Pocomoke Shipbuilding • Vane Brothers - Chesapeake Bay ...

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An Indomitable Bay A New Bugeye is Christened By Dick Cooper, Editor John Hawkinson works on the deck of the Katherine M. Edwards at Sidney Dickson’s dock on the backwaters of Broad Creek off the Choptank River in St. Michaels. For 27 years, Sidney Dickson’s dreamboat has been a work in progress. Dickson and his long-time friend and boat-building buddy, John Hawkinson, have been futzing around the edges of the vessel so long, they finish each other’s sentences. On May 27, in front of scores of friends and supporters, the first log bugeye built on the Bay since 1918, was launched and christened the Katherine M. Edwards at Hawkinson 24 applies epoxy to the bugeye he and Dickson started building in 1980. Dickson’s dock in St. Michaels. The bugeye is a distinctive Bay craft that evolved after the Civil War to harvest shallow oyster beds and deliver freight and produce. The Katherine’s hull was made with 11 hand-shaped logs, a boat-building practice that dates to hollowed log canoes made by Native Americans. The Edna E. Lockwood, the flagship of the CBMM floating fleet, was built on Knapps Narrows in 1889 and is the last known nine-log bugeye afloat. “Nobody in today’s world recognizes what a good boat this is,” Dickson says with the pride of a new father. Kather- “Nobody in today’s world recognizes what a good boat this is.”
Lady ine’s low free board, clipper bow, varnished bright work and tiller steering give her a sleek, yachty look. She is back on land next to Dickson’s dock after taking on water following the christening. “Anyone who knows anything about wooden boats would expect it to leak at first,” he says. “We will have her finished in three months and be sailing by fall,” Dickson says. He named her after his late, great aunt, Katherine May Edwards of Pittsburgh. He says she was an indomitable woman, who was born in 1873 and lived an adventurous life that included driving an ambulance during World War I and being an early aviator. “She formed the Pittsburgh Ambulance Corps,” he says. “She bought an ambulance, had it shipped over and drove it to the front to pick up wounded soldiers.” The two-masted, “man-and-boy” rig will make the Katherine easy to handle with a crew of two, he says. He plans to use her to deliver fresh produce to ports on the Bay, selling his products under the “Bugeye Brand.” Dickson, who describes his previous occupation as “moving large, live trees with machinery,” says building the bugeye came from a desire to revive the classic Bay workboat that has all but disappeared. He and Hawkinson collaborated in the “...but then we took a 17-year hiatus, because we were occupationally handicapped. We had jobs.” Dickson gives the history of his collection of boat-building tools mounted on the wall of his workshop office. 25
Page 1 and 2: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Summ
Page 4 and 5: On the Cover WaterWays Summer 2007
Page 6 and 7: E. James Tull 6 Shipbuilding Power
Page 8 and 9: 8 The menhaden boat Delaware under
Page 10 and 11: 10 Tugging into By Dick Cooper, Edi
Page 12 and 13: 12 From Schooners The evolution of
Page 14 and 15: 14 from page 11 As well as the chan
Page 16 and 17: 16 Through innovative solutions and
Page 18 and 19: 18 First Name Last Name Daytime Tel
Page 20 and 21: Education Programs Saturdays for Ki
Page 22 and 23: Spartina Tufts, (above) taken by Wi
Page 26 and 27: 26 “From cranes and front-end loa
Page 28 and 29: 28 ▲ Aquaculture ponds where the
Page 30 and 31: 30 To the Point From the Chairman T
Page 32 and 33: 32 To the Point Log canoes have bec
Page 34 and 35: 34 Arvie Smith, Baltimore my Baltim
Page 36: Mystery Photo Can you identify the

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