Pocomoke Shipbuilding • Vane Brothers Chevy Chase Bank Is a Proud Sponsor of The

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Summer 2007

Pocomoke Shipbuilding • Vane Brothers Chevy Chase Bank is a proud sponsor of the

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Call 301-987-BANK, 1-800-987-BANK (out of area) or visit chevychasebank.com BensonMangold.FP.1-2/05 11/30/04 1:53 PM Page 1 Four hundred years and counting…

Our President and our (favorite) Queen recently celebrated the first permanent WaterWays English settlement in the New World, in Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay. Summer 2007 How did you react to the anniversary? I have been taking an informal poll. Some of us are enthralled. We find ourselves trying to picture life here Volume 5 Number 2 400 years ago. We can never fully appreciate the suffering and conditions that awaited the settlers, but we try. We want to understand what drove them to these shores. Some of us really care and want to connect to them. Editor Others simply let the events wash over, a sound bite in the flood of news Dick Cooper events. Why stop to look back on these desperate pilgrims? [email protected] I reacted a third way. I treasure the past and the artifacts that have survived. I marvel at the Graphic Design/Photography strength of these pil- Rob Brownlee-Tomasso grims and I am stunned by their cruelty. Yet as I Contributors read the news accounts Cristina Calvert of the festivities, I find Julie Gibbons-Neff Cox myself thinking about Rachel Dolhanczyk the future. Let me explain. Robert Forloney History museums such Pete Lesher as CBMM are firmly Melissa McLoud rooted in the past, but John Miller we are not just ware- Stuart L. Parnes houses of old stuff. We Kathleen Rattie study and preserve and share stories of the past to encourage thoughtfulness Michael Valliant about the future. If museums use history to encourage reverence for the past, or nostalgia for the “good old days,” then we accomplish little. But, if our work can broaden perspectives, deepen understanding and perhaps even in- Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum form decision-making, then we serve both the past and the future. Navy Point, P.O. Box 636 So when I look back 400 years to John Smith and the Jamestown colony, St. Michaels, MD 21663-0636 this is what I really wonder: What will life on the Bay be like 400 years from now? Can I imagine what a visitor to Jamestown or St. Michaels in 2407 will  410-745-2916 Fax 410-745-6088 experience? While the quality of human life has improved beyond the wildest www.cbmm.org  [email protected] dreams of the colonists, the rich natural abundance described by Smith has all but vanished. This is what we Americans proudly call “progress.” But what have we learned? I wonder how much more progress we will inflict on the Bay The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a private in the next 400 years. not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational institution. A In this issue of WaterWays, we will offer you a fascinating look a boatbuild- copy of the current financial statement is available ing in Pocomoke City a century ago, take you aboard a tug to offer a view of a on request by writing the Vice President of Finance, P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD 21663 or by calling family-owned Baltimore company and recount the launch of the first log bug- 410-745-2916 ext. 238. Documents and information eye in almost 90 years. We will also offer you a glimpse into the future with a submitted under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations journey into some of America’s disappearing marshlands, and a dip below the Act are also available, for the cost of postage and surface to meet some of the latest immigrants to Maryland’s waterways. copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401, 410-974-5534. I hope each of these stories will help you adjust your perspective on both the past and the future. If they do, then we are doing our job.

On the Cover Vane Brothers’ tug Nanticoke bearing down on the Baltimore skyline. The Company is building a new fleet of tugs and double- hulled barges. (See story, page 10) Stuart L. Parnes, President Contents

(Above) An eared grebe gives her young a ride. Their photo is one of Features 40 by photographer William Burt now on display at the Museum. (See Marshes, page 18.) Shipbuilding Powerhouse 6 E. James Tull turned a sleepy Pocomoke River village into a major shipbuilding town more than a century ago, launching scores of Bay and ocean craft. By Pete Lesher Departments Tugging into the Future 10

Vane Brothers is a Baltimore tradition. A family-owned business Events Calendar 19 evolves from a chandlery in the age of sail into a marine transportation company. By Dick Cooper To the Point 30 Marshes Exhibit 22

Wood Works 33 An exhibit of photographs by William Burt opens at the Museum documenting the beauty and the secrets of the disappearing marshes Around the Bay 34 of North America. By Michael Valliant Mystery Photo Answers 35 Christening a Bugeye 24 The Katherine M. Edwards, the first log bugeye built on the Bay in almost 90 years, is christened at Sidney Dickson’s dock in St. Michaels. By Dick Cooper Invasion of the Crawdads 27

The invasion of the big and ornery Louisiana crawdad into Maryland waters is driving the local crayfish out of their habitats throughout the state. By Jay Kilian

5 Shipbuilding Power on the Banks of the Pocomoke

By Pete Lesher, Curator of Collections

E. James Tull E. James Tull transformed Tull trained as a ship carpenter at the yard of W. J. S. Clarke, Pocomoke City from a small timber a timber merchant who had expanded into shipbuilding in town to a major shipbuilding center, 1864.1 Tull’s career choice was not uncommon in this town; becoming the leading citizen of the by 1883, there were 54 current or former ship carpenters in community, its longtime mayor, Pocomoke City.2 and perhaps the most prolific Tull was born on a farm near Westover, Maryland, in builder of wooden ships on the neighboring Somerset County, on January 19, 1850, and Chesapeake. moved to Newtown, at age 18. After six years at the Clarke Although he was located shipyard, he had learned enough of the business to go into far from the conveniences of partnership with the adjacent Hall Brothers yard. By 1882, he an urban center, Tull adapted to was supervising the construction of new vessels and certify- changing technologies to build ing them at the Crisfield customs house. In 1884, Tull severed steamers and early gasoline-pow- his 10-year partnership with Hall Brothers, rented the Clarke ered boats, as well as the last large shipyard and became a sole proprietor at age 34.3 After Clarke sailing vessel on the Chesapeake. died in 1893, Tull purchased the yard. Beginning in the mid 19th cen- Tull’s first vessels were the standard bugeyes, schooners, tury, a lumber industry grew up in and sloops of the day, destined for the oyster trade or freight- and around Pocomoke City, then called ing around the Chesapeake. Bugeyes, the quintessential oys- Newtown, near the mouth of the Poco- ter dredging boats of the region, were likely products for a moke River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, lower Eastern Shore boatbuilder in this period. The oyster taking advantage in particular of the nearby stands trade was near its peak and demand for these boats soared. of rot-resistant cypress. Earlier bugeyes were built with logs, and others were still By 1880, five steam sawmills in and near the town were building log bugeyes into the 1890s, but Tull appears to have feeding not only a lumber trade along the East Coast, but a built plank-on-frame bugeyes, from the start. local shipbuilding industry that boasted three shipyards and At the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Tull ex- two marine railways. The same year, the railroad built a hibited a model of his 1885 bugeye Lillie Sterling with the bridge across the river at the town, initiating daily service U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in the Transportation Building, to Philadelphia, which supplemented a steamboat connection and won a medal for the design. The model is now at the to Baltimore. Although it had just 1,500 residents and 225 Smithsonian along with Tull’s own half-hull model for the houses, Pocomoke City was growing rapidly. same boat. Lillie Sterling was a relatively small bugeye, but In the midst of this civic and economic growth, a young typical of the type in almost every way, with a shoal draft, 6 house

The four-masted schooner Lillian E. Kerr bound for New York with a load of Nova Scotia lumber in 1941.

