During the 1880s, Chesapeake Bay boatbuilders began constructing small wooden open boats, referred to as deadrise boats, out of planks with V-shaped bows. As boatbuilders created larger deadrise boats, decks were installed to provide more work and payload space; these deck boats also had a house/pilothouse near the stern and a mast closer to the bow of the boat. Deck boats were powered by gasoline engines but also utilized sails and wind. From the 1910s to the 1940s, auxiliary “steadying” sails were raised to help steady the boat when encountering adverse seas. More deck boats were built in the 1920s than in any other decade. Over the history of the boats, several thousand worked the bay in the freight business, were used to buy and plant oysters, worked in the bay’s pound net fishery, and dredged for crabs and oysters. Approximately 40 boats are left on the bay. A few still work the water. Some have found new life as recreational yachts, and others are education boats owned by museums and nonprofits. In 2004, boat owners formed the Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association, which holds an annual rendezvous at different ports as a way to educate the public about this unique aspect of Chesapeake Bay maritime history.
Chesapeake Bay Shipwrecks
9781467128827
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North America's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, is fed by more than 150 major rivers and streams from parts of six states and the District of Columbia. Two hundred miles long, with a shoreline that includes more than 11,500 miles of tributaries, the bay has been a major economic lifeline since pre-Columbian times. As such, it is not surprising that the bay has seen its share of shipwrecks over the centuries-from small and large vessels foundering in storms, like the Levin J. Marvel, to naval and merchant ships of all sizes lost to collisions, fires, and wars, such as the US Coast Guard cutter Cuyahoga. The actual number of shipwrecks will never be known, but at least 3,000 in the bay and its tributaries have been documented-either in archives or newspapers or through underwater archaeology. While some wrecks saw great loss of life, others fortunately did not.
Connecticut River Shipbuilding
9781467144476
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Shipbuilding and shipping have always been key elements in the life of Essex. Since the seventeenth century, the men and women of the lower Connecticut River Valley sustained maritime traditions that spanned the globe in splendid wooden sailing vessels. Their accomplishments include building the first warship of the Connecticut navy and the world's first submarine. They also served as packet ship captains, navigators and skilled crew members who crossed the Atlantic. The Essex area was also home to dedicated craftsmen who produced some of the finest yachts ever built. Noted historians Wick Griswold and Ruth Major detail one village's important role in American maritime history.
Down East Schooners and Shipmasters
9781609495145
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Nothing is more iconic of Maine than the image of a majestic vessel, masts raised, gliding through the fog on the dark North Atlantic. From the early days of the search for a Northwest Passage to the quest for the mysterious and illusive Norumbega, the history of Mount Desert Island, Hancock, Bar Harbor and the rest of the Down East area has always traveled on schooners. Now, in the twenty-first century, these ships and their heritage are being preserved, and Mainers are sailing aboard them once again. In this collection, author Ingrid Grenon presents the most important and incredible stories from the decks of Down East's schooners, revealing how these remarkable vessels and Down East Maine are tied together.
Hand-Crafted Boats of Old Currituck:
9781626196483
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Before sleek factory boats dominated Currituck Sound, locals piloted these waters in hulls made by hand. Some still can be seen today--beautiful works of art designed for the utility of travel, fishing, hunting, scouting and touring. They figure prominently in recollections of a bygone sportsman's paradise, and native storyteller Travis Morris offers this engaging collection based on anecdotes, interviews and detailed craft descriptions. It's an insider's history of Currituck's boating heritage featuring the famed Whalehead Club, an accidental run-in with the Environmental Protection Agency and a harrowing U.S. Coast Guard rescue.
Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes
9781626191471
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Beginning in the mid-1800s, steamboats carried people between New York City and the Albany area on the Hudson River. Romantic images lull us into believing it was a quiet means of travel, but a crowded river, faulty equipment and the bravado of the captains resulted in at least one major catastrophe every year. Night boats collided and sank, carelessness caused boiler explosions, races put passengers at risk and fires would quickly swallow the wooden vessels. The grand Empire of Troy suffered many collisions. The Swallow broke in two on a rock, Reindeer's explosion took forty lives at once and the Oregon and C. Vanderbilt entered into an epic and dangerous race. Collected from eyewitness accounts, these are some of the most exciting and frightening stories of peril aboard steamboats on the Hudson River.
