1 minute read
That’s a Wrap
from July 2021
LIVE LIFE AT SEA LEVEL
43 CB / $944,937 W/ VOLVO TWIN IPS450
BUY NOW & CRUISE LATER!
Order your new Cutwater or Ranger Tug for Fall Delivery
VIP Appointments Available. Factory Direct Pricing. Fall Delivery with 2 Day Orientation and Captains Lessons. Full Tank of Fuel. Free Winter Storage. LOW RATE FINANCING • QUALITY TRADES ACCEPTED
Pocket Yacht Company
LOCATIONS: New Bern, NC Grasonville, MD • Jensen Beach, FL 888-519-9120 • sales@pocket-yacht.com www.pocketyacht.com
Your Chesapeake adventure begins here!
CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM
period boatbuilding techniques including wood fasteners, wood joints, and big timber joinery.
A wealth of other small details breathe authenticity into the project. Hiltgartner and other shipwrights have handcrafted an impressive inventory of individualized blocks for the running rigging—another lesson gleaned from the Vasa. During the pandemic shutdown, shipwrights took bags of oakum home to spin into caulking, custom-turned handmade bolts in bronze, and smithed hinges and latches for the ship’s interior in backyard shops. To date, despite the inevitable slowdowns of 2020, Connor and his team have kept the Maryland Dove build roughly on time for its scheduled launch this October, with rigging and finishing to be completed in Fall 2022.
As Connor walks me through the sawdust piles and catwalks of Maryland Dove’s build site, he seems satisfied with the progress. “We’ve all got a lot more gray hairs but we’re all still moving somehow. We’ve pieced her through most of the big challenges,” Connor says. He acknowledges it’s been a herculean effort, but one he’s tried to approach with his team one step at a time, with an appreciation for the importance of the project and its legacy. “We’re getting a chance to use all the right materials, start with a really good design, and cut joints and install pieces that will outlive the craftsmen making them,” says Connor. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—and it’s incredibly exciting to be a part of that.” h
Kate Livie is a Chesapeake writer, educator, and historian. An Eastern Shore native and current faculty at Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, Livie’s award-winning book Chesapeake Oysters was published in 2015.