relatively flat bottom, and trunk cabin aft. She was steered was a notable exception. Although there were no engine with a tiller and lacked a patent stern platform or even a builders or boilermakers in or near Pocomoke City, in 1888 duck tail around the rudder head, all typical characteristics Tull constructed the fish steamer Isaac N. Veasey for the of earlier bugeyes.4 American Fish Guano Company. At least 17 more menhaden A half-hull model, as Tull made for the Lillie Sterling, was steamers emerged from the yard from 1897 to 1912. the design tool for Chesapeake shipbuilders. Like other build- Menhaden steamers were rather substantial vessels. Be- ers of bugeyes, schooners, and other commercial vessels, Tull fore the Isaac N. Veasey, Tull had launched at least four had no formal training in engineering or naval architecture, a schooners of between 50 and 80 tons. The Veasey measured profession that was still in its infancy. Most shipbuilders did 95 tons, and each of his later menhaden steamers topped 100 their own design work by shaping a half model, typically in tons, the last two exceeding 300 tons. half-inch scale (½ inch equals 1 foot), and lofted the frames The transition from building traditional Chesapeake full size by taking dimensions from the model. Tull probably oystering vessels to new fish steamers was one way Tull re- learned this practice in the Clarke yard, and he clearly followed sponded to changing technology. Perhaps more remarkable it himself, although few of Tull’s models survive today. was his experimental gasoline engine boat, Bertie E. Tull, In 1880, steamers were introduced to the menhaden fish- launched in 1895. ery on the Chesapeake with vessels brought from New Eng- Steam engines had been developing for most of the 19th land.5 Not long after, the menhaden fishermen began ordering century, but internal combustion engines were a much newer steamers from Chesapeake shipbuilders. Generally, steamers phenomenon. New steamboats in the 1890s were generally were built in urban shipyards where the steam engines and propeller driven, but sidewheelers were still preferred for ser- boilers could be made nearby. With his rural location, Tull vice to the shallow tributaries of the Chesapeake, so Tull built 7 The menhaden boat Delaware under construction in the Tull yard in 1913. barges, the 640-ton, 182-foot Merrimac, was one of the largest vessels produced in his yard, slightly larger than the four-masted Charles M. Struven of 632 tons and 171 feet. Constructing larger vessels required more labor, so by the turn of the century, Tull was the largest employer in Pocomoke City with a workforce vary- ing from 15 to 60, depending on the contracts at hand.8 It took up to 10 months to construct a four- masted schooner, and Tull expanded workforce to complete the new hull. Simultaneously, one or two smaller craft would be under construction next to the larger vessel.9 Rams and schooner barges were not pretty vessels; their lines were determined by the practicali- ties of maximizing the size of the hold, not by aes- thetics or even sea-keeping qualities. But Tull was able to build a pretty boat, too. The Lillie Sterling caught the eye of several observers, and Tull later Bertie E. Tull as a sidewheeler powered by gasoline engines. built several yachts. He operated this boat between Baltimore and Snow Hill for Perhaps his first was Dixie, a bugeye yacht patterned a few months in 1896 and 1897, but it was apparently unsuc- after the common commercial craft of the day, but with cessful, and it was later converted to a screw propeller driven a longer cabin. The idea of using a bugeye as a yacht had by a Globe gasoline engine.6 been proposed by yachting writer C. P. Kunhardt in 1884, Tull’s largest vessels were not steamers or power vessels, but Dixie was among the earliest bugeyes built for plea- however. In the early 20th century, large schooners were in sure. Dixie was launched in 1897 for writer Thomas Dixon, demand to carry coal, lumber, and fertilizer. For cargoes that Jr., whose novel The Clansman inspired D. W. Griffith’s did not need to arrive on a schedule, sailing vessels with film Birth of a Nation. minimal crews, could make the delivery for a lower freight Dixon praised Dixie in a 1905 autobiography. charge without the fuel costs. Tull built four three-masted “Such a craft is the most useful boat in Virginia waters a schooners between 1900 and 1920. His last, the slow but man can build. She will go more places and do more things solidly constructed Lillian E. Kerr, later rerigged with four than any other boat of her size afloat. She is so powerfully masts, remains the last large sailing vessel launched any- built that she stands up straight on a sandbar or mud flat as where on the Chesapeake.7 He launched his only four-masted comfortably as afloat and without damage. We can anchor schooner, Charles M. Struven, in 1917. on the feeding grounds of wild fowl where the tide leaves Rams, specialized schooners with narrow beam, straight her high and dry twice a day, and stay as long as we like. She wall sides and flat bottoms, designed to pass through ca- is a powerful sea boat when she drops her centerboard and nal locks, were a further development of the three-masted draws 10 feet of water. . . .” 10 schooner, and Tull launched one example, Reedville, in Dixon had a clear idea of what he wanted in a yacht, 1911. These late schooners relied on tugs to make their way and he chose Tull, “an efficient builder of merchant work in and out of port, especially when serving rural ports along boats,” to build her because he offered a significant savings the winding rivers of the Eastern Shore. Schooner barges, in cost: “the lowest estimate I could get on her in New York which were towed, but carried a relatively small amount of and vicinity was $11,000, without sails. . . . [Tull] built her sail to assist, appeared on the Chesapeake at the beginning hull. Her brass and iron work I had done in New York, and of the 20th century. Tull produced seven schooner barges her sails were made at Crisfield. When she was finished she between 1904 and 1918. The second of these schooner had cost me $3,500.”11 In addition to the yacht for Dixon,

The bugeye yacht Dixie built for author Thomas Dixon, Jr. 8 Celebrants crowd the deck of the ram Tull launched several other sailing and Reedville at her 1911 launch. power yachts. In addition to new construction, Tull handled repair work on the yard’s horse- powered marine railway. Repair work, always steadier than new ship construction, was a brisk business in Pocomoke City. From the time he started, there were two commercial marine railways in the town, and by 1895, there were three.12 In an 1898 newspaper notice that may have indicated unusually high activity, the schooners Elizabeth Ann, Jeanette, and E. H. Taylor were all at Tull’s yard for repairs, while four smaller vessels were at Charles W. Crockett’s nearby marine railway. 13 Tull’s yard expanded and contracted with the economics of shipbuilding. In the 1880s, when the oyster industry was booming, Tull launched 1901, he was elected mayor, and he served, with some inter- up to nine vessels in a year. Leaner times followed the depres- ruptions in service, up to his death. In addition to leading the sion of 1893, but business again picked up a few years later. town through the typical civic improvements such as water After the turn of the century, Tull weathered the changes in and sanitary service, he led the reconstruction of the down- demand better than many other builders by learning to build town after a 1922 fire. new types—fish steamers, power freighters, large - schoo Although owners of large shipyards were typically promi- ners, and schooner barges—when demand for bugeyes and nent citizens in their communities, there is probably no paral- smaller schooners waned. America’s involvement in World lel on the Chesapeake to Tull’s dual dominance in Pocomoke War I created a sudden but short-lived demand for new ship- City’s business and civic affairs. w ping as war materiel was needed in Europe, and U-boats took their toll on merchant shipping. Tull’s four schooner barges Sources launched in 1918 were typical of the American shipbuild- 1. Dr. Reginald V. Truitt and Dr. Millard G. Les Callette, Worcester County: Mary- land’s Arcadia (Snow Hill, Md.: Worcester County Historical Society, 1977), 132. ing industry’s response to the emergency call for new hulls. 2. Listed by name in the Rev. James Murray, History of Pocomoke City, Formerly New The end of the war combined with surplus vessels to create a Town (Baltimore: Curry, Clay, and Company, 1883), 92. devastating depression in the shipbuilding industry, and Tull 3. Portrait and Biographical Record of the Eastern Shore, (New York: Chapman Pub- survived by shrinking his workforce and finding contracts lishing, 1898), 799-800. for smaller motor freight boats, yachts, and one additional 4. Howard I. Chapelle, The National Watercraft Collection (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1960), 274-5. menhaden fisherman, this last one with an internal combus- 5. John Frye, The Men All Singing. The Story of the Menhaden Industry (Norfolk, Va.: tion engine instead of steam. Tull died in 1924, and the yard Donning, 1978), 56. consequently closed. 6. S. S. Scott, Marine Review (Sept. 1910). Overall, Tull built a remarkable variety of vessels—bug- 7. Quentin Snediker and Ann Jensen, Chesapeake Bay Schooners (Centreville, Md.: eyes, schooners, sloops, skipjacks, fish steamers, tugs, motor Tidewater, 1992), 129. freight boats, schooner barges, launches, sailing and power 8. Portrait and Biographical Record of the Eastern Shore, 800. yachts, barges, and a ram—some 200 in all, by a claim in his 9. Truitt and Les Callette, 221. 10. Thomas Dixon, Jr., The Life Worth Living. A Personal Experience (New York: own 1917 advertisement. Measured either by number of hulls Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905), 100. or total tonnage launched, no Eastern Shore shipbuilder out 11. Dixon, 96-7. produced him. This successful shipbuilder and businessman 12. Sanborn Fire Atlas for Pocomoke City, 1895 rose to become Pocomoke City’s most prominent citizen. In 13. [Pocomoke City] Ledger-Enterprise (Sat., 8 Oct. 1898).

