Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks documents the skipjack and its role in the oyster dredging industry, describing the natural and manmade disasters that affected the industry, including the August storm of 1933 that swept vessels ashore into pastures, the ice that locked them in harbor for months at a time and led to the novel idea of dredging through the ice with sleighs and later cars and trucks, and the Great Depression that crushed the oyster market overnight and forced many to abandon their vessels and their way of life. By talking to survivors, Vojtech recreates the last moments of some of the worst incidents in dredging history, including the day in 1939 when nine men died on the Choptank. The author interviewed some thirty captains, former captains, and relatives of the men who worked the boats, to recreate events that took place between 1917 and 1993. The early years were reconstructed by research of Maryland dredging records and newspaper accounts.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0870334514
ISBN13:9780870334511
Release Date:July 2009
Publisher:Schiffer Publishing
Length:154 Pages
Weight:1.95 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 8.8" x 11.3"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
The heart and soul of the bay
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Ms. Vojtech captures the heart and soul of the Chesapeake bay with her delightful book on skipjacks. If you think that this book is just a book of pictures, you're wrong. While the photographs are superb, it is the writing that brings to the forefront the hard and lonely life of a waterman. This book should be an essential element of personal library within a few hours drive of the bay.
Pat Vojtech's Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is a must have book for Chesapeake Bay skipjack devotees as well as others interested in work boats. Pat's over 50 beautiful color photos of skipjacks in action on the Cheapeakee Bay are worth the price by themselves. Ms Vojtech supports the photos with a facinating history of the oyster tonging and dredging along vignets of actual people in the trade. Interesting, is the discussion of economics which has extended the lfie of working sail on the Chesapeake to protect the oyster beds from depletion.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
