CONTENTS

BAY BULLETIN

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U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Corinne Zilnicki

COAST GUARD CRACKS DOWN ON MID-ATLANTIC ILLEGAL CHARTERS

BY MEG WALBURN VIVIANO

The U.S. Coast Guard is back on the hunt for illegal charter boat operators in the Bay region this summer.

The Coast Guard says it has found and halted the voyages of at least five illegal charters up and down the mid-Atlantic since July.

The agency says it’s seeing an increase in illegal charters, those payfor-hire operation where boat owners or someone they hire take passengers on the water without the proper credentials. In some cases, USCG says, they don’t even have proper safety gear or inspections.

Illegal charters can be dangerous because passengers often believe they’re hiring a professional mariner for a tour, excursion or fishing trip, but the boat operator may be underprepared to handle an emergency situation. Also, USCG points out, these charter operations can take business away from legitimate charters in the industry.

The Coast Guard reminds captains and their potential customers that any boat who take passengers out for hire are required to have proper credentialing and licensing. The vessel’s activity, size, and number of passengers determines the inspection requirements of the vessel. Passengers should always ask to see a valid license and ask if the captain is insured before getting underway.

In the last year, 10 vessels have been issued Captain of the Port Orders from USCG Sector Maryland National Capital Region. Getting caught can bring serious consequences for charter captains, as “willful and knowing violation of the order” is a felony, punishable by up to six years in prison or fines up to $500,000.

“The recent increase of illegal charters in the Maryland National Capital Region is a serious issue. Illegal charters pose a significant hazard to life, property, and the environment,” said Lt. Cmdr. Sonha Gomez, Chief, Investigations Division at Coast Guard Sector Maryland National Capital Region.

Anyone with questions about charter boat licensing can call the Coast Guard at 1-888-427-5662 or 1-888-IASKNMC.

PHILLIPS SEAFOOD PRESIDENT’S WATERFRONT HOME LISTED AT $25 MILLION

BY STEVE ADAMS

Steve Phillips, president and CEO of Phillips Seafood Restaurants and founder of Phillips Foods, and his wife, Maxine, have listed their 23-acre waterfront estate in Annapolis for a cool $24.9 million.

The property’s next owners are sure to enjoy its privacy and the 270-degree views of—and access to—the Severn River that first led the Phillipses, who are avid sailors, to buy what was an abandoned friary on Winchester Road for $2.5 million in 2002.

Boaters take note: “What’s incredible about this property is not only the home and the grounds, but the unparalleled level of privacy and water access that it provides,” said Brad Kappel, who along with David DeSantis holds the listing for TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. “With over 1,500 feet of Severn River frontage and a sixslip private deep water pier, this is the perfect location for the boating enthusiast.”

Kappel notes that anyone, boater or not, who celebrates the Annapolis waterfront lifestyle, will be impressed

1604 Winchester Road, Annapolis, Photo courtesy TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.

by the sheer size of the 26,000-squarefoot Georgian home. It comprises seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and 11 fireplaces and $32 million worth of unique features that the Phillipses added in a five-and-a-half-year renovation that he describes as “mammoth and complex.”

Some of the most eye-catching outdoor features include a restored chapel, 60-foot infinity edge pool, full outdoor kitchen, large teak pavilion in the forest, tennis court, roof garden, and small funicular (a cable rail) running to and from a six-slip private boat dock.

Inside, there’s every possible element for entertaining, from a commercial-grade gourmet kitchen, catering kitchen, and wine cellar, to an oversized ballroom, conservatory, library, music room, paneled billiards room, underground pool and spa.

The home’s next inhabitants will have no shortage of discussion topics while hosting and hobnobbing thanks to the property’s “You can’t make this stuff up” history. Said to be a stopping point on the Underground Railroad due to its Severnside location, the property was bought in 1911 by E. Bartlett Hayward, a man who’d made his fortune casting shell casings for French field guns during World War I.

Hayward built the mansion with a clear eye for fun, reportedly hosting epic cookoffs and poker games, and perhaps engaging in some bootlegging through the secret tunnel to the water that the Phillipses found shortly after buying the home. Hayward sold it in 1945, and in 1950 the home took on quite a different personality under the ownership of a group of Francisan friars, though they introduced their own elements of fun: a bowling alley under the chapel, a waterside tennis court, and multiple massive outdoor pizza ovens. The property even had a short stint in 1989 as Yokahama Academy, a boarding school for Japanese boys, before community opposition forced it to close.

