BOWERS, De. -- A 129 year old oyster schooner is now sitting at the bottom of the Delaware Bay. The Maggie S Myers sank on Friday, Dec. 23rd, possibly putting an end to the boats journey that spanned more than a century.
Built in 1893, The Maggie S Myers is America's oldest working oyster schooner. Now, she sits beneath the icy tide in the Delaware Bay. With her are engines, pumps, generators and plenty of other equipment.
But, possibly the biggest loss are all of the maps, drawings and tid-bits of information from a lifetime of work from Captain Frank 'Thumper' Eicherly.
"All that information is gone," said Eicherly. "I guess I got it all up here[Eicherly points to his head], but that get's a little dicey."
Captain Thumper bought Maggie in 1999. After a bit of haggling with the previous owner, a Captain Willis, Thumper purchased Maggie for $5,000. Since then, she's sailed the Delaware Bay, caught a bunch of oysters and even made an appearance in a few newspapers.
As described by Captain Thumper, Maggie was a 'staunch' and even 'versatile' schooner. Thumper recalled stories of her being used to haul watermelons "back in the old days".
She has been a big part of life for Captain Thumper and his brother, Brian Howard. Howard is the schooners historian.
But, Maggie's impact doesn't stop with the two step-brothers. In fact, she was a staple in the Bowers community, and it was actually a member of the Bowers community who first sensed something was wrong. As he made his way into town on Friday, he noticed he could no longer see the giant masts sticking up from out of the water.
"My neighbor Jeff came running up to the back door and he goes 'Thumper, Thumper, the boat sank', and them are words you never want to hear," said Eicherly.
Captain Thumper isn't wasting any time, however, feeling sorry for himself or for Maggie. He's made arrangements for crews to come out on Tuesday morning to get the schooner off the Delaware Bay floor.
For that to happen, Bowers mayor, Ada Puzzo, said the town needs Delmarva Powers help. There is a power line that runs to a mobile home near the boat that, while operational, wouldn't allow a crane to lift Maggie out of the water.
Delmarva Power now plans to take down the power line on Wednesday morning to make room for the crane.
Mayor Puzzo said, "Delmarva power came out and we have a nice plan together they are going to come back tomorrow morning at 7:30 and Thumper has everything else lined up."
She is hopeful that the Maggie will be afloat by the end of the day on Wednesday.
Howard said the cost of the crane and hiring rescue divers is worth it for him and Captain Thumper because "The Maggie is a piece of history and once it's lost it's lost you can't bring that back."
"There will never be another Maggie S Myers," he said.
A historic schooner that has already left a lasting legacy, but many are hopeful they haven't seen the last of her.
----
If you'd like to pitch in to help with the efforts to resurrect the Maggie S Myers, Brian Howard has set up a GoFundMe. The brothers say any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Here is the link for the GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/maggie-s-myers-needs-your-help-to-survive?qid=9ab57adbb998782f4f6d6d49b42ff2d5