Skip to content

Cheaspeake Workboat Modeling

Boats By John

  • Chesapeake Workboat Models
  • About Me & My Boat Models
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Chesapeake Workboat Models
  • About Me & My Boat Models
  • Contact
  • Blog

Chesapeake Workboat Models

The Chesapeake Bay  is an estuary (a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea) in the U.S.A states of Maryland and Virginia lying inland from the Atlantic Ocean and surrounded to the west by the North American mainland and to the east by the Delmarva Peninsula. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay’s 64,299-square-mile drainage basin which covers parts of six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) and all of Washington D.C. 

With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, mainly in its seafood production, in particular blue crabs, rock fish, clams and oysters. The seafood harvesting industry was so large and important to the economy of Maryland and Virginia that in the middle of the 20th century, the Bay supported 9,000 full-time watermen. Today, the body of water is less productive than it used to be because of runoff from urban areas and farms, over-harvesting, and invasive species, like the snakehead fish. 

This plentiful industry has led to a wide verity of workboats to accomplish the harvesting of various creatures. The oyster harvesting industry led to the development of the skipjack, the state boat of Maryland.  The skipjack remains the only working boat type in the United States to still operate under full sail power. Other historical Bay-area workboats include sail-powered boats such as the log canoe, the pungy, the bugeye, and the motorized Chesapeake Bay deadrise, which is the state boat of Virginia.

I have lived in Maryland my whole life and currently have the pleasure of living on the bay itself. I have been building models of Chesapeake Bay workboats for roughly fifteen years and I hope to share them through this webpage. You can find links to images and descriptions of my models one the following pages:

  • Skipjack
  • Deadrise
  • Deadrise Crab Scrape
  • Skiffs
  • Other Boats

About Me & My Boat Models

Learn a bit more about me and my models.

Read more About Me & My Boat Models

Contact

If you have any questions or would like to contact me, feel to do so at this address.

Read more Contact

Chesapeake Workboat Models

This is the main page of my site.

Read more Chesapeake Workboat Models

Our Location

Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Site designed by Caitlin Brewer

-Brewer18@sbc.edu

Deadrise Oyster Boat

Round Stern Deadrise Workboat Model by John P Raeder Jr

Smith Island

Smith Island is an archipelago sits in the Chesapeake Bay twelve miles west of Crisfield, Maryland. The island chain is three-by-five mile island and currently has three villages with a total population of about 350 year-round residents.

Captain John Smith, for whom the island was named, first charted the archipelago in 1608, but seasonal occupation by Native Americans goes back more than 12,000 years.  Most current Smith Island residence are descended from 17th-century settlers, most of whom arrived in Maryland and Virginia from southwest England and Wales. But the popular surnames of desendents indicate a smattering of Scotts and Irish soon followed.   Both Maryland and Virginia claimed Smith Island until the dispute was finally settled in the 1873.  The Maryland-Virginia state line runs through the island chain, a fact that played a key role in the bloody “Oyster Wars of the Chesapeake.”

Smith Island is closely associated with the maritime activities of crabbing and oystering, which is the main source of income and employment on the island. But the first permanent residents of the island were actually farmers. The farming communities continued until the Civil War.

After the Civil War a demand for seafood and wildfowl skyrocked, due to the destruction of main food producing farmlands. This demand also came at a time when erosion and rising water levels made farming increasingly challenging. These factors cause most islands to turn to the Bay as a source of food and income.

These days the Cultural Center of the island is in Ewell, which is the largest village.  Ewell joins Rhodes Point by bridge, while Tylerton is on a neighboring but unconnected island.  Most everything and everyone that comes to Smith Island arrives by boat. The cruise and passenger ferries offer roundtrip passage daily throughout the summer and early fall.  The passenger ferries also provide limited passage during the off-season.

Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Chesapeake Workboat Models
  • About Me & My Boat Models
  • Contact
  • Blog
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Cheaspeake Workboat Modeling
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Cheaspeake Workboat Modeling
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar