Menhaden? Who knew?

Reedville, Virginia

Have you ever even heard of menhaden? We certainly hadn't until we visited the Reedville Fishermen's Museum in Reedville, Virginia the other day. Menhaden, also known as mossbunker, and bunker, are small, smelly, oily, bony forage fish that swim in great schools and made millionaires of Reedville's 19th century sea captains.

When we sailed up Cockrell Creek a few days ago, we passed by several large fishing boats and wondered what kind of fishing they did.

Further up the creek, we saw what appeared to be a large, solitary chimney and on the opposite shore, the ruins of several brick buildings. We had no idea about their history, but after a visit to the Reedville Fishermen's Museum, we became enlightened.

Though the museum offers lots of interesting displays and information about the area's history, the biggest revelation for us was its video, displays and exhibits specific to the menhaden industry. According to The House and Home magazine, “At one time in Reedville’s history, fifteen different fish factories lined the shores of Cockrell’s Creek [those ruins we saw], which earned Reedville the grand distinction as one of the most affluent towns, per capita, in the entire United States.” Evidence is Elijah Reed's house still standing grandly and proudly on Main St.

A quote from noted conservationist, Rachel Carson, states “ … almost every person in the United States has at some time eaten, used or worn something made from menhaden.” Really? Like what, for instance? Well … fish oil, pet foods, chicken feed and fertilizer for a start. Because it's high in Omega-3, it is used in dietary supplements. It's also a raw material in the cosmetics industry for making lipstick. Even Reedville's water tower reminds us that menhaden was the backbone of this once-thriving community.

I found an interesting website “Six reasons why Menhaden are the greatest fish ever fished”. It opened our eyes to even more menhaden facts. “Menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, is, without a doubt, the single most important fish in the western Atlantic. This oily filter-feeder swims in schools so large that they block the sun from penetrating the water’s surface as it regulates ocean health.”

More interesting trivia from the same internet article ... “Native Americans (Narragansetts) in precolonial America called the fish ‘munnawhatteaug,' which translates to ‘fertilizer.' In a legend about the Plymouth Colony, a local tribe taught the first settlers to plant a fish with their corn to make it grow stronger.” Yup, that fish was a menhaden. Menhaden were also known as poghaden, bony-fish, whitefish, pogy, fat-bat, and bugheads. Who knew?

Okay … enough fish stories. We're slowly heading up the Potomac River towards Washington, DC. Come share the ride!

Port of Call: Reedville, Virginia

Fishing Bay to Reedville - Day 4 - 36 nm (passage total: 116 nm) A splendid sunrise had us anchor up at 0730 and on our way from Fishing Bay to our next port of call, Reedville, Virginia. Out the Piankatank River, back into Chesapeake Bay and then up the Great Wicomico River to a fine little anchorage in Cockrell Creek.

We were looking forward to Reedville for several reasons. First, we had planned a late afternoon meet-up with Jeremy McGeary, Senior Editor of Good Old Boat. We'd worked with him for the past couple of years, but never had the chance to meet him. He had also told us a bit about Reedville and we were looking forward to visiting the little Reedville Fishermen's Museum and having a chance to stretch our legs after two days without shore time. Second, and just as importantly, we were meeting Jeremy at Chitterchats (“ice cream and gossip parlor”). Need we say more?

Once Cups was comfortably set in the creek, we dinghied into the small museum dock and tied up. The approach to the dock was a picture-perfect postcard.

We weren't ashore more than a couple of minutes when we were approached by Tom Miller, an off-duty docent for the museum who just happened to be at the museum. He welcomed us and chatted a bit before pointing us in the direction of the museum entrance.

For such a small museum in such an out-of-the-way place, the Reedville Fishermen's Museum is a gem. After a very informative video, we spent an hour or more viewing the well-displayed exhibits. We learned about the history of Reedville, from Elijah Reed's arrival c.1874 to the present day. The history of Reedville is tied intrinsically to menhaden fishing. Menhaden, you ask? Stay tuned. I'll explain more tomorrow.

After touring the museum, we were allowed to tour the Walker House, the oldest home in the community. Built in 1875 by William Walker, the museum restored, refurbished and refurnished the house and it now represents a 19th century waterman’s home.

Along the dock where we'd tied up the dinghy, there were several boats owned by the museum, representative of the vessels that plied the Chesapeake waters and environs. The Claud W. Somers is a classic Chesapeake Bay skipjack, built in 1911 in Young's Creek, Virginia. Sadly, in 1977 Claude W. Somers was struck by a squall near Hooper Strait Light, leaving six drowned, including her owner-captain.

