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In Search of The Skipjack Ada Mae

23 Monday Aug 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, boating, Eastern Shore, skipjack

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Ada Mae, Baltimore, bateaus, Beaufort, Duck Creek, florence, HISTORY, John Moll, last skipjacks project, Natty boh, nature, oysters, photography, Sea Scouts, skipjack

Just before heading to North Carolina back in May, I was looking at an old listing I had for the remaining skipjacks, out there floating around somewhere. At the top of the list, in alphabetical order, was the Ada Mae. This particular skipjack has a notation that it called home New Bern, N.C. We would pass through New Bern heading to Indian Beach for vacation.

Being that New Bern is about 30 square miles in size, I figured we should do some research to try and find her exact location before heading there. We had absolutely no luck with that! Of course, you can always count on Google for some crazy information. Like this Ada Mae:

She was the 1940s Snake Dancer from Ringling Brothers Circus. Sorry, wrong Ada Mae.

The Ada Mae we are looking for is a 54-foot skipjack, a specialized vessel designed for dredging oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. The Ada Mae was built in 1915 by Ralph Hodges on the family farm in Hyde County, North Carolina. As Hodges, 33, worked on the bateau, his kid sister, 13-year-old Ada Mae, who inspired the skipjack’s name, whiled away the days keeping him company.

Here is some other background info I was able to find: Skipjacks, or two-sail bateaus, were dredge boats that supported the state’s oyster industry. The Ada Mae is believed to be the only remaining skipjack built in North Carolina. It was found in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1994, by an East Carolina University graduate student who was working on a research project in Maryland. The Ada Mae was moored at Washington, North Carolina, where restoration work was being completed. It was to be used there as a classroom to teach students about the oyster industry in the state.

Well, is it in New Bern or Washington? More research. Everyone we talked to started their answer to my question “Where is the Ada Mae?” with, “The last I heard…” So maybe we need to change her name to “The Last I Heard”!

And here is the best time line I could put together.

1915 – Built

About 1945 – Hodges employed the skipjack for more than 30 years, and the Ada Mae’s home was mostly on the Washington waterfront. The Ada Mae divided her working hours between fishing and oystering on the Pamlico Sound off North Carolina, and transporting watermelons and lumber from the sound to Baltimore during the summer.

1955 – Disappeared. The Ada Mae, according to U.S. Coast Guard enrollment records, was among the few skipjacks working until 1955, when it disappeared from the register. She was abandoned outside of Baltimore in a shallow backwater, as is the custom for retiring obsolete boats.

1965 – The Ada Mae was rescued and put into service as the “Chester Peake,” the centerpiece of an advertising campaign launched by National Brewing Company of Baltimore. The aging skipjack was chosen because it represented one of the symbols of the Chesapeake Bay. She sailed from port to port on the bay, attending festivals and regattas and advertising the brewing company.

1965 Advertisement
1965

Just recently I acquired the below John Moll print at a local auction.

When National Brewing’s ad campaign shifted, the company donated the Chester Peake to the Baltimore Sea Scouts. For several years they used the skipjack as an educational and training vessel on which scouts learned about boating, leadership, and self-reliance. When upkeep became too much for the scouts, she was sold to William Phillips of Baltimore. Phillips had worked with Chesapeake Bay pilots for nearly 30 years and was hopeful that retirement would provide him the time to restore the Ada Mae. When it became obvious how daunting a restoration would be, Phillips set his sights on finding new owners who would be able to fulfill his dream. As it happened, the new owners found him.

1994 – Found by Grad Student in Baltimore. “David Smith, a graduate student in the maritime history and nautical archaeology program at Eastern Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., had heard in 1994 about a North Carolina-built skipjack called the Ada Mae that was moored somewhere in Baltimore” (Daily Press, Va.)

1995 – It took more than a year to pull together funding to move the boat. Soon after the Ada Mae’s arrival in North Carolina, the Institute for International Maritime Research held a welcome-home party. To the surprise of everyone, including the mayor of Washington, about 200 people led by Ada Mae Cowan, (Namesake of the skipjack), showed up for the festivities.

2003 – Acquired by Carolina Coastal Classrooms.

2005 – Part of the Floating Classroom. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll18/id/83933

Noted that a 1900 Silver Dollar was kept under the mast for good luck. Also noted: I recently talked to someone who has this Silver Dollar.

2013 – Below photo of the Ada Mae docked near the Persimmons Restaurant in New Bern, N.C. Photo courtesy Watson Brown’s Backroad Photography (Great photos on his site).

