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THE MARYLAND STATE BOAT

by Tierra B.

My official symbol is the state boat. The name of the boat is skipjack. The skipjack was designated the state boat in 1985. Skipjacks were named after a leaping fish. They are the last working boats under sail in the United States. In winter, they dredge oysters from the floor of the Chesapeake Bay. The graceful boats work back and forth over the oysters and pull them up from their beds. Watermen call this drudging. The skipjack is twenty-five to sixty feet long.