half of what they were last year on females and about one-third less on males,” he said.

The already low price and the lack of market for female crabs could put more pressure on the male crabs, as well as concentrate crabbers in the fresher waters, where a larger volume of males could be caught. "Jimmies," as they are commonly called, are easier to sell in a retail market or direct to the customer.

But like any other year, Kent Island, Maryland waterman Nick Crook and his crew–now operating as essential personnel

Jimmy Hahn, Salisbury, Md.—Fish, Scallops 410-310-4296 Scott Wivell, Cape Charles Va.—Fish, Live Crabs, Oysters 757-375-8306 Cherrystone Aquafarms, Cape Charles Va.— Oysters, Clams clamandoyster.com, 757-331-1208

WESTERN SHORE Tony Conrad, Parkville Md.—Live & Steamed Crabs, Fish 410-882-1515 Captain Richard Young, (Coveside Crabs), Baltimore 410-477-4709

Waterman Nick Crook heads out to set crab pots for the 2020 season knowing that the supply chain and market are tenuous.

Patrick Mahoney (Wild Country Seafood), Annapolis Md.—Crabs, Oysters, Fish 410-267-6711 John VanAlstine, Dunkirk, Md.—Fish, Crabs, Oysters 443-223-3433 Paul Kellam, Ridge, Md.—Fish, Crabs, Oysters 301-872-0100

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under one of Governor Hogan’s executive orders—must stack upwards of 280 freshly painted crab pots on his workboat Diamondback in preparation for his harvest.

Despite warnings about the market, Crook is hopeful for a strong yield on crabs as the season progresses.

“We don't know what the human race will be doing for the next month, but we know that the crabs will be crawling,” Crook remarked. In line with this attitude, Crook plans to explore new channels of distribution to move his catch, including opportunities to sell crabs directly to the customer.

Though he recognizes that developing new means of distribution will not be easy, Crook is confident that consumer preferences will keep the market strong. According to Crook, “Maryland loves crabs.”

Ruth, too, can find a silver lining. “The oysters will be bigger next year,” Ruth said, “and they will spawn over the summer.” h Jay Fleming is a professional photographer, videographer, and conservationist focusing largely on Chesapeake and Atlantic Coast maritime themes and nature.

Rachel and Simon Dean, Solomons Md.—Soft Crabs, Hard Crabs 301-672-3509

“We don't know what the human race will be doing for the next month, but we know that the crabs will be crawling,”

Mike Manyak, Reedville, Va.—Oysters, Fish, Crabs 443-864-3600 Lisa Carol Rose, White Stone Va.—Oysters, Crabs, Fish 804-436-4855 Tommy Leggett, (Chessie Seafood & Aquafarms), Hayes, Va.—Oysters 804-815-7982 Bruce Vogt, (Big Island Oysters), Hayes, Va.—Oysters bigislandaquaculture.com, 757-344-8554 Myles Cockrell, (Little Wicomico Oyster Company), Heathsville, Va.—Oysters 804-436-5962 Parrott Island Oysters, Wake, Va.—Oysters 804-338-6530 Tom Perry, Windmill Point, Va.—Oysters whitestoneoysters.com Chris Ludford, Virginia Beach Va.—Fish 757-663-6970 Mark Sanford, Virginia Beach Va.—Live Crabs 757-263-7599 Adrian Colaprete, Virginia Beach, Va.— Crabs, Oysters, Fish 757-237-1365 ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

20

for

Talbot County’s Sights and Sounds, Exquisite Tastes, and Unforgettable Experiences

Travel is different nowadays, but Talbot County, Maryland, is open for business.

With its small towns and rural landscape, it is easy to practice social distancing here.

And while we’re readily accessible by car, boat, and small plane, you’ll feel like you’ve discovered your own secret hideaway. Come here to sample the sweet life on the Chesapeake Bay. Check out all the different ways to enjoy Talbot County.

1

GET OUT ON THE WATER Boaters—and those who love the life on the water—have ranked Talbot County among their favorite nautical destinations for generations. The pristine waterfront offers spectacular views of beach, marsh, fields, and forests, along with historic mansions. Those traversing the Chesapeake Bay love the recently dredged Knapps Narrows, the channel that separates Tilghman Island from the mainland and provides a welcome shortcut to Oxford.

The area also boasts many full-service marinas and maintenance facilities.

