BROADSIDE April 2021

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

BROADSIDE April 2021 Vol.11No2 April 2021 The Broadside The voice of The Mathews Maritime Foundation Museum Located at 482 Main Street, Mathews, VA Mail to PO Box 1201, Mathews, VA 23109 804-725-4444 on the web at www.mathewsmaritime.com The Mathews Maritime Park… Our list, so far, includes boat builders MMF Vice-president Tom Robinson re- Brown, Colvin, Deagle, Diggs, Hudgins, Klingel, ports that the project is on-track and progressing and Schlenk. Should you have any information nicely through the various permit and approval that you would like to share on the men of Math- requirements. Everyone I have spoken with on ews who built boats here, we would love to hear the Planning Commission, Planning Department from you. Contact us by phone at 804-725-4444 and Board of Supervisors have expressed posi- or on the web at [email protected] tive views and the need for such a park. It Books for Sale… should be presented for approval at next month’s Museum curator Dennis Crawford reports Planning meeting, and then for final approval that our library of nautical books and magazines before the BOS in May. is overflowing. We’re out of room. He has culled Upon approval, our work will just begin. out the duplicates from our collection and offers We will need to recruit new members and volun- them for purchase for $1.00 to $4.00. teers, advertise for donations of money, materi- Some of the titles up for sale are: “Cruis- als and labor. ing Under Sail” by Hiscock; “Gipsy Moth Circles Our architectural drawing will be final- The World” by Frances Chichester; Chapman’s ized and published, along with a positive story “Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Han- about the park, museum and foundation. dling”; “Early Man and the Ocean” by Heyerdahl; I am really looking forward to starting, and “American Sailing Ships” by Howard and completing, such a wonderful maritime, his- Chapelle. tory and recreational project that will involve Come by the Museum to view the entire our entire board, general membership and vol- collection of books and magazines for sale. Mu- unteers for the foreseeable future. seum hours are 10 AM to 2PM Friday and Sat- Boat Builders of Mathews County… urday. The Mathews Maritime Foundation & Foundation Lapsed Memberships Museum is currently compiling a list of Mathews In January, membership chairman Page boat builders of the Twentieth century. With Herbert, sent out a mass mailing to 166 of our every passing day we are losing the history of members whose memberships had lapsed. This these men who built work boats, sail boats and letter set forth an apology for our failure to keep pleasure boats in the County. We feel that this members abreast and updated on our activities part of Mathews’ maritime history should be and programs. The letter also included a copy of preserved and are making every effort to do so. the January 2021 issue of “The Broadside”, the Keeping the Past in the Present Preserving it for the Future Vol.11No2 April 2021 Foundation’s newsletter. This effort produced a Requests for photos and information sud- 26.5% response rate resulting in 44 renewals. denly came pouring in from three different New Member Solicitation… sources, two well known magazines and a muse- Also, in January, President Marcy Be- um, which were scattered in different locations nouameur posted a letter to 72 persons on our from Maryland to Massachusetts. Read on… contact list inviting them to become members of Chesapeake Bay Magazine… the Foundation. Her letter talked about the history of the Foundation, included the current issue of our newsletter, “The Broadside”, and a sincere plea to help us fulfill our mission. That mission is to preserve and protect Mathews County’s rich maritime and cultural heritage through research, conservation, docu- mentation and education. This mailing brought us six new members, a 10.3% response rate. Treasurer Hall Seeks Volunteer Pete Hall is asking for someone to come forward to serve as Treasurer of the Foundation. Hall has been in this position since 2006. It’s a volunteer position that is critical to the operation of the organization. Serving as Treasurer of any organization would seem to be very demanding on ones time. Hall finds it just the opposite. Having been at it for fifteen years he’s got it down to a smooth running operation that re- quires on average nine hours per month. Hall uses Quick Books for Non-Profits to keep track of the Foundation’s finances and it would be advan- tageous for one volunteering for this position to The April issue of Chesapeake Bay Maga- have a working knowledge of the software. zine, now on the newsstands, features an article However, it is not absolutely imperative. Hall about Gilbert Klingel, his life and his works. It says that he will work closely with the person focuses especially on his award-winning book who volunteers until he/she feels comfortable in The BAY since this year is the 70th anniversary the position. of its publication in 1951. Those interested should call or text mes- The BAY is a classic known for Klingel’s sage him at 434-917-5281. unique presentation of this very special estuary. Gilbert Klingel… Written from the viewpoint of a naturalist, it is MMF President Marcy Benouameur, all about the Bay itself, its history and the crea- daughter of Gilbert Klingel is excited to report tures living above and below these waters. It that the new year 2021 unexpectedly brought in was this book that inspired the National Geo- a renewed