2021-06-27 01 Chesapeake Bay deadrise workboat used for crabbing

The Chesapeake Bay deadrise or deadrise workboat is a type of

traditional fishing boat Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recr ...

used in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. Watermen use these boats year round for everything from crabbing and oystering to catching fish or eels. Traditionally wooden hulled, the deadrise is characterised by a sharp bow that quickly becomes a flat V shape moving aft along the bottom of the hull. A small cabin structure lies forward and a large open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

and work area aft. The deadrise workboat is the official boat of the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

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Characteristics

"Deadrise" refers to the line rising upward horizontally from the keel rabbet (the point where the top of the keel connects to the hull) to the

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

(or sideboards). It rises on each side of the keel in a straight line, or "dead rise," creating the flat V shape of the bottom of the hull. The bottom of the hull is planked in a herring bone pattern with planks running diagonally from keel to chine. The sides are planked longitudinally. As a result, it is both useful in shallows and very forgiving when the Bay turns rough. Though earlier types such as skipjacks shared a similar hull form, the term "deadrise workboat" is generally understood to refer to more recent engine-powered vessels.

History

The design and construction of deadrise workboats evolved from the sailing skipjacks. One of the first types of purpose-built small powered fishing boats to appear on the Chesapeake Bay were the Hooper Island

draketail A draketail is a Chesapeake Bay boat that features a sloping transom that meets the waterline at a sharp angle, usually rounded in plan. The feature could be found in 1920s workboats such as the Chesapeake Bay deadrise The Chesapeake Bay deadri ...

s of the 1920s and 1930s. The Hooper Island draketails featured construction similar to the sailing skipjacks, but were narrower as stability was not needed to carry a sail and a narrow hull made best use of the limited power from the available gasoline engines. As higher power engines became available, hulls became wider. Higher powered engines permitted higher speeds, which required sterns that were wider and flatter under the waterline to prevent the stern from squatting down in the water at higher speeds. File:Deadrise workboat capt colby broadside.JPG, Deadrise workboat ''Capt. Colby'' at Tyler's Beach near Smithfield, VA. File:Deadrise workboat capt colby bow shot.JPG, Deadrise workboat ''Capt. Colby'' at Tyler's Beach near Smithfield, VA. File:Deadrise workboat barbara j broadside on land.JPG, Deadrise workboat ''Barbara J'' at Tyler's Beach near Smithfield, VA. File:Deadrise Workboat Barbara J Bow View on Land.JPG, Deadrise workboat ''Barbara J'' at Tyler's Beach near Smithfield, VA. File:Deadrise Workboat Barbara J Stern View on Land.JPG, Deadrise workboat ''Barbara J'' at Tyler's Beach near Smithfield, VA. File:Deadrise Workboat Virginia Round Stern Type Bow View.JPG, Round-stern deadrise workboat ''Virginia'' at Deep Creek in Newport News, VA. File:Deadrise Workboat Virginia Round Stern Type Stern View.JPG, Round-stern deadrise workboat ''Virginia'' at Deep Creek in Newport News, VA. File:Chesapeake Bay Deadrises at 2016 Norfolk Harborfest.jpg, Chesapeake Bay Deadrises at 2016 Norfolk Harborfest File: 2021-06-27 02 Chesapeake Bay deadrise workboat used for crabbing.jpg, Chesapeake Bay deadrise workboat being used to catch blue crabs

References

* * * Howard I.Chappelle, “American Small Sailing Craft”, W. M. Norton & Company, 1951. Paula J. Johnson, “The Workboats of Smith Island”, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. {{Oysters Types of fishing vessels Chesapeake Bay boats Symbols of Virginia