The waterman 's Life has its share of unlovely tasks, gritty everyday chores and tiring routine. Here thecrew ojSomerset, built in 1949 ands kippered by Walt Denton, unload oysters on a chilly 17th of March 1998, at the Loading docks, Deal Island. A LL photos this page by Julie Heikes.
Next page: Top Left, RusseLL Dize's Kath ry n, of 1901, at Trappe Landing.
Bottom Left, Captain Wade M urphy, owner and skipp er of Rebecca T. Ruark, of 1886, with Rebecca at top right under sail, and, below that, a close-up view showing her carvings. ALL photos next page are by WiLLiam C. Kepner. is Lady Katie at 42 years; the oldest is Rebecca at 11 2. Regardl ess of their age, maintenance costs nearly $ 10,000 a yea r. Still, skipj ack captains co ntinue to ornament their boats based on dictates over on e hun d red years old. A formu la developed thar includes the fi gurehead, trailboard, quarterboard, stern carving and mas th ead o rnament, al th ough only rhe most successfu l vessels will have all such carvings. Of this formu la, the captain will most likely forego the mas thead figure, whereas he will ra rely set sail without trailboards. T he ro le of the trailboard was emphas ized by Captain Russell Dize's co mment: "To me, trai lboards make a ski pj ack a skipj ack. " 2 T he legendary carve r D ewey W ebster did not consider his carvings art and was equally reluctant to recognize himself as an artist. In fac t he said , 'Tm the only one foo l enough to do it aro und here. "3 D ewey W ebster's tomfoo lery is now rh e bay's legacy, for he p rod uced such a great number of carvings that his works have defined what trail boards look like today. W ebster, who wo rked into the 1960s, was foremost a waterman and boatbui lder. But h is ca rv-
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ings exhibit a qual ity of such magnitude that they elevated th e waterman's vision of what a rrailboard should look like. Making rrailboards requires simple tools: a knife and occasionally a chisel. If the carver has a gift for drawin g, he may freehand the des ign on rhe wood as We bster did. T he board is then incised with the vessel 's name. D ewey Webster di srin guishedhis trail boards bya distinct buntingand-leaf patte rn, fo llowed by the vessel's name, an eagle behind a shield, and always three canno n balls. Webster's designs were so popular that from rhe 1950s on we rarely see any of the scrollwo rk patterns of earlier yea rs. T he simplicity of earlier boards, such as those found on Ida May and the nowderelict Sigsbee, is made apparent when compared to Webster's wo rk on Rosie Parks, Lady Katie, H. M. Krentz and
Caleb W. Jones. T here is a hierarchy of so rts amo ng the dredge boat community-o ne in whi ch the skipper who is the mos t respected, has the most able skipjack, and the most co mperi ti ve edge will also have th e most appealing and well kept carvings. Skipj ack captains recognize this h ierarchy and ex-
pect to fi nd attractive carvings o n the mosr able boars. In some sense, carvings also offer a way fo r captains to compete with each other. Since most of the Chesapeake's bottom is considered common ground, competiti on for that mythic catch th rives and may be heightened by the bay's present conditi on. W ell m aintained carvings are a reminder of those extra bushels hauled in or an oyster bed th at went undetected by other captains. Captains prefer to use the expensive gold leafin g on trailboards as a way to emphasize the vessel's name and to showcase a successful seaso n. In past generations the gold mas thead ball may have indicated a vessel that had been paid off; today th is is not necessarily the case . Some captains also add carvings to the standard design. When Captain Emerson Todd owned Rebecca he added nameboa rds to the ste rn and eve n gold-leafed n umber pl ates fo r the yawl boat, whi ch pushes rh e d redge boat th ro ugh the water and takes a bearin g eve n on mi ld days. W ith these extra to uches, Captain Emerso n de monstrated pride both in his outstanding vessel and his abilities to captain her.
SEA HISTORY 86, AUTUMN 1998