{"product_id":"the-workboats-of-smith-island-9780801854842","title":"The Workboats of Smith Island","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"The people of Smith Island need their boats. They depend on their boats to make a living. They depend on their boats to go back and forth to Crisfield... Thats what keeps Smith Island going  these boats these people have around here. Its the only way.\"Larry Marsh  Smith Island Smith Island  the largest Maryland island in Chesapeake Bay  remains one of the most interesting communities on the Atlantic coast. Smith Islanders speak a sort of Tidewater English  are devoted to the Methodist faith  and maintain an intense relationship with the waters of the bay. For generations  they have relied on fishing  oystering  and crabbing for their livelihood and have developed workboats that reflect the conditionsboth natural and culturalof local waters. In The Workboats of Smith Island  Paula J. Johnson looks extensively at the remarkable variety of boatsdocumenting in fascinating detail their design  construction  and useand the watermen who depend on them. Johnson identifies the three vessel types most common on Smith Island today: crab-scraping boats  deadrise workboats  and skiffs. Every Smith Islander  she notes  owns at least one workboat  and many have two or even three  requiring each for a different purposeharvesting \"peelers\" (blue crabs in various stages of molting)  oystering or crab potting  and providing basic transportation. Johnson talks with Smith Islands watermen and boatbuilders  as well as their families and neighbors  about the history and future of the island and about the boats that dominate the islands cultural landscape. She includes dozens of photographs and drawings of Smith Islands distinctive watercraft. The result is a singular portrait of a community inextricably linked to the water. \"Paula Johnson has made a meaningful and substantial contribution to the literature of Chesapeake Bay maritime culture. Focusing on the community of Smith Island and its dependence on the Bay  Workboats of Smith Island will surely attract a variety of audiences  from scholars to general readers with an interest in the Chesapeake region and its maritime heritage.\"Quentin T. Snediker  Mystic Seaport Museum\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651865600053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0801854849","price":279.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780801854842.jpg?v=1781842883","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-workboats-of-smith-island-9780801854842","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}