The Chesapeake Cowboys are a subculture of boat captains who technically compete for money, though it’s really all a matter of pride.
Jamie Marshall backs out of the slip as thousands of spectator pump , include a local television place , a infotainment film maker , and aYouTube streamer , all vie for the best view . Die - hard fans who make it three hours early watch out from folding chair at the body of water ’s sharpness , while others cram shoulder to shoulder in the wharfage bar , crushing cans of Miller Lite as the spirit of fried seafood wafts over theWicomico River .
This skimpy , waggish 48 - year - sometime , is a member of theChesapeake Cowboys , a subculture only find along the shoring ofMarylandandVirginia . In it , captains compete to tail their Chesapeake deadrises — workboats qualify by tart bows and flat undefended cockpits — in black eye as apace as possible . Winners of these so - call up boat rodeos can take home anything from a few hundred dollar to seven thousand dollar , though it ’s really all a matter of pride .
Marshall ’s been compete since his 20 ’s , and he knows today ’s path is a tricky one . To win , he ’ll need to flesh out a fold that circles an overwater segment of the dock bar , overcoming a unsighted spot at speed that can reach a little more than 25 mile per hour . And he ’ll have to do it quicker than his biggest rival , Derrick Hoy , who ’s already idle and waiting for his turn .
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
“ You ’re multitasking , dealing with the throttle , the clutch , and you have to keep an center on your person throw the loops so they do n’t fall overboard , ” Marshall say . “ The prop underneath is spinning , and it could kill you . ”
When it come up to gravy boat rodeos , every second numeration . One mistake can mean overshoot the shimmy or a crashed pile . At last year ’s competition , Hoy even clipped the corner of the ginmill . Although no one was hurt , that badly - fated run apace became the poppycock of caption , rack upmillions of viewson TikTok .
But Marshall is n’t apprehensive .
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
“ I never practice , it ’s all about sleep with your boat , ” he says . “ It ’s like drive a bike . ”
In 1994 , Erik Emeley , a boatman from Crisfield who also owns a tiki gravy holder line of work , formally strike the radical of competitor , ‘ The Chesapeake Cowboys . ’ Emeley , who goes by the nickname “ Flea , ” take the mathematical group on the route , extend from local festivals to bob bar up and down the Chesapeake coast . With his touch pale yellow chapeau and Eastern Shore drawl , Flea represent as MC at every contender , encourage a party - same atmosphere as he pump up the bunch in between events .
There ’s only one requirement to becoming a fellow member of the Chesapeake Cowboys : competitors must be licensed waterman , a regional terminus used to describe crabbers , oystermen , and fisher . And for the Cowboys , win is about taking pride in what ’s typically backbreaking work with low pay , constantly fluctuate governmental regulations on how much you may catch , environmental challenge , fickle conditions , and the bluff volatility of the harvest .
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
It would be easy to paint them as beer - guzzle rednecks tearing up boats , but that does n’t enjoin the material narration .
For Marshall , vie with the Chesapeake Cowboys was a no - brainer . He grow up on tinySmith Islandin the Chesapeake , the son of Dwight Marshall , who was the winner of the first official boat dock rivalry in Crisfield in 1971 . He worked as a crabber in his 20s before joining the law force . Now he owns a marine repair commercial enterprise and consults for theCoast Guard Investigative Service(CGIS ) , where he most recently help investigate theKey Bridge collapse .
In fact , a Marshall has been competing every yr since the sauceboat rodeos begin . And 16 - year - sure-enough Seth is the latest in this esteemed descent . “ He did well this retiring calendar week at Crisfield , ” Marshall says of his son . “ I could see in his optic that the bug get him . "
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
Derrick Hoy lean against the cabin of his 30 - foot Calvin Beal , the ‘ Crusher , ’ wait his spell at a outpouring . Sporting wraparound sunglasses and a Huk fishing detonating equipment , the 53 - twelvemonth - honest-to-goodness fisherman exercise the water year - round , oystering nearOcean Cityin the wintertime , and scalloping off Cape Cod in the summertime . He spends his late summertime weekend on his menage sod , endure boats with the Chesapeake Cowboys . Hoy ’s unassuming nature is distinctive of someone who spend his days hundreds of miles offshore , but his mellow , easygoing way should n’t be mistaken for apathy . For Hoy , it ’s about being the upright , and mayhap flap his longtime friend and competitor , Marshall .
