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."
"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."
CCBA Contacts
Butch Miller - Commodore
Steve Flesner - Secretary/Treasurer
Butch Miller - Cruise Coordinator
David Morrow - Handicap Chair
Butler Smythe - Web Admin
Butch Miller - Commodore
Steve Flesner - Secretary/Treasurer
Butch Miller - Cruise Coordinator
David Morrow - Handicap Chair
Butler Smythe - Web Admin
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 in 2007
The Chesapeake Catboat Association (CCBA) was caught on film in 2007 during their annual Spring Long Cruise, by local TV out of Salisbury, MD. The cruise destination as planned by CCBA Commodore Marc Cruder with his Wittholz 25 Wanderer, was to the lower eastern shore of Maryland.
Member Larry Antonik hosted a total of eight (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 draft 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. Charles put together this nice piece which 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.
Member Larry Antonik hosted a total of eight (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 draft 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. Charles put together this nice piece which 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.