Whatever the future holds for what Kappel calls “one of the finest estates on the East Coast,” he’s confident that it won’t stay on the market long. “Anything is possible with the current record-breaking sellers’ market,” said Kappel. “Many affluent individuals are leaving urban environments and moving to towns like Annapolis to enjoy the waterfront lifestyle, so the local waterfront market is truly on fire right now.”

Indeed, in a year in which Barry Levinson sold his waterfront home on Spa Creek and Cal Ripken Jr. moved into his own Annapolis estate on Weems Creek, the only question is: who’s next?

How to Shuck Oysters in Five Easy Steps

National shucking pros partner with Oyster Recovery Partnership for at-home lessons BY CHERYL COSTELLO

All over the Bay, oyster growers have been selling more oysters straight to customers since the COVID-19 pandemic put a dent in restaurant orders.

Directly supporting your favorite aquaculturists goes a long way in these challenging times, and it’s a delicious way to help. But once you get those oysters home, can you reliably get that slurpy goodness out of its shut-tight shell—without slicing your hand? Bay Bulletin joined a virtual oyster shucking class with professional shuckers who roam high-end parties nationwide, serving up oysters.

The first-of-its-kind mobile raw bar catering company, Oysters XO, teamed up with the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) and local oyster farms for a virtual event last week. For $150, participants got the Oysters XO Starter Kit delivered to their door, including 36 Orchard Point oysters harvested from the Chester River and Eastern Bay, two oyster knives, a Dutch towel (yes, the towel is part of the shucking technique), an oyster bag, and a Zoom class breaking the art of shucking into five steps. Sales of the kit benefit farmers and ORP.

Before the virtual shucking event itself, we were able to meet Rifko Meier, owner of Oysters XO, at Sailor Oyster Bar in Annapolis to get the steps on camera for Bay Bulletin.

Meier recommends holding a twice-folded towel in your non-dominant hand that is gripping the oyster and, then grabbing the knife with your thumb on top, index finger on the bottom. Put the oyster in the palm of your hands, wrapping your fingers around it.

1. Make a lollipop. (Meier: “Making a lollipop is done by putting the point of the knife into the hinge, pulling your oyster hand toward yourself and pushing it away from yourself. Don’t use too much strength and wiggle it a little bit left and right. You do that until you have a lollipop.”) 2. Crack the hinge. (“And you turn the knife like a key in a lock, left and right because every oyster likes to pop in a different way.”) 3. Cut the top muscle (“After going in, windshield wipe to the right.”) 4. Cut the bottom muscle (“We only have to go in underneath the oyster, so again underneath so we don’t cut the oyster itself. And kind of scoop like ice cream.”) 5. Give it a push from the hinge (“The easiest step of all,” says Meier).

One of the students learning Meier’s simple five-step process was Allison Albert Guercio from ORP, who proclaimed it “really easy once you get that knife in there and make the lollipop.”

ORP has a vested interest in the industry because the partnership relies on restaurants and oyster eaters to recycle their used shells, which ORP uses to plant new baby oysters.

Sailor Oyster Bar is among the restaurants collecting shells for ORP. “After we serve the oysters on the half shell, we save all the shells. So the oyster shucker has a bucket at the end of his station, he puts his shells in it, and then at the end of the night we take them out back. We have big casing bins we put the oysters in,” explains Sailor’s Eleanore Aherne.

In all, ORP partners with about 350 restaurants to collect shells for restoration.

Meier’s philosophy is that oysters bring everyone together: the grower, the seller, the eater, and the environmentalist. “Every oyster you eat gives you love, life and happiness. Love and life and happiness not just for yourself but for the farmers, for the ocean, for the people around you, and for the people you shuck for.”

To watch the demo, visit https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/ video-how-to-shuck-oysters-at-home-in-5-easy-steps/

Rifko Meier of Oysters XO demonstrates his famous “lollipop” oyster shucking technique, with Allison Albert Guercio from the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Diana Love and Amy Marshall.

Moms Team Up to Feed Neighbors, Community

BY JILLIAN AMODIO

Feeding the hungry is an ambitious project, but distributing 40,000 pounds of Perdue protein is a good start. Food insecurity is an issue for many families and has been further amplified during the coronavirus pandemic. According to Joanna Warner, director of communications for the Maryland Food Bank, before the pandemic Anne Arundel County had around 189,000 individuals identified as food insecure. The new estimate is about five times higher and the need continues to grow.

Across the county, efforts have been made to address the number of families needing assistance, including meals served through the Anne Arundel County Public School system, which has provided nearly two million meals since the start of the pandemic. David Mandell, Deputy Director of the City of Annapolis says demand is high among area families. “We are doing everything we can to meet the needs of our community.”

