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Skipjack Boat

It is a type of sailing vessel, most commonly used during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for oyster dredging during winter time. During this time, they were a very common sight in the harbors and ports up and down the Chesapeake Bay. The skippers and crews of these vessels were hardy, sometimes violent, men, who earned a living in the harsh winter conditions that accompanied oyster dredging. Its peak building time is estimated to be between the 1890's to well into the 20th century.

History & Design
The Skipjack is a type of sailboat, which finds its origins in the Chesapeake bay of Tidewater Maryland and Virginia. Debate remains to this day about the origins of the name, skipjack. Some speculate it came from a name New England fisherman called the flying fish, bonita. Still others claim it is derived from an archaic English term, meaning an "inexpensive yet useful servant." In other parts of the Bay region, these same vessels are called bateaux.

Inexpensive and light, the skipjack was designed with a broad beam, a hard chine and low freeboard providing a good platform for work. A V-Shaped hull, and modest draft were perfect for dredging in shallow waters. This boat was preferred by watermen who made their livelihoods from the waters of the Chesapeake. Due to the boat's unique sail plan, it could be run with a fairly small crew. A typical Skipjack is single-masted, has a self-tending jib, and a large triangular mainsail, which provided good power in light winds for dredging oyster beds, although some skipjacks are known to be gaff rigged. This sail plan also gave the skipjack the ability to come about with relative ease. In addition to being an extremely advantageous vessel(as compared to the earlier hand-hewn bugeyes), the skipjack has become a national symbol for the Chesapeake Bay, with all her beauty, and harshness. It is also the state boat of Maryland. The average cost of a skipjack in 1905 was $3,000.

In Law
Due to a massive number of oyster dredging boats plying the waters of the Chesapeake during the late 19th century, the state of Maryland passed legislation in the year 1865 forbidding oyster dredging by powered vessels. To this day, the only legal oyster dredging done in Maryland is under sail power, except for two days in the week.

Impact & Present Day
Maryland's oyster harvest reached an all-time peak in 1884, at approximately 15 million bushels of oysters. The oyster harvest has been in decline since, dwindling in number to this day. At one time, the number of skipjacks produced is estimated at approximately 2,000, today, they number at about 30. Even of these thirty only a few will survive long without tender care and careful restoration. The Chesapeake Skipjack fleet of commercial sailing vessels in the last in North America.

See:
• Boat
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• Boat Types
• Skipjack Boat
• Mainsail
• Bermuda rig
• Watercraft
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• Kayak Origins
• Folding Kayaks
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• Sea Kayak
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• Adirondack Guideboat
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• Vermont Fishing Dory
• wood boat building plans

• Boating Safety Tips
• Mahogany Bay Vintage Watercraft

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Skipjack Boat".