The Buyboat

I’ve painted buyboats several times and chose their silhouette as a company logo (see above). Buyboats ranging from 40-100 feet bought the day’s catch (mostly oysters) from watermen in smaller boats at sea, thereby saving them the time and cost of returning to port. In 1925, with 5,000 buyboats operating, 7 million bushels of oysters were harvested from the Chesapeake Bay. Today less than 50 buyboats survive and only a few hundred thousand bushels of oysters are now taken annually.

The San Juan

While in Fort Bragg, I told Paul Kraus how much I missed the old ship named San Juan which for years seemed a permanent fixture of Noyo Harbor. It was my focal point in a couple paintings. But, like the old buyboats, Paul said it too eventually sank in 2017. Built in 1930 for the San Juan Fishing and Packing Co. of Seattle, the 72’ San Juan was taken over by the US Navy in 1942 but returned to private ownership as a fishing boat in 1968. Paul knew one of the old San Juan captains who said while working in extremely rough 40-foot seas, the ship was momentarily completely submerged by a rogue wave. Only the pilothouse remained above water. Almost miraculously, it resurfaced upright and survived many more years. As we talked in the Sportsman’s Park Gallery, Paul pointed out his model of the San Juan during its prime. I couldn’t resist, and also became the owner of that model before Ellie and I left for Seattle.

Old Crows

Coincidentally, when we arrived at my daughter Sarah’s house in Seattle, she had one of my paintings hanging in her living room. It is of two old buyboats docked on Tilghman Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Both subsequently sank—a poetic reminder of the grand old wooden vessels that comprised our maritime heritage.

The "Elinore J"

While staying with our daughter’s family, we took the opportunity to visit the historic shipbuilding town of Coupeville on Whidbey Island. I took many reference photographs for a future commissioned painting. We also toured Ballard and Fisherman’s Terminal where I often locate ships such as the “Elinore J” featured on TV’s “Deadliest Catch,” a series about Alaskan crabbing from Dutch Harbor as filmed on the Bering Sea. 

Encouragement?

The last time I drove the coast was in August following four consecutive years of draught in California. It was alarming to see how depleted (actually approaching empty!) our reservoirs had become. However, last week offered hope. Shasta Lake appeared to be within three feet of capacity and the San Luis Reservoir was topped off. We drove past each with many things to think about…climate change, capturing run off, depleted aquifers, the sinking San Joaquin Valley, Colorado River rationing, etc.