ST. MICHAELS — This last weekend the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum was filled with the energetic buzz of dozens of families camping outside with unique watercraft for the 41st annual Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival.
Sailors and builders from around the region showed off their small craft boats, including sailing, skiffs, rowing shells, kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, prams and one-of-a-kind boats.
Vera England, a longtime attendee, said the event began in 1983, back when the maritime museum had fewer buildings and the well-loved dock was just a beach. She said there were probably 10 to 15 people who attended that first year, and by the second year it had grown significantly.
“It was a living museum. That was our goal,” England said. “Small boats were possibly dying out. … We wanted people to get on the water. We wanted children to know what boats were like. The museum was very, very supportive of keeping the tradition of small boats and small boat buildings.”
England describes the event as “multigenerational” in its family-friendly approach and encouragement of young children’s involvement. According to England, there is no better example of the multigenerational work of the small craft festival than the Blackwell family.
Adam Blackwell began attending the small craft festival when he was in second grade. It soon became a part of his family’s tradition. Blackwell said as a child he learned to sail and row with other children (one of whom would later become his wife).
After taking a break from attending due to school, Blackwell came back, met his wife again, got married and has now decided to continue the tradition by bringing his own children to the small craft festival every year.
“It’s kind of funny because they’re playing with some of the children of the kids that I played with growing up. It’s fantastic watching the kids. They’re happy. They’re running around. They’re outside on boats. It’s beautiful.”
According to England, this festival has created a community of boat lovers. But to keep the community going, people need to invest in events like the small craft festival through not only individual engagement, but also empowering young people to learn traditions, build their own crafts and sail through the Chesapeake Bay.
“Appreciate the water. Appreciate the traditions. Appreciate the fact that these traditions are ephemeral,” England said. “If there isn’t a place to keep them alive, they will fade and you won’t move. And that’s very important. That’s part of what we try to do, is keep traditions alive, keep the idea of working with your hands to build the small boat.”
Blackwell said it is amazing to see the confidence his children have developed through sailing. They’re interest began as a shared love learned by their parents and has become something all of their own. They have preferred crafts, have been on the water independently and know when to ask for help. His children’s passion reminds him of the pull sailing had on him.
Blackwell said that on his wedding day, his father-in-law read aloud an old log book from the small craft festival when Blackwell and his wife were young. In it were descriptions of his wife and his sister playing outside and enjoying nature.
“(My father-in-law) then goes, ‘and the Blackwell boy was out on the water the entire time,’” Blackwell said with a laugh. “And that was my entry in the log book as a child. ‘The Blackwell boy was out on the water the entire time. We didn’t see him.’”
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