1 boat, 8 oars, 12 explorers, 1500 miles
...an epic Chesapeake Bay Adventure...
That's the tag line for Sultana Education Foundation's 2007 voyage of the shallop based on the one Captain John Smith (yeah, the Pocahontas guy) sailed/rowed exploring the Chesapeake Bay in 1608.
Today, you can follow in the wake of both boats on the Capt John Smith National Historic Water Trail. You can visit it from shore, from the web, or launch your own small paddle powered boat and stop at the smart buoys and read info on your smart phone.
Or just paddle, and see many things that are much the same as 400 years ago.
Some friends and I visited the shallop when it was in Port Deposit Maryland. We had also done our own voyages in small paddle and oar/sail powered boats; with the Longship Company of Oakley Maryland. We know the obstacles...
Voyages like this lift you out of your ordinary world, not just into history, but into another point of view. One minus air conditioning and cell phones, one full of green lightning dancing on the horizon as your oars dip green lightning out of the sea (bioluminescence). One where the motor boat slows in the dark, passes a spotlight over your black dragonship and... vrooms up the channel disbelieving. One where thousands of kids touch their history, living and breathing on the river.
Here's a few shots from our visit with the shallop. Other folks have recreated their own versions of the shallop, this one is Sultana's. You can find more on the Sultana website: http://www.johnsmith400.org/history.htm
You can find more about the water trail here, go paddle it in your own small boat: https://www.nps.gov/cajo/index.htm
While you're there, check out the page on Indigenous Cultural Landscapes. Capt John Smith did not discover the Chesapeake, it was already inhabited by vibrant successful cultures. You can paddle through many places today that hold the same beauties. https://www.nps.gov/cajo/learn/indigenous-cultural-landscapes.htm
Today, you can follow in the wake of both boats on the Capt John Smith National Historic Water Trail. You can visit it from shore, from the web, or launch your own small paddle powered boat and stop at the smart buoys and read info on your smart phone.
Or just paddle, and see many things that are much the same as 400 years ago.
Some friends and I visited the shallop when it was in Port Deposit Maryland. We had also done our own voyages in small paddle and oar/sail powered boats; with the Longship Company of Oakley Maryland. We know the obstacles...
- there is No Backup Engine You Are the Backup Engine
- the wind is blowing the wrong way, of course it's blowing the wrong way
- the current is going the wrong way, but at least the wind is going the right way
- the current is stronger
- now they're BOTH going the wrong way
- mosquitoes
- there is no "head" there is a bucket at the front of the ship, yes, your friends will hold up a blanket or something
- we used more water than we thought we would, the boy scout camp does not exist, there is no water except the odd green stuff under the boat
- mosquitoes
- is that a gator??? (Capt John Smith famously stabbed a stingray with his sword and told his men to dig his grave... he recovered in time to have the stingray for dinner... there is a legit place called Stingray Point on the bay)
- Thor, go slay frost giants somewhere else (we have a mast, it is the tallest thing in this marsh, it is thundering...)
- sunburn, there is no shade on a small open boat
- sleeping on thwarts, or on deck
- mosquitoes
Voyages like this lift you out of your ordinary world, not just into history, but into another point of view. One minus air conditioning and cell phones, one full of green lightning dancing on the horizon as your oars dip green lightning out of the sea (bioluminescence). One where the motor boat slows in the dark, passes a spotlight over your black dragonship and... vrooms up the channel disbelieving. One where thousands of kids touch their history, living and breathing on the river.
Here's a few shots from our visit with the shallop. Other folks have recreated their own versions of the shallop, this one is Sultana's. You can find more on the Sultana website: http://www.johnsmith400.org/history.htm
You can find more about the water trail here, go paddle it in your own small boat: https://www.nps.gov/cajo/index.htm
While you're there, check out the page on Indigenous Cultural Landscapes. Capt John Smith did not discover the Chesapeake, it was already inhabited by vibrant successful cultures. You can paddle through many places today that hold the same beauties. https://www.nps.gov/cajo/learn/indigenous-cultural-landscapes.htm
Our 6 day voyage on the Potomac ship, Fyrdraca, 1984
present ship, Sae Hrafn