Beyond county-based services, some locals are taking a personal stand against hunger as well.

When West Annapolis friends Diana Love and Amy Marshall (both mothers) learned of the struggles one local family was facing, they decided to take action. “This was a classmate of our children,” Love says. The classmate’s father had died as a result of COVID-19-related complications. The family was self-isolating and unable to provide food for their household. Love and Marshall immediately took the lead, providing food and necessities to the family. But it became clear that this was just one family of many facing hardships.

“Many of our neighbors are hardworking people who are on our children’s sports teams, in our children’s classrooms, members of our churches, and our friends.” says Love.

They created a pop-up pantry to meet the needs and offer a range of services for families.

The West Annapolis Pop Up Pantry recently partnered with Perdue Farms who provided 40,000 pounds of protein as part of their “Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors” hunger relief initiative. Bill See, senior manager at Perdue says, “Food is something that unites us all. And we want to unite each other as a community by providing food security.”

“Every day, our neighbors within our communities are relying more on their local food banks and pantries to put a meal on the table,” adds CEO Randy

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Day. “As a company, we have the resources and a responsibility to help those struggling with food insecurity.”

With this donation Love says they will be able to provide for more than 500 families.

With a growing network of volunteers, their approach is one of community and friendship. They hand deliver much-needed items including toiletries, fresh produce, shelf-stable items, frozen meats, baby items, school supplies, and even assistance with applying for food stamps. For their work in the community Love and Marshall recently received a citation from the City of Annapolis, recognizing them as COVID Heroes.

“I am really big on making sure everyone has access to healthy food. Our COVID-positive families even get a special box with items like Gatorade and Tylenol,” says Love.

While providing for a family’s immediate needs is important, what Love and Marshall are striving for is to help set these families up to gain self-sufficiency. “We don’t want Annapolis to be divided between the haves and the have nots” Love says. “We are helping provide for families who currently cannot provide for themselves and gain access to resources for continued success.”

To learn more, email: WestAnnapolisPantry@gmail.com.

Know Your Options for 2020 Election

BY KATHY KNOTTS

While there are multiple ways to participate in the 2020 General Election, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Maryland State Board of Elections encourages all eligible Marylanders to cast mail-in ballots. Anyone registered to vote in Maryland can vote a mail-in ballot (previously referred to as absentee voting).

Applications for mail-in ballots have been mailed to eligible voters in all counties. The application includes a postage-paid return envelope, making it easy and free to request a ballot.

Some voters who requested a ballot prior to Aug. 6 may still receive a ballot application in the mail. If this applies to you, go online to verify your application has been processed. It is not necessary to send in two ballot requests.

Any eligible voter who does not automatically receive a ballot application by mail may request one online or by printing and returning by mail or fax the request form on the State Board of Elections’ website.

All requests for a mail-in ballot must be received by Oct. 20. Voters should allow for at least five business days for the Postal Service to deliver the application to the local board of elections. Requests may also be delivered in person to your local elections board office, but be aware that some offices are still closed due to the pandemic.

Ballots will begin to arrive by mail in September. They can be mailed back in the prepaid envelope provided or dropped off at a ballot drop off box or your local board of elections. You cannot email or fax your voted mail-in ballot.

For those who wish to vote in person, early voting centers will be open and

Ballot drop off box. Photo courtesy Hillman PR.

some neighborhood polling places—but not all—will be open on Election Day, Nov. 3. Polling location notices will be mailed in October. These may differ from your usual voting sites, as the State Board of Elections will be using 360 voting centers as an alternative to opening the usual 1,600 polling places, due to a shortage of election judges. These voting centers can be used by any voter in a county. Find your voting center site for Anne Arundel County at www.aacounty. org/boards-and-commissions/board-ofelections/. The Early Voting Center for Calvert County registered voters is located in the lower level conference rooms of the Community Resources Building in Prince Frederick.

Early voting runs Oct. 26 through Nov. 2. Each early voting center will be open continuously from 7 am to 8 pm each day. Anyone in line at 8 pm will be allowed to vote.

Residents may still register to vote or update address and information by Oct. 13. (https://voterservices.elec tions.maryland.gov/OnlineVoterRegis tration/InstructionsStep1).

“It is essential that all eligible Maryland residents have the opportunity to participate in the general election being held Nov. 3,” said Maryland

State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone. “For those who have not yet registered to vote, we strongly encourage you to do so. If you have already registered, please take this opportunity to review your voter registration information online and make any necessary updates. This will help ensure you have a seamless voting experience.”

For more info visit: voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/ or https://elections.maryland.gov/

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