Building The Last Skipjack: The Nathan of Dorchester

In 2002 the Dorchester Skipjack Committee produced a 55-minute video on the construction of the last skipjack built in the 20th century, the Nathan of Dorchester. These historic Chesapeake Bay oyster dredge boats, built of wood, have almost disappeared. In the early 1900s there may have been as many as 600 to 800 sailing skipjacks. Today there are only about twenty still sailing. In 1991 the all-volunteer Dorchester Skipjack Committee took on the job of building a full-size, working skipjack using local building materials and the knowledge and skill of Dorchester County watermen and boat builders. Their work has been carefully recorded on this award-winning DVD. Building the Last Skipjack was funded in part through a Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network grant from the National Park Service. The video has received two awards: The "Crystal Award of Excellence" from the Communicator Awards and the "Silver Telly" award from the 24th Annual Telly Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.skipjack-nathan.org