Chesapeake Catboat Association
- Founded 1973 -
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
"The Chesapeake Catboat Association serves to provide a central point of contact for all Catboaters and Catboat enthusiasts on the Bay. We sponsor or attend multiple races and events each year as well as the National Catboat Association's meeting in Groton, CT."
Our Website - www.chesapeakecatboats.org - has our events, newsletters and all sorts of catboat information and lore.
"The Chesapeake Catboat Association serves to provide a central point of contact for all Catboaters and Catboat enthusiasts on the Bay. We sponsor or attend multiple races and events each year as well as the National Catboat Association's meeting in Groton, CT."
Our Website - www.chesapeakecatboats.org - has our events, newsletters and all sorts of catboat information and lore.
CCBA Contacts
Butch Miller - Commodore Steve Flesner - Secretary/Treasurer Butch Miller - Cruise Coordinator David Morrow - Handicap Chairperson Craig Ligibel - Newsletter Editor Butler Smythe - Web Administrator |
NOTES
1. Membership: Send membership checks (Dues: $20) & inquiries to: Stephen Flesner, Secretary/Treasurer, 2037 Indian Circle, St. Leonard, MD 20685 or [email protected] 2. CCBA Calendars: 2024-2025 CCBA Calendars - Available for $10, send payment to Stephen Flesner 3. Newsletter Articles: Submit to Craig Ligibel, CCBA Newsletter Editor 4. CBA Bulletin Articles: Submit to Steve Flesner, [email protected]. 5. Crew: Need or want to crew, please see the BUTTON on the Events Page. Fill out the short form & submit. 6.. CCBA Bling: See Catboats & Things For Sale 7. Long Cruise Up the Sassafras River Sept 15-22 Contact [email protected] 8. Corsica River YC Regatta Oct 27-29 Contact Rich McLaughlin 302-932-3222 |
Sea Fever
by John Masefield - 1899
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And the gray mist on the sea's face and a gray dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over...
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And the gray mist on the sea's face and a gray dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over...
Chesapeake Catboaters Featured on WBOC TV 16 (2007)
The Chesapeake Catboat Association (CCBA) was caught on film during their annual Spring Long Cruise by local TV out of Salisbury, MD. That year’s cruise destination as planned by CCBA Cruise Commodore Marc Cruder and his Wittholz 25 Wanderer was the lower eastern shore of Maryland. CCBA and CBA member Larry Antonik hosted a total of 8 catboats, including his own Marshall 18 Purrrfection and the yawl rigged Marshall 22 Muskrat down in a remote marsh area known as Dames Quarter. This pristine, largely unchanged and natural part of the Chesapeake Bay is seldom visited by sail powered vessels, much less catboats, so it didn’t take much for this group of shallow water gaff sailors to be noticed by the locals.
Feature writer and photographer Charles Paparella of WBOC TV 16 met the catboat cruisers along the way at their mid-cruise stop in Vienna, MD on the Nanticoke River and put together this nice piece that aired on Father’s Day 2007, just one day after the completion of the cruise. The four minute clip, with underway video footage from the deck of CCBA member Rich Mclaughlin’s Marshall 22 Tenacity, melds the wayward nature of Chesapeake catboaters and their owners with the priceless rewards of a natural escape just in time for Father’s Day.
Feature writer and photographer Charles Paparella of WBOC TV 16 met the catboat cruisers along the way at their mid-cruise stop in Vienna, MD on the Nanticoke River and put together this nice piece that aired on Father’s Day 2007, just one day after the completion of the cruise. The four minute clip, with underway video footage from the deck of CCBA member Rich Mclaughlin’s Marshall 22 Tenacity, melds the wayward nature of Chesapeake catboaters and their owners with the priceless rewards of a natural escape just in time for Father’s Day.