Dogwood Harbor is where Tilghman Island's historic skipjack fleet ties up when not working the bay. These flat-bottomed, gaff-rigged sailing vessels are the last commercial sail-powered fishing boats working in American waters, and seeing them at rest in the harbor is one of the most evocative scenes on the Chesapeake.
Several skipjacks remain active and can be chartered for sailing excursions on the bay. The Rebecca T. Ruark, built in 1886 and the oldest working skipjack in the fleet, offers public sailing trips. The harbor is also just pleasant to walk around in the morning before the day warms up — crab pots stacked along the docks, watermen coming and going, herons fishing the shallows.