3

PEDAL THE BACK ROADS Bring your bike or rent one when you arrive to roam Talbot County, a place laced with backroads that weave through fields and forests, historic sites and quaint towns, and along the waterfront.

An easy-to-use map that you can download at TourTalbot.org offers directions for six rides.

The 29.6-mile Easton-OxfordSt. Michaels loop ranks as one of the premier bike trails in the Mid-Atlantic region. Another popular route called “Chesapeake Views” navigates the water’s edge.

It starts in the charming village of Claiborne, a former steamboat landing, and ends at the very tip of Tilghman Island, where cyclists are rewarded with vast Chesapeake Bay vistas.

If you don’t own a boat, don’t worry—charters and rentals abound, from yachts to dinghies. Or hop aboard The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, the country’s oldest continuously operating ferry, which this year happens to be celebrating its 337th anniversary. For just a few dollars you can board the ferry—on foot or with your car—and cross the Tred Avon River from the scenic small town of Oxford to the charming hamlet of Bellevue as you take in wide water views, along with glimpses of herons, ospreys, and bald eagles.

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CRACK SOME CRABS Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are famous the world over, and Talbot County has plenty of go-to spots for to-go crab feasts. Get the freshest local crabs by the dozen or the bushel at our seafood markets and restaurants. Or take home a delicious cream of crab soup made by The Shore Boys, available at local grocery stores and their own shop, Easton Antiques.

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GO FISHING Angling for some angling? Experienced locals will take you out to catch the good stuff, like rockfish, flounder, and sea trout. Or you can drop a line at the Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park on the Choptank River south of Trappe, where physical distancing is not only possible, but preferred.

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BUY FROM A FARMER Talbot County’s land is as productive as its water. The freshest local produce is at CDC-compliant farmers markets in both Easton and St. Michaels, where fresh vegetables, crabmeat, farm-raised oysters, eggs, baked goods, and other specialty foods are also available.

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PADDLE THROUGH PARADISE Scenic rivers and abundant streams make Talbot County a prime destination for kayakers and paddleboarders. While there’s no shortage of push-off points, there are several popular routes worth noting.

More experienced paddlers can depart from St. Michaels or Tilghman Island to view waterfowl and watch watermen tending their catch.

Downloadable water-trail maps are available at TourTalbot.org. And, don’t worry about bringing your own equipment—rental shops abound.

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GET BACK TO NATURE Ready to make the acquaintance of a bald eagle or Delmarva fox squirrel? Visit the 400-acre Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Easton. Talbot County is also home to two state parks—Wye Oak and Bill Burton Fishing Pier—and the Black Walnut Point Natural Resources Management Area on Tilghman Island.

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SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM! For first-rate frozen treats, visit Scottish Highland Creamery in Oxford, which has more than 600 flavors in rotation. There are also scoops to be coveted at Justine’s in St. Michaels and Easton’s Storm & Daughters Ice Cream and Bonheur Ice Cream & Pie.

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CELEBRATE THE BAY

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READY, AIM, FIRE! What’s your quarry? Talbot County is prime hunting ground for ducks, geese, turkeys, and deer.

Whether you want to go shooting on land or water, some of the best outfitters and guides on the Eastern Shore are ready to see to all your needs.

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“Museum” is almost too small a word for all that the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has and does. While there, you can explore a distinctive screwpile lighthouse to get a sense of the spartan and difficult life lighthouse keepers led while guarding the shoals of the Bay. And for a hands-on experience, you can even participate in a restoration of a vintage vessel in an “Apprentice For A Day” program.

This year, you can check out the construction of a new replica of the Dove, Maryland’s most famous tall ship, which was an early 17th century trading ship that made the first expedition between England and Maryland. The state of Maryland has tasked the talented shipwrights at the museum with recreating this 84-foot vessel, which can navigate rough seas and shallow waters. The public can watch the progress of all phases of the work including the rigging of the 64-foot mast and planking of the wooden deck on what will be Maryland’s sailing ambassador upon its completion in fall 2021.

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HUNT FOR TREASURE Our boutiques are reopening to responsible shoppers who follow a few simple safety rules.

Whether you’re looking for high-end antiques or shabby-chic furniture, funky costume jewelry, fine estate pieces, fair trade accessories, designer handbags, antique books or crafty garden ornaments, you’ll find it all while strolling the streets of Talbot County.