The bugeye A.G. Sterling at the dock in New Point, Virginia, showing signs of a hard life. 9 Tugging into

By Dick Cooper, Editor

altimore glistens in the morning sun as Captain Cut- Duff is his boss, C. Duff Hughes, president of Vane ter Belote puts the tugboat Nanticoke through her Brothers, Inc., the 109-year-old Baltimore nautical landmark Bpaces. Sitting high in his leather armchair, steering company that has revitalized a gritty part of the harbor and is the 100-foot-long workhorse with a practiced touch of the a leader in the petroleum delivery business from New Eng- remote clicker in his right hand, Belote is in his element. land to Texas. The panoramic views from the wood-paneled wheel- A family-owned business, with roots in the Chesapeake house, three stories above the water, help burnish the harbor, Bay schooner trade, Vane Brothers christened the 123-foot from the working bustle of Dundalk to the touristy gleam of tug Brandywine and the 480-foot double-hulled tanker Inner Harbor. barge, Double-Skin 141, at a June 2 celebration on its Fair- Belote, a broad-shouldered man with a quick smile and a field waterfront campus. firm handshake, grew up on the water on Virginia’s Eastern More than a thousand guests listened as Hughes told them Shore. The son and grandson of men who worked the water, how the new vessels were expanding and shaping the future he is at home at the helm of the Nanticoke as the twin, 2,200- of Vane Brothers as a shipping company. The crowd cheered, horse Caterpillar diesels churn the Patapsco into froth. boat horns blared and spray from fireboats filled the air as a “When I was growing up, you either farmed or fished. ceremonial champagne bottle broke on the tugboat hull. Now, a lot of the guys who fished have gone tuggin,’” says The tug and barge, which were designed and built to Belote, 36, who has worked for 14 years for Vane Brothers work together to ship oil for Sunoco, are part of Vane Broth- and now lives in Richmond, Virginia. “I got into tugboats early as a deck hand and I worked my way up. I got my Coast Guard license and worked to upgrade it. Then Duff gave me a shot at the wheelhouse.”

Captain Cutter Belote has a sweeping view of the water from the wheelhouse of the Nanticoke.

10 the Future

ers long-range plan to modernize and standard- and the Tide: A Centennial History of the Vane ize its fleet of 60 vessels. Brothers Company,” an in-house publication by Hughes, 49, the third-generation of Mary Butler Davies the company published in his family to run Vane Brothers, says the 1998 to mark its 100th birthday. company is building 15 news tugs and Established by brothers William Burke Vane eight barges. The company that had and Allen P. Vane as a ships’ chandlery in Fells five employees when it incorporated Point, the company has moved around the harbor in 1958 now has 450 workers, 300 and shifted direction and focus several times, but of them deployed in the fleet. it has long remained a vital part of Baltimore’s Vane Brothers is a company attachment to the sea. that has lasted more than a centu- The company sold everything a ship and its ry because it has been constantly crew would need, from coffee to compasses to changing, adapting and innovat- carpentry tools. Vane Brothers was a sailor’s ing. The story of the company Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Safeway and social and the families who built and hall, all under one roof. run it, is chroni- Schooner Captain D’Arcy Grant, known as cled in “Time “Miss Stormy,” wrote an article for the Balti- more Sun in 1940 about the importance of Vane Brothers as a place to gather and share stories. “Midway of the store is the ‘social circle.’ Its center is a stove, and in the winter, the circle of chairs surrounding it is never empty. Not too ac- tive now, Capt. Vane presides over the forum, and from the farthest reaches of the inland waterway, seafaring men bring him their news and yarns. “Vane’s is the one spot on the Eastern sea- board where you can look forward with any hope of certainty to meeting a sailing man you want to see,” she wrote. During a recent tour of the new Vane Broth- ers campus, Duff Hughes met visitors in the Pot Belly Room, a richly paneled lounge with a large fireplace, comfortable armchairs and a sweeping view of the harbor. He says the room is used by sailors who carry on the tradition of the stove- side camaraderie. The Vanes were shipbuilders and sailors who moved to Baltimore from Dorchester County in the 1800s. In the 1920s, Claude Venables Hughes and his brother, Charles Fletcher Hughes from the Eastern Shore, joined the Vanes, believed by family members to be distant cousins. continued, page 14

11 From Schooners The evolution of the

Vane Brothers runs a fleet of 60 tugs, barges, launches and tankers up and down the East and Gulf Coasts. Here are some examples of Vane Brothers vessels over time.

For more than a half century, Vane Brothers owned schooners that worked the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal and Caribbean trade. One of the last of the great sailing ships the company owned was the Doris Hamlin, a four- master built in Maine in 1919. She was 200.5 feet long and carried pulpwood, lumber, coal and logwood. She was sold by Vane Brothers in 1939 and torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1940.

Vane Brothers diversified its fleet over time and in 1971 built the Duff, a 58-foot, 42,000-gallon tanker, used to deliver fuel to ships in and around Baltimore Harbor. The vessel was named for current Vane president C. Duff Hughes and christened by him when he was 13-years-old.

EBI 5 TON

DOUB L E S K IN4 1 1

12 to Super Barges Vane Brothers Fleet

The Willkate is a 65-foot launch used to deliver 500 gallon containers of engine lubricants to vessels Elizabeth Anne, first tug bought in Baltimore. It was by Vane Brothers, was built in built in 1979 and is 1980, rebuilt 1990 and renamed still in daily service in in honor of company Vice the harbor. President Betsy Hughes, wife of former president Charles Hughes Jr., and mother of company president C. Duff Hughes. The 60-foot Elizabeth Anne is used to push oil barges in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and BRANDYWINE North Carolina.

BRANDEYWIN The Brandywine is the largest Vane tug at 123-feet. It was christened in BRANDYIW NE June, 2007, along with its companion barge, Double Skin 141, a 480-foot, double-hulled barge that can carry 137,750 barrels of oil. They are under contract to transport oil for Sunoco for the next 10 years.

EBI 5 TON

DOUB L E S K IN4 1 1

Source: Vane Brothers 13 from page 11 As well as the chandlery, the company owned schooners Brothers provisioned them and then billed the Coast Guard. that ran the Coastal and Caribbean trade. One of their ves- The bills were always paid.” sels, the 200-foot-long, four-masted schooner Doris Hamlin, With the schooners gone, the working harbor fleet of sailed from Baltimore in the logwood trade to Haiti. In his tugs and lighters became Vane Brothers’ customers, setting youth, Robert H. Burgess, the late Chesapeake Bay histo- the company on a course that it continues today. rian and former curator of The Mariners’ Museum in New- After his discharge from the Navy, Charles F. Hughes Jr. port News, Virginia, was a crewmember. He took numerous attended Johns Hopkins University, but left school to join photographs of his voyage. Some are on display in the new the family business. He received his bachelor’s degree from Vane Brothers headquarters. Two brass lamps from the Do- JHU in 1951. ris Hamlin flank the fireplace in the Pot Belly Room. Vane Under his direction, Vane Brothers continued to evolve. Brothers sold the schooner in 1939 and a U-boat sank it a By the early 1970s, the 42,000-gallon tanker, Duff, was added few months later. to the fleet to supply fuel to ships in the harbor. The company In 1941, Allen P. Vane died and Burke Vane sold the continued to add tugs and specialty tankers. They delivered company to the Hughes brothers. potable water and marine lubricants directly to ships. World War II ended the schooner trade and the Hughes Duff Hughes says he grew up on the docks and decks brothers began to diversify their business. Davies, in her of Vane Brothers and joined his father and grandfather in book about the company, wrote that during the war they sup- 1980 after graduating from Denison University. He worked plied goods to “picketboats – private yachts commandeered in the fleet and received his 100-ton Coast Guard license to spy on suspicious vessels and otherwise act as coastal se- four years later. In 1991, Duff Hughes was named president curity. The picketboats would tie up at Pier 4 and hand over of the company. their store lists. Without asking too many questions, Vane He says one of the business decisions that paid off for Vane Brothers was the purchase of a double-hulled oil barge in 1987. “We started early,” Duff Hughes says. “We were already in the double-hull business” when the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in March of 1989. He says the company is on course to have a double-hulled fleet in place well before the 2015 federal deadline. As Hughes walks from one building to another on his campus, employees greet him by name and he banters easily with them. Workers regularly refer

C. Duff Hughes talks about the future of his family’s company in Vane Brothers operates a fleet of double-hulled barges to the library designed by his mother, Betsy Hughes, a company vice transport petroleum products. president, editor and librarian.

