In the spring of 1608, Captain John Smith and 14 men set out in a shallop to explore and map the Chesapeake Bay, traveling 1,700 miles over 140 days while enduring Indian attacks, heat, disease, thirst, and starvation. In 2007, as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement, the Deltaville Maritime Museum built Explorer as a replica of Smith's shallop. Explorer is double planked and, with the aid of a nearly invisible bilge pump for rainwater, has remained dry through repeated launchings and long periods on the trailer. Its spritsail rig allows it to tack into the wind and minimize rowing, and its 14-foot oars were custom made for the shallop. Explorer serves as the museum's good-will ambassador, has appeared in numerous venues around the Bay and in television episodes of Turn and Providence, and has its home port at this exhibit pavilion. Explorer is 31 feet long, with an 8-foot beam, a 2-foot draft, a displacement of 2.5 tons, and was launched on September 24, 2006.

Photo: Devry Becker Jones

Deltaville, Virginia · USA