Author Larry Chowning of Urbanna, has just released “Chesapeake Bay Deadrise Boats,” a book containing photos of the classic boat style from the last century until the present, coming from all points of the bay.

Chowning, the author of many books on Chesapeake Bay boats and the commercial fishing industry, states in a foreword that “The Chesapeake Bay deadrise hull has been used for many types of commercial work and recreational play. The size of the boats ranged from 12-foot skiffs to the largest one ever built, the 97-foot-long MaryDel.”

This 128-page paperback volume documents the boats and the individuals who built them, worked them, and played aboard them. It was published on Feb. 19 and is available on Amazon for $24.99.

It is crammed with photographs from Chowning’s collection, and from photographic sources and individuals up and down the bay. Chowning writes of the odd name given to the style of boat, and theories of its origin, and states “The development of the wood...