14 Operations Manager Donald Browning keeps an eye on the Vane fleet in real time. relatives and friends for job Donald Browning, Vane’s operations manager, openings at Vane Brothers. manipulates the computer display of the eastern He says he grew up half of the United States from his elevated work- working with many of them. station, keeping track in real time of all Vane ves- He refers to Vane Brothers’ sels in operation. Port Captain Russi Maku- “This is where we keep an eye on everything jina, who has been with the that is happening, at this moment,” he says. company since 1972, as both He zooms in on the icon of a boat just off the “a brother and a father.” Atlantic coast. With a click of his mouse, a menu “We have families with- appears and he clicks through a drop-down list of in a family business,” he what is happening in and around the vessel. He says. In a gallery of photos, clicks another icon and views a live feed from a he points to the picture of camera on a Philadelphia wharf. four men in watch caps and plaid. “They are all named To- “We have the Weather Channel and CNN on all of the karski,” he says. time because weather and news are things that can have an Aboard the Nanticoke, Captain Belote says he just re- impact on the price of oil,” he says. ceived a birthday card, “signed by Duff. That’s the kind of Hughes says the computers are programmed to alert the company this is.” Operations Center when a vessel nears its destination. Work- As the Nanticoke cruises the Inner Harbor, a green rectan- ers on the docks are notified so they can be ready to off-load gle shows her position on the GPS display in front of Belote. as fast as possible. Across the harbor, Vane Brothers operations officers “Ten-15 years ago, we had offices in every port. Now we watch Nanticoke’s progress on a nine-by-nine-foot monitor. can manage the entire fleet from this building,” he says. “We From their desks, they follow every Vane Brothers vessel in have it wired 10 ways to Sunday.” w use, anywhere. Viewed from the wheelhouse of the Nanticoke, Vane Brothers is heavy industry at work—push and pull, muscle and brawn, strain and stress—as heavy loads are moved on water. From a desk in the Operations Center, Vane Brothers is an Internet Technology company that happens to move a lot of oil. On his way to the Operations Center, Hughes points out the offices where 12 computer specialists build custom soft- ware for Vane Brothers, and then steps into a bright and airy room full of computers. “This is the Ops Room, where it all cooks,” Hughes says. Two things jump out at you: The huge computer display flanked by flat-panels set to the Weather Channel and CNN, and the life- sized figure of a pirate dressed in full swashbuckler garb suspended from the high-pitched ceiling. Hughes loves the lore of little-known English pirate Charles Vane who was hanged for his das- tardly deeds in 1720. While there is no proven family connection between that evil Vane and the East- ern Shore schoonermen, Hughes plays it up. Faux pirate figures stand watch at several key spots in the headquarters building and the ship christening in June had a buc- Ops Room employees monitor news, weather and Vane caneering theme. vessels around the clock.

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16 © N. Hammond 2007 The Boating Party 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 6:00pm on Navy Point Cocktails, dinner, dancing under the stars to oldies and today’s music by Golden Gup, plus a one-of-a-kind auction that only CBMM can offer.

2007 Rockin’ The Boat Itinerary Cocktail or Nautical Attire Suggested 6:00pm Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres on Navy Point 7:00pm Spirited hands-up auction followed by dinner catered by PeachBlossoms Raffle prize drawing for a 2007 Mini Cooper S 9:00pm Dancing under the stars

Consider Becoming a Boating Party Patron! With support at the Patron and Benefactor level, enjoy a Patron’s-only evening of cocktails and luscious hors d’oeuvres at the extraordinary waterfront home of Charlie and Carolyn Thornton on Saturday, August 25, from 6pm to 8pm. Preview the exciting line-up of unique Chesapeake- inspired auction items and test drive the 2007 Mini Cooper S before the Boating Party! The 10th Annual Boating Party is generously sponsored by Benson & Mangold Real Estate Chevy Chase Bank

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Benefactor Ticket ($1,700 is tax deductible) Please charge my credit card: Table of 8 (To include 8 Boating Party $2,500 tickets and 4 Patron Preview Party tickets) VISA Mastercard AMEX Discover

Patron Ticket ($250 is tax deductible) Card number (To include one Boating Party ticket $350 and one Patron Preview Party ticket) Exp. date

Individual Ticket ($75 is tax deductible) (One Boating Party ticket) $175 Signature

I/We are unable to attend. $ Please respond by August 17, 2007. A portion of your ticket/table Please accept a contribution of is tax-deductible.

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I/We will host a table of 8. (Additional guests $175 each) My/Our guests include:

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Complete and mail with your check payable to CBMM or credit card information to: The Boating Party, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD 21663 18 or call 410-745-2916 ext. 122 Calendar Summer 2007

Boating Party Saturday, September 8, 6pm Cocktails – cheers! Elegant Dinner. Spirited, live auction. Dancing under the stars. Favorite songs preformed by the Golden Gup. Toast with us as we enjoy our 10th Boating Party and fundraiser on Navy Point. By invitation, please call the Museum if you would like to attend.

October Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival Saturday, October 6, 10am–5pm July Crab Days (New Times!) Saturday, July 28th, 12pm-8pm Saturday Only: All-U-Can-Eat, 4:30pm-8pm Sunday, July 29th, 12pm-5pm Don’t be crabby—celebrate the 25th anniversary of Crab Days with us! Enjoy the food that “Maryland does best!” with steamed crabs, soft-shell crabs, crab cakes and soup. Once you’ve gotten your fill of crabs, enjoy live music, boat cruises down the Miles, local chef demonstrations, wine tastings, or discover buried treasure in Kidstown. Don’t miss Saturday evening’s sunset cruises and Moonlight Mixer concert!

August Commemorate 25 years of the Small Craft Festival this Moonlight Mixer (Live Concert) year with us at the Museum. Enjoy amateur and profes- Saturday, August 18th, 7:30pm sionally made skiffs, kayaks, and canoes, or catch paddle It’s summertime! Don’t miss your last chance to relax and sailing races! Children’s activities, workshops, and on Navy Point and listen to an exciting band under demonstrations will also take place. See the John Smith the stars. replica shallop fresh from its recreation of Smith’s journey (shallop will be on display through October 28).

OysterFest (New Weekend!) September Saturday, October 27, 11am-4pm Boat Auction Sunday, October 28, 12pm-4pm Saturday, September 1, 1pm-5pm 20th Anniversary of OysterFest. What better way to kick Forget about the 3 “R’s,” it’s the 4 “B’s” to remember off a celebration than with CBMM’s 2nd Annual Oyster now. Boats, BBQ, Bluegrass, and Beer at this year’s Slurp Off. Join in on the fun as amateurs and the occa- 10th anniversary Boat Auction. Celebrate with us and sional professional compete for the fastest time, or take purchase the boat of your dreams. Your choices range part in all in things “oysters”, cooking demonstrations, from classic sailboats, to wooden skiffs, to modern pow- tonging trips down the Miles River, KidsTown and more. er cruisers. Once you’ve purchased that “B” don’t forget Have a boo-rific time at the Museum’s Haunted Hal- to enjoy the other 3! loween while at OysterFest. 19 September 1st Crabbing — Pull up a crab pot and run Education Programs a trot line on the Katie G. See and learn to identify crabs Saturdays for Kids up close. Find out about all the different jobs it takes to Children and their families are invited to visit the Mu- bring a crab to your plate. seum the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month for sto- September 15th Seasons — Fall is around the corner. rytelling, special tours, and hands-on art activities de- What makes the seasons so important for the animals signed just for them. and the watermen of the Chesapeake? Find out how and make a waterman puppet.

October 6th Chesapeake Icons — What makes you think of the Chesapeake? How do you feel about oysters, skipjacks, blue crabs, and waterman? Explore these icons up close in this unique exhibit, Chesa- peake Icons.

October 20th Explore the 28-foot reproduction of Captain John Smith’s shallop or open boat that will be on display. Learn about Captain Smith’s and his crew voyage on the Chesapeake 400 years ago.

On-Going Programs Community Sailing Program At 10:30 kids, ages 3 to 7 years old, can enjoy Tidewa- Our Sailing Program continues through the summer with ter Tales, listening to an exciting story about the region offerings for basic, intermediate, and advanced sailing, in one of our exhibitions. Boys and girls will learn about and don’t miss our Tuesday Evening Member Sails on Bay animals, local legends, history, and more. Drawing, our JY 15s! For more information and a detailed sched- exploration of objects, and other activities will be part of ule, please visit www.cbmm.org/sailing.html. these programs. Tidewater Tales is free with admission.

Children can also participate in an art making or hands- on activity inspired by one of our exhibits. During special guided tours, participants will learn about the different ways that the Bay has shaped the lives of local people. At 11:30, 1:00, or 3:00 children (ages 6 to 12) can drop by to take part in a unique hands-on experience. The program fee is $3 per child.

July 7th Shiver me timbers, it’s pirate day! Pirates Boaters’ Safety Courses were more than treasure maps and eye patches. Learn Any Maryland boater born after July 1, 1972, is re- the differences between the image and reality about pi- quired to have a Certificate of Boating Safety Education, rates on the Chesapeake. in order to operate a vessel. The Certificate is obtained by passing a Department of Natural Resources-ap- July 21st Birding – Explore the local population of proved boating safety course, and once obtained, the birds. Learn how to identify some of the most common Certificate is valid for life. Participants completing the species by sight and call, and how you can make your Museum’s course will receive this Certificate. The course own backyard a friendlier habitat for local birds. is also recommended for anyone looking to become a August 4th Hooper Strait Lighthouse – It’s summer safer, more experienced boater. vacation, and time to visit the lighthouse! Come experience what life would have been like on a lighthouse The Boating Safety Education courses are offered at the long ago. Museum in St. Michaels on the following dates: Session 4: September 11 & 12, 6-10pm August 18th Marshes – Learn why marshes are important to humans and the critters that call them All classes will be held in the Museum’s Steamboat home. Capture the beauty of a marsh through drawing Building. Advanced registration is required. Members or photography. and Non-Members: $25 20 Lighthouse Overnight Program Become a lighthouse keeper with your family or friends. Experience the life of a 19th century keeper through planned activities. Take a hands-on tour of the lighthouse, perform the tasks of a traditional keeper, participate in an induction ceremony and more…

Family Programs Select Saturdays in July, August, and September. Non-members: $41, Members: $35. Cost includes program activities, two days’ admission to the Mu- seum and dinner.

