William Kavanek (Fine Art Painter of the Ida May): In His Own Words

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William Kavanek (1924-2008) was the preeminent fine art painter/interpreter of the Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Ida May.  He was a carpenter for most of his life, working with Edward Tschauder and also with Walter Skor.  Always having an art interest, and with no formal training, he began a successful career as a full-time artist in 1978, specializing in marine art.  He became fascinated with the Chesapeake Bay oystering industry in general, and with this one skipjack boat in particular. 

 

Bill Kavanek said, "The Ida May has become my primary model, mainly because I have had the opportunity to sail on her at the annual skipjack races on Deal Island, MD. I have grown very fond of her. She has never won anything but my heart. I have been able to study her details and activity aboard at length, and have become a friend of the owner and call upon him when I have a technical problem and ask for his personal opinion of the finished renderings of his beloved and only remaining boat of a fleet of ten.” 

 

“How these boats seem to meld so naturally into the Bay scenery! Perhaps it is the broad sweep of their sails or the unique low lines of their hulls that show they truly evolved in that area alone. They are the typical American working girls who struggle at their jobs all day, but always seem to maintain their poise and beauty.” 

 

“Harvesting oysters will continue to be a profitable industry, but the Chesapeake Bay skipjack and her industrious men constitute a method of operation that’s fast fading from the scene. It is hard to imagine that this piece of our heritage should ever disappear, but we must assume that there will be an invasion by modern technology with more efficient methods. We always seem to sacrifice charm for the sake of progress and never know what we’ve lost until we look back from the future.”

 

“The skipjacks of the Chesapeake Bay constitute the last commercial fleet in the United States still working under sail. At the turn of the century, the fleet has been estimated to have numbered nearly 2,000. Perhaps there would have been none at all today were it not for Maryland’s rather sensible law restricting the harvesting of oysters by dredging to boats under sail. At the present time, the law does allow two days a week for the skipjacks to work under power. The power is provided by the motorized yawl boat suspended at the stern which is lowered into the water and pushes its mother ship along. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the oysters harvested in the United States come from the East Coast, and the vast bulk of that 85% comes from the Chesapeake Bay.” 

 

“Dredging, called “drudgin” on the Eastern Shore, is the process of lowering an iron device with teeth and netting that scrapes the oysters from the bottom as the ship moves along and then raises the catch to the deck where the clusters of oysters are broken apart, measured and culled. It is a long day for the crew on their knees, chipping and culling, in the worst of weather, realizing that the season runs from October to March, the winter months.” 

 

“But there is an independence to be had and money to be made for those who have the grit to do it. The watermen of the Bay are today a relic of early America with attributes that many would say we have lost along the way.”

 

“On every Labor Day, most of the surviving and working Chesapeake skipjacks gather at Deal Island, Maryland, to sail in a race against each other, mainly to gain just the honor of winning. Visitors are allowed to board the ships and enjoy a beautiful two to three hour sail around the Bay.” 

 

“The Ida May is the last of the captain’s large fleet and the last skipjack berthed in Deal Island Harbor. We and the captain and his family became close friends and sailed the Ida May for a number of years. Captain Elbert Gladden passed away, but his sons have had Ida May refurbished from top to bottom; just this year they and their families spent eight Saturdays putting on a new deck.” 

 

“She doesn’t go out oystering any longer; the investment of putting her to work would be a losing proposition. The family hopes that someone will take her out as a tourist cruise ship and it would become a permanent museum. What a tribute to Captain Gladden that would be!”