2015 – 100th anniversary celebration. From the Halifax Media Service: “The 1915 ship, built to mainly dredge oysters, has been docked in New Bern since she was acquired by Carolina Coastal Classrooms in 2003. She is now used in the CCC’s educational programs. She is the only remaining skipjack in North Carolina and the oldest working ship in the state,” according to Carolina Coastal Classrooms. About 1,000 were built. The festivities will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at 109 Pollock St. The Ada Mae will be docked on the Neuse River behind the Galley Store.

2018 – Hurricane Florence strikes.

2021 – Found her!!

So, back to the story of our search. As I said, I looked at the Last Skipjacks Project website and sent off an email to a woman named Cyndy and she really didn’t have much info on the Ada Mae. Another Google search came up with Watson Brown’s photo. Thru Facebook I contacted him and he said his photo was from 2013 at New Bern. Kathy and I decided we would stop there on our way to Indian Beach. No luck. We did manage to get in touch with the owner of Persimmons Restaurant and he said it was moved just prior to Florence, just didn’t know where.

While on vacation I spent a lot of time doing some research, which included getting in touch with the Maritime Museum in Beaufort. They told me the boat was offered to them but they lacked the funds to restore it. “The last he heard”, it was in Washington, NC. The other “Last I Heards”, were at Fountain Powerboats, on the Pamlico River across from Washington. (Looking at Google Earth, it looked like a ship graveyard) It wasn’t there. McCotters Marina – no. Belhaven area – no. The Coast Guard, who had listed the Ada Mae as having been inspected in 2013 – never got back to me. And a whole lot more. Including Duck Creek Marina, who later gave me all the info I needed!

Four months later, I called Duck Creek Marina and talked to Cathy who said I should call the man who previously ran CCC and he would know where she is. Called and talked to him for a while. He said the Ada Mae is currently at Pacific Sea Craft in Washington, NC. She is alive and well and being restored. Come spring 2022 she may be moved to Beaufort, near Indian Beach, North Carolina. (I was seriously chastised for my mispronunciation of Beaufort! I pronounced it as ‘Buu-fort’ and not ‘Bow-fort’! Apparently there is one in North Carolina and one in South Carolina, each with there own pronunciation!)

Jimmy Sellers FB post, photo from 2018, before Hurricane Florence

I was given additional background on what happened to her: In 2018 when Florence approached she was moved to Duck Creek Marina and placed on low blocks. The water rose and she floated off and was damaged when she became wedged between two other boats. (I was originally told back in May she was lifted off the blocks and crashed to the ground). She was eventually moved to Pacific Sea Craft. They are talking about placing fiberglass on her to help preserve the hull. Various opinions about that.

I talked to Pacific Sea Craft a couple times in the past week to verify that she is there – yes she is. As of this writing I am waiting for them to send me some photos of the damage and the restoration work they are doing. They also said we are free to come down and look at her. Kathy will be heading to North Carolina in mid September and said she will stop by and photograph her.

Thank you Kathy for this and for your patience and willingness to travel around and talk to various people about the Ada Mae!!

Please note: I have removed some of the names of the people I have spoken to because, as of now, they still have not gotten back to me, giving permission to use their names. Some info was taken from various websites, that refer back to other websites, like Our State Magazine, N.C. and the Daily Press, Va.. Also Carolina Coastal Classroom which as far as I can tell, has closed down.

Update:

In September 2021, during Kathy’s trip to North Carolina to visit her sister at Indian Beach, Kathy stopped at Pacific Seacraft. It was a Saturday, and they were closed. I tried to convince her to climb over the fence and peek in the window…

On May 24, 2022, on our trip home from Nashville, Tennessee, Kathy and I decided to take a chance and stop at Pacific Seacraft, Washington, North Carolina. I soon saw why Kathy would not climb the fence – the place is huge and has barbed wire all around. I called and asked if we could come in and they said OK. We met a fellow named Travis (the owner Steve was busy) and he showed us the Ada Mae. And here she is, after a year of searching, found in a boat builder’s shed, hopefully awaiting some restoration and placing back in the water.

Pete and Repeat

27 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in Assateague, chincoteague, Eastern Shore, Hiking, National Parks, nature

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Tags

adventures, bivalve, chincoteague, dunes, Eastern Shore, Google Lens, nature, oysters, photography, Toms Cove, Virginia

An old joke but still cracks me up – If Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence and Pete flew away, who was left? Repeat. Ok, If Pete and Repeat were… and on and on it goes until someone tells you to stop it! What does that have to do with a nature hike post? Nothing, other than the fact we have repeated this trip to Assateague Island in Virginia a hundred times. And we never get tired of it. And we always seem to find a new adventure awaiting us – whether we are biking or hiking.

