This summer marks a milestone on the Chesapeake Bay: the 150th anniversary of the iconic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the last surviving screwpile lighthouse still in its original location in the Bay. To honor this legacy, a unique celebration brought together maritime enthusiasts, traditional boatbuilders, and lighthouse lovers over the weekend. A flotilla of Lighthouse Tender rowboats known as “peapods”, all handcrafted from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) boatbuilding kits, rallied for a trip out to Thomas Point Light.
The Lighthouse Tender Peapod returned to its roots in spectacular fashion. John Harris, owner and Founder of CLC, and John Potvin, Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse manager, organized the Peapod Flotilla gathering of hand-built boats rowing out across the Bay just off of Annapolis.
“We’d call it a messabout,” Harris says. “Just a bunch of people who show up on a beach and go sailing.” Harris finds it rewarding to see the boats sailing just off the lighthouse. “This is what they are meant to do. It’s part of the boat’s history, and it’s how I like to see them used.”
Boats came from all over the East Coast. Potvin notes there were boats from “North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and locally of course.” David Sites, Wil Keyworth, and Cory Gassman served as safety boats for the small craft.
Steve Judson, a proud Peapod owner from Maryland, said, “It was a wonderful event that I hope will happen more often .” Judson is the proud owner of Lobsta, a peapod he built himself from a CLC kit. “It’s a good sailing boat,” he says. It’s lots of fun to sail and handles the conditions nicely. He says it was nice to be with other people who have shared the commitment and reward of building a Peapod.
Sitting on the shoal off Thomas Point since 1875, the lighthouse has weathered storms, ice flows, and changing tides, both literal and cultural. Listed as a National Historic Landmark, Thomas Point Shoal is a local icon and a symbol of Chesapeake Bay heritage. For the past century and a half, it has been a fixture for locals, sailors, and tourists alike, its beam of light still guiding mariners home.
As lighthouse manager, John Potvin is responsible for the upkeep of this national treasure. He has also built one of the CLC kits. “When the design came out, I had to get it so I could hang it from the lighthouse”.
He says, “The Lighthouse Tender Peapod is the perfect boat to celebrate the history of the lighthouse, because it’s part of it… It is very similar to the boat lighthouse keepers have used to get to and from the lighthouse; they used a very similar double-ended Lapstrake-built rowboat called a Jon boat. That boat was the mode of transportation to and from the lighthouse. Everything that went on or off came through that type of boat.”
Peapods were once the pickup trucks of the northeastern seaboard–especially favored among lobstermen, lighthouse keepers, and fishermen from Maine down through the Chesapeake. Their wide beam, low profile, and ability to row and sail made them nimble, stable, and safe, even in rougher water.
Harris says it’s one of his favorite types of boats. “I’ve been in love with that hull shape since I was a boy”. He says the design and the plans for this specific kit were drawn with the Washington County style peapod in mind. “This type of boat was used to work the water,” Harris says. “They are a great workboat, they are really solid.”
Part of the character of that style of peapod is that they are heavy. Watermen and lighthouse keepers needed a vessel that could handle all conditions. “The peapod is a perfect lighthouse tender,” Harris says. “It’s heavy enough to handle any conditions, it can carry alot of gear, and you have the option to sail or row it.
The CLC Lighthouse Tender Peapod weighs around 150-200 lbs. Harris estimates that the weight is probably around 40% of what a historical Peapod would weigh.
Each CLC Peapod starts as a box of precision-cut marine plywood panels and epoxy, shipped to boatbuilders around the world or built in-house at CLC’s workshop. Many are assembled in backyards, garages, and classrooms, where builders learn the patience of wooden boatbuilding, without the need for traditional shipwright skills.
Harris estimates that there have been about 100 Peapod kits built. He says some have even turned up on the waters as far away as France.
The event served as a living tribute to Chesapeake Bay history. The 150th anniversary of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse brought together generations of boatbuilders, lighthouse advocates, and maritime enthusiasts in a shared recognition of its heritage. Participants loved the event and are already campaigning for a repeat next year.
For now, the lighthouse continues its steady watch over the Bay, its light guiding mariners up the bay, just as it has since 1875, now, with a new generation keeping its story afloat.
Want to build your own lighthouse tender? The CLC Peapod kit and plans are available at clcboats.com, or you can sign up for one of their hands-on boatbuilding classes: https://clcboats.com/shop/boats/rowboats/Lighthouse_Tender_Peapod.html