interest in Gwynn’s Island boat graphic Society to contact Klingel about building builder Gilbert Klingel, his life, his books, his a new undersea diving submersible to take color explorations, his undersea diving, and of course photos under the Bay for the very first time. his boatbuilding. Klingel designed and built the Aquascope in 1952 and the project took place off the shores Keeping the Past in the Present Preserving it for the Future Vol.11No2 April 2021 of Gwynn’s Island in 1953. This story with the MA. His articles are all online and may be used remarkable color photos appeared in the May for our MMF museum youth education pro- 1955 issue of National Geographic Magazine. grams. Sea History Magazine At some point in time this could help fill The Spring issue of Sea History Magazine our museum gap in marine biology and could appeared in mid March. On page 44-45 of this lead to a future museum exhibit on undersea ex- issue there is a full 2 page article about Klingel ploration and research by Gilbert Klingel, Mor- and his encounter with an octopus while diving gan Wells and others. off the shores of the island of Great Inagua in Basilisk historic photos requested by Ox- 1938. This article was written for youth to create ford MD Museum an interest in learning about the sea. Klingel is When Stuart Parnes, Curator of the Ox- also mentioned on page 46 ford Museum in Ox- about his undersea diving ford, MD discovered and on page 47 regarding that the www.inagua- the Basilisk, his replica of book.com website had Joshua Slocum’s famous photos of the Basilisk Spray. in construction at Con- Sea History Maga- ley’s Shipyard in 1930, zine is published quarterly he requested these by the National Maritime photos for an exhibit Historical Society. This about the historic boat non-profit organization has yards of Oxford. a very impressive and in- T h e p h o t o teresting website which I gallery of the Inagua urge anyone who loves the book website shows sea to take a look at: the Basilisk photos in www.seahistory.org See five general categories also seahistory.org/kids or but there are no cap- seahistory.org/magazine to tions for each photo. look at the entire magazine Back in the 1930’s page by page. Klingel had made a You can also find the scrapbook of all 55 of kids’ article about Gilbert his original photos Klingel at the main website with captions includ- above in blue. From the ed. Since these cap- Home Page Menu on the top of the screen, click tions would be useful for research or any muse- on Sea History for Kids. Then click on Animals um exhibits, my sons and I decided to take this (Animals in Sea History – written and illustrat- project on. Using Google Slides, the photos were ed by Richard J. King). Then scroll down to Car- transferred one by one, a link created, captions ibbean Reef Octopus and click on the photo of the added and some photos enhanced for better view- Octopus (double click to enlarge). That brings ing. you to the article about Gilbert Klingel. While working on this project, we discov- The author of Animals in Sea History, ered that the Basilisk was one of two replicas of Richard King, is a writer/educator for kids in Joshua Slocum’s Spray built at Conley’s Ship- middle school through high school. He is affiliat- yard. It appears that these two are among the ed with Mystic Seaport, CT. and Woods Hole, most exact replicas of the original Spray and Keeping the Past in the Present Preserving it for the Future Vol.11No2 April 2021 were called by some “the Oxford Sprays.” The Featured this month is a 1991 Wellcraft, first of these two was built for Pete Culler (also 2600 with: twin 200 Yamaha outboards with known as Major Culler).
Recommended publications
  • Storms and Hurricanes
    History of Regional Storms and Hurricanes 19 20 STORMS: A LONG PERSPECTIVE FROM HISTORY K. Mountford Cove Corporation 10200 Breeden Rd., Lusby, MD 20657 ABSTRACT The paper highlights several points based on Isabel’s passage. First, early Chesapeake visitors Historical accounts from early seafarers and registered shock to the major weather events they regional inhabitants of the Mid-Atlantic suggest encountered, similar to the reactions of today’s that hurricanes and storms posed grievous citizens to Isabel. Their valor and strength under conditions for the first settlers in the region. adversity are models to compare with our pampered Seafarers were at the mercy of winds and waves, existence today. Second, the escalation of storm often surviving only through diligent and impacts measured in the colonial literature seems continuous bailing and luck, ultimately to ground to have increased the severity of flooding as near hospitable islands, such as Bermuda or barrier settlement density and the value of coastal property islands such as Assateague, Virginia. Recounts of increased, the number of people recording incidents colonial storm surges describe mass flooding and multiplied, and damage to the naturally resilient extensive sediment deposition. More recent ecosystem mounted. Third, within the memory of Chesapeake reports rely on a vanishing oral history living persons, it is possible to reach back before and accompanying local landmarks of flood real understanding of storm tracks and beyond the heights, indicating the importance in recording social warning systems of radio and television regional history as baseline data for contrasting the relied upon today. The perspectives of individuals most recent effects of large storms with those of coping with the damage of hurricanes coming as a the last century.
