TODDVILLE, Md. - Watermen in Southern Dorchester County have faced significant challenges navigating icy conditions for days, with the river nearly impassable.
Some watermen managed to venture out, using their boats to break through the sheet of ice. Chad Foxwell said he has been able to get out despite the harsh conditions.
“Past couple mornings [there's] been some ice,” Foxwell said. “and some guys couldn’t get to go out — the guys with wooden boats.”
The icy weather has presented multiple obstacles for watermen. In addition to sheets of ice on the water, they’ve encountered still frozen roads on their way to the docks and slippery walkways leading to their boat slips.
Foxwell explained that fiberglass boats are able to break through small amounts of ice, but solely wooden boats can experience major damage if they encounter sheets of ice.
Buddy Oberender, a commercial fisherman, said he has stayed off the water due to the ice and frigid temperatures.
“The water temperature here is somewhere between 30 and 31 degrees, so it don’t take that much cold at night for it to freeze across the creek here,” Oberender said.
For watermen, the icy conditions don’t just disrupt their routine — they affect their bottom line.
“We don’t make our day’s work, and you [have to] prepare for that and be able to sustain it when it happens,” Foxwell said. “It’s like every other business. Different things impact it, and you [have to] be prepared for it.”