Wylder

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HIT THE LINKS On a spectacular peninsula overlooking the Miles River and Eastern Bay in St. Michaels, you’ll find The Links at Perry Cabin, an 18-hole championship course designed by legendary golfer Pete Dye. Here, you can learn from a stable of PGA professionals or jump on an indoor simulator, where you can try your hand playing a classic course. In Easton, Hog Neck Golf Course is an affordable municipal course, with an 18-hole championship course and a 9-hole executive course.

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SAVOR THE SOUND Fully restored in 2019, the Avalon Theatre is a stunning Art Deco performing arts venue where patrons can catch nationally known acts on a regular basis.

The building is also home to the Stoltz Listening Room, a small club venue with outstanding acoustics and a relaxed, intimate setting.

New programming is added all the time. The best way to get the inside scoop about what is happening is to visit the Avalon’s website at avalonfoundation.org.

Can’t be in Easton as often as you like? Subscribe to the Avalon Theatre’s YouTube channel to get live streaming programming right to your home!

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TAKE A WALK You can soak up plenty of history simply by strolling the brick sidewalks of Easton, Oxford, and St. Michaels, all of which date back to the colonial era. When you’re ready to dig deeper, take a historic walking tour. In Easton, there’s a self-guided walking tour that will lead you to historical and architectural features of the town. Easton is also home to an area known as The Hill Community, which is recognized as the oldest free African American neighborhood in the country. Download maps for both tours at TourTalbot.org or pick up guides at the Visitors Center. On Saturdays in Oxford, you can take a free tour with a local expert who knows the history of the streets, alleys, and marinas of this postcard-pretty town. Guided walking tours that start at the St. Michaels Museum at Mary’s Square and chronicle the rich history of this waterfront town are offered each Saturday from May through October.

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GET INSPIRED Artists have long been drawn to Talbot County’s beautiful landscape of gentle farmland, bustling marinas, and unspoiled waterways, not to mention quaint historic towns. All of this makes Talbot County a hub for outdoor painting. Watch for news about signature events such as Plein Air Easton and the Waterfowl Festival. Easton is also home to the Eastern Shore’s premier art center, The Academy Art Museum, which focuses primarily on works on paper from the 17th to 20th centuries. Its permanent collection includes more than 1,000 works, mostly pieces by Americans and Europeans, including many by significant artists such as Rembrandt and Rothko.

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COME STAY AWHILE Just 90 minutes from both Washington and Baltimore, Talbot County is a prime destination for a weekend or week away. Plenty of inns and B&Bs offer visitors a chance to bed down in historic digs, including The Tidewater House, a newly reimagined Beaux Arts mansion in downtown Easton which has five differently themed suites. Across the street is the Tidewater Inn, a cornerstone of Easton since 1949, which has hosted some of the biggest names of the 20th century such as John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, and Robert Mitchum. In the town of Oxford, guests can sleep in the waterfront home of Robert Morris Sr., whose son was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a financier of the American Revolution. The elegant Inn at Perry Cabin, a resort on the edge of the Miles River in St. Michaels, is centered around a manor house, built in 1816 by an aide-de-camp to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, which was designed to resemble Perry’s cabin on the USS Niagara.

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GATHER TOGETHER It may be a while before we can gather and celebrate in a big way, but ingenuity will win the day. Talbot County hosts some of the Eastern Shore’s most impressive events. While they may change as the situation dictates, keep an eye out at TourTalbot.org for the latest news about what’s happening.

The Crab Claw 304 Burns Street, St Michaels, MD

410.745.2900 www.TheCrabClaw.com

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FOLLOW FREDERICK DOUGLASS The preeminent abolitionist, orator and statesman Frederick Douglass was a native of Talbot County, where he was enslaved as a child and young man. Four driving tours show the lands and locations where he developed the strength and spirit that made him a towering figure of the 19th century. Visit frederickdouglassbirthplace.org.

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true talbot. true chesapeake.

true

getaway

E A S TO N • OX F O R D • S T. M I C H A E L S • T I LG H M A N I S L A N D

Talbot County is home to some of the most beautiful and historic small towns in America. Explore our culinary treasures, one-of-a-kind boutiques and elegant inns.

Or bike, kayak and sail the Chesapeake Bay. Plan your escape today!

