ISLAND LIFE - Historic Photographs

Knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay's history is key to understanding the present day landscapes, cultures and commercial fisheries. The working waterfronts, shorelines and communities of both Smith and Tangier have gone through dramatic changes since they were first became permanent settlements in the 1680's. To help illustrate the history of the islands for my book, I curated photographs from the collections of six photographers to include in the introduction of ISLAND LIFE.

Photography came to the islands in the late 1800's and early 1900's - a time when access to film and developing equipment was difficult, especially in remote areas. Island photographers Virginia 'Ma Ginny' Evans from Smith and Vernon Bradshaw from Tangier had extensive collections of work from the 1930's to the 1960's. Visiting photographer A. Aubrey Bodine has an extensive portfolio from the 1950's that shows both islands just after the peaks in population that I was fortunate enough to have access to. The Tangier History museum has an extensive collection of photographs that chronicle the history of the island up until the present day. The historic photographs will provide a great deal of context to the reader when setting the scene in the first few pages of the book.

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'Fishing-up' on Tangier when peeler crabs were placed into 'overboard floats' for shedding, c. 1959 photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

'Fishing-up' on Tangier when peeler crabs were placed into 'overboard floats' for shedding, c. 1959

photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

Tangier Island buy boats loaded with oysters, c. 1960's Photograph by Vernon Bradshaw

Tangier Island buy boats loaded with oysters, c. 1960's

Photograph by Vernon Bradshaw

The waterfront at Mailboat Harbor on Tangier Island, c. 1949 Photograph by D.B. Field, courtesy of the Tangier History Museum

The waterfront at Mailboat Harbor on Tangier Island, c. 1949

Photograph by D.B. Field, courtesy of the Tangier History Museum

Crab Scraping barcat on the railway at Tangier's Mailboat Harbor, c. 1959 photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

Crab Scraping barcat on the railway at Tangier's Mailboat Harbor, c. 1959

photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

Applying bottom paint to a skiff at Heistin' Bridge, c. late 1950s Photograph courtesy Tangier History Museum

Applying bottom paint to a skiff at Heistin' Bridge, c. late 1950s

Photograph courtesy Tangier History Museum

Students and their teacher pose in front of the schoolhouse in Canaan, a former community on Uppards, c. 1920s. Photograph courtesy of Tangier History Museum

Students and their teacher pose in front of the schoolhouse in Canaan, a former community on Uppards, c. 1920s.

Photograph courtesy of Tangier History Museum

Kids playing on Caleb Jones Road in Ewell, Maryland, c. 1945 photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

Kids playing on Caleb Jones Road in Ewell, Maryland, c. 1945

photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine

The Smith Island traveling baseball team, c. 1950s

Photograph courtesy of Virginia Evans Collection

Aground on the Altamaha: Georgia Inlet Claims a Shrimper

In late January 2021, I made a trip to the coast of Georgia to photograph the wreck of the trawler Jimmy and Charlie Jr. and the fishery for Cannonball Jellyfish. The story and photographs below documenting the wreck were recently published in National Fisherman Magazine.

Jimmy and Charlie Jr - NF - © Jay Fleming - 08.jpg

The Jimmy and Charlie Jr., an 88.4-foot steel hull trawler owned by Hong and Men Shrimp Company out of Gautier, Miss., ran aground at the mouth of the Altamaha River in Georgia during the early hours of Nov. 4, 2020.

A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Air Station Savannah responded to distress calls from the vessel and airlifted the captain and his crew of three out of harm’s way at 5:15 a.m. The four shrimpers were transported to St. Simons Airport without any injuries.

The mouth of the Altamaha River on Georgia’s coast has long been considered one of the most dangerous and difficult areas to navigate in the southeastern United States. The sandy shoals are constantly shifting with the ocean’s wave action and the dramatic tides in the seven-foot-plus range. Shrimp trawlers landing in Darien, Ga., one of the state’s most active working waterfronts, use the channel between Wolf Island and Egg Island to run up the Altamaha.

“You can’t just rely on your electronics here,” said Michael Boone, a 32-year-old Darien native who has been running shrimp boats since he was just a teen. According to Boone, the depth can drop from three to twenty feet within a few yards.

According to a Brunswick, Ga., seafood wholesaler, 15,000 pounds of frozen shrimp onboard the Jimmy and Charlie Jr. rotted within a few days after the wreck. To make matters worse, a 10-foot northeast swell pushed the vessel even further onto the shoal to a spot that is completely dry at low tide. The boat’s 33,000-gallon fuel capacity immediately raised concerns with the Coast Guard, who contracted Moran Environmental LLC to remove approximately 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the fuel tanks by helicopter on Nov. 18.

The location of the wreck has made salvage efforts incredibly difficult, and the Jimmy and Charlie Jr. continues to sink further into the sand. As of late January 2021, the boat had sunk to a point where a high tide completely inundates the starboard gunwale. The starboard fuel tank is also filled with salt water, according to Darien shrimper Robert Trutt, who is working with the vessel’s owner to coordinate salvage.

Unless a drastic move is made to get the 18 year-old boat off the shoal, the mouth of the Altamaha River will claim its second shrimp trawler in five years. Hong and Men Shrimp Company did not respond to a request for comment.

Jimmy and Charlie Jr - NF - © Jay Fleming - 17.jpg