Doug West
“I grew up down here at the landing. As a kid we were here all the time, in and around the water and boats, talking to the old watermen that were here. That probably got me wound up. We used to put a sail on our sleds when the river froze. We could sail a mile with the wind and then have to walk all the way back to sail on our sleds again. All four homes I’ve lived in are on this two mile road.”
“I built a workboat that I’ve got, but the boat I use to plant oysters we rebuilt. I cut it longways and widened it eight feet. It’s gotten a lot tougher to be a watermen. When I was a kid they could make a living working right here. Now there is only one family here that actually makes a living fishing year round. If you are going to be full time watermen you have to go all around the Bay to make it. You can’t make it in your own backyard anymore. You’ve got to go where the work is or get off the water.”
Editor Note: The Chestertown Spy and RiverArts have partnered in 2016 to share the art organization’s community arts project “Humans of Kent County,” designed to celebrate the wonderful, unique folks who live and work in Kent County. Citizens are invited to interview and photograph from young to old from all corners of the county and to submit a photograph and brief story to be part of the project. It will be posted on the Spy each week and each quarter the most interesting photos and stories will be enlarged and produced for an exhibition at the RiverArts gallery in Chestertown.
Patsy Hornaday says
Doug and his wife are “for real” and his friendly smile makes us feel as if
we have known them all our lives. As retired transplants from bigger cities
that makes for a happy move to Kent County.