A beautiful Lady

[Bill Dodson]

SWMBO and I were driving around Solomons Island the other night after checking on our boat at the marina, and got to see the Lady Maryland come ghosting in before the dying breeze at sunset. I didn't have a camera with me, and this is the best picture of her I could find on the web-
http://www.livingclassrooms.org/Facilities/LM.jpg

From Living Classrooms, Lady Maryland (http://www.livingclassrooms.org/Facilities/LadyMD.html)

The Lady Maryland is a replica of a Chesapeake Bay pungy schooner, a boat which sailed the Bay in the 1800's. The name "pungy" may originate from the place where some of the first pungies were built - the Pungoteague Creek on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Pungies, which were considered fast sailing vessels in the 1800s, were primarily used as workboats which carried perishable cargo such as oysters, watermelons, tomatoes, fish, peaches, and grain.

Lady Maryland was built by the Living Classrooms Foundation in 1985. The Lady Maryland is made out of wood, principally from the trees of Maryland, such as White Oak and Pine. All the wood used to build this ship was donated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Lady Maryland is pink and green because these are the traditional colors for pungy schooners. Some say pink was used because the oxides and pigments needed for pure white were not readily available in the early 1800's. Others say that when the builders poured the white hull paint into the same buckets they used for the red bottom paint, the result was "pungy pink".

Today, the Lady Maryland sails as part of the Living Classrooms Foundation's educational fleet, providing hands-on, multidisciplinary educational programs for students of all ages.

Vital Statistics:

LENGTH: 104 feet overall
BEAM: 22 ft.
HEIGHT: 85 feet with topmast
DRAFT: 7 feet
SAIL AREA: 2,994 square feet
SAILS: Jib, Foresail, Mainsail, Topsail
BERTHS: 20
WEIGHT: 82 tons
BALLAST: 18 tons
POWER: Two 85 horsepower Cummins diesel engines

[Ian McColgin]

Very nice.

That would be a "he-pungy."

A 'she-pungy' is shallow keeled with centerboard - and therefore centerboard trunk, for any who might have missed the obvious.

[mmd]

Lovely ship, Bill. Thanks for the posting. Do you know what form the ballast is in? (i.e., all internal, lead pigs, river stones, etc.?)

[TimH]

Beautiful! May she get as much use as our own state mascot vessel the lady Washington :D http://ladywashington.linsect.com/Mvc-0210ltn.jpg

[Bill Dodson]

Originally posted by mmd:
Lovely ship, Bill. Thanks for the posting. Do you know what form the ballast is in? (i.e., all internal, lead pigs, river stones, etc.?)I haven't been able to find out any more than I've posted about her, but if she's still in town and if I can pay the lady a visit, I'll certainly try to find out.

[Bill Dodson]

Originally posted by TimH:
Beautiful! May she get as much use as our own state mascot vessel the lady Washington :D Thank you... the Lady Washington is a real beauty!

I think the Lady Maryland kind of gets overlooked because of all the publicity that follows the Pride of Baltimore II. But I really like the idea of the Lady Maryland earning her keep by taking children out on school "field trips".

[Wayne Jeffers]

Very nice, Bill.

Michelle and I saw her when we were at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum just over 3 years ago. Impressive! I thought the colors a bit unusual, until I learned that they are traditional for that type craft.

Wayne

[Ariel]

Beautiful! Thanks for posting....

[Art Read]

Well THAT'S a blast from the past! I was her "relief" skipper during her third(?) season in the Chesapeake. It was the summer they finished building, and then launched, the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II. We still berthed her at the finger piers in Baltimore's Inner Harbor at the time and I got to spend a lot of evenings hanging out with the building crew of the PRIDE at the "Bunn Penny" after work. (That's when I first "discovered" Micro-Brews! ;) ) And I had the good fortune to be "on duty" when she was asked to serve as "guard vessel" for the big launch party itself. We had a 21 gun salute from a militia re-enactment company from Fort McHenry on board, (and, of course, our OWN salute cannon ;) ) and had the best view in the harbor...

She's really quite an interesting vessel. Sails quite well, but MUCH less room below than her size would indicate. Very little freeboard. (Watch your head!) I understand she's done some offshore passages since I left her, but it's not really what she was designed for. I'd love to hear how she behaved out there! And those twin engines make for some interesting docking/maneuvering possibilities. (I'd rather not discuss how her "first", starboard cathead got knocked off, but in my own defense, I did make the replacement for it myself with wood from the PRIDE's shipyard...) Still, that was a great job!

[ 09-24-2003, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Art Read]

Mike, scandalously, I don't recall the exact configuration of her ballast. I believe it's a combination of internal lead pigs and an external ballast "shoe", but I won't swear to it. She gets a lot of her stability from her wide, relatively flat bilges. And she was designed and built before the loss of the first "Pride", so of course a lot of the safety measures implemented after that tragedy weren't incorporated in LADY MARYLAND. A lot of the same people were involved in all three projects. Thomas Gilmour was the designer of LADY MARYLAND and PRIDE II, while Melbourne Smith designed and built PRIDE I. An old friend of mine, Pete Boudreou was a big part of all 'em. Helped build and then skippered the first PRIDE, was chief builder of LADY MARYLAND and then was chief builder and first skipper of PRIDE II. You might recognise his name from recent articles in "WoodenBoat" concerning the rebuilding projects on GAZELLA of PHILADELPHIA and USS CONSTELLATION. Pretty amazing acheivements if you ask me...