FROM FAR LEFT 

 TO RIGHT 

 Anthony Brooks 

 carves a decoy 

 out of wood. • 

 Murray Bridges, 



a veteran crab shedder, knows every telltale sign of an impending molt. • Willy 

 Phillips checks out a blue crab catch from the Albemarle Sound. • Heber Guthrie 

 and Jimmy Amspacher are keeping the Down East boatbuilding tradition alive. • 

 Boatbuilding is an art and requires attention to detail. 



part of the richness and legacy of crabbing in the 

 Albemarle," he adds. 



Oystering also was an important fishery on 

 the Newport River and other bodies of water in 

 coastal North Carolina. 



In the early part of the 20th century, more 

 fishermen in the Pamlico Sound and waters 

 south of the sound toned to shrimping. 



"Before that, old-timers used to swear at 

 shrimp in Bogue Sound because they were not 

 desirable to catch and got tangled in gill nets," 

 says North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist 

 Bob Hines. 



To catch the shrimp, fishermen use some 

 type of trawl gear. With the otter trawl, they drag 

 nets behind the boat. A skimmer trawl has nets 

 on the side of the boat. 



At the festival, Hines and a Carteret County 

 shrimper will give a demonstration with a model 

 trawler. 



Boatbuilding 



In coastal North Carolina, including Hark- 

 ers Island, many master craftsmen used native 

 juniper to make boats. 



For wooden workboats used by shrimpers 

 and fishermen, the Harkers Island or Carolina 

 design — which has a wooden hull and flared 

 bow — is recognized along the coast. 



Houston and Jamie Lewis, who work in a 

 high-ceiling garage in Harkers Island, still use 

 this design for their boats. 



Brady Lewis was considered the island 

 patriarch of boatbuilding. Lewis taught the craft 

 to the late Julian Guthrie, who in ton became a 

 legend in the business. 



Guthrie often used ingenuity in his design. 



In 1982, he built a 65-foot yacht around a piano. 

 He also constructed three-masted sharpie schoo- 

 ners and sail skiffs. Throughout his life, Guthrie 

 taught his trade to others, including his nephew, 

 Heber Guthrie, and Jimmy Amspacher. Both 

 men will be building a flat-bottom sail skiff at the 

 Folklife Festival. 



"Mr. Julian was a fine man," says Jimmy 

 Amspacher. "He had the patience of Job. We 

 were just young'uns. We could tear up more 

 wood." 



On a recent day, Guthrie and Amspacher 

 were building a skiff out of juniper, pine and 

 spruce in Guthrie's garage in Gloucester. 



"It is built close to the old-time skiff," says 

 Guthrie. "In the old days, boatbuilders would go 

 in the woods and find a limb or stump so the grain 

 would be a natural ton. Now, we buy the wood." 



Amspacher says the skiff — which has a 

 V-bottom and platform — was used for multiple 

 purposes. The mast can be taken down, and the 

 boat used for clamming, floundering or oystering. 



"These boats were made to be used for a 

 little bit of everything," he adds. "You could use it 

 on Saturday or Sunday, or go to town in the boat. 

 Before the bridge was built to Harkers Island, 

 everybody went to Beaufort by boat" 



Since it was hard to shove the skiff from 

 Harkers Island to Beaufort, people added sails, 

 according to Amspacher. 



To build this boat, the men use a time-hon- 

 ored traditional called "rack of eye." It takes the 

 eyes of an experienced boatbuilder rather than 

 measured blueprints to see that a boat has the 

 right dimensions and design. 



"If you don't have the eye for building a 

 skiff, you will mess up," says Amspacher. 



Festival History 



Since 1967, the Smithsonian Folklife Festi- 

 val has celebrated traditional cultures from across 

 the United States and around the world. Over the 

 years, it has brought together more than 1 6,000 

 musicians, artists, storytellers and others to the 

 National Mall. 



The Water Ways project grew out of the 

 efforts of coastal communities and museums 

 such as the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, the 

 Bayshore Discovery Center in New Jersey, and 

 the Reedville Fisherman's Museum in Virginia. 



Several years ago, Karen Amspacher, Core 

 Sound museum director, visited Smith Island, an 

 isolated fishing community in the Chesapeake Bay. 



"We went on a mail boat into the harbor, " 

 says Amspacher. "It was so powerful coming in 

 on the boat that I just started crying. It was like 

 coming home." 



"I realized immediately that these people 

 were like us and shared the same traditions, the 

 same history and the same issues for the future," 

 she adds. "It is that shared heritage among all 

 these communities that is the foundation for this 

 folklife program." 



After the Core Sound region was selected 

 for the festival, Belanus asked Hemming, Martin 

 and others to recommend another North Carolina 

 coastal region to showcase at the festival. 



They chose the Albemarle because of its 

 strong traditions and distinct regional identity, 

 according to Hemming. 



"People still know each other in the local 

 communities," she adds. 



Also, Hemming says that the remoteness 

 makes folks more self-reliant than in urban areas. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 