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410-770-8000 | TourTalbot.org

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Travel is different nowadays, but Tal

EXPLORE TALBOT ONLINE COVID-19 may have temporarily closed many Talbot County cultural attractions, but Easton’s Academy Art Museum website has weekly Art-at-Home posts with artworks and activities. The Oxford Museum has changing exhibitions in its windows and online, while the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum is hosting “Tilghman Back in the Day,” a virtual exhibit featuring historical photos of the island.

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TASTE THE CHESAPEAKE BAY Keep calm and carry out!

Talbot County restaurants are open for pickup and delivery, so you can experience the best Chesapeake cooking across a wide range of cuisines.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, call us at (410) 770-8000 or visit us online at TourTalbot.org .

June 2020

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Prospects are dimming for the rare Bethany Beach firefly.

by Andrea Appleton

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LINDA ROSENBLUTH

The Bethany Beach firefly is distinguished by its green double flash.

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It’s a Friday night in August

and traffic on Delaware’s Coastal Highway is heavy with young people heading to the Dewey Beach bars. In a state park just off the highway, wildlife biologist Jason Davis scans the dunes for a different kind of nightlife. The passing headlights twinkling through the bushes make it tricky.

“Airplanes blinking, car lights through the trees. There are a lot of things that can fool your eyes,” Davis says.

“Once I saw a shooting star and thought for a minute it was a firefly.”

Davis is counting specimens of Photuris bethaniensis, the Bethany Beach firefly, as part of a survey for Delaware’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. Known for its distinctive green double flash, the species is increasingly famous for its scarcity. The Bethany Beach firefly is known to inhabit only seven sites, some no larger than a living room. The sites are all interdunal swales, a rare type of freshwater wetland found in depressions between sand dunes. They fall along a 20-mile section of the southern Delaware Coast, including a sliver of land bound by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Inland Bays on the other. The narrow stretch, less than 1,000 feet wide in places, is bisected by a busy four-lane highway.

So few Bethany Beach fireflies are thought to remain that last year the Center for Biological Diversity and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation petitioned to have the insect listed as federally endangered. The petition notes that the Bethany Beach firefly is “at immediate risk of

LINDA ROSENBLUTH

Wildlife biologist Jason Davis searches for fireflies.

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A Bethany Beach firefly.

Bethany Beach firefly in the late 1990s. First described in 1953, it had not been recorded since.

“I was aware of a rare ecosystem type down among the dunes on Bethany Beach,” he says. “I figured if there’s a rare firefly, it’s probably associated with a rare wetland. I’m pretty sure we found it on our first night out.”

Heckscher went on to conduct a survey for the firefly.

His data, now two decades old, forms the heart of the endangered species petition. (Once Jason Davis’ new data is released, it too will be submitted to the USFWS.) He identified seven sites. Six were on state land, but the site with the greatest abundance of the imperiled firefly was on

Federal and Delaware researchers measure and release the fireflies.

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KAYT JONSSON/USFWS PHOTOS

extinction” from the “imminent destruction” of much of its habitat. It lists development, sea level rise, pesticides, and invasive plants among the threats the species faces. Late last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that the petition had surmounted an important hurdle: An initial review found the firefly’s plight merits further examination. The process could take years, but if successful, Photuris bethaniensis would become the first firefly ever federally listed.

It is not, however, the only bioluminescent beetle in decline. A recent study in the journal Bioscience found that many of the world’s 2,000-plus firefly species are under threat from habitat loss, pesticide use, and light pollution.

Fireflies talk to one another using light. Artificial lights inhibit their ability to communicate and lower their odds of finding a mate.

Candace Fallon, a senior conservation biologist for the Xerces Society and co-author of the petition on behalf of the Bethany Beach firefly, says no one knows definitively how many of the 170 described firefly species in the United States are in trouble. “We are trying to figure that out now,” she says. “We’ve been hearing so many anecdotal reports from researchers on firefly declines.”

The Bethany Beach firefly has a special distinction beyond its extreme scarcity: It is the only species of any kind, plant or animal, that is found only in Delaware.

Entomologist Christopher Heckscher, an environmental scientist at Delaware State University, rediscovered the

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Elevated platforms/building sites over a wetland where scientists say the fireflies once flourished.

private property. Heckscher counted hundreds of fireflies there. “When I did my survey, that was the best site in Delaware,” he says, “or the world, I guess.”

The nearly two-acre wetland lies north of Bethany Beach in a community known as Breakwater Beach. It is surrounded by multi-million-dollar beach homes. Louis Capano III, a member of the Capano family, well-known developers in the area, owns the site. For decades, he sought to build on it, but federal wetland regulations stymied him. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters, including wetlands.

