Floatline - Chesapeake Bay News

The May SpinSheet is on the Docks

Creaky, leaky old boats (that we love anyway), Nine tips for "hitching a ride" for weeknight racing on the Bay in 2008, Dock Walkin', being a "green" crewmember, Mother's Day gifts, and chatting up sailing to the "non-sailing" world... The May SpinSheet presents this and more.

May brings spring breezes and fun festivals to Chesapeake country. Starting with those three May Days (Friday through Sunday, May 2-4) of the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival in Annapolis and continuing through Chestertown's popular Tea Party (May 23) and Hampton's Blackbeard Festival (May 30-June 1), the print edition of SpinSheet highlights the ones worth checking out.

This is an exciting time for the team at Spinsheet. We've been working hard to bring our web presence into this century, and are very close to launching the first piece of it: the photo gallery, where sailors may click through hundreds of updated Bay sailing photos and purchase them... Stay tuned!

To find a place where you can pick up SpinSheet, please visit our website at www.spinsheet.com. We're working on the June edition. For advertising information, call 410.216.9309.

~ M.W.

Cover photo by Pride of Baltimore II crew member Michael Fiorentino

What a Weekend!

Those April showers are still washing the pollen off our windshields and decks, and it's officially sailing season on the Chesapeake Bay. 268 boats participated in the three-day Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One-Design Regatta (NOOD) off Annapolis this weekend.

A steamy Saturday afternoon, with enough wind to keep sailing, was followed by a sudden drop in temperature and a pleasant gap between the time the thunderstorms were supposed to hit and when they really did, which made for a great big party.

Sunday breezes capped off another successful regatta. Chesapeake sailors topped most classes. Full results and daily photos are posted on Sailing World.

By Wednesday, SpinSheet will be launching our new online photo gallery, with hundreds of 2008 NOOD photos and more Bay racing photos to follow all season long. For $10, regatta photos will be available to download. Stay tuned...

Top photo by Dan Phelps/SpinSheet, party photos by Molly Winans/SpinSheet

In the NOOD Again...

The Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design Regatta (NOOD) Annapolis edition is off to a slow start due to light winds. Please stay tuned for updates as the weekend progresses. SpinSheet is on site taking on-the-water photos, which will be posted as early as Wednesday next week on our new photo gallery. We'll let you know when it's up and running.

In the meantime, pray to the wind gods, check out daily photos on Sailing World's NOOD page, and stay tuned... ~M.W.

Photo from 2007 Annapolis NOOD by Dan Phelps/SpinSheet

Bay Bridge Boat Show Starts Today

Cool things about the Bay Bridge Boat Show:

1. It's 75 degrees and sunny--if you can't be out on a boat, why not be checking out 500 new and used ones?

2. The Show is not overwhelming. You can see it in a day and not get lost in it.

3. It's mellow during the week for serious buyers and busy and family-friendly (kids under 7 get in for free--expect a bunch of them) over the weekend.

4. Pretty boats, good food, friendly people, $2 for parking ($2!), and easy to get to as it's to the right just after crossing the eastbound side of the Bay Bridge. NEWS FLASH: The $15 parking signs are for private groups. Trust us, keep going: General parking at the marina is only $2.

5. Free seminars on Bay cruising, navigation, keeping your boat looking new, and deisel engine basics, among other freebies and vacation raffles at booths.

6. PropTalk Magazine will be there handing out magazines, coozies, and information on the season--no longer the upcoming season--it's here!

7. An awesome excuse to break in your new flip flops.

Open 10 to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday; 10 - 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. $12 tickets available at the gate or online at www.usboat.com.

Photos by Molly Winans/PropTalk

Tangent Takes Top Honors at Bald Head Island

Thirty-one boats were part of the Bald Head Island Regatta in North Carolina, April 4-6. The event is based out of one of the east coast’s premier vacation destinations and is hosted by the Bald Head Island. Tangent, a Chesapeake-based Cape Fear 38 owned by Jerry Taylor (Pasadena, MD) took top honors in the Spinnaker A class, winning three of the regatta’s four races.

Learn more about this fun and growing event at www.bhir.org.

