The Chesapeake, November 1983
Almost 40 years ago, Anne Bray accompanied Maynard on a trip to Virginia and North Carolina. Since his work made a thorough and current knowledge of the wooden boat world imperative (and his natural inclinations nudged him that way regardless), the adventure may have been partly underwritten. This was an opportunity not to be missed: the two prowled through waterfronts and found the places where useful and beautiful boats were being built by hand or used by fishermen, enthusiasts, and visionaries. Some highlights of what they saw follow.
This group also contains many shots of hand-shaped wooden details aboard some of the vessels they explored, which will be of particular interest to boatbuilders. Click here to view the entire group.
The bark Elizabeth II under construction. This vessel was built as a replica of Sir Walter Raleigh's flagship Elizabeth I, which sailed in 1584 to explore the "New World."
The 28' auxiliary sail keel ketch ROSA II was built in 1960 by Paul E. Luke in East Boothbay, Maine. She sits on a mooring here at Zimmerman Marine in Manteo, North Carolina.
Grover Lee Owens building the Chesapeake deadrise Susan Lynn in his shop in Deltaville, Virginia. "His workmanship was among the very best, and he began by building the cross-planked bottom upside down, which was the custom, with the heavy keel timber, chine logs, and lower side planks forming the shape." (Maynard Bray)
Maynard caught the 27' two-masted centerboard schooner TEAL, designed and built in 1983 by David Judson in Grimstead, Virginia, underway near Gwynn Island.