St. Michael's and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

St. Michael's was another must-see destination.  We had several folks tell us about the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum being the most comprehensive museum of all things water related on the Eastern Shore and we were not disappointed.  The museum campus is acres of buildings, boats, educational displays and boats in the water.  We spent two days there and it was well worth it.  There were a lot of old buildings but the only information on them was in an on-line format and wasn't useful for old people who like to read as we explore.  Oh well, dinosaurs don't rule the either anymore!

This was our big challenge to get to St. Michael's, the Kent Narrows Bridge and cut.
It is a narrow gap between Kent Island and the mainland.  As with all such
waterways, the current is fast at max flow and rife with side eddies that want to grab
a hull and send it spinning.  We timed it for slack tide going to a push and it worked out well.
Thank God for accurate tide charts!

We saw this cute little boat out sailing past our anchorage a few times.  Seemed
simple and fun to sail.

The entrance to the CBMM.  It is the deck house from an old tug.

One of the restored and well maintained skipjacks at the museum.

Another type of boat commonly used for crabbing.

The exotic tiller head of the boat shown above.

Another beautiful boat.  It has morphed from a work boat to pleasure boat.

How so many of the working boats are steered, long handles attach to
the rudder and turn it.

One of oldest houses in town, circa 1760.  St. Michael's was
the hub of boat building during Colonial days.

The lighthouse at CBMM.  It is a screw type meaning it has long augers
on each of the legs that screw into to bottom of the bay.  This one had
been moved to the museum and restored.  The boat in front is another
type of waterman's boat.  The only way to legally harvest oysters in Maryland's
waters is under sail so all boats that want to drudge for oysters have a mast and
large deck to bring up the catch.

Some of the types of drudges used to gather oysters.

The outhouse on the lighthouses were literally outhouses.  They hung
over the edge and waste dropped directly into the water below.

This is a red prism to let boats approaching the lighthouse from certain
angles that they needed to change course to avoid a rock or shoal.

The are trailboards from a variety of ships that once plied the Chesapeake.
Trailboards are the fancy boards boats add along either side of their bow
showing their name.

A view looking back at just part of the museum campus.

This figurehead was from a boat that eventually realized that it was
so large and heavy that it made the boat unstable in seas.  They generously
donated it to the Naval Academy in Annapolis.   The midshipmen made it a habit to
rub her breasts for luck before exams. One mother heard about the practice and
was scandalized enough to raise a ruckus with the  commanding officer and have it removed.
Now it has a home at the museum administrative building.  Wonder if the tradition continues
before big fund raising events! 

Another example of a waterman's barge.  This one came with a sad story
of the owner being quite the adventurous young man who died in
a house fire ashore and his family donated the barge in his memory.

Eagles are common on this side of the bay, just not usually so large and golden.

We thought this was a creative use for a no longer needed drawbridge.
This was the entrance to the parking area for the museum.

This building housed a wide variety of old work boats in all stages
of repair.  Each told the story of the owners and/or builders and
explained how the different shapes were best used.  We were amazed to
learn that log canoes, some over 60 feet long, were the preferred vessel
of watermen up to late last century.  This is an example of one made up
from about 6 huge logs.

Fog bells from decommissioned lighthouses stood in a row.

A storage shed of cut lumber for various restoration projects underway at the museum.

Lofting  is the art of taking the naval architect's plans and turning them
into pattern pieces for the lumber required to build the ship.  This overhead
walkway provided a great view of the lofting floor and some of the work space.
The museum craftsmen have been commissioned to build a replica of
the Maryland Dove.  This ship was used by John Smith to make the initial
exploration of the Chesapeake.

More of the workshop and half hulls showing the hull design of the ship
under construction.

Huge planks cut from logs on site and the lofting pieces had been careful
laid out and traced to get the exact right shape for each piece.

One of the craftsmen cutting a piece out.

The very long saw was used to cut planks.

The keelson and the lead keel being shaped to fit together.

Pieces of cut timbers being pieced together and the lofting pieces
being laid on them to make sure of accurate cuts and placement.