This particular trip was just to get out of the house before the rains came, have lunch and to look at the ocean from the parking lot. But the lot was closed so we decided to see what was going on.

Me wondering where all the sea shells are?

The beach is under a constant state of erosion and the Rangers/contractors are under a constant state of trying to fix it. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the Atlantic Ocean and Tom’s Cove will soon be connected. That at the rate of erosion, maybe by 2025 this stretch of the beach will be gone. So much for doomsday projections…Kathy and I headed over to the cove. Kathy was wondering how are we going to get over to that strip of land. The tide was the lowest we have ever seen it. Off in the distance is where we usually hike – The Bi-valve Trail.

Mostly hard sand but there were some pockets of mud.

Quite a few varieties of shells. Mostly empty oysters and mollusks. Some clams here and there.

Kathy’s photo of some bivalves.

And a very lonely, cold, star fish.

Time to head back and we thought this path would take us towards the beach. It didn’t.

It took us somewhere alien! I have an app on my phone called Google Lens, which if you take a photo with it, it will tell you what it is you photographed. The app didn’t know what to make of this.

We finally make it back to the parking lot. Amazing how it changes every time we visit. Bulldoze the sand up in a pile and the ocean just washes over it.

After walking around for a couple hours we then headed to the Crusty Crab at Greenbackville for a couple oyster sandwiches and their delicious coleslaw. Sat at the beach and ate. The tide was also low here…

Another great, repeat adventure with some new twists! Thanks GOD!

Blades Road Trail

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, State Parks

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Tags

ice, marsh, nature, Parks, Pocomoke, Trails, unicorns

Part of the Pocomoke River State Park. Short hike, about 4.1 miles. We did this trail last month and revisited for other views, other areas we did not walk last time. Nice skim of ice on some of the water in the marsh.

Lots of reflections

Some interesting colors left behind from the local unicorns maybe?

Judy in disguise…or Kathy with a new pair of glasses!

Pump parts

Playing in the pipe or looking for unicorns.

Tree stand for unicorn hunters

Duck decoys

The trail and the sights

A lot of these photographs were taken by Kathy. My camera has been giving me some trouble here lately. Especially with the batteries keeping a charge or even charging at all.

All in all it was a great day for a hike. Thanks Kathy and thank you God!

Fourth Annual Christmas Adventure

11 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, nature, Photography, Road Trips, Trails

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Baltimore, bridges, Chesapeake Bay, Christmas, Cromwell Park, engineering, Gunpowder Falls, Hiking, Loch Raven, nature

Wasn’t sure we would make it to Baltimore this year, to decorate our favorite building in our favorite park – Cromwell Valley Park. But we did! Heading across the field towards the Greenhouse Path (Not sure when they started calling it that), up in the distance we see the little house. Many years ago it was a bath house for the family that use to live near here.

Wondering how many more years our little house will weather the storms. I wish there was a way myself or any of the park volunteers could restore it.

And here I am, decorating.

Our finished Christmas gift to the park.

Time to make a Christmas wish…

We walk the trail to the woods and then head through to the old balancing reservoir shaft.

On to the Sycamore Trail

This is new. Built in 2019 by a Scout for his Eagle Scout Badge.

Hike towards Mine Bank Run. Can still tell this run continues to overflow it’s banks. Stopped to check out what I call the Bubbling Pond. They call it Marble Spring. It bubbles up from lime underground mixing with the water. Not much bubbling today.

From Mine Bank to the Lime Kiln Trail. I am still amazed at how these were rebuilt.

View from the top looking towards Long Island Farm.

The sky was spectacular this evening. This is at the park.

This one was taken from the Eastern Shore at the Bay Bridge. We pulled off of Rte. 50 to eat and look at the water and ships.

Kathy took this one from the car, heading towards Vienna.

Beautiful day! Beautiful adventure!

Wetipquin Kayaking

13 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, kayaking, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bridges, eagle, fall, heron, kayaking, mistletoe, Nanticoke, nature, pier

The temperature was heading into the mid to upper 70’s, so we headed out to kayak at Wetipquin Creek, off the Nanticoke River. We were a couple miles from here when we went fishing.

