Beauties of the bay
by Larry S. Chowning
Since the late 1800s, wooden deadrise style boats have been a part of the ambiance of the Chesapeake Bay. Everyone knows the sturdy wooden vessels make great commercial fishing boats, but now it’s been discovered that the boats make great pleasure boats too.
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| Miss Edith was being refitted for pleasure. Note the finished round roof line on the house and polished windows. These are often features recreational boaters like on their deadrise boats. |
The broad acceptance of the deadrise wooden boats was further acknowledged in 1988 when the Virginia General Assembly made the Chesapeake Deadrise the official boat of Virginia.
Today, the boat is known as Chesapeake Bay Deadrise, but that was not always the case. In the early years, the boats were called planked boats, bateaux and round-stern canoes. The use of the word deadrise once referred only to the shape of the bottom of the boats. Over time, the entire boat was called a deadrise.
The term deadrise actually does refer to the V shape in the bottom that in some cases runs the entire length of the boat. This pronounced V in the bow is formed by installing small wooden strips called staving boards. As the V flattens out as it moves aft, wider planks are laid crossways (cross-planked) to create this flatter shape.
The finished product is a V-bow style, a wide beam and a shallow draft—a just-right fit for the waters of the Chesapeake. The bay is a relatively shallow body of water. The wave action generated by wind, sea and bottom of the bay creates a short choppy sea. The V-bow cuts through the chop, making for a relatively smooth ride even in poor weather conditions.
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| The skipjack Claud Somers belongs to the Reedville Fisherman’s Museum and has a classic deadrise hull. The deadrise hull evolved from the days of sail and was first built into small sailboats. |
It took nearly a century of experimenting up and down the bay for boatbuilders to get the design just right. Today, bay fisheries have declined to the point that commercial fishing can no longer support a large boatbuilding industry.
Since few boats are being built now, the old ones that are in relatively good shape have become family treasures for those who love the ambiance of a wooden boat and the good ride of a Chesapeake Bay Deadrise.
Bill Kurz of Urbanna is a retired commercial airplane pilot who moved to his home on Robinson Creek in the 1990s. He has had a deadrise wooden boat since 1999.
“I’ve always wanted a wooden deadrise,” said Kurz. “I like the lines and I like the ride in the water. I wanted a heavy, comfortable boat to take my family out on the river.
“I like wood and I like to fix things that need to be repaired, and I don’t mind doing the annual maintenance myself,” he said. “It’s really a good fit for me.”
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| Laura Ann does not look like a traditional deadrise but she has a deadrise hull. She was built in 1954 in Deltaville at L.P. Price’s railway on Broad Creek. Owner Bill Hight has installed a new galley and added some electronics, but generally has kept the traditional style of the boat. |
“When you have these boats and use them for pleasure, you get in the fix of how much do you want to improve to make it comfortable,” he said. “I try to keep it true to the old ways. I have not added electronics and changed the shape of it. I did put an awning on it. When I first got it, Alvin Sibley (local boatbuilder) had put a new cabin and a new bottom on it. I knew I was getting a good boat.”
“I’m always chasing wood rot and painting and scraping,” he said. “It’s got a 4-53 Detroit Diesel engine in her. It’s a little noisy but it sips gas. It doesn’t burn but 2 1/2 gallons per hour.”
“I like the ride and the feel of it. I kind of get a link to the past every time I take it out,” said Kurz.
Bill Hight of Urbanna owns four wooden deadrise boats. One he has owned for 30 years. “The beauty of a good deadrise boat is unsurpassed,” he said. “I grew up around the boats. I always liked the shape and the ride. People just like the way they look and ride. For some people it’s a nostalgic thing.”
One of Hight’s boats is a 35-foot sedan cruiser built by Lin Price of Deltaville named Laura Ann. It has a traditional deadrise hull with a yacht shape, and she was built that way.
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| Some deadrise boat enthusiasts search for unique and different versions of the boat. This unusual V-stern deadrise visited Urbanna during last year’s annual Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association Rendezvous. She has been completely refurbished by David Rollins of Poquoson. The V-stern is also called a Poquoson stern because so many were built in that area. |
“It is a wonderful overnight boat. We went to Tangier Island in her for the buyboat rendezvous a few years ago,” he said. “Three of us spent the night on her, cooked on her, lived on her for several days, and we were as comfortable as if we were at home.”
“If you take care of a wooden boat it will last you a long time,” he said. “It’s a great family boat for bottom fishing and cruising. It has a great feel and smell to it.”
Hight and Kurz both emphasize that these old wooden boats need “tender loving care.”
“You have to maintain the boats,” said Hight. “They are not as forgiving as a fiberglass boat. Not just anyone can do the wood maintenance on the boats.”
Finding a carpenter with the skills to work on a wooden boat has become increasingly difficult. Many of the old boatbuilders have passed on. “There used to be a wooden boatbuilder in every neighborhood. Now, you are lucky if you have a good one in a county,” said Hight.
Hight loves owning his boats. “You know you’ve got something special when you ride by a group of boats in the river and everyone, and I mean everyone, turns their heads to look at your boat.”
