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    AP PHOTOS: Dredging oysters with 109-year-old boat

    PATRICK SEMANSKY
    ,
    Associated Press•January 17, 2014
    • In this Dec. 20, 2013 picture, Capt. David Whitelock prepares for a day of oyster dredging on the skipjack Hilda M. Willing as the sun begins to rise over Deal Island, Md. Only after buying the 109-year-old vessel from another family of watermen did Whitelock discover that it once belonged to his great-great grandfather. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
    • In this Dec. 20, 2013 picture, wooden hoops attached to the mainsail rest on the mast of the skipjack Hilda M. Willing as Shawn Sturgis, back left, and Danny Benton prepare for a day of oyster dredging in Tangier Sound near Deal Island, Md. While the skipjack was the vessel of choice for oystermen who made their living on the Chesapeake Bay around the turn of the 20th century, today only a handful are used for commercial dredging during Maryland’s oyster season. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
    • In this Dec. 20, 2013 picture, Danny Benton eats breakfast before a day of oyster dredging aboard the skipjack Hilda M. Willing in Tangier Sound near Deal Island, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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    In this Dec. 20, 2013 picture, Capt. David Whitelock prepares for a day of oyster dredging on the skipjack Hilda M. Willing as the sun begins to rise over Deal Island, Md. Only after buying the 109-year-old vessel from another family of watermen did Whitelock discover that it once belonged to his great-great grandfather. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

    DEAL ISLAND, Md. (AP) — Around the turn of the 20th century, the skipjack was the vessel of choice for oystermen who made their living on the Chesapeake Bay. However, today only a handful of the sailboats are used for commercial dredging during Maryland's oyster season, which runs November through March.

    The owner of one is Capt. David Whitelock, who says commercial fishing runs deep in his family. Two members aboard his skipjack, a 109-year-old sailboat named Hilda M. Willing, are cousins. And only after buying the vessel from another family of watermen did Whitelock discover that it once belonged to his great-great grandfather.

    Here is a gallery of images from a day aboard the Hilda M. Willing, one of the last sail-powered commercial oyster boats in the United States: