An Elsworthy Request: A Boat and a Wedding by Sarah Meekins Elliott

Editor Note: The Spy was told a few weeks ago about a unique request made to the Echo Hill Outdoor School. While the request was rather routine – the need to use one of the school’s boats for a wedding in October – the boat requested and the unique story behind it was anything but routine and worthy of a wider audience with permission from EHOS and the author. 

I am the granddaughter of the late Norris O. Lewis who owned and captained the Elsworth for a time during the 1970s.

The Elsworth has long been a source of pride for my family. By the time I was born in the early 1980s, the boat had long been sold, but I grew up listening to legendary stories about my grandfather and the Elsworth. All of the men in my mother’s family (including my father) worked on the boat at some point during my grandfather’s captainship.

Norris Lewis

All of the women and grandchildren of the family sailed onboard during skipjack races. There were stories of family members reaching out to touch the Sandy Point Lighthouse as my grandfather swiftly maneuvered the final winning turn of a skipjack race at Chesapeake Appreciation Days. There were tales of monumental oyster harvests and skillful navigation through dense fog and whiteout weather conditions. There were recollections of my grandfather standing stoically behind the ship’s wheel with icicles hanging from his whiskers during a day of hard winter’s work. These stories and so many more were guaranteed to resurface over holiday meals and during times when spirits needed uplifting. Over time, memories of the Elsworth became the thread that tied my mother’s family together as all seven siblings grew older and went their separate ways.

Although my family members always regarded the Elsworth in a romantic sense, my grandfather saw the Elsworth simply as a way of life. Skipjacks were in his blood. His father and each of his brothers owned and captained (and sometimes helped build) skipjacks throughout their lifetimes. Sadly, only the Elsworth and the Martha Lewis (my great grandfather’s skipjack) remain in existence to this day. As an aging man, my grandfather parted with the Elsworth, passing the torch to the next captain. He did so with a heavy heart. His greatest fear was that the Elsworth would find her fate in what he called the “Tilghman Island Graveyard.” It was there where he saw far too many skipjacks “go to die” during his lifetime.

My grandfather could not have been happier when he learned that the Elsworth was entrusted to the Echo Hill Outdoor School in the 1980s. He regarded Echo Hill not only as a safe haven for the Elsworth, but also as a terrific opportunity for the vessel to teach environmental respect to future generations.

You see, my grandfather did not go to high school, let alone college. When he was growing up, the need for immediate family outcome far outweighed the need for formal education. He learned about the environment not through a textbook but through experience and developed an unparalleled sense of respect and understanding of the world

The Elsworth

around him. In his later years, as I began to pursue college degrees in biology and environmental marine science, I would discuss various topics with him that I had learned about in a college classroom. He would often smile to himself, pleased to finally learn the name of something that he already understood all too well. He would then proceed to teach me a thing or two about what I had just learned in school. Learning about the environment was my grandfather’s passion, and he felt honored that the Elsworth would be used as a tool to reach out to youth for that very same purpose.

My grandfather passed away ten years ago last January. At the time, I had been dating a young man named David for several years (eight to be exact). Coming from a waterman’s family himself, David was always fascinated by my grandfather’s stories and often said that he wished he could have had a chance to experience the Elsworth under the helm of Capt Lewis. David and I have remained together for 18 years now. We began dating in middle school and have been inseparable ever since. Seven years ago, he took me on a surprise trip to the Chestertown area and we “just happened” to end up sitting together next to the Elsworth. As I sat on the dock with tears in my eyes in remembrance of my grandfather, David proposed marriage and I quickly accepted. Unfortunately, some health related issues delayed our nuptials for a few years but we are finally ready to tie the knot!

David and I can think of no better way to honor our love, our family, and our Chesapeake heritage than by exchanging our long awaited vows aboard the Elsworth.*

The author with husband David Elliott

* The wedding took place on a perfect Eastern Shore day last Saturday.

The Elsworth was purchased by Echo Hill Outdoor School in 1988. In addition to using it in the school’s summer Explore Program, it commercially dredged for oysters until 1996 when EHOS engaged in a major restoration.