Boatshop Reports
Captain Rick Franke's monthly Boatshop Reports feature news on new boat builds, maintenance, and boat restorations from area boatbuilders and shops across Maryland and Virginia.
March 23, 2015
No matter what the capricious and almost unpredictable Chesapeake weather is doing at the moment, there are two signs that spring has arrived at last: the ospreys’ return and disappearing white shrink
February 13, 2015
In last month’s reports we heard about how this was shaping up to be a good winter for most Chesapeake area boatshops.
January 15, 2015
The bad news is that it is still winter. Dreary, rainy, foggy periods are punctuated by bright blue, windy, crisp, clear, cold days with spectacular sunsets.
December 10, 2014
Britt Lilly of Lilly Sport Boats in Arnold, MD, expresses it well.
December 2, 2014
One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing Boat Shop Reports is the opportunity to go to neat places and talk to i
November 2, 2014
The days are short, the ospreys are long gone, the rockfish are big, and flights of geese join the southern migration of the mega-yachts down the
September 17, 2014
The days are warm and clear, the nights cool and crisp with a hint of wood smoke.
August 14, 2014
It’s hard to believe, but the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and the crabs, when you can get them, are getting fatter.
July 31, 2014
While the rest of us are enjoying the hazy, lazy days of summer, Chesapeake area boatshops have been humming with activity.
July 30, 2014
The days are hazy, hot, and humid, the steamed crabs are hot, and the beer is cold. It’s summer at last!
July 30, 2014
While the fitting out season is winding down, there has been no lack of activity on the part of Chesapeake area boat shops.
April 14, 2014
The Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy in Havre de Grace, MD, has finally located a replacement mast for the skipjack Martha Lewis.
March 14, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St.
February 20, 2014
Eugene Evans has been working mostly on boat restorations at Evans Boats in Crisfield, MD, as the market has seemed to favor that lately over n
June 16, 2013
While there are plenty of other ways to build a boat using aluminum, steel, wood planks, and even cement, we’ll cover the boatbuilding basics of fiberglass composites, and wood building methods for…