The internet is a big place. Just about anything you want to know, you can find. The Chesapeake Bay is a big place, too. Not as big as the World Wide Web, but what is? One of the things you have to deal with as a magazine editor is that you have a finite amount of space to present your material. As such, I spend a lot of time culling through information, and researching things on the web in order to distill the material I want to present to the readers. Here on the internet, however, things are much different. I’m not hampered by any space limitations, I don’t have to hold to a specific word count, or keep the number of photos I use to a preconceived amount. So when I run across the often interesting and informative stuff that I use to construct an issue of The Mariner, I’m often left with a massive array of sources, websites and other material that I just don’t have a place for. Sure, some of this stuff is interesting and deserves a little promotion, but what can I do? I’ve only got a small percentage of 40 pages to play with, give or take.
So, I’ve decided to use the lack of limitation here to try and present some of the fantastic material that’s out there for boaters, environmentalists and just about anyone who lives on or near the Chesapeake Bay. Every so often, I’m going to feature a handful of the great websites I run across while doing my job, and hopefully help to bring their work to you. Also, if you scroll down the right hand side here, I’m posting a link and a brief description of each and every website I mention for you to visit any time under the header Bay Links.
In case you haven’t heard, on May 12 of this year, President Obama signed an executive order declaring the Chesapeake Bay as a National Treasure (we already knew that), and establishing a Federal mandate for the restoration and preservation of the Bay itself. One of the requirements of this executive order was the establishment of a website to (theoretically) publicly present the actions, conclusions and other work involved in this effort. Now, whether or not you believe that the Feds stepping in to “help out” is a good thing or not (and surprisingly, I have some reservations) they are still going to be spending a lot of money and making decisions that will affect all of our lives. We probably ought to pay attention. This website is where you can get the story (as they tell it) straight from the horse’s mouth. I check it every so often if for no other reason than to see what kind of well-meaning, misguided “going green” stuff we’ll have to put up with next. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cleaning up the Bay, but the Feds can’t coordinate a lunch order, let alone an effort as complex and potentially rife with pitfalls as returning an entire massive estuary to health. I could be wrong, it’s been known to happen, but we should watch anyway.
Do you like wooden boats? I do. They’re classy, beautiful, sleek and a royal pain to maintain. What could be better? An entire website dedicated to wooden boat enthusiasts everywhere. Woody Boater, billed as the number one daily journal for antique and classic boast lovers, has just about everything covered. There’s a comprehensive list of classic boat shows, lots of first hand accounts of restoration efforts, a blog from their humble moderator and pictures, pictures, pictures! My favorite part is the section called Woody Babes (which just sounds wrong but is oh, so right) where a combination of photos and classic advertising art chronicles scantily clad women on vintage wooden boats. Again, what could be better? I imagine the site could be a pretty useful to someone actually restoring a classic vessel, you know, being able to connect with like-minded people, find the parts and materials you’re looking for, as well as some pretty useful how-to information, but I go back for the Woody Babe posted under March 9, 2009. A classic, indeed.
Here at The Mariner, we have an excellent regular fishing report produced for us by the great Tacklebox Tim Sherman. But as any fisherman will tell you, you can never have too much information. For years, the Maryland DNR has been posting regular Bay-wide fishing reports culled largely from the experiences of DNR employees. In fact, this is the very fishing report we used to print in The Mariner back in the 1990s. We spare no expense to bring you the best information, especially when it comes for free from the State. Hey, no one ever said we weren’t cheap. But for a nice place with lots of photos of happy people holding their prized catch, and lots of the how’s, where’s and what’s for some good angling, this is a sweet spot.
Do you enjoy reading long-winded narratives detailing the obscure science behind the complex ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay? Hey, I do too! Nothing gets me going like reading about a conversation between two academics on the subject of invasive species. That’s just hot! Seriously, though, while some of this stuff can be boring (really, really boring) this is important information. How can we even begin to try and restore and protect the Bay without first understanding the underlying science that makes everything work? The Bay Blog is part of the Maryland Sea Grant’s Chesapeake Quarterly magazine, and it’s a combination of good science and a little ecological understanding that can possibly help us with the above-mentioned Federal screw-up, er, effort to save the Bay. After all, if we don’t understand the reality of things, how are we supposed to know exactly how wrong the Feds are?
Oh, say can you see a website run by an Anthropology student at the University of Maryland that details her work on the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. I’m just assuming the site is run by a girl, I couldn’t actually find a name anywhere, but there was a refrence to being on a diet and little yellow smiley faces posted in one of the articles. Has to be a chick, er, educated woman. Anyway, I ran across this site one morning by the dawn’s early light when I was looking for some tidbit of information about the War of 1812. I found a site where the moderator proudly hailed the history of this region. She’s going to school for a masters of applied anthropology studying heritage tourism. Because you know, if you’re spending all that time and money going for a master’s degree, tourism is the way to go. I wonder if they have a class on selling coffee mugs that read, “I saw history in Maryand and all I got was this lousy cup”? Anyway, the Star Spangler Banner Blogger has a site filled with all sorts of interesting stuff and links to the history of this region, enough to keep you reading ’till the twilight’s last gleaming. This is some pretty solid information, chronicled well, especially for someone who attended school in College Park. (I know what I’m talking about, I attended school in College Park.) We live in a region that is just saturated with history, George Washington slept around here. In paid lodgings, get your mind out of the gutter. The Revlution, War of 1812 and Civil War all played large roles in the life and times of our part of the world, and there’s leftover junk from them scattered everywhere. I guess littering wasn’t a concern before the 1900s. For sheer history, this site stands out like a rocket’s red glare…okay, I’m sorry. I pushed that joke a little far. I should have stopped with the first reference. I had to play it to death. Beating a dead horse. Dipping in the well too often. Just go check out the site.
Celebrate Labor Day this year by picking up the newest copy of The Mariner at your favorite restaurant, convenience store, marina or marine retailer near you. This month, we’ve packed lots of interesting boating information into these pages.
