Aug 4, 2017

Photos and text by Amy Davis

: Norman Gross starts with toy action figures that he alters and dresses in appropriate clothes to represent African-American watermen. This detail portrays his uncle, Rodney Gross, in front, working an oyster rig, while his son, J.R. Gross, in back, sorts oysters on the culling board on their work boat, “Puddin.” Gross, 58, builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross, 58, looks at his model of the “Linda Mae,” a fishing boat he owned and used for fishing with his wife. It was a “gorgeous” boat that “stayed on course, just like a Cadillac,” Gross recalls. He builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross modified toy action figures to represent himself and his wife fishing on their boat, the “Linda Mae,” which is named after her. Gross gave up the boat when he moved to Edgewater last year, but admits that he still misses it. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross looks over the “Linda Mae,” which he took out of one of the display cabinets he built to house his collection of nine model workboats that show African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross holds the only personal item he inherited from his father, Frank Gross, who was one of the first African-American captains on the Chesapeake. His father imparted a love of the water, but Norman Gross knew from an early age that he didn’t want to be a waterman. Gross, 58, builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross keeps this photo of his father, Frank Gross, one of the first African-American captains on the Chesapeake, on display with the model boats he has created to honor his father and an earlier generation of African-American Chesapeake Bay watermen. (Photo Courtesy of Norman Gross)

: Norman Gross, 58, is a skilled gelcoat and fiberglass technician, but is also called upon for other tasks at South River Marina, such as applying compound to polish a boat hull. Gross builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross surveys a boat’s gleaming surface after sanding, painting and applying two clear coats to its hull, at the South River Marina where he works as a gelcoat and fiberglass technician. Gross, 58, builds small model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: A detail of the “Miss Amanda” shows Harold Holland, Norman Gross’s cousin, leaning over the conveyor pulling up clams, and Holland’s nephew, at right, putting the clams into baskets. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross created this replica of “Puddin,” a workboat operated by his uncle, Rodney Gross, for oystering in the winter and clamming in the summer. Rodney’s son, J.R. Gross, sorts oysters on the culling board at left. The workboat was a converted cabin cruiser. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Capt. Frank Gross, one of the first African-American captains on the Chesapeake, is shown leaning over the side of his Bay-built, the “Miss Myrtle,” to net a fish. Norman Gross, his son, honors his father and the other African-American watermen he knew by recreating, in miniature, their workboats and lives on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore)

: Norman Gross recreated his cousin Harold Holland’s Bay-built, “Miss Amanda,” which Holland built in his barn. It was mostly rigged for clamming. A hose washes the clams as they come up the conveyor belt, working almost like a dredger. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: “Miss Myrtle,” the workboat belonging to Norman Gross’ father, Capt. Frank Gross., was the first model crafted by Norman Gross. It was named after his mother, Mary Myrtle, and was a spanking new Bay-built made in Virginia. Capt. Gross used it as a charter boat, and in the winter, during oyster season he put an oyster rig on it. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross portrays himself, friend Pee Wee Matthews, left, and his brother, Buck Gross, right, on Parrish Creek, where they caught bushels of soft crabs on a memorable outing in 1980. Norman Gross had just gotten out of the army, and he remembers that being out on the water again put his life back in balance. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Pee Wee Matthews, a longtime friend of Norman Gross, is shown crabbing back in 1980. Gross uses Plexiglass to show that back then Parrish Creek was so clear that you could see your feet and the sand and the grasses underwater. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: A haul of oysters is displayed in miniature on the “Ruth Ann,” the skiff belonging to Norman Gross’ grandfather, Earl Gross. Norman recalled that when he went out with his grandfather, they could catch 50 to 100 bushels of oysters a day, and there was no limit placed on your catch. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: “Granddaddy Earl Gross” is memorialized operating hand tongs on the “Ruth Ann,” which he used for catching oysters and crabs. “Back in the day,” Norman Gross said, you could use a boat that “wasn’t much bigger than a skiff, because you didn’t have to go far off the shoreline to catch oysters. It was exhausting, hard work.” (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross has worked at marinas as a gelcoat and fiberglass technician since he left the military in 1980. Norman Gross, 58, builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Buck Gross, Norman Gross’ brother, is depicted on his crab boat, the “Little Rascal,” hoisting a crab pot as he works with a friend, Pee Wee Matthews. Norman Gross made each crab pot out of small mesh wire, and carved each bushel basket from wood. Gross, 58, builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: A model of the “Estelle B” is supported on a replica travel lift from the Casa Rio Marina, where Norman Gross worked off and on in the 1980s and early 1990s. He learned the craft of fiberglass work at this marina in Mayo. Norman Gross, 58, builds model boats that pay homage to an earlier generation of African-American watermen on the Chesapeake. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

: Norman Gross, 58, walks on the pier at County Wharf, as others fish in the Rhode River. Gross has been visiting this spot since he was a child, when he used to catch perch, croaker, snapper blues, and trout here. (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

Growing up in Shady Side in the 1960s and ’70s, Norman Gross was immersed in the community of African-American watermen who plied the upper Chesapeake Bay for crabs, clams, oysters and fish. Gross witnessed their love of the bay, and the independence they earned through backbreaking work. He had firsthand knowledge of this demanding life while helping his father, Frank, one of the first African-American captains on the Chesapeake. Exposure to bitterly cold conditions during oystering season convinced the five-year old captain’s son not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Yet the pull of the water remained. In its wake, Gross found work in boatyards, where he’s been employed as a gelcoat and fiberglass technician for 36 years.

When Gross embarked upon building models about eight years ago, he didn’t need photographs to recreate his relatives’ work and pleasure boats. As a self-taught artist, the appearance and layout of each boat was already stored in his memory from hours of painting, sanding, and cleaning the bilge. When work at the South River Marina in Edgewater slows down in the wintertime, the craftsman gets out his balsa wood, glue, paints, and other supplies. He transforms these materials into nautical sculptures by precision and patience.

For Gross, each of his nine models honors the vanishing traditions of watermen for the benefit of future generations. Whether at the marina or in his small workroom at his Edgewater home, Gross strives for perfection. Even rust around a nail is meticulously rendered on his replicas. He has found that when you think a model is complete, there is always something else to do. “You are never finished,” Gross observed, just like the work lives of watermen.

Honoring the legacy of African-American watermen

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