The Chesapeake Bay is famous for its crabs and oysters, and the boats that have worked so hard catching these local delicacies have a celebrity status among locals. For over 100 years bugeyes, skipjacks, log canoes and deadrise boats have been part of the bay’s rich maritime history, and today a number of them are part of the fleet maintained and exhibited at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland.
Among the fleet’s standouts are three unique Chesapeake Bay buyboats. These historic boats are spellbinding. You can’t walk away from them without turning around for another look. They are handsome beasts. Also called deckboats, freight boats, packet boats or mast boats, they boast a distinctive profile and hull form designed to safely haul and deliver fresh catch, livestock, produce, construction materials and passengers up and down the shallow waters of the bay.
