Crewmember Donald Dover describes life on the Shallop:
"The John Smith 400 is 38 days in, we've covered 440 miles of the Captain John Smith Water Trail, and we've hit our stride. The winds that carried us up the Nanticoke have all but disappeared, and though the sailing was nice, we don't flinch at rowing for six hours. We can set up and break down camp in less than 45 minutes, and we've got morning and coffee down to a science. The rowing is oddly introspective, sometimes we'll row for hours quietly, while others, like today, we tune our solar radio to the oldies station and become a rowing party barge. I would liken our time together on the shallop to being a kid in a power outage; we only have each other for entertainment, which leads to conversations and made-up games that would seem ridiculous to most. Last week we spent the better part of three hours on the Honga River naming everything we could think of that was blue, and enjoyed every minute."
"Tonight we have set up camp on Potomac Creek. Yesterday while sailing a boater recognized us and put us in touch with friends that would let us camp. We are beginning to see this sort hospitality everywhere we go. Just this afternoon a family kayaked over with freshly picked blueberries and raspberries. It was this welcoming kindness that kept John Smith and his men alive, the same way it keeps us motivated in 96 degree heat. I hope this sense of community will continue in the wake of our inaugural voyage on the trail. As we camp in the beautiful places like St. Clements Island and Caledon Nature, it's easy to imagine them as respites for weary water trail travellers long after we've finished our journey." Known as the Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project, the 2007 expedition is an educational initiative of Sultana Projects, a non-profit based in Chestertown, Maryland. Developed in partnership with the Friends of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail, the 2007 reenactment voyage is serving as the official inauguration of the National Park Service's newly established Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
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