    [Show full text]
  • Books from Both Side of the Ditch
    Tidewater Tales: Books from Both Sides of the Ditch Book Collecting Contest January 21, 2019 1 Swimming in the Chesapeake Bay is one of the great joys of my life, from jumping off the bow of my parents Morgan 30’ as a child to swim in the almost fresh and almost always nettle-less Sassafras River, to moonlight swimming in the Chesapeake Bay proper from the beach at the end of the street where I grew up in Arundel on the Bay, and even the frosty exhilarance which comes with the Polar Bear Plunge at Sandy Point State Park. If you grew up within a 25 mile radius of the Chesapeake Bay, you refer to it ubiquitously as the Bay, an omnipresent waterway which bisects Maryland in two. And while the Bay can be experienced a number of ways be it sailing, powerboating, fishing, crabbing, or even a stroll at the water’s edge; swimming puts you in the middle of it. It is in this way that swimming is an apt metaphor for the experience of reading. Swimming in the Bay can take many forms too: from doggy paddling on the surface on the first perfect day in May, to diving down to murky black bottom looking for some refreshing water in late summer. Swimming is endlessly satisfying, an activity for both young and old, yet another way it is just like reading. It is hard to gain any perspective when you are swimming at the surface, so this collection is an attempt at providing some, about a beautifully varied subject.
    [Show full text]
  • Jan 2013'News Master
    Vol.5 No.1 January 2013 The Broadside The voice of The Mathews Maritime Foundation Museum Located at 482 Main Street, Mathews, VA Mail to PO Box 1201, Mathews, VA 23109 804-725-4444 on the web at www.mathewsmaritime.com The Year in Review... Peggy Raffle... Throughout 2012 the Foundation contin- John Bass of Mathews was the winner of ued on its mission to preserve and protect the Frank Beamer autographed VT football raf- Mathews County’s rich maritime and cultural fle. Instituted several months ago the raffle was heritage. Through Foundation sponsored pro- one of several means by which the Foundation is grams like the Kids Kayak Camp, Chesapeake raising money for the Peggy Endowment Fund. Bay Days, our monthly speaker meetings, and our annual Maritime Heritage Day. Also through 4H/MMF sponsored boat building as well as res- toration of the Peggy of New Point. Peggy Endowment Donation... Cathy Mise, Assistant Vice President at the Mathews branch of Chesapeake Bank, pre- sented a check for $1,000 to Foundation Treas- urer Pete Hall and members of the MMF Board of Directors. This donation will be added to the John Bass with his prize Peggy Endowment Fund which has been estab- lished to provide for the upkeep and mainte- nance of “Peggy”. The winning ticket Museum Growing... The Mathews Maritime Museum contin- L to R: Pete Hall, Cathy Mise (Chesapeake Bank),George ues to grow and in the last 5 years has acquired Pongonis Dennis Crawford, Dave Machen, Marcy Benouameur, over 1,500 new artifacts to add to its collection.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory R. V
    Report of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, 1938 Item Type monograph Authors Truitt, R.V. Publisher Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Download date 25/09/2021 23:20:49 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/28746 REPORT OF CHESAPEAKE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY 1938 R. V. TRUITT* The program of work at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory is being developed in a direction that will further the understand- ing of biological principles underlying conservation planning as well as to encourage the development of fundamental research. Efforts largely are centered in two directions, namely, research and teaching. Research problems are broad in their scope and many of them possess an important bearing on the preservation of natural resources in animal and plant life. Instructional work pertains to basic biology and to the status of natural resources as well as remedial measures that may assist in their development. Substantial progress was made in 1938 both in respect to additions made in the physical plant and to the problems effec- tively pursued by an energetic staff. The completion of a new and adequate building placed at the disposal of those working at Solmo- mons Island a greatly needed adjunct for the continuation of studies throughout the year. Much added equipment and space has been made available for the program being pursued, in the form of boats, technical apparatus, and added construction work for storage, Problems previously in course of study were continued dur- ing the current year, while new researches, in part economic and in part abstract, were initiated on Protozoa, on certain of the fin-fishes, and on new phases of the hydrography of the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Words and Water Literature and the Bay (On Literature and The
