Floatline - Chesapeake Bay News

A Friend, a Sail, and a Sunny Day...

Although it looks like a tropical scene, these two little sailors sought shelter from the sun on the Bay only last month. With all the rain, we've forgotten about that glorious glimpse of summer.

Hang in there; the sun will shine tomorrow.

Cindy Wallach--photographer, writer, and cruising sailor--wrote the article "Give Me the World, or Give Me the Bay!" in the April edition of SpinSheet and has written another article about summer solstice raft-ups coming in June. She and her husband live aboard a 44-foot catamaran in Annapolis with a four-year-old and an old dog.

~M.W.

Photo by Cindy Wallach

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

Local Beauty Stars in Feature Film

Sagamore will make her debut on the silver screen in fall 2009 in a new romantic comedy called The Proposal. The story centers on a publishing executive (Sandra Bullock) who forces her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so she can avoid deportation to Canada. Much of the plot takes place on the water, and Sagamore will play the part of "the boat."

Bill Donahue of Annapolis Classic Watercraft, LLC (ACW), says, “Many Annapolis residents are familiar with Sagamore, the cute little 26-foot classic 1955 Chris-Craft cabin cruiser that Gene and Kathy Severens take out for summer spins on Spa Creek. A previous owner had brought her to ACW several years ago for restoration, and the movie people found her picture on ACW’s website. Sagamore will be transported to Gloucester, MA for up to six weeks of filming, and then she'll come home.”

Photo courtesy of Bill Donahue / www.uncommonboats.com

Sea Safety Seminar on Weather

The Fishing Bay YC in Deltaville, VA is sponsoring a Safety at Sea Seminar at 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 12. Pat Healy will lead the morning session on analyzing and understanding marine weather. He is a weather expert, the marketing director for Commanders' Weather Corporation, and an accomplished sailor, coach, and race manager. U.S. Sailing instructor Ralph Naranjo will lead an afternoon session on heavy weather sailing and storm tactics. Naranjo is a circumnavigator, sailing program manager for the Navy, and author. His first-hand experience with heavy weather spans the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Admission is $30 per person or $50 per couple. Register early at www.fbyc.net or contact George Burke at burkeg@paraccess.com or (804) 359-1187.

You never know what might develop when you're out and about... Above, an enormous extratropical low is creating havoc along the entire Eastern Atlantic Seaboard in this infrared image at 1200 UTC (0700 EST) on October 30, 1991. Labelled the "perfect storm" by the National Weather Service, the storm sank the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail, whose story became the basis for Sebastian Junger's novel The Perfect Storm. A little-known and bizarre ending came to this monster, called the Halloween Storm. A hurricane developed at the center of the storm as it was dying. The hurricane was not named to avoid further confusion at the time. Image courtesy of NOAA

Prepping For The Plunge

“Take a nice cold beer from your fridge, and pour it down your pants. That’s kind of what it feels like to run into the Bay in January,” so says an expert here at SpinSheet. Each year, the dead of winter beckons a small (but increasing) segment of society to gather around the Chesapeake Bay’s waters to dip and cheer. Who are these people? Polar Bear Plunges are a national epidemic, and the frostier the water, the better.

Each year, the Maryland State Police (MSP) happily support this insanity, but always for a good reason. MSP will host the Polar Bear Plunge on January 26 at Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis (register at 9 a.m., and plunge at noon and 3 p.m). The annual MSP Plunge inspires warm-hearted souls to don Speedos and give of themselves to support Special Olympics Maryland (SOMD). The 2008 MSP Plunge will help support SOMD’s new Young Athletes Program, benefiting thousands of special kids aged two to seven.

Learn more at www.plungemd.com.

Want to make a splash in other parts of the Bay this winter? New Year’s Day features the Polar Bear Swim in North Beach, MD ((301) 855-6681). Groundhog Day brings the Polar Plunge to Virginia Beach.

Destructive Fire in Portsmouth

The Skipjack Nautical Wares headquarters and showroom were destroyed yesterday in a fire. The Portsmouth, VA-based business was a purveyor of "maritime antiques, marine art, nautical furnishing, and decor"  and the showroom was full of beautiful original paintings and other classic items. The enterprise was housed in a recently restored building in the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth. 

Skipjack's owners, Joe and Alison Elder, also lost their home which was located above the store.

The fire also destroyed a historic church.

"It looks like a war zone,"  Jeff Terwilliger, battalion chief for Portsmouth Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, told the The Virginian Pilot.

Skipjack Nautical Wares Website

PilotOnline News Story 

Spirit of the Season

A fly tied in the spirit of the season courtesy of the folks at Rose River Farm in Madison County, VA ("western-style fly-fishing for trout" and hour-and-a-half from D.C.).

The Rose River is up in the Shenandoah Mountains, in the neighborhood of Charlottesville and Culpeper. The Rose flows into the Robinson River which flows into the Rapidan River which flows into the Rappahannock River which flows into the Bay. 

Lighting a Skipjack in Cambridge

The Cambridge-based skipjack Nathan of Dorchester is now decorated for the holidays thanks to the help of Cambridge’s Rescue Fire Company. Volunteer firemen Kevin Carr, Adam Prichett, and Randy Travers brought the company’s Ladder Tower No. 1 down to Long Wharf to hoist volunteers into Nathan's rigging where they placed a lighted tree at the top of the mast and created an outline of sails with lights.

For more information, to charter the boat, make a donation, or volunteer, contact the Dorchester Skipjack Committee, (410) 228-7141 or visit www.skipjack-nathan.org.

Hutchinson and Wade Murphy Highlight Windjammers Schedule

Keep your sailing vibe alive this winter as the with Windjammers of the Chesapeake presents a four-part Winter Lecture Series.

December 15 brings the dynamic Terry Hutchinson who will inspire club  members with his America’s Cup experiences with Team New Zealand in 2007, as well as with Team Dennis Conner in 2002 and America One in 2000. Hutchinson served as Team New Zealand’s tactician and feels the key to success is in the relationship between tactician and helmsman.

The second lecture features Skipjack Captain Wade Murphy on January 12, 2008. Murphy runs the Rebecca T. Ruark. Built in 1886 on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Rebecca came alive during the glory days, when the pursuit of oysters by dredge boats on the Chesapeake had assumed all the frenzy of the California Gold Rush. Murphy and Rebecca (pictured at left) continue the winter dredging tradition and remains the queen of the fleet of skipjacks, North America’s last working sailboat.

Junior sailors can obtain free tickets to the lectures on February 2, featuring Brian Hancock’s Extreme Sailing and on March 15, featuring Jon Bowermaster’s Antarctic expedition by sea kayak, foot, and sailboat.

All lectures start at 8 p.m. in the Severn School’s Price Auditorium in Severna Park; tickets at the door are $22; the four-lecture series is $45 for members.

www.windjammers-chesapeake.org.

Online Auction Benefits 1% For the Planet

Check out this online auction for the benefit of 1% For The Planet. Among the items is a Yamaha acoustic guitar signed by Jack Johnson and a surf session with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and all-around stud waterman/filmmaker Chris Malloy.  Sounds like a bit of heaven...

An item from closer to home is an Annapolis/Eastport-based package put together by Dick Franyo and the Boatyard Bar & Grill, longtime members of the 1% family. The Boatyard package includes boatrides, food, lodging, and friendly elbow-rubbing with some of Annapolis's movers and shakers.

In all, there are about 100 items which could easily be turned into truly special holiday gifts... all for the benefit of a very cool effort. Check it out.

Learn more about 1% For The Planet.

Straight to the Auction.