Photo: Tangent, a Chesapeake-based Cape Fear 38, leads Limited Inventory, also a Cape Fear 38, at the 2008 Bald Head Island Regatta in North Carolina. Tangent  finished First in class and Limited Inventory took second. Photo courtesy of the Bald Head Island Regatta

Chesapeake Local Barbara Vosbury at the Star Worlds

SpinSheet roving reporter Geoff Ewenson is in Miami coaching a Canadian team at the Star World Championship. He got a chance to catch up with Barbara Vosbury, the new Executive Director of the Star Class.

It Takes an Optimist

OK. Granted, this might not look like much, but it is the start of good things… Honest. The boat, an Optimist dinghy, is the happy byproduct of families having fun together learning new skills, like boatbuilding and sailing, and more importantly, gaining invaluable life skills and self-esteem.

The National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) and Annapolis Family BoatBuilding (AFBB) have joined together to promote opportunities for families to build boats and launch into the sport of sailing. AFBB’s 2008 BoatBuilding (and community building) Program, during which many Optimists will be born, will take place May 23-26 in Eastport. To learn more, visit exhibits by AFBB and NSHOF during the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival in Annapolis May 3-4. To sponsor the Memorial Day weekend event, contact (410) 626-1413, www.annapolisfamilyboatbuilding.org, and www.nshof.org.

Mixed in with City Dock’s recently completed renovations is the question of where NSHOF, a museum about sailing, will live. On April 14, the optimists at the Annapolis City Council passed a resolution to support building the NSHOF on City Dock. Proponents hope the move will convince the State of Maryland to offer NSHOF a long-term lease to the onsite 1875 Capt. William H. Burtis House for “adaptive reuse.”

Photo courtesy of AFBB’s Scott Allan, Don Backe, Jay Baldwin, Joseph Cater III, Bill Donahue, Fred Hecklinger, Robert Howe, Michael Kaufman, Judy Templeton, and William Woodward

Olympic Hopeful Rios Still on First

Olympic hopeful windsurfer Farrah Hall only has hope for future Olympic games, not Beijing in 2008. A U.S. Sailing protest committee reconfirmed their decision from last October to rescind her first place title at Olympic trials and give it to Nancy Rios (left), who had sought redress following a collision. Rios will be nominated by the U.S. Olympic Committee to represent the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic games.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041502840.html

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0415a/

Get Your May PropTalk Now!

Just in time for your spring powerboating fun.

Of course, one rite of spring is prepping your “ride.” Joe Evans says, “…one spring season with a particularly ambitious list of boat repairs and improvements, I got to know the staff at the emergency clinic by their nicknames.” Read all the “gory” details in the Editor’s Notebook on page 12. Here’s what else is in store for you:

Toys and Fun for Everyone: The Bay Bridge Boat Show

What Fish Don’t Want You To Know

A Star Is Born: 46-Ton Beauty Moves from Luxury- to Lab-Mode

Top Secrets of the Commissioners of Spring

It’s About Time for Spring Fishing Tournaments!

Boat Shop Stories from All Over the Bay

A Short Long Cove Story

Hot Models, Parties, Festivals, and More: Plan Your Weekends Wisely

Pick up a FREE copy of PropTalk at one of more than 830 locations throughout Chesapeake Country. You can’t beat the price. www.proptalk.com

What's in Your Tackle Box?

"Rock on" to benefit the Bay! Don't miss the fun at the Boatyard Bar & Grill's seventh annual Fishing Tournament and Party April 19 in Eastport. Slap down $150 per boat of four anglers by April 17, and you can be one of the 150 vessels competing for a bevy of prizes (both cash and merchandise) in this catch and release event. April 18 is the skipper’s meeting; and April 19 is the fish “measure-in,” gala party, and awards ceremony.  There’s more fishy fun than you can shake a yardstick at, with live music, refreshments, and more. Proceeds go to the Coastal Conservation Association, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Annapolis Police Kid’s Fishing Camp for at-risk youth. www.boatyardbarandgrill.com

Photo from the 2006 tournament by Mark Talbott / PropTalk