Rowing Skiff

Until just after the middle of the twentieth century, virtually every family living on or near the water had a rowing skiff, often home built. It served for transportation on the creeks, for hook and line fishing, and for crabbing around the shore. At that time crabs were plentiful, and the crabber stood on the foredeck with a net on a long pole, using the pole to move the boat slowly along the shore while looking carefully at the bottom to spot crabs as they tended to bury themselves in the mud or under debris. This boat was built in the 1960s by Raymond Bray of Neuman Neck for Mortimer Jones. Jones lived in Fairport but worked at the Smith Shipyard across Cockrell's Creek, and he rowed this boat each day to and from his job. Donald George, Jones's nephew, inherited it from his uncle and used it for 20 years for recreation.

Virginia · United States