The Della John is more than a shrimp boat—it’s a floating chapter in Beaufort’s living maritime story. Built in 1979 by Red Brooks and his family, this 50-foot wooden trawler was lovingly maintained until 2019, when Thomas and Monica Smith purchased and renovated her. Today, she’s part of the fleet behind Miss Gina’s Fresh Shrimp, bringing in daily catches from local waters.

Captain Thomas Smith, raised in Marshallberg and now based in Beaufort, runs the Della John with deckhand Woody and a crew that includes two spirited labs—Bodie and Roxie—who’ve become local legends in their own right. The boat’s story is deeply interwoven with family, freedom, and the enduring rhythm of Down East shrimping life.

Even artist and fisheries ecologist Johnna Brooks, whose father built the Della John, has immortalized the vessel in her paintings and in the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum’s 2024 collector ornament. It’s a vessel that carries not just shrimp, but memory, heritage, and the heartbeat of Carteret County.