We took the dinghy over to the Onancock docks on Wednesday and boarded our ferry, the Joyce Marie II, a 36' lobster boat that carries 25 passengers. Yes, we left our boat to board another boat to go out 18 miles into the Chesapeake, sounds silly but it was easier than taking Captain's Choice over. On approaching the island you can't help but notice the crab shanties built on pilings in the water. They don't connect to one another and many are in disrepair. Once you get off the ferry there are a couple of women with golf carts asking if you want a tour of the island, only takes 15 minutes for $5 each, why not? They give you a full 15 minutes of fast talking while they take you through the narrow streets, which is mostly inhabited by bikes and other golf carts. When we were done Mark looked at me and said "did you get all that". The people of Tangier have a distinct dialect which to me sounds like a combination of Irish brogue and heavy southern accent. After the tour your on your own to peruse the gift shops, grocery store, town and restaurants.
It was in one of the gift shops that we heard about a funeral for one of the watermen that was to take place the next day. The town was very broken up about it, as the one women said to me "we are all family and if we aren't family we are friends". From that point on for the rest of the day we heard or saw activities that were taking place in this small knit community to prepare to bury one of there own. The pictures below will tell the story of some of the things we learned while visiting the island.
Once we were back on the ferry getting ready to head back to Onancock our captain with tears in his eyes told us what had happened to there fellow watermen. On April 24 Edward (70) and his son Jason (39) had gone out as usual. It was windy but not anything that would keep any waterman at shore. The winds picked up to gusts of 40+ and they started to head in for the day. Unbeknownst to Edward he had some rotten boards on his boat and the boat began to take on water. Several of the boards popped and they called in a mayday that they couldn't get the water flooding in under control and were going to go down. It's our understanding the son couldn't help his father hold on and he watched his father go down. The son was in the 60 degree water for over 90 minutes and he saw 2 boats go by about 200 yards away. He tried his best to get noticed but with 5-6' seas they didn't see him. Most of the watermen were out searching along with Jason's father -in-law. He went off to a different section of the bay and came across a debris field. Again with the 5-6' waves it was very difficult to see and suddenly as he stood on the motor cover the seas totally calmed and he was able to see his son-in-law and was able to rescue him.
According to reports we read on line the coast guard search was halted the next day. Edward's body was discovered 10 days later 5.5 miles from Tangier.
Jason is the father of 4 children himself, he is going to try and remain a waterman doing the job with his father-in-law.
Their will be no ferry rides to the island on Thursday and the marina will be full of boats coming to mourn. This is an ever reminder of the difficult and dangerous jobs that exist and although the fatalities are few and far between our hearts go out to this small community.
Another unfortunate fact is the island could actually be lost to the bay within the next 100 years due to continuing wave-induced erosion and sea-level rise which has already reduced Tangier's Island mass by more than half since 1850.
Once we got back to Onancock we relayed this story to some loopers we just met as they had wanted to take the ferry over on Thursday and heard there was a funeral and therefore could not go.
On Thursday as we left our anchorage to head over to Calvert Marina in Solomon, MD we passed within 4 miles of Tangier Island with heartfelt sympathy for the day that lay ahead of them.
Dinghy ride to Onancock from our anchorage
Cute crab chairs at the museum
Tangier Island is only 3' above sea level, graves
are shallow here and the burial vaults are at the surface
It is also a custom to bury loved ones in front yards.
The grave could be more easily cared for, reduced the risk of grave robbery, animals
were less likely to dig them up and higher ground near a home was less likely to result
in a vault being flooded to the surface by rising tides.
Skiffs used to get out to the shanties
The Joyce Marie II with Captain Mark
Watermen on the Chesapeake
Very interesting, but sad :(
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