Thanks for signing up with us aboard the Skipjack MARTHA LEWIS. The following is a basic summary of history and some primary safety precautions. This is a good place to begin with our organization even though crewing on the boat is not mandatory as a volunteer. Whether or not you desire to be involved with the "sailing", it is a good foundation to know information about the vessel's history, along with some aspects of safety in order to answer basic questions or concerns potential patrons may ask. Overall, we hope you can share as much as possible about the Skipjack MARTHA LEWIS with others.

To begin, it is important that everyone realize that this boat was originally built to dredge for oysters. There are other methods to harvest oysters, but dredging has been primarily set aside in the Chesapeake Bay for sailboats since the 1860's. Since the mid 1960's, some amendments have been made to allow for the use of motors behind sail dredging vessels, like our skipjack and push-boat. Currently, there are even areas in the Bay that allow motor dredging on other types of vessels. But for the better part of the Bay, you must be in a DNR registered oyster sailboat to engage in dredging for oysters in the winter months from November through March.

The MARTHA LEWIS was built in 1955 along with two other skipjacks (the ROSIE PARKS and the LADY KATY). Bronsa Parks built all three in Wingate, MD (pronounced 'Wingit'). The MARTHA LEWIS was bought by Captain James (Jim) Lewis and named after his mother. The Lewis family did not keep the MARTHA LEWIS long and in the late 1950's, Capt. Jim passed away. We enjoy the entire family's continued involvement with the boat since we have had her.

After the Lewis family sold the boat, it made its way to Tilghman Island, MD where it spent the better part of its life. Gene Tyler captained her there for about 22 years. The boat changed hands a couple of times after Gene's death (see the Martha Lewis Abstract Title in PDF) in the 1980's and early 1990's. In 1994, the MARTHA LEWIS was in poor shape and needed extensive work or it may have soon ended up in a creek, abandoned. Dr. Randy George bought her and with the help of many people in Havre de Grace, MD and the surrounding communities, the boat was restored by Shipwright Allen Rawl, his crew, and many volunteers. The Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy, a non-profit company, was formed to keep her working the Bay as a dredge boat during the winter while providing a great living resource for the learning of history, culture and environment all year round.

Of course there is a detailed history behind the oyster industry on the Bay, as well as Skipjacks, but to keep it simple, oystering was by far the big money maker in the history of harvesting food products from the Bay. Due to this, there was a great demand to build inexpensive workboats that could meet the requirements of the oyster laws, sail in shallow water, and carry a large load of oysters. After descending down from dugout log canoes, schooners, pungy schooners, and bugeyes - the skipjack was created in the 1880's. The skipjack is named after the skipjack fish that jumps quickly through the waves of water. The word 'skipjack' is technically referring to the two sail rig with the mast and boom in a direct proportion to the boat length and width. The hull built for skipjacks was typically described as a V-bottom bateaux.

The skipjack is now the official state boat of Maryland, but due to the decline of oysters - "working" skipjacks are a dying breed. There were roughly 600 to 900 skipjacks created over time on the Bay, and definitely over 1500 different types of sailing dredge boats "working" the waters in many given years. But today, the working skipjack fleet numbers around a mere dozen.

The recent decline of oysters is primarily due to diseases; msx and dermo. The current population levels in the Bay do not provide the most suitable environment for the oysters either. The fate of oyster dredging may soon come to an end. In the meantime, we will continue carrying on the heritage of the Bay and teach others about it as we go.