The Big Joy of a Little Old Boat

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CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM

213 N. Talbot Street, St. Michaels, MD 410-745-2916 | cbmm.org by the area and want to know more about it.”

Thus, books about the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore are always in demand and sell just behind works of general fiction.

“We sell a lot of [James] Michener’s Chesapeake and Chestertown local Kate Livie’s Chesapeake Oysters,” said Kalwaitis, a visual artist who has made many portraits of authors that hang in the store as well as commissions for customers.

Martin, who once had a near complete collection of books by Nobel laureates in stock, has freely received thousands of books from downsizing locals, along with the personal library of the late Washington College English professor Ralph Thornton (1920-2020), who included the gift in his will.

“You could just tell that the man loved books,” said Martin, noting that Thornton only wrote in the books with pencil. “Lots of literary criticism on poets I’d never heard of, all in their original dust jackets from obscure Irish presses, obscure English presses.”

Of his pursuit of inventory, Martin said, “I’m like a baseball manager; I’ll take the best player available no matter what position they play. Whatever the subject, I’ll go with the best they’ve got.”

Chestertown writer Ellen Uzelac frequents The Bookplate regularly and takes guests there when they are visiting the riverside seat of Kent County.

“Going to Bookplate is like falling down a rabbit hole in a good way,” said Uzelac. “Room after room, aisle after aisle—an endless array. No matter who I’ve taken there, no one has walked out without at least a couple of books.

Rafael Alvarez is the author of The Baltimore Love Project, a history of public murals in his hometown. He can be reached via orlo.leini@gmail.com.

TALK OF THE BAY

The Big Joy of a Little Old Boat

An old Boston Whaler opens up a new world.

by Kate Livie

Agood friend of mine—a lifelong Chesapeake environmental educator—is fond of saying: “If you live in the Chesapeake and you’ve never been out on the water, you’re missing out on 90 percent of what this region has to offer.” I think he’s right. So much of the magic and dynamism happens here at the edges, where the land stops and the water begins. Ospreys diving and fluttering up, perch grasped firmly in talons. Huge marshes full of wild rice and hungry red-winged blackbirds.

On smaller craft—kayaks, paddleboards, canoes—you can thread the edges of that 90 percent, nosing your way into the oxbows and coves of shallow water tributaries. But for bigger experiences and bigger water, nothing can beat the freedom of a river skiff. Easy to launch, tow, and run, a nimble little motorboat is the key to really getting out there. A passport to new rivers, a just-big-enough-boat can take you to unexpected encounters, secret beaches, and little glimpses of that wild paradise John Smith explored.

For me and my husband, Ben, the search for a river boat of our own started a few years ago. Budget dictated that it was going to be old as well as small. But that was not a problem. I

Exploring Chester River beaches on Elver leads to cool discoveries, especially for Ben Ford, who is always on the lookout for arrowheads.

grew up in Boston Whalers, fishing, crabbing, swimming, getting jellyfish stings—you know, really living. To me, an ’80s Super Sport had it all. Durability, check. Shallow draft, check. Capacity, timelessness, and aggressively boxy ’80s styling you just have to love, check, check, check.

Fearless millennial online shoppers that we are, we scoured online listings on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Much scrolling later, we found her—a 13-foot 1989 Super Sport with a 25 hp Johnson engine. We drove across the Bay to get a closer look. She was well kept but clearly well loved, nowhere near close to mint condition. We figured as long as the hull wasn’t holding water we’d be alright. The engine ran fine. We bought her on the spot.

We named her Elver, for the little glass eels that run up the river when the weather starts to warm. It was late spring, and time to commission our new vessel. This meant taking off all the (excuse my French) bull**** that had accumulated barnacle-like on her hull over the years—superfluous hardware to obsolete lines or gear, clamshell folding seats with ugly blue vinyl covers, a cracked rub rail installed over an even older rub rail. We stripped her down and removed 30 years of hasty decisions and quick fixes. At the end, she wasn’t so much a phoenix rising from the ashes as a baby beluga released from wildlife rehabilitation: solid, weighty, and ready to roam the rivers with tenacity if not elegance.

We’ve had Elver for three summers now, and every season brings new adventures. With a Kent County ramp permit and a full tank of gas, the possibilities are practically endless. Picnics and late afternoon swims at Cacaway Island. Nosing into Southeast Creek to watch the osprey circle overhead while a thunderhead splits around us. Heading upriver to see the starry blossoms of wild celery floating on the water’s surface, thick stands of the submerged grasses waving just below the waterline. Coming on a Chester River log canoe race wrapping up, sails fluttering and the crew’s legs dangling from hiking boards as they wait to get towed back to the dock. And once, magically, a bottlenose dolphin breaking the calm water of Langford Creek.

Even if we have to slow for the wake of bigger boats lest we get swamped, our petite river skiff has never failed to show us a good time. From dock bars to arrowhead hunts, raft-ups to cocktail cruises, Elver’s helped us create a whole new life centered around Chester River experiences. She has been a wonderful first boat, no matter that she’s small and a little long in the tooth. The funny thing is, for all her simplicity, she never fails to turn heads and provoke

Left: “If there are two people on board who look like they’re having the time of their lives, that’s probably us.”

Bottom: Elver helped create a whole new life centered around Chester River experiences.

A v a i l a b l e i n t h e V A L o c a t i o n