Sports & Recreation

The deadrise and cross-planked bottom style of boatbuilding started on Chesapeake Bay in the 1880s, when builders of wooden boats began to shift away from constructing vessels out of logs and into using planks to create hulls with a V-shaped bottom. Marine historian Howard I. Chapelle says that the style started in the North and Deep South (on the Gulf of Mexico)—but was not popular in those areas—before coming to Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay’s choppy, shoal water conditions were ideal for a shoal draft, V-bottom style of boat. The availability of good wood, a dynamic cottage industry that grew, and diverse inshore fisheries that supported a bay-wide fleet all encouraged demand for various sizes of wooden deadrise boats on the bay. Over time, the hull style became so popular that in 1985, the State of Maryland named the deadrise and cross-planked sailing skipjack as Maryland’s state boat, and Virginia’s legislature named the motor-powered classic deadrise style as the state boat of Virginia. 

From the North Shore to the South Shore and out to the East End, Long Island is home to a nationally recognized and historic boat building industry. The Steiger Craft boats of Bellport are a local household name, trusted for their ability to navigate the shallow bay waters of the South Shore. Freeport legend Al Grover sold boats around the world for generations, built Verity skiffs for gas-conscious consumers in the 1980s and holds the Guinness World Record for the first outboard motorboat crossing of the Atlantic. The Hanff and Clarke boat yards in Greenport are more than just world-class boat builders--at more than 150 years old, they are historic landmarks. Author and folklorist Nancy Solomon shares the history and stories behind Long Island's traditional boat yards and boat builders.

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.

Author Geoffrey Reynolds explores the story of Holland, Michigan's unique legacy of maritime craftsmanship.

Holland's boat-building tradition took root in the 1840s, as Dutch immigrants crafted flatboats and watercraft for residents. Just a century later, the city's commercial boat-building industry flourished. The innovation of fiberglass-reinforced plastic changed the traditional structure of boats, revamped the industry and re-created the blueprint for U.S. pleasure boats following World War II.

The Roamer Boat Company's masterfully-welded sheet steel cabin cruisers led to the 1955 purchase by the Chris-Craft Corporation to create the Roamer Boat Corporation. Local craftsmen, like the Jesiek brothers, found the transition from furniture building to boat building seamless. But with the success of larger manufacturers, smaller boat shops declined.

The Conestoga River meanders for sixty miles through the fertile farmlands of Lancaster County. From early Native American inhabitants to the European settlers who made the Conestoga Valley their home, the river has provided sustenance and transportation for generations. Victorian-era resorts and hotels were built along the river, providing new recreational activities as steam power drove innovative forms of transportation. As the region developed and the population grew, the river paid a heavy price in increased pollution from sewage runoff and industry. Conservation efforts toward the end of the twentieth century through the present day have restored the river's beauty and recreational reputation. Join author and photographer Donald Kautz as he takes a journey on the historic waters of the Conestoga River.