July 14 August 4 August 25 July 28 August 11 September 1

Scout, Student, and Youth Group Programs Fridays and Saturdays in April, May, June, September, and October. Limited dates remaining for the Spring, book now for Fall 2007. Cost: $550 for up to 15 people. Cost includes program activities, two days’ admission to the Museum. Special lighthouse badge available for Brownie, Junior, and Cadet Girl Scout groups.

New for this year’s Boating Party

Special Preview Party Saturday, August 25, 6-8pm An elegant evening at Thornton House, the magnificent waterfront home of CBMM Board member Charlie and Carolyn Thornton. Music by “Free & Easy.” Cocktails and catering by Gourmet By the Bay. Patron tickets are $350 and include one Boating Party ticket and one invitation to the Preview Party.

Visit www.cbmm.org/boatingparty.html for invitation or raffle tickets

Win a MINI! Drawing is September 8, 2007 Take a chance at winning a fully-loaded 2007 MINI Cooper S. $125 per ticket, only 700 tickets will be sold. Call 410-745-2916 ext. 113 to use your credit card.

21 Spartina Tufts, (above) taken by William Burt in 1981, Old Lyme, Connecticut. Black Rail At Nest, (below) taken in 1985, Elliott Island, Maryland. Marshes The Disappearing Edens

It has taken renowned photographer William Burt 30 years of prowling marshes and stalking birds to capture his striking and se- rene images of vanishing wetlands. It will only take visitors a drive to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to enjoy the products of Burt’s labor. The Museum has opened an exhibition of 40 photographs by Burt entitled, “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens.” Burt’s photographs and stories can be seen in Smithsonian, Audubon, National Wildlife and other magazines. His photographs have been exhibited in museums across the United States and Canada. The “Marshes” exhibit comes to CBMM from the

22 Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and after its six-month stay in St. Michaels, the show will travel to the Hous- ton Museum of Natural Science in Texas. Burt has mucked through marshes all over North America, with images in the exhibit including vistas, textures, and in- habitants from the Chesapeake Bay, Maine, Connecticut, Everglades National Park in Florida, and Saskatchewan, Canada, to name a few. He is drawn to marshes for their mystery, for their numerous and rare King Rail, (above) taken in 1975, Great Island, Old Lyme, Connecticut. birds, and for their beauty. Salt Marsh In Fog, (below) taken in 2000, Great Bay, near Tuckerton, New Jersey. “No place has the wild- ness any more, of the neglected marsh,” says Burt. “I’ve been dipping into marshes for some 30 years, leafing through, watching, and waiting, scanning always for that rectangle worth hauling the camera in for so I can try to snatch some of that beauty, frame up a slice of it, take it home and keep it.” The “Marshes” exhibition will be on display in galleries in two of the Museum’s buildings, connecting the Bay History and Waterfowling buildings. The exhibition has been made possible in part through grants from the Town Creek Foundation and Ver- izon Maryland, who are also sup- porting special programming. Summer and fall at CBMM will include a number of special programs related to “Marshes,” including an artist talk and book signing by Burt on July 26 and collaborative programs with Ad- kins Arboretum, Environmen- tal Concern, and University of Maryland’s Horn Point Labora- tory. Programs related to the exhibit will include lectures, with its gorgeous greens and golds. But more fundamental- book signings, tours, day trips, kayak tours, as well as ly, Burt’s photographs capture in sharp detail an exquisite storytelling and activities for children. beauty that anyone can appreciate” CBMM Curator of Exhibitions Lindsley Rice feels “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens” is on display at the exhibit has a broad appeal to residents and visitors to the Museum through December 16, 2007. For more infor- Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake. mation and a schedule of programs related to the exhibi- “These photographs are extraordinary,” says Rice. tion, visit www.cbmm.org or call 410-745-2916. w “They bring us up close to rare and beautiful birds and plants of the marshes, as well as capturing the feel of — Michael Valliant, being surrounded by marsh—both earthy and ethereal, Director of Marketing and Media Relations

23 An Indomitable Bay A New Bugeye is Christened

By Dick Cooper, Editor

John Hawkinson works on the deck of the Katherine M. Edwards at Sidney Dickson’s dock on the backwaters of Broad Creek off the Choptank River in St. Michaels.

or 27 years, Sidney Dickson’s dreamboat has been a Dickson’s dock in St. Michaels. work in progress. The bugeye is a distinctive Bay craft that evolved af- F Dickson and his long-time friend and boat-building ter the Civil War to harvest shallow oyster beds and deliver buddy, John Hawkinson, have been futzing around the edges freight and produce. The Katherine’s hull was made with 11 of the vessel so long, they finish each other’s sentences. On hand-shaped logs, a boat-building practice that dates to hol- May 27, in front of scores of friends and supporters, the first lowed log canoes made by Native Americans. log bugeye built on The Edna E. Lockwood, the flagship of the CBMM float- the Bay since 1918, ing fleet, was built on Knapps Narrows in 1889 and is the last was launched and known nine-log bugeye afloat. christened the Kath- “Nobody in today’s world recognizes what a good boat erine M. Edwards at this is,” Dickson says with the pride of a new father. Kather- “Nobody in today’s world recognizes what a good boat this is.” Hawkinson24 applies epoxy to the bugeye he and Dickson started building in 1980. Lady

ine’s low free board, clipper bow, varnished bright work and being an early aviator. tiller steering give her a sleek, yachty look. “She formed the Pittsburgh Ambulance Corps,” he says. She is back on land next to Dickson’s dock after taking “She bought an ambulance, had it shipped over and drove it on water following the christening. “Anyone who knows to the front to pick up wounded soldiers.” anything about wooden boats would expect it to leak at The two-masted, “man-and-boy” rig will make the Kath- first,” he says. erine easy to handle with a crew of two, he says. He plans to “We will have her finished in three months and be sailing use her to deliver fresh produce to ports on the Bay, selling his by fall,” Dickson says. products under the “Bugeye Brand.” He named her after his late, great aunt, Katherine May Dickson, who describes his previous occupation as “mov- Edwards of Pittsburgh. He says she was an indomitable ing large, live trees with machinery,” says building the bugeye woman, who was born in 1873 and lived an adventurous life came from a desire to revive the classic Bay workboat that has that included driving an ambulance during World War I and all but disappeared. He and Hawkinson collaborated in the

“...but then we took a 17-year hiatus, because we were occupationally handicapped. We had jobs.”

Dickson gives the history of his collection of boat-building tools mounted on the wall of his workshop office.

25 “From cranes and front-end loaders to delicate carving knives, we used everything we needed to use.”

“workshop,” the barn-sized building where Katherine spent her formative years. It is almost as much a museum as it is a very large workspace. The walls are covered with artifacts of the boat-building trade. Axe heads, some dating back more than 400 years, are tacked up in a random display. Ships’ tackle and fittings hang from the rafters. Dickson opens some of the tool chests used regularly in the building of the bugeye to show the intricate workmanship of the boxes within boxes. A library of rare and arcane books on Chesapeake boatbuilding is tucked in a sawdust-covered corner. The wooden half-models that he made to build the Katherine shine with an oft-handled glow. The models are better than drawn plans, he says. “You can hold them and turn them in your hands and visualize what you are making.” Taking measurements from the model, carved on a three-quarter-inch to one-foot scale, gave Dickson and Hawkinson the dimensions they needed to cut the wood to build the boat. Another friend and craftsman, Ellicot “Mac” MacConnell, is building the yawl boat for the Katherine out of an old wooden sailing pram and a 60-horse Yamaha outboard. He and Dick- Photo by Bill Thompson son joke as he shapes the decking for the small A crane lowers the Katherine M. Edwards into the water as celebrants watch from Dickson’s dock during her christening May 27. boat that will push the engineless bugeye. The building of the Katherine has been a community effort, Dickson says, with volun- early 1970s to build the Spirit of Wye Town, a log canoe they teers donating time and material for her construction. The 50- campaigned on the race circuit for several years. They started foot foremast and 55-foot main were shaped by volunteers Katherine in 1980 gathering logs from around Talbot County, from the Alexandria Seaport. Old and new tools were loaned “but then we took a 17-year hiatus,” he says. and donated. Hawkinson, a retired gynecologist, says the Katherine, “We used only the tools that worked,” Dickson says. a sweet-looking vessel with mahogany topsides and patent “From cranes and front-end loaders to delicate carving stern, took so long to build “because we were occupationally knives, we used everything we needed to use.” handicapped. We had jobs.” He says that the simple beauty of the vessel has attracted Neither man has engineering training, but both have an eye people to help build her. for detail. Dickson says he used “computer assisted design” “These boats were built as work platforms,” he says. “But to build both boats, “with the computer being the brain.” yachtsmen recognized them as being good-looking boats. I Back in the woods on his 37-acre property is Dickson’s just had an urge to bring it back.” w 26 Cultured Crawdads By Jay Kilian are Pincered Pests

