June 2004
Commodore
Bill Erwin
Publication of the Norfolk Naval Sailing Association
June Meeting: Cruising the Ditch
chess.harris@norfolknavalsailing.org
Mr. Al Wall and his wife Colleen just finished a 6 ½ month circumnavigation of the
Inter-coastal Waterway From Norfolk to Key West and back. He will share his
experiences and trip photos at our next NNSA meeting. Also bring your spare or
lightly used nautical “Junk” and we will have a yard sale before the meeting.
676-8305 or 275-1052
Meeting: Tuesday, June 29, 7:00 PM, Norfolk Naval Sailing Center
Rear Commodore-Norfolk
Charlie Grau
______________________________________________________________________
bill.erwin@norfolknavalsailing.org
469-2720
Vice Commodore
Chess Harris
C: 348 0842/H: (656) 460 3457
NNSA at Harbor-Fest 2004
charlie.grau@norfolknavalsailing.org
Rear Commodore-L-Creek
Brian Westcott
w:532-2628 h: 858-7624
brian.westcott@norfolknavalsailing.org
Treasurer
Mike Barber
mike.barber@norfolknavalsailing.org
564-3569
Secretary
Herman Koranek
587-9747 or 417-4535
herman.koranek@norfolknavalsailing.or
Secretary 2
Jeff Swain
jeff.swain@norfolknavalsailing.org
588-2887
Cruising Captain
Scotty Nielsen
scott.nielsen@norfolknavalsailing.org
638-7234 wk 445-1516
Racing Captain/PHRF
Vacant
Material/OPCYC Liaison
Kathy Barber
kathy.barber@norfolknavalsailing.org
467-8843
Hospitality
Evelyn Erwin
721-7824 or Cell 757-403-1841
evelyn.erwin@norfolknavalsailing.org
Denise Swain
535-3084
denise.swain@norfolknavalsailing.org
Baggy Wrinkle
Editor/Webmaster
John Peterson
548-9376 wk 836-5116
john.peterson@norfolknavalsailing.org
NNSA members participate in the 2004 Harborfest at Norfolk’s Waterside.
It was a cloudy day on June 11th when five festive boats left NOB Harbor from GDock bound for downtown waterside, loaded down with enough food, soda and other
liquid refreshments to keep the party going throughout the weekend. First to arrive
and dock was John and Cindy on Come Monday followed by yours truly and the
Admiral on Evelyn II. Limping in with only one engine and non co-operative power
steering was Tom and his unruly gang of pirates on Civil Disobedience, Jim and
Caroline with family on Play Time came in a few hours later followed by Charlie on
Play Mate.
Once safely tied up in a Med. moor against a crane barge all made preparations for
the upcoming weekend festivities. A walking tour of the Waterside seawall included
displays of rowing shells, Mrs. Budweiser, the hydrofoil racing boat, numerous bands
and food vendors setting up for the weekend. Waterfront activities included and
spirited race between various rowing teams, demonstrations from clowns and jugglers
entertained the kids. Around 8 pm the wind kicked up from the north and the rain
announced its ugly presence, visitors dodged below decks and continued the festivities
until late in the evening.
Saturday morning was glorious with sunny skies and cool temperatures. Tom and
crew on Civil Disobedience shared breakfast of bacon and sausage among boats and
Jim on Play Time was voted as best coffee shop in the harbor.
Most NNSA boaters spent the day touring in Harbor Park or at the MacArthur Mall
to escape the heat. Onboard Evelyn II the head cook and Admiral fired up the stove
around noon and started working the evening meal (Continued on Page 2)
Harbor-Fest (Continued) (Steamed Shrimp, a Bushel of Steamed Crabs, Lumpia, Steak on a Stick, and
Pancite) no one left our pier hungry or thirsty!
Family and visitors started to arrive as the sun went down and relaxed
on the barge or watched the waterside workboat races. At promptly 2130 the fireworks show kicked off and we couldn’t have
picked a better spot to observe them. Choreographed to music from the loud speakers was the best fireworks display I have
ever seen. Kicking it off with a USN Jet flyover the show continued for almost 25 minutes, to include numerous aerial
“artwork”. Multi-colored hearts, bow-ties, waterfalls…etc lit up the sky in patriotic red, white and blue. The sound of almost
every waterfront ship and boat’s horn sounded their approval after it was all over and the smoke cleared, you just had to be
there to appreciate the spectacular view. Charlie Grau displayed his musical skills on the guitar, softly serenading us into the
late hours.
