The Applejack

The Applejack is third in birth order of our children.  She arrived just two years after John, 1976 to be exact.  She joined our family much like her siblings; much thought about but not planned, and powerfully loved once delivered.

Our Skipjack was designed and built by master boat-builder Curtis Applegarth at his boatyard in Oxford, MD.  Applegarth, a fourth generation boat builder, build skipjacks for pleasure cruising, taking design and dimensional liberties with the full scaled working Chesapeake Bay Skipjack model.  Our best guess is that our vessel was crafted in mid-1960’s and christened with a combination of Skipjack and Applegarth….hence Applejack.  We liked the name and it stuck.

Pleasure cruising is what the Applejack is all about.  It’s hosted a couple of overnights before, but it’s best at entertaining a few friends for a late afternoon sail on the Pasquotank.  If the weather is particularly cooperative and the winds are fair, cocktails and a picnic supper are usually in store.

George manages the tiller and main-sail with confidence and ease, and while I used to handle the jib….I mostly just watch it luff now.  Trimming the sails is tough work and I’m quick to recall the last time the captain asked me to “cheat the jib,” I fell overboard.  I’m better at pushing us off the pier to get underway and securing lines when we return to dock.  I pack a pretty good picnic basket too.

The Captain is cautious  and holds a mighty respect for the water and the dangers that face all mariners.  The Applejack doesn’t sail in blue water; she plies the brackish rivers and local sounds that keep her in safe territory. That’s not to say she hasn’t kissed the bottom a few times.  Wooden boats can sink…fast.  I’ve never been aboard the three times this has occurred.  Umm.

We’ve been lucky, she’s been lucky. She’s still moored in front of our home in Forbes Bay most of the time.  She winters with the O’Neal’s where she can enjoy calmer waters, and when a hurricane threatens, she rides it out in a secure “gunk hole” across the Pasquotank.  Recently she enjoyed a deep-pour cleansing and a minor face-lift while resting at Riverside Boat Works. 

She’s back and better than ever.  She’s ready to go.  Give us a shout and a wave when you see us heading out for a sunset cruise.  Or better still, come along for the ride.