Waterlogged Dog: My Great Uncle's Chesapeake Bay Model Boats

UPDATE 2: March 27, 2017, Dr. Richard Rodgers (veterinarian) on the museum's board picked up my uncle's boats today. I look forward to visiting the museum and the town of Deltaville, VA this summer. I'll post on it when it happens.

UPDATE: As of March 22, 2017, the Deltaville Maritime Museum has enthusiastically agreed to accept Mr. Massenburg's collection of indigenous Chesapeake Bay work boats! This is to be celebrated. I am certain that Unk would be thrilled.
I didn't mention this in the original post, but Unk actually had the goal to build each one in a evolutionary progression, from the log canoe up to the deadrise. I should have arranged the pictures in order...alas, that's why I'm donating them to a responsible museum!

As part of our project to downsize, I need to part ways with my treasured collection of model workboats that I inherited from my great uncle, George R. Massenburg Jr. (Unk). This blog post is a brief summary of how Unk cultivated a passion for the Chesapeake Bay and boat building, and how I inherited his boats. It is my sincerest hope that I can find a safe home for these treasures of the Chesapeake region.

Unk, who was born in the 1920s, lived in Hampton, Virginia almost his entire life. As a child he spent most of his days on the waters of the Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake Bay where he crabbed, fished, and raced log canoes. Unk was a true waterman from a very young age.

Once he graduated from Newport News High School, he attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VA Tech), after which Unk came home to attend the Newport News Shipyard Apprentice School where he was trained as a hull draftsman. Unk worked at the shipyard until he joined my grandfather, John L. Richardson to open Dy-Dee-Service Inc. in the 1950s. Unk retired from Dy-Dee-Service in the 1980s.

During his retirement, Unk spent much time building balsa wood model workboats of the Chesapeake Bay. He built a few from kits but most he built from pictures. I always admired the patient detailed work that he invested and we would often discuss the real versions of his models and what their jobs were on the Chesapeake. I will always treasure the memories of these times and our conversations about these fascinating boats

After Unk passed away in 2010, he left the boats to me. They have had a rough time in our home with dogs, kids and too much traffic. It is my sincerest hope that I can find a museum willing to accept Unk’s boats and a picture or two of him. I also hope, that in the process of going through things, that I eventually will find his shipyard apprentice school completion certificate. I can also refine and expand upon this story for a prospective exhibit.

The boats will need a few repairs from bumps and moves, but I personally feel that it would be a worthy investment for these treasured works of art. Thank you for your consideration.

Unk and me in the spring of 2003. He lived almost his entire life in Wythe of Hampton, Virginia.

This is the Chesapeake Bugeye, which was a predecessor to the Skipjack. It was bigger than the skipjack and was used to harvest oysters before oyster numbers dropped.

This is the Pungy Schooner thought to be named for the Pongoteague region of Accomack County, Virginia. It was developed after the pilot shooner, was capable to go on the ocean and its principle use was to move freight.

The Chesapeake Bay Buy Boat is the boat that would purchase the seafood from the other fishermen's boats.

The Chesapeake Bay log canoe was originally a fishing boat but was phased out by the skipjack and the bugeye. Mostly it was known for being a racing boat. Unk raced log canoes as a boy.