    Research, Education, Outreach July-August 1998 or centuries the Chesapeake has SPOTLIGHT ON LANGUAGE inspired those who have settled F on its shores. Native Americans of the Algonquian nation poetically Of Words and Water called it “Chesepiooc,” meaning “Great Shellfish Bay” or, according to some, “Mother of Waters.” Early Spanish explorers named it “Madre Literature and the Bay de Dios,” the Bay of the Mother of God. Beginning in 1607, the estab- BY JACK GREER lishment of large, English-speaking colonies brought a rich heritage of written language to the New World and to the Bay region, a tradition “Wonder lies in the bay and that continues to the present. From the effusions of Captain its watershed in full measure. John Smith to the gripping narrative It is nothing alien or mystical, of escaped slave Frederick Douglass to the contemporary ironies of John or reserved for the expert.” Barth and the lyrical descriptions of William Warner, the Chesapeake has — Tom Horton inspired powerful writing in both fic- tion and nonfiction. Writers have Bay Country drawn on the Bay for physical set- ting, dialogue and character, and in so doing have created a literature that deepens our understanding of cultures that have themselves been shaped by their relationship to this special place. The News Literature Brings Literature is language that, as William Faulkner says, “lives.” It is news that stays news. But exactly what news does literature try to give us? How does it differ from other news — the news of science, for ex- ample, or the news of environmen- talism or history? To paraphrase the Roman poet Horace, “The purpose of literature is to delight and to teach.” It is not enough to “teach” (as would, say, history or science); or to “delight” (as would, say, some forms of popular culture) — literature does both at once.
    [Show full text]
  • Tidewater Tales: Books from Both Sides of the Ditch Book Collecting Contest January 21, 2019
    Tidewater Tales: Books from Both Sides of the Ditch Book Collecting Contest January 21, 2019 1 Swimming in the Chesapeake Bay is one of the great joys of my life, from jumping off the bow of my parents Morgan 30’ as a child to swim in the almost fresh and almost always nettle-less Sassafras River, to moonlight swimming in the Chesapeake Bay proper from the beach at the end of the street where I grew up in Arundel on the Bay, and even the frosty exhilarance which comes with the Polar Bear Plunge at Sandy Point State Park. If you grew up within a 25 mile radius of the Chesapeake Bay, you refer to it ubiquitously as the Bay, an omnipresent waterway which bisects Maryland in two. And while the Bay can be experienced a number of ways be it sailing, powerboating, fishing, crabbing, or even a stroll at the water’s edge; swimming puts you in the middle of it. It is in this way that swimming is an apt metaphor for the experience of reading. Swimming in the Bay can take many forms too: from doggy paddling on the surface on the first perfect day in May, to diving down to murky black bottom looking for some refreshing water in late summer. Swimming is endlessly satisfying, an activity for both young and old, yet another way it is just like reading. It is hard to gain any perspective when you are swimming at the surface, so this collection is an attempt at providing some, about a beautifully varied subject.
    [Show full text]
  • Sherkin Comment
    SHERKIN COMMENT Issue No. 24 Environmental Quarterly of Sherkin Island Marine Station 1999 Price 75p INDEX Centre pages: “Bird Beautiful Birds” Editorial: One Rule for Moorepark - Another for Cape Clear Crete’s Floral Carpet Molecules of the Left & Right Eiders Environmental Enforcement: Beyond Penalties The Howth Peninsula A Boost for Ireland’s Inshore Fisheries Environmental Practice for Fish Farmers ESB and its Role in Fisheries Management My Father, the Naturalist Using Wetlands to Clean the Environment The Care and Conservation of Graveyards Solutions to Leaking Home Heating Oil Systems Encounter in the Tuamotus Introduction to Sustainable Living Wreckfish in Irish Waters Church & the Environment? The Right to Roam? Water Quality in Ireland 1995-1997 Publications of Interest Junior Pages The Grey Heron. From the book: “Ireland’s Bird Life. A World of Beauty” Photographer: Richard Mills Page 2 .............................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 1999 - Issue No. 24 One rule for Moorepark - Another for Cape Clear advise them on construction problems. The is- that fish farming should come under the umbrella the turbot farm in Connemara is now making landers built the fish farm themselves from of the Dept. of Agriculture, as it is a farming ac- over £7 per kilo, compared to under £4 per kilo EDITORIAL scratch. tivity, because other kills may be necessary in for salmon. This shows that turbot farming is Their faith in themselves was fully justified. fish farming in the future. highly profitable. In the period of the 6-year turbot project, losses If the Dept. of the Marine is serious about The Department of the Marine cannot look at were under 2% - an incredible achievement.
