Wilma Lee
by Skip Willits
Title
Wilma Lee
Artist
Skip Willits
Medium
Photograph - Epson Lustre Paper
Description
This is a hundred year old sailing boat used exclusively for oystering on the Chesapeake Bay. The boat is what is called a "Skipjack", the original design of which was originated in New England. It pulls up to two dredges over the oyster bars and collects the oysters in a bag which are then pulled on deck and sorted. When this image was made, there were probably only a dozen of these vessels still fishing on the Chesapeak. The decline in the catch over the years and lack of knowledgeable sailors has led to the end of the commercial use of these boats. This is a well know boat, the "Wilma Lee" that I photographed as it sailed out of Kent Narrows in Maryland to deliver a load of oyster "Spat" or young oysters used to seed new beds.
Uploaded
December 11th, 2011
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