By Logan Monteleone
Elm Staff Writer
The twang of the bluegrass-banjo, the snap of the tall ships’ sails, and the slip of the soft oysters leaving their shells are each and all a part of the culturally-reflective sounds and sensations that make up Chestertown’s early-November tradition.
Al Barnes, the president of the Old Bay chapter the Antique Outboard Motor Club, loves “all things nautical,” from eight-foot-long plywood boats to the sights and sounds of the annual Sultana Downrigging Festival.
“Some of the people I’ve met this weekend, I’ll remember them forever,” Barnes said.
Along with learning about different ships and listing to local stories, Barnes said he enjoys learning from the other boat-enthusiasts he meets at the Festival.
“Every story always starts with, you know, there’ll be some old guy [who says,] ‘Back when I was a boy,’” Barnes said.
Barnes represented his club chapter as well as the Cocktail Class Wooden Boat Racing Association at the Sultana Downrigging Festival last weekend.
The plywood boats are designed to replicate a 1930s model of a small outboard racing boat. A logo drawing of a whiskey glass filled with ice cubes marks the outside of each vessel.
A Halloween skeleton in a racing helmet sat behind the wheel of the Flaming Moe, one of “beat-around” cocktail boats Barnes brought, which is named after the Simpson’s cartoon.
The antique boats, maritime museum booths, and other festival partners were lined up along the riverfront near the tent where attendees enjoyed seafood and live music.
The three-day festival starting Oct. 31 is hosted annually by the Sultana Education Foundation to help to program offer students environmental learning opportunities. The program is named for its model schooner moored in Chestertown.
Various presentations, exhibits, and activities related to art, history, and the environment were offered throughout the weekend. Attendees were able to board the historic tall ships, including the AJ Meerwalkd, Godspeed, Kalmar Nyckel, Maryland Dove, Lady Maryland, Pride of Baltimore II, Lynx, Sultana, and Sigsbee.
An exhibit titled “Blacks on the Water” was held at the Starr Center’s Customs House on Nov. 1, coinciding with Maryland Emancipation Day, which commemorates the abolition of slavery with the passing of state’s constitution in 1864.
Other events included Bookplate-sponsored lectures at the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve by author Thomas Guay on his book “Chesapeake Bound: An Annapolis Novel” and author Dave Gendell on “The Last Days of the Schooner America.”
Marcus Goldman, Sultana’s Director of Paddling Programs, said the festival helps to subsidize the cost of transportation for school field trips and to provide for camp scholarship funds.
As paddling director, Goldman leads kayaking and canoeing trips as well as Sultana’s summer camping program. Goldman has been with the education foundation for five years.
Good weather and a high turnout throughout the festival weekend made for another successful year, Goldman said.
“My favorite part about Downrigging is the oysters and seeing all the ships sailing at the same time,” Goldman said. “It really fills up the river; fills up Chestertown–– makes it feel like it used to.”
Goldman said next year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the festival, which will be “a big one.”
A volunteer at Sultana, self-described “bluegrass freak” Steve Dannenfelser rolled posters with the signature drawing of the Sultana tall ship into cardboard tubes while listening to Flatland Drive play in the tent on Sunday afternoon.
“The music lineup this year was great. The only disappointment is the Country Current wasn’t here,” Dannenfelser said.
The Country Current is the U.S. Navy’s bluegrass band, which was unable to attend due to the current government shutdown, according to a release on social media from festival organizers.
Along with Flatland Drive, the lineup included Wicked Sycamore, Tim and Savannah Finch, Serene Green, The High and Wides, Level Best, Unspoken Tradition, Missy Raines, Danny Paisley, and Midshore Voices United.
For more information about the festival or Sultana Education Foundation, visit https://sultanaeducation.org/
Photo Caption: Al Barnes and the Flaming Moe antique outboard motorboat at Downrigging on Nov. 1.
Photo by Logan Monteleone