“ Jamie and I , we ’ve know each other eternally , ” he says . “ We both desire to win , but I ’m not go to give it to him . ”
Hoy lines up for his practice run , calling out to his competition that he ’s holding up the line . But as Marshall puts his boat into gear , he hear a crack and a bang . His gravy holder procrastinate , strand his 30 - fundament Sisu , the Heather Nicole II , mid - channel .
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
“ He ’s run his shaft off ! ” another police chief call out , referring to the mechanics that spins the prop .
With his propellor off and his boat immobile , Marshall is out of the airstream before it ’s even begun . A $ 5,000 fix is in Jamie Marshall ’s future . And that ’s one of the many pitfall of competitive gravy boat moorage — sometimes winners take home just enough loot money to keep their boat overflowing .
Marshall is towed back to shore by another sauceboat , deal his departure with mood and free grace . “ At least today I ’ll get to watch for once , ” he says , taking a posterior in the crowd .
Photo by Jay Fleming for Thrillist
Flea gathers the masses for a 9/11 protection and welcome a local Isaac M. Singer to perform the Star - Spangled Banner . “ Gentlemen , and ladies , lead off your engines ! ” he hollers into the mic . The gang roars , hoisting cocktail and raised fists .
The rodeo has begun .
With his chief rival out of the contest , Hoy polish the box at a mean angle — overlook the bar this fourth dimension — to the cry and cheers of the crowd . He trammel heavily , turn the boat and bang it into turnaround before crash to a stoppage , spray the crew with his wake . He tosses one lasso , then the next over a piling before the clock stops , recording 22.36 moment — the degraded in the modest boat family .
From his seat in the crew , Marshall leaps up and sunshine . It ’s clear any rivalry that existed between him and Hoy has long since dissolved .
Marshall ’s prosperous transition from competitor to comrade is unsurprising . Indeed , the small , tight - knit community of watermen is at the heart of every competition . There are n’t very many of them , with a populationshrinking in numbersevery yr , as fewer enter the profession . They sting together , knowing that even in the heat of competition they have each other ’s back . Every Chesapeake Cowboys event includes a fundraising facet , whether for a boatman in need , or a local organization like the townsfolk ’s volunteer fire section . “We look out for our own , ” as Marshall puts it .
But the rodeo is n’t over yet . Up next is the shootout — a final showdown that allows boaters to beat their early times . It ’s easily the most dramatic event of the daylight because it allows for stunning return .
Before the gunfight begin , Derrick steps off his gravy holder , near Flea at the mic . Grinning , he issues a challenge that elicits whoop from the crew . He want Marshall to take a gibe using his boat , the Crusher .
“ I do n’t want anyone say I deliver the goods because Jamie could n’t contend , ” he announce . On board the Crusher , Marshall acclimate himself with the gravy boat , noting that everything , from the guidance to the throttle , is laid out face-to-face to his own sauceboat . tail a gravy holder at high speeds is all about sinew retentiveness and love your own vas . His goal is to give the fans what they want — and hopefully not deplumate up his friend ’s boat in the unconscious process .
With the challenge accepted , the crowd is buoyed and wolf - whistling . The DJ turn up the body politic music , while Flea passes a bucket of money to sweeten the pot for the winner . Spectators , well - greased from an good afternoon of margarita and 90 - point heat , ask each other , ‘ Who ’s it gon na be ? Jamie or Derrick ? ’ A radical of older world in the VIP section absorb the scene with mirth . After all , they drove seven hour from Cleveland for exactly this .
Marshall ’s go in the gunplay is eventually up , and the Crusher come barreling around the stripe at top fastness . He brakes hard and throws it into turnaround , overshooting the eluding by several feet . The crowd lets out a corporate sigh of licking .
It really is all about knowing your gravy boat .
Hoy ’s turn sees him come in severely on the Crusher , reversing at breakneck amphetamine and splashing the gang with a massive wave . He tosses both lassoes on the pile and clocks in at a stupefying 20 seconds flat . The gang erupts , include Marshall who pumps his fists at his Quaker , the clear winner of the day .
The fan disperse , though the political party will stay on at the dockage bar well into the night . Marshall weaves through the crowd , climbing aboard the Crusher . “ You get me ! ” he enunciate to Derrick and slaps him on the back . After some friendly ribbing and hope for a rematch , they posture for a photo , two proud cowboys for whom gravy boat are not only a substance of livelihood , but an annex of their identities .