    [Show full text]
  • April 2009 the Broadside
    Vol.2 No.2 April 2009 The Broadside The voice of The Mathews Maritime Foundation Museum Located at 482 Main Street, Mathews, VA Mail to PO Box 1201, Mathews, VA 23109 804-725-4444 Foundation to Hold an Old Fashioned Picnic A proposal for a Rivers & Trail Conservation It has been quite some time since our last Assistance grant was accepted by the National fundraiser so we have decided to present for the Park Service in November. Phase I of the project benefit of the community and the Foundation an will focus on water routes, and will follow the 90 “old fashioned picnic”. Tony and Judy Hannold, mile Blueways Water Trail, which is a component the owners of “Samarkand”, have graciously al- of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network. Fu- lowed us to hold the event at their residence on ture plans include bicycle and automobile routes. Woodas Creek. As some of you may already know, This undertaking has been divided into six Samarkand was once the home of J. Edwin tasks: water trail assessment; education and Treakle, the “Clam King”. stewardship organization; community engage- The event is planned for Sunday, May 3 from ment; heritage trail guide development; events 3 to 7 PM on the grounds of Samarkand. There and ecotoursim planning; and local and regional will be live music, a silent auction, games, and a coordination. BBQ chicken dinner with ice cream for dessert. Project partners include VA Archeological Tickets for the Picnic are $25.00 and can be Society- Middle Peninsula Chapter, Mathews purchased at the Mathews Visitors Center,the County Historical Society, Mathews Memorial Li- Virginia Cooperative Extension in Mathews, or by brary, VIMS, Middle Peninsula Planning District, calling Nancy Lindgren at 725-4382 or Pete Hall VA Cooperative Extension, New Point Comfort at 693-9335.
    [Show full text]
  • Biology of Amphibians William E
    40 Years of Evolution Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island Peter R. Grant, B. Rosemary Grant Princeton University Press (2014) Summary: Renowned evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have produced landmark studies of the Galápagos finches first made famous by Charles Darwin. In How and Why Species Multiply, they offered a complete evolutionary history of Darwin's finches since their origin almost three million years ago. Now, in their richly illustrated new book, 40 Years of Evolution, the authors turn their attention to events taking place on a contemporary scale. By continuously tracking finch populations over a period of four decades, they uncover the causes and consequences of significant events leading to evolutionary changes in species. The authors used a vast and unparalleled range of ecological, behavioral, and genetic data--including song recordings, DNA analyses, and feeding and breeding behavior--to measure changes in finch populations on the small island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos archipelago. They find that natural selection happens repeatedly, that finches hybridize and exchange genes rarely, and that they compete for scarce food in times of drought, with the remarkable result that the finch populations today differ significantly in average beak size and shape from those of forty years ago. The authors' most spectacular discovery is the initiation and establishment of a new lineage that now behaves as a new species, differing from others in size, song, and other characteristics. The authors emphasize the immeasurable value of continuous long-term studies of natural populations and of critical opportunities for detecting and understanding rare but significant events.
    [Show full text]
  • Nsltr Master 2017 Copy
    Vol.8 No.1 January 2017 The voice of The Mathews Maritime The Broadside Foundation Museum Located at 482 Main Street, Mathews, VA Mail to PO Box 1201, Mathews, VA 23109 804-725- 4444 on the web at www.mathewsmaritime.com The Year in Review… President Jack largely because of their knowledge of boats that Caldwell was almost genetic, and their work ethic, they 2016 was an exciting year for Mathews quickly rose to become officers who assumed re- Maritime Foundation. The celebration of “The sponsibility not only for the ships, but all on Mathews Men” with author Bill Geroux at board. That seven brothers were in the Merchant Mathews High School auditorium was followed Marines, and 6 were captains, was unusual and by the WWII Exhibit at MMF museum. This ex- their lives are well described in the book. hibit is still ongoing, in case you missed it. The The "traditional, old fashioned, patriotic, subject of this year’s 18 month calendar (July small town assembly" included many groups and 2016-December 2017) is “Remembering World individuals from Mathews: Supervisor Jack War II”. It can be purchased from our Museum, White was the host; The American Legion pre- our on line store at www.mathewsmaritime.com sented colors, followed by the Pledge of Alle- or from the Mathews Visitors Center. Once giance; The National Anthem was sung by again, our speaker meetings were informative William Earl Sadler who hails from a sea going and well attended. 2016 was another good year family; the invocation by the Reverend Parrish; for boat donations and artifact donations and and a video of Merchant Marines in WWII.
    [Show full text]
  • Inside: • Follow the Artisan Trail • Mobile Cuisine • Meet the Winners: Bait and Tackle • Dining at Cobb’S Creek Diner
    September 2017 • FREE Places to go and things to do in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula Inside: • Follow the artisan trail • Mobile cuisine • Meet the winners: Bait and tackle • Dining at Cobb’s Creek Diner WWW.LONGANDFOSTER.COM $610,000$610,000 $525,000 $1,290,000 $342,500$479,500$,$479,500 Riverwood Residence Mattaponi River Bowlers Wharf Escape to The Rivah Corrotoman River King & Queen County Rappahannock River www.HullCreekRetreat.com &ORTHE.ATURE,OVERs7ALLSOF7INDOWS "EAUFORT STYLE3OUTHERN,IVINGHOME 2ARESTOFFERING#LASSIC2IVER(OME/UT #OMPLETELY5PDATEDs"EDROOM #OMMANDING2IVER6IEWS "2 "!s#LASSIC,OW #OUNTRY(OME OFTHE&LOODPLAINs0IERW*ET3KI,IFTS "ATHROOMs"ONUS2OOM "EDROOMS "ATHSs3PACIOUS$ECKS FT#EILINGSs'OURMET+ITCHEN 3EAWALLs0OOLs"2 "! 'OURMET+ITCHENs-APLE&LOORS #OMMUNITY4ENNIS#OURT (ARDWOOD&LOORSAND-ORE $ETACHED CARGARAGEW'UEST3UITE &ULL"ASEMENTs0IER #LOSETO+ILMARNOCK Betsy Stanley 804-347-3488 UPSTAIRSs7ONDERFULLOCATION The Shultz Team Barbara Richards 804-366-5100 Skipper Garrett 804-370-4080 Skipper Garrett 804-370-4080 703-626-4868 New Listing $799,000 $799,000 $182,500 $349,900 Live Where Find Your Happy Place Discover Kilmarnock Deltaville Water Access Others Vacation www.MyerCreekRetreat.com www.KilmarnockLiving.com Moore's Creek www.BeachHouseOnTheChesapeake.com 3QUARE&EET 7ELL-AINTAINEDs"EDROOM "ATH #OMMUNITY2AMP$OCKs"2 "EDROOMS "ATHROOMS /VER0RIVATE!CRESs&IREPLACES ,IVING2OOMW&IREPLACE "ATHSs,IVING2OOM3UN2OOM /PEN&LOOR0LANs&ULL'UEST!PARTMENT 0IERW"OAT(OUSE ,ARGE9ARDs/UTBUILDINGS &IREPLACESs'RANITEIN+ITCHEN !BOVE #AR'ARAGE
    [Show full text]
  • SNAPPING TURTLE TRAPPING on the PATUXENT RIVER by Richard ]
    VOL. 14 — NO. 2 QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER of CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM SNAPPING TURTLE TRAPPING ON THE PATUXENT RIVER By Richard ]. Dolesh curious and mostly forgot- more than twenty-four inches long and skiff and he was in the back. As ten commercial fishery of the weigh no more than thirty-five pounds. we got to the stakes, he would A upper tidal Patuxent River was The female, which is larger than the pull them up if they had a turtle the annual early summer trapping of male, leaves the water in the late spring and drop them in the boat. My snapping turtles. For many decades un- to find an upland location to lay up to foot was under the seat and when til the mid-twentieth century, commer- thirty eggs fairly deep under the soil. my dad threw a turtle in the boat cial watermen and pastimers set turtle The young turtles hatch in about nine- he bit me before I could move. pots and individual stakes with baited ty days or actually winter-over within You know, my foot was as tough fishing hooks along the edges of the eggshell until the following spring. as leather then, but he took a bite brackish and freshwater marshes to The snapper is a voracious eater and out of my heel as if it were a catch snapping turtles for local sale and very adaptable to local conditions. spoon of ice cream. shipment to urban markets. In general, Vegetable matter is the primary food Mr. Watson related the story of the snapping turtles were not source, but the snapper will eat just another turtle bite, but one with a more widespread nor did many watermen about anything available, including car- humorous result: want to go to the trouble to set pots and rion.
    [Show full text]