Old Skipjacks Underway Mainsail Mainsail boom Homeward bound

CHESAPEAKE BAY SKIPJACKS - St. Michael's Maritime Museum

Chesapeake bay Skipjack sailboats and smaller working craft were a vital part of the early Maryland waterman's and market hunters life. The duck hunting gunning season approached quickly and decoys, set-out boats, lay-out boats, home-made gun batteries and sinkbox rigs had to be in good repair and ready for the coming season. The " bay " is the largest estuary in the Americas and was called a " protein factory " by a famous and noted Baltimore newspaperman. In the early times, waterfowl, fish, crabs and oyster stocks seemed inexhaustible. The advent of modern technology like the gasoline engine, repeating and automatic shotguns, and modern round shot pellets helped to reduce waterfowl to drastic low levels. The most devastating and long lasting effects took place within a relatively short time span of only 50 to 70 years.

The era of the Skipjack roughly coincided with the glory days of the Canvasback hunting on the Chesapeake, from the late 19th century to mid 20th century. Skipjacks were developed from early bay sailing workboats such as the bugeye . Inexpensive and easy to build with a shallow water shoal draft, the Skipjack was a perfect bay boat, that served many roles.

Proud and independent bay watermen were providing food and other resources for the rapidly growing urban population of many large cities located within a few hundreds miles of the Chesapeake. In 1918 the Federal Migratory bird treaty was enacted between the United States and Canada. This helped stem the tide of depletion of waterfowl, but market type hunting still persisted, especially in backwater locals.

The slow growth nature of oysters, a staple economic resource for many bay communities, made their exploitation problematic. Laws were passed that only sail power could be used at certain locations and seasons. The Skipjack soon became the oyster harvester of choice. Similar laws in Alaska helped to protect salmon grounds from over harvest before the advent of modern resource management.

Skipjacks could use gasoline " pusher boats " to propel the skipjacks to the oyster beds. When the boats were underway to actually harvest the oysters, only sail power could be used. Sometimes pusher boats were allowed if there was no wind. Skipjacks were used year round to carry freight, harvest seafood, carry passengers and haul "sports" for waterfowl and other hunting. They were as integral to the development of the bay region as much as the canoe was to the original Chesapeake native inhabitants hundreds of years before.