Abstract:
The skipjack ADA MAE was built by Captain Ralph Hodges in Rose Bay, Hyde County, in 1915. Skipjacks, or two-sail bateaus, were dredge boats that supported the state's oyster industry. The ADA MAE is believed to be the only remaining skipjack built in North Carolina. It was found in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1994, by an East Carolina University graduate student who was working on a research project in Maryland. The ADA MAE is moored at Washington, North Carolina, where restoration work is being completed. It will be used there as a classroom to teach students about the oyster industry in the state.