Capt. Maurice Davis is the artist in the family

When he’s not on the water piloting the Capt. Stacy IV head boat, Capt. Maurice Davis is likely to be tucked away in “A Captain’s Gallery,” which is his maritime art studio and shop in Atlantic Beach, N.C. It’s only a hop, skip and jump across the street from the Capt. Stacy Fishing Center. 

Capt. Maurice’s artwork is quite diverse. He creates oil paintings, etched glass artwork and wood carvings. He excels in mixed media works as well. 

He has specialized in the use of swordfish bills that he collects from “longliners,” those fishing vessels that commonly harvest swordfish.

 

Capt. Maurice buys the discarded bills or swords. He’ll often apply a carved wooden handle to produce an artistic conversation piece. He has revitalized interest in scrimshaw art, which originated in the 1800s by whalers who would carve scenes onto the bones and teeth of whales and other sea creatures. 

They often depicted nautical scenes and motifs like anchors and ships. Capt. Maurice has taken scrimshaw art to another level. The swordfish bill presents an attractive “canvas,” upon which he expresses his creativity. 

Capt. Maurice and his art studio were highlighted in an article that appeared in a recent issue of GO magazine, published by the Carolinas affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA).

 

Capt. Maurice was also featured in recent writings by Dr. Barbara Garrity-Blake, a cultural anthropologist affiliated with the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort. She teaches a class in marine fisheries policy and arranged for her students to meet the seafaring artist. 

“We were raised different,” Maurice smiled. “Didn’t go to the playground – I’d go scrub the boat or I didn’t eat!” 

“The key to success for any head boat captain is knowing where to put customers,” eager to catch fish for their supper, Garrity-Blake said. “The Davis family has local knowledge going back three generations. North Carolina waters are especially rich in good fishing spots.” 

“We’ve got more bottom from Cape Lookout to Frying Pan Shoals than anywhere,” Capt. Maurice said. His father, Capt. Sonny Davis, gave him the location of hundreds of fishing hot spots, teaching his son not to overwork any one site, Garrity-Blake reported. 

“He taught me to farm it,” Capt. Maurice said. “Fish one spot and a month later you might come back to it. Give it time to recoup.”

 

Captains of the head boats and charter boats talk to one another…and to the commercial fishermen…to learn who is fishing where in order to steer clear of one another, he said.