Two brave rowers made the 16-mile journey across the Chesapeake Bay from the Eastern Shore to Williams Wharf Landing in Mathews on Saturday, in an effort to highlight all the recreational opportunities that the bay and its tributaries have to offer.
Setting out from Cape Charles, world champion rowers Matt Muffelman and James Dietz encountered some choppy waters along the way, but pulled into the dock at Williams Wharf right around 4:30 p.m. without incident. In case any problems were encountered, the two were followed by Waynie Hudgins in his workboat, but his services thankfully were not needed.
A group of supporters gathered at Williams Wharf to celebrate the rowers’ accomplishment, and also to praise efforts to reduce Chesapeake Bay pollution and increase recreational opportunities for those to enjoy this unique natural resource.
Craig DeRemer, president of the Mathews Land Conservancy’s Board of Directors, served as emcee for Saturday’s event, with Mathews Board of Supervisors’ chair Janice Phillips taking the podium as its first speaker.
“Chesapeake Bay water is in our veins,” she said, referring to a famous comment that had been made by John F. Kennedy, where he had said that people have the same percentage of salt in our blood as exists in the ocean. “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came,” Kennedy had said.
Muffelman, who serves as vice president of the Mobjack Rowing Association and cut his teeth on rowing in the late 1990s at Mathews High School before going on as an athlete and coach on the U.S. National Team, said that his wife advised him that whatever he said, “you should speak the truth.”
He reflected on a plaque he had of an Old Breton prayer that Admiral Hyman Rickover had given to his submarine captains, as well as to JFK: “O, God, Thy Sea is so great and my boat is so small.” Those words, he said, seemed especially fitting given the day’s accomplishment.
“It was an absolute joy just being out here and having fun,” Muffelman said. He went on to say that he hopes to create opportunities for future generations to have that same fun.
“What an incredible inspiration,” Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross) said of the rowers’ journey across the bay. DeRemer, who introduced Wittman, reminded the crowd of Wittman’s work as a marine scientist, how Wittman’s son is still a waterman and called the Congressman a “constant supporter of all things Chesapeake.”
Wittman discussed his work to win Congressional approval for America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act, which among other things would reauthorize through FY 2025 the Chesapeake Bay Program, a federal-state partnership that coordinates efforts to reduce pollution in the bay. The bill had passed out of a House committee this past week.
He said he is working to ensure that the Chesapeake Bay has more access points and facilities such as Williams Wharf so that the public can enjoy everything it has to offer.
Wittman reminisced about his days working as a marine scientist in Mathews, adding that “people only have to ask me once to come to Mathews County.”
Joel Dunn, CEO of the Chesapeake Conservancy, hailed Wittman’s efforts, saying the Congressman is a “crucial figure in Chesapeake Bay restoration.”
“The spirit of adventure is just electrical,” Dunn said of the two rowers’ accomplishment. Mathews County, he said, “really embodies the best of the Chesapeake Bay.”
Dunn also spoke of another effort underway in Congress to increase access to this natural resource, the creation of a unified Chesapeake Bay National Recreation Area, something he said that would tie Williams Wharf in with other public access points.
“We need something that knits them together,” Dunn said, something that would “fuel local economies and inspire future generations.” And Williams Wharf, he said, would be a big part of that. “I feel like we really have a shot at this.”
Jack White from the Mathews Rotary Club spoke next, about his club’s Party With A Purpose. For the past three years, the parties at Williams Wharf have helped the club raise money for various charitable causes. He presented DeRemer and MLC vice president Bernadette La Casse with a $20,000 check, something White called a “small installment” in the effort to complete the Owens Maritime Education Center.
La Casse said that thanks to the donation, repainting and rust removal of the large building will be undertaken immediately, beginning this past Monday by local contractor Parlett Painting.
“If Bernie’s behind it, it’s happening Monday,” DeRemer said.
The MLC board is accomplished, hardworking and focused on the task at hand, DeRemer said. “I am more optimistic than I have ever been about the future of the Land Conservancy and Williams Wharf.”
