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Harborfest | |
Description
Norfolk Harborfest is a festival celebrating maritime traditions on land as well as on the river
with over 700 boats and ships, from massive cruise liners to miniature toy boats to float, more
than 130 hours of live entertainment on 8 stages featuring classic rock and beach to swing, country
and top contemporary artists. There is a parade of ships (which we are part of), food, a huge fireworks display,
and music everywhere. See the Sail Virginia website for details.
This year, Norfolk Festevents will host Sail Virginia 2007 as part of the Norfolk Harborfest, celebrating Virginia’s 400th
anniversary in conjunction with Jamestown 2007.
The most important aspect of Harborfest, however, is the opportunity to sail a yawl on a 180 mile round trip passage down Chesapeake Bay.
We leave Pax and sail through the night (see schedule below), arriving in Norfolk in time for clean-up, and some lunch, before donning our
club "uniforms", hoisting our signal flags, and joining the Parade of Ships. By evening we are berthed dockside at Waterside Marina, at the
heart of all the activities. It is possible to stay aboard while in port, using facilities at the Waterside Marina. Most participants, however, opt for more comfortable accommodations at local hotels.
This is one of the key advanced training events that provides an opportunity for D Skipper candidates to acquire the night time and
all-weather sailing and navigation experience they must have.
Eligibility
Club members aged 16 and over.
Cost to Participants
- Share cost for ice & fuel (~$15/pp)
- Personal expenses (optional hotel, food, drink) NOTE: Hotel accommodations should be made VERY EARLY.
- The club "uniform" consists of a blue or yellow club shirt with khaki or navy shorts. The shirts are available on the
Chandlery page.
- No boat rental fees; this is an MWR Sponsored event.
Responsibilities
- All participants will be expected to assist in preparations. This is the first event of the
season where considerable time is spent living aboard. The boats generally require considerable
clean-up to look their best, and to be clean and comfortable. Any maintenance issues must be
resolved, and periodic preventative maintenance done.
- During the trip, all participants will be expected to stand a rotating watch,
and may be assigned helm, lookout, navigation, radio, and radar watches.
- All participants are expected to provide adequate foul-weather protection and safety gear, including PFD with safety harness and MOB light.
Volunteers Needed
- 2 D skippers per boat. A “D” skipper must be part of each watch team.
- 2 D’s in training to take charge of each boat
- Assistance in completing any maintenance and or cleaning will be required 6-8 weeks prior to the event.
Timetable / Schedule
- March - Receive formal invitation to participate and declare our intentions.
- April - Conduct sign-ups for skippers and crews. Anyone planning on staying in a Waterside Hotel should make reservations at this time. Orders for the required club “uniform’ shirts should be taken and processed.
- May - Special MANDATORY planning meetings will be held for all participants. The boats will be cleaned
top to bottom, and thorough maintenance inspections conducted. All outstanding issues will be addressed.
Crew assignments will be made. Decorations (signal flags) will be inspected and prepared/repaired
as necessary to be ready for deployment prior to the parade.
- Saturday/Sunday prior to event. Conduct final maintenance ispection of all systems,
including standing/running rigging, lights, communications, and safety items. Ensure
spares kits are complete, and adequate quantities of consumables including oil, anti-freeze, oil-zorbs, etc.
- Tuesday June 5, top up fuel tanks and put ice aboard to pre-cool the iceboxes. Plan to put additional ice aboard before departure.
- Depart West Basin Marina around 1730, Wednesday June 6. Sail, motor, motor/sail as weather & conditions
allow to achieve a speed made good of 4-6 knots, avoiding all commercial traffic by a wide margin.
- Arrive at Little Creek or Willoughby Bay Marina around noon, Thursday June 7. Decorate the boats in
prepartion for the parade, and get a good night's sleep.
- Depart the marina Friday, June 8 in time to muster at Ocean View, near the tunnel at 0800 for the parade.
- Follow Parade Marshall's instructions via VHF and participate in the parade back down the river to Waterside,
arriving late afternoon.
- Dock near the battleship Wisconsin after the parade at around 1300.
- Depart before noon, June 11. Actual departure time to be negotiated with Dockmaster. Take on
fuel, if necessary. Sail, motor, motor/sail as weather & conditions allow to achieve a speed made good of 4-6 knots,
avoiding all commercial traffic by a wide margin.
- Arrive at West Basin Marina Tuesday June 12 in the morning, off-load, and clean up the boats before departure for home.