The blue crab is the most recognizable Chesapeake Bay River and Gulf Coast drainages of the southern U.S., is the icon, and is undeniably Maryland’s most famous crustacean. archetypical Louisiana Cajun crayfish. Due to its large size, This renowned tidewater species is not, however, Maryland’s environmental hardiness, and low-maintenance disposition, only delectable decapod. the red swamp crayfish is the most widely cultured crayfish Another 10-legged, pincer-wielding invertebrate has species in the world, having been cultured on every continent, found its way into Maryland waters. It is large, it is red (prior excluding Australia and Antarctica. to steaming, no less), it tastes just as good smothered in Old For as much economic benefit as this species has brought, Bay as its blue crab cousin, and it is just as easily chased with the ecological costs of rearing this species outside of its native an ice-cold beer. range have been immense. A form of “biological pollution,” Despite its culinary appeal, the red swamp crayfish is a introductions of the red swamp crayfish have been linked to non-native species that poses a significant threat to Maryland’s declines in submerged aquatic vegetation, declines in amphib- stream ecosystems and has recently sparked considerable con- ian populations, changes in stream community composition, cern among state biologists of the Maryland Department of and loss of native crayfishes. Natural Resources (MDNR). This species, one of many doz- This species has become a nuisance in many countries be- ens of non-natives causing or threatening trouble in the Bay cause of its tenacious burrowing behavior; it has caused dam- watershed, has been the subject of recent surveys conducted age to crops and reservoir dams despite efforts to control its by the MDNR, and is now known to be far spread. The red swamp crayfish has also been blamed for the more widespread than once believed. It is spread of the crayfish plague, a North American fungus that lurking in the fresh and brackish water has been inadvertently introduced into Europe, portions of many Maryland streams causing the near decimation of that continent’s and rivers. native crayfish. The red swamp crayfish, a native So, how did it get here? species of the lower Mississippi This non-native species was first stocked

The red swamp crayfish is red, mean and on the loose.

27 ▲ Aquaculture ponds where the red swamp crayfish was once cultured

Watersheds with feral stream populations of ▀ red swamp crayfish now established

The invaders have been found in most Maryland streams and have established significant populations in the areas in red.

in ponds located on the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge near Laurel region. There- in 1963. The intention of this introduction was to provide a after, the original food source for waterfowl and wading birds during their an- Louisiana crayfish were nual migration. Refuge biologists dropped what amounted to used to stock farm ponds and drainage ditches throughout the “a handful” of crayfish into the ponds. Following the intro- Delmarva and southern Maryland, many undocumented. duction, the crayfish were largely forgotten. Unlike many finfish, crayfish are nearly impossible to The next introduction of the red swamp crayfish did not contain in a pond. After a heavy rainstorm, it is quite common occur until 18 years later, when a group of farmers became to find them walking about. They are also adept at colonizing interested in the idea of culturing crayfish for profit. Most new areas. Thus, the culture of crayfish, like the red swamp Maryland residents would be surprised to learn that a com- crayfish, often results in the establishment of feral popula- mercial crayfish industry, albeit small, exists within the state. tions in nearby waterways. This has occurred throughout the Unlike most aquaculture, commercial culturing of crayfish world and Maryland is no exception. requires little more than a farm pond, a little patience, and In 2006, the MDNR Maryland Biological Stream Sur- a few chicken-wire traps. In fact, add a few pounds of live vey conducted surveys of streams and rivers throughout the crayfish, throw in some food every now and then, and in a state’s Coastal Plain, including areas near known aquaculture year’s time, a relatively small farm pond can produce a profit- ponds. During these surveys, biologists discovered feral red able harvest. That is exactly what attracted several farmers to swamp crayfish in 14 watersheds. They were discovered ad- the idea of crayfish culturing. jacent to every known location where this species was once It all began in 1981, when a small group of farmers on cultured in ponds, including portions of the Patuxent River the Delmarva Peninsula pooled their resources, and sent one near the site where they were first introduced in 1963. brave soul to Louisiana with a refrigerated truck, with “$5,000 So, why is it a concern? in cash and a shotgun on his lap” to protect his bounty. North American crayfish, the most diverse in the world, The cash bought seed stock from a Louisiana crayfish are considered the second most imperiled group of animals farmer. Once back in Maryland, the crayfish were spread on the continent, behind only freshwater mussels. The most among three ponds near Salisbury as part of the Worcester pervasive threat is the introduction of non-native species. County Crawfish Trial of 1981. This trial was conducted to Crayfish tend to be fierce competitors and physically fight determine whether or not crayfish aquaculture was possible one another for prime feeding and shelter habitats in streams, in Maryland’s climate. The crayfish survived their first Mary- rivers, and lakes. These conflicts usually end in the death of land winter, and grew quickly throughout the year. The re- the smaller, less competitive crayfish. sults of the trial were promising and indicated that crayfish Introductions of large, non-native species usually occur to aquaculture was not only feasible, but also profitable. the detriment of smaller, and therefore less competitive, na- In 1983, the Mid-Atlantic Crawfish Association was es- tive crayfish species. Non-native crayfish introductions have tablished. Armed with 250 members (at its peak) and the caused declines and outright loss of crayfish throughout the catchy slogan, “The tail is the best, you can suck the rest,” this world. Maryland, home to nine native species, has already association promoted crayfish aquaculture throughout the experienced this phenomenon. The virile crayfish, another 28 Under the surface of Maryland streams, the crawdads are gaining control. non-native species, was introduced, primarily by bait fisher- Although the red swamp crayfish was brought here with man, into streams and rivers throughout the central portion the best of intentions, this crayfish now joins the long and of Maryland. The effects of this introduction have been quite growing list of non-native aquatic species established in dramatic. A coincidental decline of one native species, the the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The short-term economic spiny cheek crayfish, has occurred as the virile crayfish has benefits that this species once provided will likely be over- spread throughout most of the major river basins in the Bal- shadowed by its long-term ecological impacts on Maryland timore and Washington metropolitan area. The spiny cheek streams and rivers. crayfish, once the most abundant and widespread native spe- Although its introduction is irreversible, MDNR will cies in this region, has been eliminated from many areas. continue to monitor this species, and document changes in Given the negative effects that the virile crayfish has had native crayfish populations and other components of stream in Maryland waters, the presence of feral populations of the biodiversity that it may cause. MDNR, in passing recent red swamp crayfish, as documented in 2006, is cause for Aquatic Nuisance Species regulations, also aims to slow alarm. The red swamp crayfish has the potential to negatively the spread of the red swamp crayfish, and prevent the intro- affect Maryland stream biodiversity. This may have already duction of other deleterious decapods in the state. For more occurred. In 2006, native crayfish were rarely observed in information on these regulations, and Maryland’s native streams in which the red swamp crayfish was found. This is and non-native aquatic species, visit http://www.dnr.state. another indication that Maryland’s native crayfish are at risk. md.us/invasives. w

Jay Kilian is a biologist with the Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He currently works on the Maryland Biological Stream Survey, a statewide survey conducted to assess the health of Maryland streams. Photos and map by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 29 To the Point

