Sultana Projects’ replica John Smith shallop is now on display along the St. Michaels Harbor just outside the welcome center of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels MD.
A kayaker paddling the St. Michaels Harbor checks out the replica John Smith shallop now on display just outside of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels MD.
Built in 2005, the John Smith shallop is a full-scale replica of the small open boat, or “shallop” used by Captain Smith to make the first detailed European exploration of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The original shallop was a small, shallow-draughted kit boat, made in two halves that could be pulled out of the hold of a larger ship and quickly put together to explore the creeks and rivers of the New World.
The two-part replica shallop, constructed of oak and Osage-orange (also in two parts), went on to make a full retracing of John Smith’s 1608 voyage as part of Sultana Projects’ Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project. The shallop crew, made up of 12 men and women, rowed, sailed, and lived in the open vessel during the reenactment, as Smith’s crew would have in 1608.
The John Smith shallop will be docked just outside the museum for an extended length of time. For more information, call 410-745-2916.
Pam says
I think John Smith must be rolling over in his grave over the condition of this extraordinary body of water that mankind has despoiled to the point it may never come back to even a semblance of its original condition. He and his crew accomplished an amazing feat all those years ago. I can’t even begin to imagine what the bay must have looked like back then and sad to think what it looks like now.