The Spirit of Reedville was of particular interest. Used as the working boat for corralling and netting menhaden (that mysterious fish I mentioned above), this vessel is known as a purse boat.

After the museum, we headed down the town's main street, oddly named Main Street. Reedville is a tiny, sleepy little town – population ~2,341. There are very few shops, no supermarkets, no 7-11s nor Ace Hardwares, but it's quite pleasant and the people are friendly. Lined with stately Victorian mansions, this street was once considered  a Millionaire's Row during the height of the menhaden fishing days. The Morris House was a good example, particularly grand and ornate.

One of the museum ladies told us to be on the look-out for the “Sears-Roebuck” house. We found the Dey Cottage and did a little research into its history. According to The House and Home Magazine, “the  Russell Dey Cottage is a Sears and Roebuck Modern Home — a home that was mail ordered from a catalog and then built upon delivery, using a 75 page instruction manual, from a kit containing between 10,000 and 30,000 pieces. Sears and Roebucks Modern Homes were built between 1908 and 1940 and it has been estimated that over 70,000 of these homes were sold during this time. It was suggested by Sears that “A man of average abilities could assemble a Sears kit home in about 90 Days.” Russell Dey Cottage or ‘The Hathaway,’ a two bedroom house, was ordered from a Sears catalogue in 1926, for a modest $1,299 and was then barged via steamboat into Reedville, via Baltimore, where it was assembled by local carpenter at the time, Mr. Dotson. The fact that it was barged into Reedville was an oddity at the time, because most Sears Roebuck homes were transported via railroad boxcars because of the weight of the materials being shipped.”

After the museum tour and walk, we were ready to meet Jeremy … and get an ice cream! Chitterchats is a wonderful little ice cream parlor with great flavors of rich, creamy ice cream. Jennifer, the owner, welcomed us warmly, then set about scooping our choices. Yum.

We managed to waddle our way out of the ice cream shop to Jeremy's car. He offered to take us to the closest supermarket which ended up being about a thousand miles away. We returned to Nine of Cups in the late afternoon to give Jeremy a nickel-tour of the boat and share a glass of wine. Then he was off and we spent a lovely, calm night in the Cockrell Creek anchorage, all geared up for more adventures in the days to come.

Stay tuned tomorrow for all you ever needed or wanted to know about menhaden. Yup … you're gonna be overwhelmed!

Mobjack Bay to Fishing Bay

Day 3 - 31 nm (passage total: 80 nm) The guys were up at 0530 removing the old impeller and replacing it with a new one. We hauled anchor by 0715. We were thankful for the thick, black river mud that had held us firmly during the night, but now spent 30 minutes cleaning the muck off the chain and anchor before getting underway.

The new impeller did the trick and the engine temp stayed steady in its normal range. Cups' speed was greatly enhanced without all the barnacles on her prop. All was good. We passed by New Point Comfort Light as we left Mobjack Bay and re-entered the Chesapeake.

It was right about that time that David announced the the forward head pump was broken. Really?

Paul went below and the two guys spent several hours trying to fix it. We had an older spare pump aboard, but when it was installed, it didn't work either. They finally exchanged the aft head pump for the forward pump and all was well … until it was determined that the hose from the head to the holding tank was clogged and the head was still unusable. David tried using muriatic acid, but to no avail. Sigh!

We passed Wolf Trap Light, then headed to port up the Piankatank River. Our destination for the evening was Fishing Bay, a lovely wide open, deep water bay, perfect for an overnight stay. We anchored and the guys got to work on the forward head again. They removed the connecting hose between the head and the holding tank … a mighty effort. It was clogged with thick, hard calcium deposits. Evidently all his regular treatments with muriatic acid along the way had not been all that successful.

They worked for several hours and finally reassembled the whole works with excellent results. Whew! Traveling without a working head would have been a bummer. We have an aft head, but we rarely use it unless we're at sea because it is not connected to a holding tank.

The area was scenic with a lovely little marina and Deltaville, with its shops and museum, was just a short walk across the peninsula. By the time the job was complete, however, it was too late to launch the dinghy and head into shore. We settled for a glass of wine, dinner and a game or two of cards aboard. By 9pm (aka cruiser midnight), we were all ready for our bunks.

Two things to note here: 1) We're not traveling very far each day by choice; and 2) we haven't been off the boat since we left AYB. Tomorrow we're hoping for some shore time to stretch our legs and see what we can see and, please, no more hissy-fits from the sulking Nine of Cups.