Deltaville’s Miller named captain of 2024 Urbanna Oyster Festival
Urbanna Oyster Festival Foundation (UOFF) first began naming captains of the festival in 1988 as a way of honoring people who are either a part of the area’s oyster heritage or who have played a role in enhancing and preserving that heritage and culture. Bryan Miller comes from a long line of boatbuilders and oystermen. His paternal grandfather, the late B.U. Miller, was an oysterman/boatbuilder in the Locust Hill area and his maternal grandfather Lee Deagle was owner of Deagle and Son Marine Railway on Fishing Bay in Deltaville. All of the boatbuilders mentioned were wooden boatbuilders and built from “rack of eye” without construction plans. “My Dad (Virgil Miller) was one of the first here in Deltaville to build boats off plans and to build in steel,” he said. “When they started offshore lobstering in New England, fisherman Harry Hunt came to my father and asked him to build him a boat. Dad had (naval architect) Harry Bulifant draw the plans and he built off those plans. “When Virgil retired, Bryan picked up on that business and built several New England lobster boats and trawlers. One of his most famous clients was Bob Brown, made famous in the book and movie “Perfect Storm.” Brown owned the vessel, F/V Andrea Gail, that was lost at sea along with six crew members during that 1991 “nor’easter” storm. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:27
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