From the Chairman Gilmore is New V.P. of Operations

Thanks to your generous support, we’re well on our Bill Gilmore better make good coffee. As CBMM’s new way to enriching the experience for CBMM visitors. Vice President of Operations, Gilmore will be moving into Your generous gifts made the 2006-2007 Annual Fund CBMM stalwart John Ford’s Eagle House office, where staff, a success. You contributed $457,000, beating the year’s Board members, and volunteers have become accustomed to goal of $425,000. Congratulations to you, and “Thank looking for fresh-ground coffee. You.” You are the wind in our sails. Ford is happy to pass the mantel of V.P.—a position he In an earlier Chairman’s message I said the Museum has held since CBMM adopted an organizational structure of was striving to expand education programs and enhance President and four Vice President positions in 2002—and that our exhibits. We view these as important “next steps” of barista along to Gilmore. During a search for the vacant in the Museum’s growth, designed to make us an even position of Facilities Manager, more interesting place to visit and revisit, and to bet- Ford found Gilmore, the Di- ter serve the Bay communities. Your generous support rector of Campus Planning at during the 2006-2007 fiscal year, which ended on April Bryant College in Smithfield, 30th, enabled us to: Rhode Island. “It became evident that Bill ● Create new gallery space in the Steamboat Build- brings to the table everything ing for special exhibitions, and open the first two that we need at the Museum changing shows: “Waters of Despair, Waters of from a facilities and operations Hope: The African American Experience and the perspective,” says Ford. “We Chesapeake Bay,” and “Their Last Passage: The have grown so quickly especial- Collection of Robert H. Burgess;” ly over the last 10 years, and we Bill Gilmore is the Museum’s new V.P. of Operations. need someone who has Bill’s ● Open the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network experience and vision for where we need to go from here.” Orientation Building to help visitors orient them- It was also evident to Ford that in order for Gilmore to re- selves to the many cultural and historic sites locate from Rhode Island and leave Bryant’s 450-acre campus, around the Bay; the Museum needed him in a V.P. capacity. So Ford took the Facilities Manager position and hired Gilmore as V.P. of Opera- ● Launch our first Bay Day on April 21, a celebration tions. Ford will oversee the day-to-day use and maintenance of of the Chesapeake’s environment and ecology; CBMM’s campus, while Gilmore moves forward leading capi- ● Prepare a great menu of education programs for FY tal, facility, physical plant, and energy efficiencies. 2007-2008 that is gearing up for our high season– During more than 17 years at Bryant, Gilmore was re- Lighthouse Overnights, Community Sailing, Bay sponsible for a range of initiatives from new equipment speci- Combers Club—and the list goes on. fications to procurement of energy for the college. He was instrumental in numerous energy conservation projects, from Expanded education efforts and enlivened exhibits simple lighting to complex geothermal heating systems. are what the Museum is about. However, these activi- Gilmore knows the maritime field as well. Directing ac- ties cost money. When we write to you in the fall about tivities for an apparatus repair facility in Providence, Rhode the 2007-2008 Annual Island, he was responsible for NAVSEA contracts in Boston, Fund, please continue New London, Connecticut, and Bath, Maine. He was also to contribute; see if you quality assurance officer for the complete rewiring of the can increase your gift; U.S.S. Constitution. and if you haven’t given recently, please try this See St. Michaels, From the Water year. Your support makes This season, visitors to CBMM can experience the “Heart our new programs and and Soul of the Chesapeake Bay” from the decks of the sail- exhibits possible. ing skipjack H.M. Krentz or the Museum’s replica buyboat, Mister Jim. Fred Meendsen, Fred Meendsen, Chairman of Both vessels will be leaving the Museum docks on sched- Board Chairman the Board of Governors. uled tours of the harbor and the Miles River. The Krentz is an authentic Chesapeake Bay skipjack built 30 a web site to answer multiple choice questions, and will only take about 20 minutes to complete. We believe that this is a critically important effort but it cannot succeed without your time and effort. It is our sin- cere hope that those who receive the invitation will take a few minutes to provide their views and help us to continue to improve the Museum experience for all. After the survey is completed, we will publish a short summary of the results in WaterWays. Saturdays are Special for Families Children and their families are invited to visit CBMM the first and third Saturdays of every month for storytelling, special tours, and hands-on art activities designed just for them. The Museum’s replica buyboat Mister Jim. At 10:30am the visitors, ages 3 to 7, can enjoy Tidewa- ter Tales by listening to an exciting story about the Chesa- in 1955 to dredge the oyster beds of the Bay. She carries up to peake region in one of the Museum’s exhibitions. Boys and 32 passengers. Mister Jim was built to resemble the buyboats girls will learn about Bay animals, local legends, history, that brought oysters from the dredgers working out on the and more. Drawing, exploration of objects, and other ac- Bay to sell them in port. She carries up to 30 passengers. tivities will be part of these programs. Tidewater Tales is The boats are certified by the U.S. Coast Guard and are pi- free with admission. loted by U.S.C.G. licensed captains. Museum Volunteers John In addition, children can participate in an art-making Stumpf, Jerry Friedman, Don Parks and Ed Bird are serving as or hands-on activity inspired by one of CBMM’s exhibi- captains on Mister Jim. tions. During special guided tours exploring the Museum’s When purchased with a CBMM admission, the two-hour collections, participants will learn about the different ways sail on the Krentz is $40 for adults, $35 for seniors and $22 that the Chesapeake Bay has shaped the lives of local peo- for children. A 45-minute cruise on the Mister Jim is $25 for ple. At 11:30, 1:00, or 3:00pm children, ages 6 to 12, can adults, $18 for seniors and $12 for children. drop by to take part in a hands-on experience. The program Tickets for just the Krentz sail can be purchased for $33 fee is $3 per child. for adults, $30 for seniors and $17 for children. Museum Upcoming Special Saturdays include sessions on how to members’ tickets are $30. spot and identify birds, what the life of a lighthouse keeper Members can buy tickets for Mister Jim tours for $8 for was like, and the importance of marshes. For more details, Adults and $5 for children. Check at the CBMM Admissions see the calendar in this issue of WaterWays. Office for times. Changing Exhibits Museum Surveys Members Visitors to CBMM have until August 12 to view “Waters As CBMM comes out of a period of institutional growth, of Despair, Waters of Hope,” the exhibit exploring the inte- bringing on new staff, construction and fund-raising, we feel gral role of African Americans in the cultural history of the that the time is right to reassess our members’ needs, our pro- Chesapeake region. The exhibit uses artifacts, images, and au- grams and activities. To that end, we will conduct a survey dio/visuals to enliven stories of slave importation and labor this summer to: as well as the many slaves who, such as Frederick Douglass, employed maritime rouses or routes to escape to the north. • Gain a better understanding of what you expect from Other stories tell of African Americans in times of war CBMM and how well these expectations are being met; who boldly allied themselves with the enemies of their en- • Determine the value of the Museum’s existing programs emy, or alternately have made, and continue to make, crucial and learn about new programs that you would like to see; contributions to the American military. On September 7, a new exhibit entitled “Chesapeake • Determine what CBMM can do to remain relevant to our Icons” examines how images of log canoes, oysters, skip- diverse membership and within a changing community. jacks, lighthouses, blue crabs, and watermen have been used The survey invitation will be mailed to a randomly se- to symbolize the Chesapeake Bay. lected set of members in early summer. It will ask you to visit Used by artists, writers, and salesmen of all types, these 31 To the Point

year-around sales, he now moves 150 boats a year, with all proceeds going to the Museum and all tax benefits going to the contributors. “We are helping people who have unsold, unwanted or unused boats get rid of them,” he says, “And we are finding buyers who can utilize them.” Mills says he is always looking for more boats to sell and has traveled from Maine to South Carolina to pick up donated vessels. The boats Mills sells are an eclectic collection that range from dinghies and canoes to racing sailboats and cabin cruisers. “I have sold boats for $10 and six figures,” Mills says. “When someone buys a boat from us, he knows he is going to get a great deal on the boat he has been looking for.” Log canoes have become Chesapeake Bay icons. Mills markets the boats on the CBMM web site, www.cbmm.org, and the popular commercial sites, representations of the Bay make up much of the collection of www.yachtworld.com and www.boats.com. the Museum. “We have had people come from Missouri and Texas, The exhibit will be on the second floor of the Steamboat South Carolina and New Jersey, to buy boats,” he says. “I Building. have even shipped boats to Europe and the West Coast.” Once a boat is donated, Mills says he does all of the work Profile: Lad Mills required for the sale. When the boat is sold, he sends the previous owners the documentation that allows them to claim Have a Boat? He’ll Sell it Selling donated boats to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum started almost as an afterthought, but under the direction of Lad Mills, it has evolved into a significant line item in the Museum’s annual budget. Mills, the Boat Donations Manager, has been on the Mu- seum staff since 2001 after “being in and out of the boat business all my life.” What started as a small part of his job, turned into his only job. Mill’s supervisor, John Ford, says, “I ran the Boat Do- nation program for a number The Museum’s annual Boat Auction is September 1. of years prior to Lad’s arrival. Boat Donation Manager In his first year at the job, he Lad Mills. the proceeds as a charitable contribution on their taxes. tripled my best season and has “The process is very quick and easy,” he says. “Paper- since topped it five fold. And it’s no wonder; he’s constantly work takes only five minutes and then the donor is immedi- on the move and his non-stop hard work has provided terrific ately relieved of all responsibility and cost of ownership.” support to the museum.” Before new IRS regulations were put into effect, there After moving from the Washington, D.C. area to Easton was little control over how donated property was valued. in 1980, Mills said he has worked in a variety of boat and Now, the deduction cannot be claimed until the boat is sold, auto retail businesses and worked for Fawcett Boat Supplies and then its sale price sets the actual value. in Annapolis for six years before joining the CBMM staff. “We follow the letter of the law,” Mills says. He says that his Museum job “is very satisfying. It is a To get more information about donating or buying a win-win-win. I get to help the donors, the purchasers and boat from CBMM, contact Lad Mills at 410-745-2916 ext. the Museum.” 112 or e-mail [email protected]. To view the list of boats Mills says the annual Boat Auction, set for September 1 for sale, go to www.cbmm.org and click on “Boat Dona- this year at the Museum, has turned into “an exciting event tions & Sales.” for everyone who attends.” Through the live auction and — Dick Cooper 32 A Delaware ducker under sail. AFAD’s next project.