Sunday morning was again a great day. Most of us slept in late and eventually made it down to the Chinese Pagoda for a
1100 Harbor fest sponsored brunch. Mr. Bill Magann , and the many folks from Fest Events were praised for all their hard
work and dedication to make this years event such a success. Eve and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and thank all those
NNSA members who stopped bye to visit Friday/Saturday and spend some time with all of us. We are looking forward to
seeing all you guys & gals again next year! Bill Erwin
From the Commodore
LAUREL STUDENTS ENJOY SAILING
I grew up outside of a small town in Laurel, Delaware. My pre-driving
teenage years were spent working in the fields or in the chicken houses
tending the flock. Recreation consisted of fishing or swimming in the local
ponds as we did not have air-conditioning and lived in the middle of corn or
soy-bean fields…. boy it could get hot in the summer!
My favorite escape was visiting my grandfather who lived in Bivalve, MD
about 90 minutes away. You see Pop had a wooden 43 ft ketch named
Starship berthed on the Nanticoke River and we would venture to exotic
locations all around the Chesapeake Bay. I can remember scavenging around
Bloods-Worth Island (off limits even then), trips to the Severn River and
numerous out of the way bays and rivers with only the mosquitoes and
horseflies to keep us company.
Last year, while over cruising in the Persian Gulf I thought it would be a
good idea to contact my old high school and see what they thought of starting a student sailing program. I know some kids
don’t have the opportunity to experience sailing and wanted to give anyone who was interested a chance. Numerous obstacles
were overcome, school board approval, insurance issues…etc but we finally did it and have had 2 groups of outstanding
young folks come down and sail on Evelyn II on overnight trips to Downtown Norfolk. The first trip on May 8th with the
guys started out a little rough, a steady 25 knot wind from the North East made things quite interesting. We left the docks with
only a reefed main, the guys were pro’s and quickly got the hang of holding a straight course and line of sight navigation. The
boys were full of questions as we passed all the Navy Warships on the way down to Waterside… who knows in a couple of
years maybe they will be stationed on one. After tying up and connecting shore power we decided to take a walk and visit
Macarthur’s Museum which they really thought was neat. If you haven’t visited the museum yet please take a couple of hours
one day and stop bye, you won’t be disappointed!
The sun was setting as we all sat back in the cockpit and enjoyed our freshly grilled steaks, potatoes and tossed salads.
Everyone pitched in with the cooking and cleaning duties which tickled the Captain! Mr. Mike Cercio (Laurel teacher and off
season charter captain) told sea stories for a few hours and Then everyone hit the bunks for a few hours before the trip back
the next morning. The next trip on May 20th were all young ladies and went excellent as well. My wife Evelyn came also….
boy was I outnumbered! The weather was again challenging: no wind, sunny and high temps. This time I was out-voted in
favor of the air-conditioned safety of MacArthur Mall for shopping and dinner. The next morning we enjoyed a 10 knot
westerly breeze which carried us back to NOB in just a few hours. Two awesome trips with 2 groups of great kids, Evelyn and
I are looking forward to the next several groups that will be coming down after school starts in August. See you on the water!
Aloha!…Bill
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
NNSA Boat Directory?
Did you ever want to call another NNSA member on the water or at the marina? Mike Barber is assembling the NNSA Boat
Directory. We will need your name, the boats name, marina that you stay at, and your cell phone # so people can call you
while on the boat. Once we get everyone’s information that’s interested, we can make up a sheets and laminate them so that
they can stay on your boat. If interested in doing this contact Mike or Kathy Barber mike.barber@norfolknavalsailing.org
with your information and we'll try to have them ready for the June meeting
NNSA Calendar
June
25-26 Cock Island Race. Several hundred sailboats from across the Hampton Roads area rally in downtown
Norfolk/Portsmouth area for the largest sailboat fest on the East Coast. The Friday and Saturday evening parties bracket a 6-8
fleet race up the Elizabeth River into the James River and Hampton Bar area. A great time and fun race for the hardened racer
or family outing. Contact Beverly Wyatt at Ports events, 757-393-9933, ext 203, or Chess at 676-8305,
chess.harris@norfolknavalsailing.org
26 June; Cruise to Salt Ponds and departure for the Cruise de’ Chessie. We will be combining our monthly cruise with
the first stop for the Cruise de’ Chessie. The Chesapeake Bay Cruiser’s goal is Tangier and plan on returning by July 3rd to
join the NNSA fireworks raft up.
29 NNSA Meeting. 7:00 P.M. Theme: Cruising the Ditch. Contact: Bill, 721-7824/469-2720,
bill.erwin@norfolknavalsailing.org
July
4 Fireworks Raft-up in Willoughby Bay. With the 4th on a Sunday this year, the getting down and back to the downtown
area after the fireworks constrains the locations we can go. For the past several years, a number of us have rafted up in the
center of Willoughby Bay. Lots of fun. A great view of fireworks over Hampton, Newport News, Ft Monroe, Willoughby
Spit, and NOB, as well as the personal parties underway around the bay! Link-up at 2030 in the Bay; come early and enjoy a
dinner, wine and cheese fling starting at 1800
17 Man-over-board and Sail on the Bay Day. We’ll have a late AM start out into Willoughby after a dock-side review of
Man-over-board recovery techniques. Then, off to the Bay for some hands-on practice, a light lunch, and cruise around the
Bay area, ending back at the NOB marina around 1700.