The boat ramp is nice and extends far into the water. Head to the right and go under the Wetipquin Rd. bridge.

Some pics from Kathy before starting to kayak.

Start our adventure and Kathy stops to look at the Big screen TVs.

I like this one of Kathy’s

Time to head under the bridge. Kind of on a tilt but high enough to easily get under.

We soon come to a fork in the creek. Left will take us up the Wetipquin and right onto the Tyaskin Creek. We headed right.

Saw this boat and was wondering how they get under the bridge we just passed under?

I think we missed most of the fall foliage, but still very beautiful and peaceful.

Fooling around with the mistletoe. Amazing how this stuff grows right out of the tree.

Saw two bird boxes and the tops were missing off of both of them.

Approaching Deep Branch Rd. bridge. Looks low…

…but not too low!

On the other side and checking out up stream a little ways.

Kathy waiting for me back at the bridge, taking photos.

Sights.

Waiting for me to catch up.

Back under Wetipquin bridge, heading to the Nanticoke.

We didn’t see any wildlife until we headed to open water.

Geez Kathy, what are you doing to that boy?

Meet my new friend – Buoy, Jim Buoy!

Our path. A beautiful day on the water! Thanks God!

Snow Hill Kayak 7/19/2020

24 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, kayaking, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cypress, duck blind, goats, kayaking, nature, Snow Hill

Early kayak adventure – it has been hot out so we got an early start! Kathy’s sister Gail was up from North Carolina so off we went to Snow Hill and a trip down the Pocomoke, around Goat Island. It was about 3 and 1/3 mile round trip.

We usually enter the Pocomoke from the south ramp but for some reason I decided to park up by the north one. Glad we did! The goats of Goat Island were out.

The water was like glass with very little wind.

Someone has been rubbing against (or eating) this tree.

Lots of lily pads floating about. Tried to avoid and paddle around.

Big cypress.

Through the obstacles and onto open water.

Not many photos of Kathy and I together on adventures, other than selfies. Gail took this one.

There were a few of these strung across the river?

Another tree address…

Looks prehistoric.

Duck blind.

Inside looking out.

Tree swallows not too happy with me.

Side entrance to blind – needs some TLC.

So, i’m all the way down by the duck blind, about a quarter mile away from Kathy and Gail when I hear a whistle. So I paddle back as fast as I can to see if anything is wrong – “No, we just wanted you to see us balance the paddles on our heads!” Ha!!!

Looks to be the old outfall from the sewage plant.

Heading back – seagulls looking for some Thrasher’s French Fries…

It was a really nice morning to go kayaking. Except for one little incident that happened – some jerk in a power boat was going too fast and about over-shot the curve. I was able to get out of his way but he was crazy and called us F’ing idiots!! I waved and told him to have a great day! I believe we had the right of way.

Thanks God for another great day!!

Prothonotary Warbler Trail

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Road Trips, State Parks, Trails

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Tags

beaver, birds, flowers, Hiking, Nassawango, nature, Pocomoke River, prothonotary, Trails, warbler

Well that is a mouthful to say! Pronunciation is Pro-ton-o-tar-y, which by itself is a Chief Clerk in a court of law, which is apropos to what I have been going through the past couple of months (another story, another time). But with the warbler attachment, it is just that – a warbler. A trail full of them. This was a 2.3 mile hike.

For whatever reason, All Trails stopped recording our trip so I used their default map, adding an extra red line at the bottom left of the trail because we walked the road back. Not much parking. You need to park on the grass along the road. The guy that lives in the house to the left of the entrance trail was cutting the grass. He does a good job maintaining it. It is turkey hunting season and he wanted to know if we seen any? Glad this property belongs to the Nature Conservancy – No Hunting! I hate ducking bullets!

Entrance path

Some of the plants we saw

The path goes from Creek Rd. to Nassawango Creek. A nice trail with some boardwalks. No steep hills to climb. Molly did well and there were only 3 other people on the trail. We were spaced out accordingly.

It is part of a cypress swamp and the ‘knees’ always remind me of faceless people.

PEACE

Signage along the trail.

Nails in tree? and blaze.

More stuff along the way…

This was interesting. One of the bottles had AA written on it and I thought how weird is that? I looked it up and and it is an Ancient Age Bourbon Bottle. I immediately saw Alcoholics Anonymous!

Warbler in entrance hole

Well, Molly says enough of this. Although it has been a wonderful, peaceful hike, it is time to feed me! Thanks God for a wonderful hike with minimum people out there.