Stories from the Maine Coast:
9781609492496
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The history of Maine has always been inextricably tied to its coastline. The sea first brought settlers, and the rich fishing and shipbuilding industries sustained growth. The Atlantic also connected Mainers to the rest of the world. Goods and ideas traveled the maritime routes that originated in populous Portland and more isolated places like Carver's Harbor and Deer Isle. From Searsport's sailing masters to the burning of Royal Tar, author Harry Gratwick relates the adventures of the skippers and their crews. Read about the search for the Smithy Boat and other tales from Maine's shipping lanes.
The Last of the Fairhaven Coasters
9781609499457
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From the early years of our nation, the coasting schooner served as the primary means of hauling the cargoes that fueled the country's growth. Several thousand of these coasters once existed, but by the late 1930s, relatively few remained. Among those still in operation was the coasting schooner Coral. Hailing from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, the Coral and her owner, Captain Claude S. Tucker, carried goods to ports throughout southern New England. The Coral hauled cargo into the twilight years of the coasting trade, long after new technologies began to replace it. Authors Robert Demanche, Donald F. Tucker and Caroline B. Tucker use first-person accounts of crew members and captains to trace the life of the Coral and Captain Tucker. Set sail to discover the story of the Coral through her glory days until the 1938 hurricane left her beyond repair, hastening the end of an era.
The Lumber Boom of Coastal South Carolina
9781626192782
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The virgin forests of longleaf pine, bald cypress and oak that covered much of the South Carolina Lowcountry presented seemingly limitless opportunity for lumbermen. Henry Buck of Maine moved to the South Carolina coast and began shipping lumber back to the Northeast for shipbuilding. He and his family are responsible for building the Henrietta, the largest wooden ship ever built in the Palmetto State. Buck was followed by lumber barons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who forever changed the landscape, clearing vast tracts to supply lumber to the Northeast. The devastating environmental legacy of this shipbuilding boom wasn't addressed until 1937, when the International Paper Company opened the largest single paper mill in the world in Georgetown and began replanting hundreds of thousands of acres of trees. Local historian Robert McAlister presents this epic story of the ebb and flow of coastal South Carolina's lumber industry.
The New England Mariner Tradition
9781626192287
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For over three centuries, New Englanders have set sail in search of fortune and adventure--yet death lurked on every voyage in the form of storms, privateers, disease and human error. In hope of being spared by the sea, superstitious mariners practiced cautionary rituals. During the winter of 1779, the crew aboard the Family Trader offered up gin to appease the squalling storms of Neptune. In the 1800s, after nearly fifty shipwrecks on Georges Bank between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Nova Scotia, a wizard paced the coast of Marblehead, shouting orders out to sea to guide passing ships to safety. As early as 1705, courageous settlers erected watch houses and lighted beacons at Beavertail Point outside Jamestown, Rhode Island, to aid mariners caught in the swells of Narragansett Bay. Join Robert A. Geake as he explores the forgotten traditions among New England mariners and their lives on land and sea.
Tugboats on Puget Sound
9780738559728
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While square-rigged sailing ships, steamboats and ferries, and ever-larger cruise and cargo-carrying vessels have made their mark on Puget Sound's maritime history, no other vessels have captured the imagination of shore-bound seafarers like tugboats. Beginning in the 1850s when the first steam-powered tugboats arrived in the Sound from the East Coast via San Francisco, company owners and their crews competed fiercely for business, towing ships, log rafts, and barges. The magnetic attraction of powerful, tough tugs both large and small is unexplainable but enduring. This book, featuring about 200 rare historic images and carefully researched text, tells the colorful story of tug boating on Puget Sound.
