A soft peach light filters through my window at the first flush of dawn and I draw back the curtains to reveal a ravishing view of the renowned Chesapeake skyline. The sun’s rays sparkle across the surface of the water like scattered shards of glass, while hundreds of tall sailboat masts punctuate the vast horizon. Gentle winds on the bay rock the anchored boats, keeping this dramatic seascape in constant motion.

This waterfront view from my balcony at The Inn at Perry Cabin in St Michaels grows increasingly enticing as the day unfolds. Over breakfast of lobster hash, served on vintage china, I watch mallards and white tundra swans glide into a marshy cove to feed, bottoms up. Ospreys grab fish from the water with their talons and bring the catch back to huge stick nests perched on channel markers. Crabbers head out on long wooden work boats, fishermen churn towards favourite fishing sites, and sailors hoist and trim sails. Despite its overwhelming atmosphere of calm and peace, a lot is happening out there on the bay.

Life has always revolved around the water here on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, Maryland, the largest estuary in North America. Settled in the mid-1600s, traditional watermen made a living harvesting oysters in the winter and blue crabs in the summer, as well as fishing, and hunting ducks and geese. Local boat builders developed a variety of original designs to meet the watermen’s needs, most notably the skipjack with its majestic bowsprit.