Then Capano discovered a novel workaround. He decided to build his entire eight-unit development up on an elevated wooden cul de sac over the wetland, sidestepping the regulations. The asphalt roads and driveways rest on top of the pier, as will the homes he intends to build.

Capano was aided in this venture by an environmental consulting company headed by James McCulley, a former

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employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. McCulley’s job at the Corps? Enforcing Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Ed Bonner, who manages the regulatory program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, is responsible for overseeing construction in the region’s waterways. He found that the Breakwater Beach development was not subject to federal regulations. “I have to look at the effect of the pilings,” Bonner says. “I’m not looking necessarily at anything that's going to be built on top of those pilings because the word ‘shading’ is specifically not in the regulation.” The regulations govern pilings in cases where they are so large or so close together that they have the effect of fill. In this case, Bonner says, the pilings were neither large nor close together.

Attempts to reach Capano for comment were unsuccessful. But his attorney told the Associated Press last summer that Heckscher’s data was too old and limited to prove anything. “Breakcap LLC has no reason to believe

The permitted impacts have significantly degraded the function of the wetland. And what we care about is the function,

that any fireflies live in or along the interdunal swale within Breakwater Beach, let alone that Breakwater Beach is critical habitat for any species.”

The project hasn’t made Capano any friends among wetland advocates.

“Technically I guess he’s not violating any regulation because he’s filling so little of the wetland,” Hecksher says.

“But it’s completely ridiculous.

Because obviously now the wetland’s destroyed or will be destroyed. It’s not getting sunlight and getting very little water from precipitation and the water that does run off the cul de sac isn’t going to be clean.”

Chris Bason, executive director for the Center for the Inland Bays, agrees that, while the project may follow the letter of the law, it’s a death sentence for the wetland underneath. “The permitted impacts have significantly degraded the function of the wetland,” he says. “And what we care about is the function, the provision of habitat for rare plants and animals.”

If a federal endangered species designation comes, it may be too late for the fireflies that once twinkled at the Breakwater Beach site. The construction on the pier appears complete, and the wetland is now almost entirely shaded. A real estate listing posted in November boasts “Construction underway for summer 2020 delivery” on at least one home on the elevated cul de sac. It’s selling for over two million dollars.

Some wetland advocates fear the approval of the elevated development sets a dangerous precedent for future projects in the state’s wetlands. A quarter of Delaware’s land area is wetland. “I think that it’s a gamechanger,” Bason of the Center for the Inland Bays says.

“Certainly the environmental consultant that was able to pull this off is going to use that as a selling point for their services.”

(The project is prominent on the website of the consultant, Watershed Eco. And owner Jim McCulley recently wrote a testimonial on the builder’s website noting that “after about 10 years and lots of data and studies, we were able to convince the Corps that this was truly a piling project and there would not be the same effect as fill.”)

But Bonner, of the Corps, says the decision needn’t have landed on his desk at all.

“There is no nontidal wetland program in the state of Delaware,” he says. “In states like New Jersey or Maryland, Bethany Beach fireflies where you have a nontidal are collected as part of a wetland program, this would recent survey by state and federal researchers. be a non-situation because the state would have the authority to step in and regulate the activity.” Maryland, for example, requires no net loss of wetland acreage and function. When a wetland is lost to development, another must be created.

Delaware’s protections for the state’s endangered animals also lag behind those of neighboring states, according to Jim White, associate director of land and June 2020

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KAYT JONSSON/USFWS PHOTOS

the provision of habitat for rare plants and animals.

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KAYT JONSSON/USFWS PHOTOS

Taking a closer look at an elusive species.

biodiversity at the Delaware Nature Society and chair of the Delaware Native Species Commission. The state declared the Bethany Beach firefly endangered some years ago, but the designation comes with few protections. “Rare and uncommon species, especially plants and certain animals, do not have the protections they need [in Delaware],” White says. “We're lagging a little bit behind Maryland and New Jersey, our neighbor states.” White says one of the commission’s goals is to beef up protections for stateendangered species.

In the meantime, the Bethany Beach firefly awaits a decision from the federal government. It will take a concerted effort to save the species. Sussex County is the fastest growing county in Delaware, and much of the boom is along the coast. With development comes habitat loss and light pollution, among other environmental ills.

