Description
The sailing Skipjacks of the Chesapeake Bay were the main mode of transportation during the Oyster Fishing Industry. Under any seas and weather the crew would drop the drag baskets to the bay floor and scoop up oysters. They would be stored in the hull until which time the bounty would be off-loaded at the docks. From there, they were taken by the basket full to a shucking room where workers stood for hours on end breaking open the shells and collecting the oysters. It was hard business with fatalities. I was on a trip to the Chesapeake Bay to visit my friend Dave Murphy, a long time Chesapeake resident. He took me to the Chesapeake Maritime Museum and the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Annapolis where I could see and hear( through audio tape) the workers standing at their stations. I leaned about the advanced methods of farming the oysters today with vacuum systems. Some still use tonging to reach the bottom and scoop of the oysters with this scissor like tool. You can learn more about this life on the Chesapeake via Google.
