After growing up in a family of watermen, a Wilmington man retires to a trawler
For more than 100 years,
Drew Brown and his family
have been working water-men
from the community of
Seagate. For 200 years before
that they were from farther up
the coast in Onslow County.
The creeks, sounds and open
ocean from the New River tidal
estuary to Cape Fear have been
an integral part of their lives.
Drew grew up working on
his grandfather and father’s
charter boats. He has strong
memories and respect for the
hard work and camaraderie
found aboard sport fishing
vessels, but his math and
science strengths led him to
a degree in civil engineer-ing.
He chose NC State not
only because of its excellent
reputation, but as
Drew says, “It was
close enough so I
could be home to
help Dad on the
weekends with
charters.”
The water
kept drawing
him back. After earning his
degree, Drew returned to
Wilmington and established
a construction company. He
might have been out there
swinging a hammer and
successfully running the
company, but he always seized
the chance to be out on the
water and, when possible,
fishing.
In May, he retired to a
trawler with his wife of 37 years,
Barbara. Drew is now living his
dream, bringing full circle his
love of the water and his family’s
deep history along this stretch of
coastal North Carolina.
Drew has done some gene-alogical
22 october 2021
WBM
work that has shown
how deep his roots are in the
area.
“I found that Seagate was
the relocation destination
for a lot of Onslow County
residents that lived along the
New River in an area known
as Stones Bay,” he says. “Many
were farmers, fishermen and
boat builders.”
The Stones Bay community
lies along a little bay within
the tidal estuary that sits at
the mouth of the New River,
just north of Sneads Ferry. By
the late 1600s/early 1700s,
his Aman side of the family
settled there and by 1795 his
Brown ancestors had joined
the community.
at home on the
By Madeline Flagler | Historic Photos Courtesy of Drew Brown
APTAIN FRANK BROWN’S business card advertises his charter service based in Wrightsville Beach. A young boy, most likely Drew,
Frank’s grandson, catches a breeze from the window during a charter on Althea B. Opposite: Drew and Barbara Brown live aboard
their trawler, Traveller, at Masonboro Yacht Club with their dog, Bailey.