the 21-foot-long mobile sawmill mounted on a trailer, in 1991 and has been cutting wood all around the Delmarva. Mobile Chop-Shop Pays a Visit He milled the Wye Oak after the 460-year-old Maryland The sawdust flies as sawyer John Sudder slices an 80-foot landmark toppled in a 2002 storm. Wood from the majestic old loblolly into neat stacks of skipjack replacement parts. tree was used by Eastern Shore furniture makers Jim McMartin Sudder, a retired Navy man who has been turning logs and Jim Beggins to create the Maryland Governor’s Desk. into lumber for 16 years, adjusts the calibration on his saw- Visitors to CBMM will see the shaping of the spars in mill-on-wheels next to the CBMM marine railway, secures progress over the summer, Vlahovich says. the plugs in his ears, and runs the high-speed band saw through the pine. AFAD to Build a Rare Bird Loblolly # 1 was the first of six 125-foot pines cut in Feb- Boat Yard Manager Rich Scofield says that the Apprentice ruary in the Pocomoke State Forest in search of new spars for a Day Program is finishing off the second of two flat-bot- for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s signature skipjack, the tomed rowing skiffs for the Inn at Perry Cabin before starting Stanley Norman, and the privately owned oyster-dredger, on a “Delaware ducker,” a sleek little boat once thought to Caleb W. Jones. be extinct. It didn’t make the cut to become a mast because its heart- Scofield says the ducker started off about 1860 as a light- wood was off center and its annual rings were spaced too far weight boat designed for hunting in the bays of Delaware and apart, weakening its strength. New Jersey. Mike Vlahovich, Director of the Coastal Heritage Alli- “It was so fast that they began to race them,” he said ance, is overseeing the repairs to the vessels. The 20-foot- At the height of its popularity in the late 1800s, ducker long, 2 1/4-inch-thick boards will be used to plank the bottom race results were regularly reported in Field & Stream Maga- and sides of the Caleb, built in 1953 and now on the National zine but no duckers were known to have survived until the Register of Historic Places. late Joe Leiner, a well known wooden boat builder from New Vlahovich and Coastal Heritage apprentices have been Jersey, discovered two in a Pennsylvania barn. restoring the Caleb at the CBMM docks. Scofield says there were no existing plans for a ducker “This is a pretty piece,” Sudder says as he examines a cut. and Leiner took the lines from the old boats he found to build “The log didn’t move much when I cut her. Some of them one that is on display in the Boat Shop. tend to jump around.” The thin, lapstrake-hulled boat with its curved dagger Sudder, who lives near Denton, Maryland, says he bought board looks delicate next to the two-masted crabbing skiff that is near completion in the Boat Shop. Tug Delaware Back in the Water The tugboat Delaware is sitting pretty on her lines after the cosmetic surgeons in the Boat Yard gave her a shapely new stern. Vessel Maintenance Manager Marc Barto and the Boat Yard crew spent most of the spring replacing rotted frames and planks on the 95-year-old workhorse. The cabin top has been recanvased and the 671 GM diesel that was installed in 1947 is awaiting a rebuild. The Delaware is being repainted to give her good-as-new shine. John Sudder saws a loblolly log into skipjack planks. “We are just working on the cosmetics, but structurally, she is put back together,” Barto says. w 33 Arvie Smith, Baltimore my Baltimore (Detail), 2006: Courtesy of the Artist Quilt Assembly: Photo by Aidah Aliyah Rasheed

West Monument Street, both in downtown Baltimore. New History Exhibits Open This exhibition tackles a subject crucial to the understand- in Baltimore ing of Maryland’s history and future. Through research, students in the Exhibition Development Seminar came to dis- The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American cover that the history of slavery in Maryland is complex and History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Society often contradictory due to Maryland’s unique position as the in collaboration with Maryland Institute College of Art and northernmost southern state and southernmost northern state. students in the Exhibition Development Seminar present “At Freedom’s Door: Challenging Slavery in Maryland” “At Freedom’s Door: Challenging Slavery in Maryland.” intends to engage visitors in a civic dialogue on the modern The landmark exhibitions explore the history of slavery issues of freedom, race, and social injustice by questioning in Maryland and the vestiges of slavery that still remains in how both enslaved and free Marylanders responded to, chal- society. The exhibits bring together historical artifacts with lenged, and defeated slavery as a legal institution. contemporary artworks, including new works by internation- It seeks to dissolve myths and untruths concerning the his- ally known artists, including William Christenberry, Sam tory of slavery, as well as challenge the public perception of Christian Holmes, and Joyce J. Scott. slavery and freedom. The exhibition juxtaposes a rich reposi- The exhibition runs through Oct. 28 at the Lewis Muse- tory of historical artifacts and contemporary works of art. um, 830 East Pratt Street and at the Historical Society, 201 Visitors to the exhibits learn that anti-slavery activity was of critical importance in Maryland on both a personal and national level. With the existence of more than 100,000 free people of color in Maryland at the beginning of the Civil War, the historical part of the exhibition showcases how black and white Marylanders worked together to swing the weight of history in favor of freedom and helped change American history. The exhibitions’ contemporary component reminds visitors that the struggle for African Americans to achieve parity in American society was just beginning after the Civil War and, through the inventive use of contemporary art, illustrates that it has not yet ended. For more information, visit www.mica.edu/atfreedomsdoor, or call the Lewis Museum 443-263-1800 or the Historical David Claypool Johnston, Early Development of Southern Chivalry, Society at 410-685-3750, ext. 321. c. 1861-65.

34 Mystery solved, it’s Annapolis

Annapolis, 1934

The Mystery Photo on the back of the Spring issue of WaterWays drew only eight correct answers on the location of the busy harbor. Only readers Rick Rhine, Karen Winters and St. John Martin were close on the date. The photo was taken in Annapolis in 1934, probably from the deck of the Claiborne-to-Annapolis Ferry that docked at the foot of Prince George Street and is from the B. Frank Sherman Collection. See the new Mystery Photo on the back page of WaterWays and submit you answer by e-mail to [email protected].

1 Annapolis? Looking in the harbor from USNA area? 4. The place is easy...Annapolis Harbor (Spa Creek), look- 1930s? ing SW toward St. Mary’s Church. The time is tougher. I’d guess early 20th century, pre-WW1. Rick Rhine William Kranzer 2. Spa Creek with Spa Creek wooden bridge and St Mary’s 5. The photo appears to be one looking up Spa Creek in on Duke of Gloucester St Annapolis. Probably around Annapolis probably sometime in the 1930’s. St. Mary’s years 1890-1900 in the a.m. in the winter. Church can be seen on the right. G. Irving St. John Martin

3. This is a picture of the Annapolis Harbor with St. 6. The busy bay harbor mystery is Annapolis and I would Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in the background. guess about 1910. The picture appears to be taken from the base of Prince Charlie Willimann George Street where it meets the waterfront. The trees indicate that the picture was taken during winter months 7. The photo is Annapolis Harbor from the Eastport side when the “fleet” was in harbor and the shadows show of Spa Creek and my guess is the photo was taken be- that the sun is in the east, so it is morning. I cannot be fore 1947 when the bridge over Spa Creek was changed precise regarding the date that the picture was taken but from 4th St. to 6th St. on the Eastport Side. it was prior to 1948 when the low wooden bridge seen Bruce Morse in the background crossing Spa Creek was replaced by the current drawbridge. I would guess that it was the 8. The mystery photo is of Annapolis harbor probably 1920’s or 30’s. around the turn of the 20th century. I’ll guess 1905. Karen Winters Judy Parks 35 Mystery Photo

Can you identify the location of this Chesapeake Bay harbor? The answer and the names of the readers who get it right will appear in the fall issue of WaterWays. Send your answers by e-mail to [email protected].

Non-Profit Org. Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum U.S. Postage Paid Navy Point w PO Box 636 Chesapeake Bay St. Michaels, MD 21663 Maritime Museum