2003: The Year in Review
BOATS
Annapolis
Our Capital City of Sailing
If the story of how Annapolis became America’s self-proclaimed sailing capital were made into a puzzle, the pieces would be geography, politics, economics and technology. But it may be the human factor that trumps all else.
So we start the story of Annapolis’ rise to sailing fame with Arnie Gay …
—Karolyn Stuver • No. 4, Jan. 23
Spring Hoists the Start of Sailing Season
A sure sign of change jibes on the water
Winter leaves slowly. Spring advances and retreats. All the while, sailing moves inexorably into Chesapeake Country.
Add competition to sailing and you’ve got racing, which is the traditional sport around the Bay. The races vary from serious competition where national pride and honor are on the line to casual sailing for the pure joy of it.
In Chesapeake Country that begins on the spring equinox.
—James Clemenko • Dock No. 15, April 10
Back to the Water
Our Bay makes us rich — in more ways than one
Environmental advocates who point to the Chesapeake economy as a key reason to protect the Bay aren’t kidding: Boaters spent some $1.6 billion in Maryland in 2000.
“Marine trades are a billion-dollar industry, right up there with horses and government,” says Mick Blackistone, founder of the Anne Arundel and Maryland Marine Trades Association and for many years a lobbyist for the national industry in Washington.
Those dollars buy many pleasures, for just as Chesapeake Country is a diverse nation, there are many, many ways of getting out on our Bay …
—Sandra Martin • No. 21, May 22
You Don’t Have to Own a Boat to Get on the Water
Sea-ing the sights of Charm City
Discovering one of those ways took writer Mike Kelley to Baltimore and back aboard the sight-seeing vessel Annapolitan II, captained by Mickey Courtney.
—Michael Kelley • No. 21, May 22
Growing with the Bay
Kids and adults get the wheels turning to grow Bay grasses
Jim Anderson’s J.E.B., short for Jim’s Environmental Boat, is a one of a kind. Anderson, a sod farmer from Florida, designed the planting boat with a pair of wheels, parallel to the boat and each other, that can be lowered through the bottom of the boat into the water. The spokes of the wheels are shaped like bottomless vases, and the wild celery seedlings prepared by volunteers are loaded into these vases and drilled into muddy bottoms.
If Anderson’s boat plants faster than the professional divers planting alongside, it may be able to help save the Bay.
—Jessie McLean Heller • Dock No. 30, July 24
Rebecca T. Ruark Is Some Dame
This old boat is now a National Historic Landmark
The Rebecca T. Ruark, grand dame of the Chesapeake Bay’s skipjack fleet, is now a National Historic Landmark. The new distinction eclipses her 1985 addition to the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1886, the Rebecca T. Ruark has plied the choppy waters of the Chesapeake longer than any other working skipjack afloat. Landmark status couldn’t come at a better time for owner-Captain Wade Murphy, a fifth-generation Bay captain who says he’s more than once “spent his life savings and mortgaged everything he owned to save the old boat.”
—M.L. Faunce • Dock No. 33, Aug. 14
How to See the Boat Shows
It’s an awesome view you’ll see waterside in Annapolis, with as many as 500 brand-new boats in the water, tethered along 1.1 miles of floating docks, all contained in an area of five acres or so. If the biggest shows in town — the United States Sailboat and Powerboat Shows — seem appallingly large, varied and complex, that’s because they are. Here’s advice on how to get the most from your visit.
—Peter Bell, James Clemenko and Kimberly Goode • No. 41, Oct. 9
It’s Official!
Volvo Ocean Race sails to Chesapeake Country in 2006
Now we’ve gone and done it — on Tuesday, October 7, 2003, Baltimore and Annapolis was officially announced as the only United States stopover for the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race.
“Monies from the race will go towards water quality to improve the Chesapeake Bay,” said Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
Annapolis will also have its’ own racing team, Team Kan-Do.
—James Clemenko • Dock No. 41, Oct. 9
The Breakdown
Faster than tropical storm Isabel, the U.S. Sail Boat Show yields to the Power Boat Show.
Faster than tropical storm Isabel blows through and pushes off to the west, the U.S. Sail Boat Show breaks down, moves out and becomes the U.S. Power Boat Show.
—Kimberly Goode • Dock No. 42, Oct. 16
Stanley Norman’s Luck
Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s skipjack saved from fire
Christmas came early to Chesapeake Bay Foundation on December 9 when a passerby noticed fire aboard the Stanley Norman, the Bay Foundation’s 101-year old, 70-foot long skipjack.
“The initial estimate of damage is under $2,000,” said Don Baugh, vice president for education at the foundation. “The caller and fire department saved an opportunity for kids to go out on the only historic skipjack in Annapolis.”
—James Clemenko • Dock No. 50, Dec. 4
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