The 30th annual Choptank Heritage Skipjack Race September 26, 2026
September 3, 2020
Nathan Gets New Sails
November 12, 2020
Someone once wrote that “A wooden boat is a hole in the water into which a lot of money is poured”. The Dorchester Skipjack Committee has been very aware of this saying as we continue to work preserving the skipjack Nathan of Dorchester.
The Corona virus pandemic forced us to cancel all public sailing activities for 2020, a major source of fundraising to keep Nathan in operation. We may not be out there sailing with passengers this year, but our volunteers are always finding something to repair or replace.
Weather keeps attacking the boat. Soft spots appear in the deck, are identified, cut out, repaired and repainted. Sails and rope rigging are carefully inspected for wear and repaired as needed. Each rigging block is carefully inspected, removed and refurbished on an ongoing schedule.
Once the boat is out of the water, we clean, scrape, prime and paint the boat from top to bottom. Likewise, all metal work is carefully stripped of paint, inspected for wear or signs of corrosion, replaced if necessary, then re-primed and painted. But even with careful continuous maintenance, wood ages, and cracks and signs of rot appear.
Last year, Nathan’s mast showed small signs of rot in two places below the deck. The mast was pulled, the lower section with rot was cut away and a new section of mast was spliced and glued in place. To prepare for the future, three 90 foot straight local old growth loblolly pine trees were cut and have been seasoning so we can replace the mast and boom. Even with donated wood for a new mast and boom, it will be quite costly to make and replace the mast and boom.
During this season’s summer haul out, we discovered rot located in one of the knightsheads, large, complex wedge-shaped pieces of wood on either side of the bowsprit. With the assistance of the staff at Generation III, we will take all dimensions off the old knightshead, remove it , fashion a new knightshead and place it back in a 6 foot long, wedge shaped space located in the bow of the boat.
So, with the need for a new mast a boom and a knighthead or two, what is Nathans future? We are not about to let the Covid-19 virus stop us from preserving and sailing the Nathan of Dorchester. We may not be able to sail with passengers or book revenue charters right now, but we will continue to work on the boat and find opportunities to keep telling folks about skipjacks and our rich maritime heritage.
You can help us keep the Nathan of Dorchester afloat and an active part of Dorchester County tourism.
The Dorchester Skipjack Committee, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
You can visit our website www.skipjack-nathan.org or donations also may be made payable and mailed to:
The Dorchester Skipjack Committee, Inc.
P.O. Box 1224
Cambridge, MD 21613
With your continued help and assistance, the Nathan of Dorchester and her volunteers will sail beyond the effects of the pandemic and be able to represent Cambridge and Dorchester County tourism for many more years to come.
