The Stanley Norman Skipjack

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and has shaped the history, economy, and culture of the Mid-Atlantic region since the earliest days of European settlement. Its rich and diverse ecosystem supported Indigenous tribes for thousands of years before European settlers arrived and began building an economy around its extraordinary natural resources, particularly its oysters. By the 19th century, oystering had emerged as one of the most significant industries on the entire Eastern Seaboard, transforming the Chesapeake Bay into a bustling hub of commercial activity that supported thousands of watermen, boat builders, shucking houses, and related businesses across Maryland and Virginia.

The oysters harvested from the Chesapeake Bay were not simply a food source. They were the economic engine of an entire regional culture, and the skipjack was the vessel that made it possible. Skipjacks were traditional working sailboats designed specifically for the shallow-water oyster dredging of the Chesapeake Bay, capable of working the reefs efficiently under sail alone in the days before motor-powered vessels dominated the industry. At their peak, thousands of skipjacks worked the Bay. Today, only a small number survive. Among them is the 1902 Stanley Norman Skipjack, one of the most historically significant vessels still sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. She was constructed by master boat builder Otis Lloyd of Salisbury, Maryland, a craftsman whose work defined the character of the working skipjack, and was named after his two sons, Stanley and Norman. She is one of the few remaining skipjacks still afloat and in active use, and she serves today as a living museum on the water, educating guests at Inn at Perry Cabin about the rich maritime heritage of the Chesapeake Bay and the watermen who shaped it.

Her story is a testament to the enduring legacy of oystering in Maryland, the skill of the Eastern Shore's boat-building tradition, and the cultural and economic significance of the Chesapeake Bay to the entire region. At Inn at Perry Cabin, founded in 1815 by Navy officer and seafarer Samuel Hambleton on the shores of the Miles River, the arrival of the Stanley Norman Skipjack into the fleet was a natural homecoming. A vessel this connected to the history of the Chesapeake Bay belongs on a property this connected to the same history. Sailing her from the Inn's private dock on the Miles River, guests can experience that connection firsthand in a way that no museum exhibit can replicate. Interested in experiencing this remarkable vessel for yourself?

Interested in experiencing this beautiful vessel for yourself? Visit our Experiences and Excursions page to choose your adventure, then connect with our guest services team to make your reservation at 443-258-2228 or [email protected].

The Stanley Norman Skipjack is the most historically significant vessel in the Inn at Perry Cabin fleet and offers experiences that simply cannot be replicated on any other vessel on the Eastern Shore. The Skipjack Legacy Voyage is a one-and-a-half-hour narrated sailing along the Miles River available on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays during the sailing season, with the Inn's knowledgeable captains sharing the full history of the Stanley Norman and the oystering tradition of the Chesapeake Bay. At $140 per person with beverages included, it is one of the most distinctive and affordable ways to connect with the maritime history of St. Michaels, Maryland from the water. The Rum Running on the Skipjack is a Wednesday evening experience available June through August that pairs the history of the Stanley Norman with a curated Lyon Rum tasting from the Eastern Shore's own women-owned Lyon Distilling Company, timed perfectly to catch the Wednesday Night Sailboat Races on the Miles River from the best seat on the water. 

The Experience on the Half Shell is the Stanley Norman's most hands-on seasonal offering, available on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October and November. Guests dredge for oysters using the same traditional methods Chesapeake watermen used over a century ago, then enjoy freshly shucked oysters with beverages on the sail back to the Inn's dock. For guests who want the Stanley Norman entirely to themselves, private charters of the full vessel are available at a flat rate of $3,100, subject to Maryland sales and amusement taxes. It is the most exclusive and historically significant private sailing experience available anywhere on Maryland's Eastern Shore.