Quite a few of these photos were taken by Kathy. Thanks Kathy!

The Day Before the Stay at Home Directive

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Trails

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Deal Island, Hiking, nature, Snakes, turtles

Kathy and I kind of guessed that our hiking days would be put on hold for a while and even though the weather looked bleak, we decided to head out. And we were right. On March 30, 2020 Governor Hogan said it was no longer a suggestion, that it is now a Directive – Stay at Home.

On the 29th we drove to the Deal Island Wildlife Management Area. Down the one path and back is about 4 and 3/4 miles. The other path is about 10 miles. We will bring our bikes for that one.

From the map you can see that it is pretty flat and a lot of marsh area. A nice trail though. We may bring our kayaks here one day. There is a boat ramp to the right, a few hundred feet over.

Molly leading the way

It suddenly turned from a management area to a Refuge.

Not a lot of wildlife to be seen. A few geese, a bunch of Red Wing Blackbirds…

And a couple snakes on the trail.

Also a possible mud turtle?

We did come across some wild asparagus, which Kathy had me taste, just in case we need to go into survival mode in the near future. Heck with that Bear Grylls crap! I will use my cell and have food delivered!

Not sure about these guys. There were hundreds of snails on the shore and low on the grasses. Looking close at the middle one, I see eyes or something…

Big bird house.

Nature camera.

In the first photo you will notice the telephone poles. We followed these all the way to the end. And that is what they did – ended.

I spent a few hours looking at old maps and Googling Lodges and Oyster Houses on the Manokin River and Broad Point, but had no luck. This electric and the below well pump stand, had to be to something…

I did not see any building foundations but we did see a pier.

Up close and from Google Earth it looks like there once were boat slips here.

Of course, as we were heading back, the sun started to come out.

A nice day for our “Last day to hike in the parks” We now take strolls around our neighbor hood.

Paul Leifer Trail

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, HISTORY, nature, Trails

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Tags

canals, Conservancy, cypress swamp, Furnace Town, Geocache, Hiking, nature, Snow Hill, State Parks, Trails

In my last blog, First Hike 2020, I spoke of looking for the Paul Leifer Trail at Furnace Town and how we thought the only access was from the gift shop, which closed in October. Well I sent an email to Furnace Town asking about access to the trail and they told us to go through the gate and then head to the trail, so we did.

Through the gate and head to the right, where you will see the Iron Furnace. Go to the left and there is an information board with a map and cautions that the boardwalks are very slippery.

Some interesting signage and some not so interesting!

The boardwalks were not only very slick, some were falling apart.

Molly didn’t mind and she did a lot better on this hike.

Some of the sights along our hike. It was very quiet here.

Crabby
A favorite sight of mine!
2nd Geocache in as many weeks.
Happy-Happy-Happy

Heading back out after about 1-1/2 hour hike. A couple shots in the ‘town’.

Wedding arch? Or sacrificial temple at the top?
Nice pic from Kathy.

Our hike, via All trails: Under a mile but very adventurous!

But the best sign was this one…

Life is full of next bends!! Thanks God for pointing the way to each and every bend, not that I am always paying attention to where you are pointing…

First Hike 2020

04 Saturday Jan 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Conservancy, cypress, Deer Stand, First Hike, Hiking, Iron Furnace, nature

I hope our first hike of 2020 is not indicative of the rest of our hikes this year. This was a very non-descript hike – just a short path through the woods near Furnace Town. We were hoping to do the Paul Leifer Trail but you need to go through the Furnace Town gift shop/museum to access it. That closed on October 31st!

To access the trail we hiked, we headed down Millville Rd to an opening in the woods. The trail was marked with these little signs. Quite a few scattered every 20 yards or so.

We saw some water down the hill, away from the trail so we headed for it.

Part of the Cypress swamp.

This was probably the first hike that Molly struggled to keep up. She will be 15 soon and has not been feeling well. When I first started hiking with Kathy and Molly about 4-1/2 years ago, Molly could do 6-8 miles without any problem. Now, not so much. We end up carrying her for a good portion.

Up over the hill was this.

When deer attack!

A little green on a drab day.

So the trail heads into the woods, just this side of the canal and then back up to Millville Rd and puts you on the road for a bit.

On the map below, to the east of the yellow line is where we should have been but couldn’t. But that is ok. Any day you can get a hike in, short or long, picturesque or drab, flat or hilly, rain or shine – it is all good. We can’t think of a better way to start the new year!!

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