Each of these old skipjacks are famous in their own way. Their captains are too. It is a great to do, when the community of the Chesapeake Bay gets together for one of these races. Many of the boats are still very much working, but there are fewer and fewer left. Their way of “catching oysters” is way better for the reefs than the big motorized commercial boats, as the skipjacks’ way is to dump the culled ones over as they sail along at a slower pace, keeping the reef in tact. The commercial boats dump the shells in a pile at the other end of the reef. I liked the sloughing of the sails in this one, as the boat is “coming about” and the wind has not filled up the sails completely.

32 × 38” - no frame

Oil on Linen