Old Mech,
Great story/memory. Thanks.
Darn few of the folks out there have any idea what a (beloved) deadrise is.
I hope you don't mind If I hep them to a little understanding.
The Chesapeake Bay deadrise is a type of traditional fishing boat
used in the Chesapeake Bay. 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 as you move aft along the
bottom of the hull. There is a small cabin structure forward and a
large open cockpit and work area aft.
The deadrise design was developed around the 1880s for sailing
vessels such as the skipjacks of the Chesapeake Bay. "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
(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.
A V-bottom is easier to build than a round bottom. It also has a
shallow draft of two to three feet, making it ideal for the shallows
of the Bay as well as being very forgiving when the Bay turns rough...
Chesapeake Bay deadrise - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia