Joe Connor and his crew of shipwrights at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum have either restored or built dozens of classic work boats since he joined the CBMM staff in 2013 but he’s the first to admit that heading up the reproduction effort for the Maryland Dove might be the most professionally challenging project in his career.
Contracted by the state, and operated by Historic St. Mary’s City, to build the newest iteration of the Dove over the next two years, CBMM’s staff and volunteers are preparing for the process to begin in June. And Joe Connor can’t wait to begin.
The Dove is not only enormous in size, some 76 feet in length, but comes with the extraordinary legacy of being the first trading ship to bring Europeans settlers to the shores of what is now known as the State of Maryland. While these two factors don’t necessarily intimidate the master boat builder, it does add to his unique sense of responsibility in getting the work done the right way.
The Spy sat down with Joe in his office overlooking the CBMM shipyard to talk about the project.
This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about the Maryland Dove and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum please go here.
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