27 NNSA Meeting.
August
28 Star Raft-up in theWilloughby Bay. This will take lots of boats to participate and make the star. Sponsored by Old Point
Comfort Yacht Club
From the Cruising Commodore
The first NNSA cruise of the year was to the Ghost Fleet up the James River the weekend of May 15-16. We believe six
boats made the cruise. Scott Nielsen on "Artemis", The Barbers on Crusader,, Mark Merrick on Moon Wind, Branson
Rector on At Ease, The Petersons on Dream Date and we believe Raleigh Martin was there as we thought we saw his boat,
Liberty Call, anchored off Huntington Park in Newport News near the James River Bridge, hence the fifth boat. Perhaps
Raleigh can confirm this potential sighting. Dream Date was the last boat to arrive due to a steering casualty from the
previous weekend. (If you have a wheel, make sure you have an emergency tiller!). The Peterson’s were pulling out of their
slip Saturday morning only to find that the boat turned left, when the wheel went right! The steering cable repair was reversed
and the cables had to be reconnected so they would cross in the binnacle. But they still made it to Leeward by about 5:00 PM.
The theme was Hawaiian shirts. The Petersons had the best Hawaiian shirts and were the winner of the cruising prize for
that category. Branson Rector on At Ease was the only person/boat that actually made it all the way to the Ghost Fleet. He
won the prize for completing the stated cruise destination objective. The prizes were CD's that contained many navigational
pubs that you can use, compliments of the Cruising Commodore. We all stayed at Leeward Marina at the foot of the James
River Bridge in Newport News for the evening. It is a municipal marina and really nice. There are not any amenities for the
kids but Huntington Park is a few blocks away with a beach and recreational facilities for all. We all walked over to "The
Crab Shack" at the James River bridge for dinner. That is where the Raleigh sighting occurred. We all believed we saw his
boat anchored off Huntington Park and saw an individual, who we all believed to be Raleigh, come from shore and go to the
boat. We all walked back to the marina and enjoyed some German beer on Artemis and then retired for the evening.
From the Cruising Commodore (Continued) The next morning I saw Mike Barber looking forlorn and asked, "What's
up?" He stated the kids had used up all his available battery power the night before, Crusader was the kids boat while the
adults were enjoying that good German beer. He had disconnected his batteries and was waiting for his daughter to come so
he could go to Sears and get a new battery to get Crusader’s engine started. I wanting to see if my portable emergency
battery would serve the purpose for which it was designed said, "Hey Mikey, lets see if this thing works and can save you a
few bucks". So he reconnected a battery and "Voila", it really works. Started Crusader’s engine right up, saved the Barbers a
few bucks and his daughter didn't get a story to tell at school how she had to rescue her folks at the marina. I recommend
everyone who cruises to have one of these emergency battery packs on board. It really works. We had a great sail back to the
Naval Station Marina and a good initial NNSA cruise.
There was an impromptu cruise a few weeks later by a few members of the association. Jim Van Dyke and new member
Juan Diaz and families. The Concrete Ships were the intended destination but strong winds and rough conditions on the Bay
effected a change in venue. They went toward Norfolk, came back, anchored in Mill Pond by Old Point Comfort Marina at
Fort Monroe for the evening. Scuttlebutt had it the teenagers had a great time swimming, getting to know each other, and
sharing e-mail contact information. Sounds like a trip we all ought to do.
The next cruise is the annual Chesapeake Bay cruise departing June 26 and returning in time for the July 4th raft up in
Willoughby Bay. The Merrick's and the Peterson's are the only one so far. The Erwins and maybe Charlie Grau are planning
to make the first day of the cruise to Salt Ponds. Anyone interest contact Mark Merrick.
Do not forget the July 4th Raft up on Willoughby Bay. The plan is to get there around 4 PM or so, raft up, cookout, enjoy
the camaraderie, welcome the Chesapeake Cruisers back with a fanfare, watch the fireworks and generally have a good time.
See you all on the water, at the Marina, or at the Docks. Scott "Squatty" Nielsen S/V Artemis
Treasurers Report as of May 04-Mike Barber, Treasurer
$774.51
$25.00
$30.00
-$8.00
Starting Balance:
Deposits for Membership dues:
Sales
Bank Charges/maintenance fees:
Balance on hand
March 8th 2004
$913.51
Visit NNSA’s Web Pages
Public web site http://www.norfolknavalsailing.org/
To sign up for NNSA Group e-mail:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/norfolknavalsailingassociation/
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