Cinnamon Girl - A New Life | Eastern Shore Sailing Workboats

*Cinnamon Girl* back in the water at Fogg Cove, St. Michaels, Md.

I've written a lot about Cinnamon Girl, a two-sail crabbing bateau (deadrise skiff) built by Kevin Brennan in 1993. Based on plans of a bateau built at Cambridge in 1910. I'm building one myself, here.

I wrote a detailed profile of Cinnamon Girl here.

Everything I've written about the history and design of two-sail cabbing bateaux, including Cinnamon Girl, is here.

Cinnamon Girl was recently restored and re-launched at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. She's now part of a fleet of small craft that CBMM uses for sailing classes. Cinnamon Girl was restored by Small Boat Conservation volunteers at CBMM during March 2025 to June 2026. I volunteer with that group and helped with this satisfying work.

SBS Team inpecting and assessing Cinnamon Girl - March 2025

All the CBMM conservation photos of Cinnamon Girl are here.

IMG_7703 Copy — I kept an eye on CG while we worked on other small craft in the yard. I don't mind taking credit for suggesting that we do this restoration.

CG suffered damage at the CBMM dock. We had to replace this plank.

We lost track of one of her exquisite nameboards for awhile.

Along with the marine survey, I measure CG's transom to compare to transom lofting I did for my own build.

IMG_7784(2) — CG's builder, Kevin Brennan, was at CBMM for a MASCF planning meeting. I brought him over for a look. He was pleased to know the work was in our plan.

Restoration Under Way - April 2025 to June 2026

All the CBMM conservation photos of Cinnamon Girl are here.

We performed this work:

Scraped, sanded, painted bottom, topsides, interior, rudder, centerboard.
Sanded and varnished spars.
Replaced upper plank of transom.
Replaced plank on port side.
Replaced 4 rotted knees.
Repaired and replaced risers and mainmast partner (mizzen position)
Replaced sprit snotters and cleats.

Kevin and family and friends on CBMM campus in May 2026 visit *Cinnamon Girl* again a few days before re-launching.