Chesapeake Bay Buy Boat

Why it matters

Buy boats were the tractor-trailers of the Chesapeake. They'd anchor among the tonging and dredging fleets, buying the day's catch directly from watermen and transporting it to market. The name comes from the function: they literally bought oysters and crabs from working boats. Most have been converted to power, but a few preserve their original schooner rigs.

Specifications

Patina notes

These boats spent decades as floating fish markets. The holds still smell like a century of oysters. The decks are worn from countless bushels of shellfish being offloaded. The conversions show layers of adaptation — sail to power, commerce to pleasure — each era leaving its marks.

Preservation reality

Surviving buy boats are mostly converted to charters or liveaboards. The few working examples are museum pieces. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum preserves several. Converting one to a cruiser is a major project, but you get a yacht-sized boat with commercial-grade construction.