June 6, 2005: the United States Supreme Court voted to ban medical marijuana in Gonzales v. Raich. On June 13, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 hit Chile near the Bolivian border. The same week, Marylanders, who may have been tired of hearing news about Governor Ehrlich’s chief of staff shake-up, sought out air-conditioned theaters to see “Batman Begins,” starring Christian Bale and Michael Caine. June 15: Along Back Creek in Annapolis, a team of writers, editors, photographers, ad sales representatives, and graphic designers crossed their fingers as the 68-page debut issue of PropTalk Magazine hit the docks. Publisher and owner Mary Ewenson and her then-partner in SpinSheet Publishing Company, Dave Gendell, talked about the idea for five years before leaping. “We knew we needed the right editor to do it,” says Ewenson, who grew up boating on the Severn River. “I ran into Joe Evans at the boat show in 2004, and he was the editor we needed.” They asked themselves, “What’s the cool stuff that no one else is writing about?” Powerboat racing, fishing (what anglers could expect in the coming month), regional boatshop news, and profiles of active, local boaters topped the list. “We made a magazine out of it,” says the founding and present publisher. Annapolis photographer John Bildahl captured the first cover shot of the Mast and Mallet-built Thomas Point 43 Sawdust. Among other contributing photographers were Walter Cooper, Dave Dunigan, Cory Moran, Amy Kehrig, and George Plant. Contributing writers included Alison Blake, Rick Franke (see page 54), Mike Kaufman, Lin McCarthy, Nancy Noyes, Karen Ripple, and Bill Schellenberger. Team PropTalk has weathered some changes and storms in 10 years. We’ve said farewell to friends and welcomed new ones. We rode out a recession… we’re still here and recently boasted our strongest spring issue to date. Besides compiling a monthly magazine, our staff has done a lot together: built a boat, caught rockfish, raced Cocktail Class boats and standup paddleboards, wakeboarded, waded through a flood or two to get to our boat show booth, and had a few dock bar beers over the years. Since we cut our fifth birthday cake, we’ve noticed a distinct change in reader reaction, especially at boat shows. Show goers used to say, “Prop what?” Now, they often say, “I already read it” or “We love PropTalk.” We’re here, on our 10th anniversary, to tell you readers that we love you, too. PropTalk is for and by Chesapeake boaters. We are open to your suggestions, letters, articles, photographs, and ideas about what you’d like to read in PropTalk’s next decade. Email [email protected] anytime. Thank you for reading and celebrating Chesapeake boating with us every month. ~M.W.