The Rebecca T. Ruark, in all her stunning glory, off of her starboard bow with full sails, during the 2022 Deal Island Skipjack Races. Photo by Steve Brower, Gallery 1113 LLC.
At the turn of the 20th century there were 2,000 skipjacks tonging for oysters. Today, only 35 of these renown vessels remain.
In 1894, at the peak of the Chesapeake Bay oyster harvest, 15 million bushels of oysters were being shipped around the globe annually. The oyster was a staple food for the poor as well as a must-have item on the menu of the most fashionable restaurants.
Oysters existed in shallow water habitats and to harvest them required a very shallow draft boat. So, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, in the 1890s, a new craft was designed and built specifically to dredge oysters. It was a small boat, only 45 feet long with one mast, one long boom, and a flat bottom. With this vessel, a waterman could harvest upwards of 500 bushels a day.
This new, wood-built sailing vessel was called a skipjack. The moniker is said to have originated from the tuna fish of the same name, known for jumping out of the water…or from the early English common name for a sailor, Jack. Take your pick. No one truly knows. Watermen call her a two-sail bateau. And in 1985, the skipjack was named the Maryland State Boat.
Of the 35 remaining today, some still dredge for oysters, some are in maritime museums, and some are living classrooms for young people. The skipjacks help teach the Bay’s history and the story of its once-prosperous bounty.
Deal Island in Somerset County is a center for the restoration of these crafts, which attracts a loyal, familial following. Deal was historically known as Devils Island and Quarters of the Damned, as an area suspected of being home to pirates. It became the homeport for a fleet of skipjacks used for everyday oystering. The fleet shrank as the oyster harvest declined and many of the boats became “ghosts” of the trade, deteriorating in coves where they were abandoned—too costly to repair. However, Deal is still a popular place for honoring the skipjack and promotes a Labor Day weekend festival that features a race of the remaining fleet. Today, Deal is a designated Historic District and home to the prominent skipjack, Sea Gull, built 1924. The boat itself was named a National Registered Historic Place in 1985.
Other restored skipjacks can be seen at regional maritime museums. The Annapolis Maritime Museum operates the Wilma Lee, which was built in Wingate, Maryland, in 1940. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels operates the Stanley Norman—built in Salisbury, Maryland, back in 1902—for educational programs. And the CBMM houses the Rosie Parks, built in Wingate in 1955.
Top: Spectators enjoy the Cambridge Skipjack Races. Photo courtesy Dorchester County Tourism. Left: A fleet of skipjacks docked on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Right: Detail of wood grain and rope on the boom of a skipjack on the Chesapeake Bay.
Top: The Rebecca T. Ruark in her debut after being docked for repairs following the tragic accident in January 2023, when a pickup truck drove off the wharf and crashed into her deck. Photo by Jacklyn Brower, Gallery 1113 LLC. Middle: Skipjacks were designed in the late-1800s for oyster dredging in the Chesapeake Bay. Thirty-five skipjacks remain in existence, some of which are still actively dredging. Bottom: Three skipjacks in a perfect line, during the 2022 Deal Island Skipjack Races. Photo by Steve Brower, Gallery 1113 LLC.
The Ida May, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally built in 1906 and is a member of the last commercial sailing fleet in the United States. Made of wood, as were all the skipjacks, she has been restored several times. Her mast once belonged to the Levin J Marvel, a sailboat that capsized and sank off North Beach, Maryland, during Hurricane Connie in 1955. Purchased by Elbert Gladden and restored “as an act of love,” the Ida May remains with the Gladden family. Gladden once owned 12 skipjacks and operated his fleet out of Annapolis. A documentary, “The Ida May Project,” tells the story of her restoration. More recently, the Ida May has won the Deal races multiple times between 2017 and 2023.
The oldest of the surviving skipjacks is the Rebecca T. Ruark. Built in 1896 on Taylor’s Island, she still dredges and races. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003. Over her lifetime she has dredged, hauled spat and passengers, sank, was raised, and rebuilt. She still has the reputation of being the fastest boat in the fleet and the best dredger of oysters. Renown waterman and captain Emerson Todd once quipped, “It can go anywhere on the Chesapeake Bay—in rain or shine or heavy fog. It’s the best.” A gale in 1999, however, bested her and she sank with 70 bushels of oysters near Tilghman Island.
Her sinking attracted the attention of Maryland Governor Parris Glendening who secured money from the Port Administration to help raise her. She was restored at CBMM in St. Michaels under Coast Guard supervision. To help fund her reconstruction, the McCormick Company bought new sails carrying the “Old Bay Seasoning” logo; and master carver Charles Jobes of Havre de Grace carved 82 decoys from the old mast, all of which sold for a lot of money. The sinking, restoration, and relaunch of the Rebecca T. Ruark led to the establishment of the “Maryland Save Our Skipjack Task Force” in 2000. This Task Force led to other skipjack restoration projects at maritime museums. In the years since, Rebecca has won skipjack races at both Deal Island and Cambridge. Her captain, Wade Murphy, has said, “Rebecca can sail herself.”
In 2022 a freak accident damaged Rebecca while she was docked. A pickup truck ran through a pylon at the marina and landed on her deck. Nevertheless, she participated in the 2023 Labor Day races (placing second) and continues to dredge oysters, as well as host water tours.
Of the 35 existing skipjacks, the Rebecca T. Ruark (1896) and Ida May (1906) are joined by the Virginia W (1904), the Thomas W Clyde (1912) as the few skipjacks more than a century old that still dredge the oysters for which they were built. These are truly remarkable work vessels that hark back to the days and lore of Chesapeake watermen, continuing to share their stories to this day.