But this species faces another daunting challenge: Sea levels are rising off the coast of Delaware at twice the global average. If the projections bear out, all of the firefly’s habitat may be underwater before the century is out. State officials have estimated that as much as 11 percent of Delaware’s land could be submerged by 2100, beginning with coastal areas.

For now, the Bethany Beach firefly is still out there if you know where to look. Last summer, Davis found the firefly in seven sites, including some that were different than those Heckscher identified two decades ago. Davis was not able to compile enough data to indicate whether the Bethany Beach firefly population has diminished in

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that time. But in 2019, the best night at the best site meant 20 to 30 fireflies, as compared to the hundreds Heckscher remembers from the Breakwater Beach wetland.

It’s almost dark when we see the first rapid double flash of green high over a stand of phragmites bordering the parking lot. Davis dashes forward, net aloft, but the insect seems to taunt him, flying high above, blinking out and appearing again 10 feet away. The interdunal swale is a small grassy spot nearby, surrounded by a perimeter of woody vegetation. On this August evening, it is bisected by a pair of muddy tire tracks from a utility truck, leading up to a power pole.

The darkness deepens and another firefly joins the first. Davis doesn’t manage to catch this one either. If he had, he would have examined the head, taken some measurements to be sure it’s the correct species, and released it. As it is, we watch them blink high over our heads, semaphores in the night.

In the decades since that first survey, Davis is the only one who has done any extensive research on the Bethany Beach firefly. He fears there won’t be time or resources to learn more before the species blinks out altogether. “You really need patience, time, and bodies to do this right,” he says, gazing up at the flashing green.

“You could do a dissertation on what we don’t know about this firefly.” h Andrea Appleton is a freelance writer who covers science and the environment. She lives in Baltimore.

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Lucas Franzetti with his first cobia caught while free-diving and spearfishing off of Ocean City at the age of 13 with his dad.

Spearfishing

by Captain Chris D. Dollar

L

ike most anglers, I prefer to stay in the boat. Spear-fishermen have a very different perspective. They get their kicks by swimming with the fishes— literally, not Godfather-style. While shore- and boat-bound anglers use rods, reels, lures and bait, submariner fishing people use spear guns. Air-breathing anglers can eat fried chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and talk trash among ourselves while fishing.

Free divers must hold their breaths. Oh, and despite the fact you’ve got a lethal weapon and a big brain, once your head goes below the water, you’ve dropped from the top of the food chain.

Free diving our local waters in pursuit of game fish is doable but risky. I’ve snorkeled the Chesapeake’s lush underwater grass beds of Tangier Sound, Poquoson Flats, and Eastern Bay, but my spear fishing experience has been confined to two outings—once in the Gulf of Mexico around a retired oil derrick platform and a magical, week-long excursion in the Bahamas.

The Gulf dive was exhilarating and exhausting, as heavy seas and currents pushed me against the massive steel and concrete pillars. It made for a hairy ordeal, but if your heart ain’t racing at times, how do you know you’re alive? In contrast, the

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gin-clear Caribbean waters where I used a Bahamian sling to pursue reef-dwelling fish and spiny lobsters, provided an incredible kaleidoscope of marine life right up until the moment a six-foot blacktip shark decided it was more deserving of my speared hogfish and chased me down to prove it. The speed at which that apex predator closed the gap was surreal, and the scene sticks with me in full Technicolor to this day. I sure hope it enjoyed that meal.

The spearfishing community in our region is small but passionate. I wanted to learn more. Not so much about the where, (dive shops, the Ocean City Reef Foundation, and fishery state agencies can help with that), but the why. I wanted to know about the experiential nature of the sport. I reached out to a few folks who know their stuff Juan Franzetti is an experienced spear-fishermen from Ocean City, Maryland. His main dive partner is his sixteen-year old son Lucas. They’ve explored the subaquatic world together ever since Lucas learned to swim. They have spearfished in many places along Delmarva as well as in Belize and Brasil.

Juan’s highlights include watching a 13-year-old Lucas shoot his first cobia and the time he filmed him shooting dolphin offshore. Juan also shared that this is a very dangerous sport: “First and foremost, find a certified free diving instruction course and take it. It will teach you how to be a better diver, but more importantly, it will show you how to be a safe diver and what to do in case of an emergency—like a shallow-water black out, which can be deadly,” he advised.

