You don’t need a horse to be a cowboy. But you do need a boat.
At least when it comes to the kind of “rodeos” hosted at Buzzard Point Marina in Northumberland and at Williams Wharf in Mathews.
Replace workboats for bucking broncos and pilings for bulls and you’ve got water rodeo, an extreme boat docking competition made popular up and down the coasts of Virginia and Maryland by a group of wild watermen known as the Chesapeake Cowboys.
The cowboys brought their competition to Reedville to Buzzard Point Marina for the first time in 2017 and last year was their first appearance in the Mathews County East Riverfest 2024.
Extreme boat docking is a water sport that’s actually been around for more than a half century on the Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore but in the last decade or so has become popular on the western shores in Maryland and Virginia with the formation of the Chesapeake Cowboys. The group disbanded briefly a few years ago but have reformed.
Local watermen are invited to join the “semi-pros” during the competitions.
Pig Pickin’ On The Point – Saturday, June 7
Buzzard Point Marina, 468 Buzzard Point Road, Reedville
1 p.m. – Gates open
2 p.m. – Extreme boat docking contest
4-6:30 p.m. – All you can eat barbecue dinner
5:30-9:30 p.m. – Soul Expressions on the stage
Throughout the afternoon, DJ Nick Roe, children’s play area open, corn hole games, adult beverages served.
$50 adults, $20 ages 8-12. Ages 7 and younger free. Tickets available from any FVFD firefighter, at Lilian Lumber Co. in Burgess, or by calling 804-453-4100. A limited number of tickets will be available at the gate. Proceeds benefit Fairfield’s Volunteer Fire Department (FVFD).
The day long Pig Pickin’ on the Point on June 7 is a major fundraiser for Fairfields Volunteer Fire Department and started when Smith Point Sea Rescue’s popular June bluefish derby ended.
“We just kind of took over that first weekend of June from them,” said Chief Phillip Keyser. The event started as a food and music event with organized volleyball and corn hole tournaments.
“It started out well but then started to die out,” said Keyser. “Some of the [fire department] members had been to Cape Charles and saw the boat docking contest.”
The docking contest was organized the first year by the cowboys but when that group disbanded, the fire department called on Capt. Ed Bowis to coordinate and Curtis Walker to emcee. For the last three years, the contest has included 10 or 12 boats, some with the cowboys, some locals.
“There’s a lot of trash talk between the boat captains, not me personally, but the guys that are on the circuit all year,” said Spencer Headley. “It gets very, very competitive.”
“they don’t take it easy. Them boys are crazy.”
Karen Townsend of Mathews
Headley has worked the local waters for 35 years and competed the first year in his 42-foot Provincial workboat. For the last few years he’s competed in his smaller boat, a 34-foot workboat he uses to oyster. It’s easier to handle, he said.
At Buzzard Point, the boats start across Cockrell Creek wide open, turn on a dime, slide in backwards between four pilings at the dock while the mates lasso them.
“Some of these captains come from long distances,” said Keyser. “So they have fuel expenses and a lot of them are using the boats they work on, so if they damage them, they have to get them fixed to go back to work and put food on the table. We really appreciate what they do for us.”
So far, Headley said he’s avoided damaging his boats.
“We like putting on a show and pushing our boats to the limit to see what we can do with them,” he said. “Most of the Cowboys, their boats are built just for this and sometimes they must make us look like little fools.
“The big splashes and the quick docking, that gets a lot of attention, but for the locals, well it seems like it’s a whole lot more noise for them. People are screaming and hollering and rooting for us.”
The Pig Pickin’, which draws over 1,000 people, raised over $35,000 for FVFD last year, which Keyser said “was our biggest year.”
The family event includes a barbecue with all-the-fixin’s, a children’s play area with a bouncy house and slide, corn hole and band.
East Riverfest 2025 – Saturday, July 5
Williams Wharf, 1039 Williams Wharf Road, Mathews
11 a.m. – Gates open
Noon – Opening ceremonies
1-4:30 p.m. – Extreme boat docking contest with the Chesapeake Cowboys
4:30-9 p.m. – Music by DJ Tommy Eriksen and Part Time band
9 p.m. – Fireworks over the East River, view by land or water
Throughout the day, Kids’ zone, adult beverages served, 10 food trucks.
$35 adults, ages 10 and younger free. Proceeds benefit Mathews Volunteer Fire Deparment (MVFD). Tickets available at select Mathews County businesses, from any MVFD volunteer firefighter, at J.W. Seafood in Deltaville and at the gate the day of event.
Mathews Volunteer Fire Department’s (MVFD) first East Riverfest drew about 3,500 people and made the department $75,000 in one day last year. The 2025 East Riverfest will be July 5 and firefighter and organizer Neal Hudgins expects about 6,000 people to attend this year’s event at Williams Wharf. The department has already sold over 1,000 tickets to the event, which includes an extreme boat docking contest, music and the county’s fireworks display.
Hudgins has been a fan of and attending the Chesapeake Cowboys rodeos for years.
“I’ve been watching them up and down the coast and was excited to have them here,” he said.
Locals also join in the fun at Williams Wharf, where four pilings are placed offshore in the East River where the boats dock. The show is fun to watch from shore or from the water. Hundreds of boats are expected to view this year’s docking and fireworks display.
Karen Townsend of Mathews will be dockin’ and ropin’ again this year.
Townsend, who has worked the water oystering and crabbing for 45 years, was the only female in last year’s East Riverfest competition. She’ll likely be the only female again this year.
“I did it because I’m in the fire department,” said Townsend. “Plus it looked like a good time.”
She didn’t train for the contest because she said she “knew how to handle the [40 foot] boat. It’s the boat I use to work everyday.”
Townsend said she would have come in second place last year but didn’t realize she had one more run. You get a practice run then three timed runs. After her second run, she thought she was done until she heard them calling for her. It was too late.
Her times were good although she said “I took my time cause my husband said don’t you tear that boat up.”
As for the Cowboys, Townsend said, “they don’t take it easy. Them boys are crazy.”