“Then I would recommend getting started in a warm climate with clear water until you get some experience as local [Mid-Atlantic] waters can be intimidating for beginners.”

Other experienced spear-gunners I spoke with shared similar advice and underscored that it isn’t a sport for everyone. Remaining calm under stress

and anxiety so that you can hold your breath is, of course, paramount but not easy, especially in murky water. There are sharks, of course, and when they show up, Frenzetti says, “it takes a lot longer to get out of the water! Just last year we saw several juvenile great whites in one day.” Additionally, you may have to contend with other boats that don’t respect dive flags and strong currents.

Virginia Beach resident Kevin Grunert tells me that his “spearfishing footprint is the Delaware Bay to Topsail Beach, North Carolina. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is a great spot.

However, any dock, rock, or breakwater will hold fish. The best shore dive wrecks are the, USS Huron, USS Oriental, and the Triangle Wreck.

All are on Google maps.”

He says one of the hardest adjustments is finding the gear that’s right for you.

“I recommend borrowing gear and snorkeling. If they found that interesting, one would take it a step further and purchase entry level gear, and then find a mentor,” he suggests.

“Beginners should not strike out on their own—unless they want to be crab food.”

To him, spearfishing allows for a special connection to nature, and it is humbling and even scary at times.

“I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment from providing myself with my own food. It also has a nostalgia to it, since I share the sport with my family.

We stay connected through it,” he adds.

I reached out to Marty Gary, my colleague in the fishery conservation world who is the executive secretary for the Potomac River Fishery Commission. He’s an experienced scuba diver, having done many dives in the Chesapeake and off Ocean City’s

coast. In his youth, he spent summers with family in South Florida and the Keys. In those pristine waters, his cousins taught him to free dive for lobsters and reef fish. Observing fish behavior proved to be an enriching experience that helped put him on the path to his career as a fisheries ecologist.

“In the Keys, I learned to appreciate the ability of fish to use their chromatophores [skin pigments] to cryptically change color and use structure for protection. It made the challenge of finding and spearing them more intriguing,” he told me.

“Spearfishing off the Delmarva coast or in the Chesapeake requires similar skills for species such as tautog, black sea bass, and summer flounder. The first two are masters at using structure such as shipwrecks to hide, and the latter can blend in with any bottom, sand or silt.”

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These days, he’s more content to shoot a fish with a camera than a spear, but he suggests that we can learn more about fish from spending time with them underwater than we can from reading a textbook.

When we reach the other side of this pandemic, there will be magical places to visit and amazing fish to catch.

And who knows? I may jump at the chance to swim freely in the open ocean or Chesapeake untethered from the laws of gravity and ravages of unseen viral monsters. Even if it means sharing those waters with marine monsters. At least I can see those coming.

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

SPEARFISHING RULES

MARYLAND

VIRGINIA

• Must have a retrieval line attached.

• May not spearfish within 100 yards of any human being, private or public swimming area, international diving flag, occupied duck blind, or vessel other than the vessel occupied by the individual using the projectile gear.

• The distance restrictions will not apply if the individual receives permission from the affected parties prior to using the projectile gear.

• May not be used to fish for any trout species, walleye, striped bass, striped bass hybrids, northern pike, muskellunge or muskellunge hybrids including tiger musky, largemouth and smallmouth bass, snapping turtles, shark species, lobster, or any threatened or endangered species.

• Requires a saltwater fishing license.

• It’s unlawful to harvest fish for commercial purposes by any method of spearfishing.

• It’s unlawful to catch or possess sturgeon • It’s unlawful to possess a lobster that has a speared outer shell.

• It’s unlawful for any person to take a shark with any gear other than handline or rod and reel.

• For all other species of finfish, recreational possession and size limits apply.

Keep Our Bay Serene and Clean Dumping boat sewage into the water is bad for our health and the environment.

Use bathrooms, dump stations, and pumpout facilities instead.

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KEEP OUR WATER CLEANUSE PUMPOUTS

PHOTO

BY STEVE STEVEAN ALL AN PHOTO TO BY ALL

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stern lines

It’s Crab Pot Season!

W

hile on the water, we see them as colorful signs of spring and prospects for feasts and family gatherings as well as time-honored navigation obstacles and handy indicators of current-flow as we cruise around the Bay. Photographer Dan Duffy shares the unique beauty and potential of these indicators as he explores and captures elements of life on the Chesapeake. photos by Dan Duffy

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