Hampton, We Hardly Knew Ye

10 November 2011

Hampton, we hardly knew ye
10 November 2011

It is a bit of a mad dash before the start of an event like the Caribbean 1500, and the past week in Hampton has been no exception. With crews running around each day, there has been little time for sight seeing around the historic area. The sign of a good jump-off point, however, is access to services the sailors need. The reality is, crews here this week have never had to leave to get what they need.

 

Donato Martino and Jim Avery spent their time provisioning and going through each nook and cranny of their boat. Last night they did a full-dress drill, complete with foulies and harnesses, to deploy the storm jib.

 

Each crew has made numerous trips to the nearby West Marine and grocery store, and all marine trades have been represented on the docks. It wasn’t unusual to see, in one pass, a professional with a holding tank in his hand, an electrician head down in a lazarette and a rigger finishing and eye splice.

 

Of course, Don the diver has also had a season’s worth of work buffing out people’s bottoms and sorting out the odd sub-aquatic problem. He has repaired everything from rope cutter spurs, to bow thruster blades and replaced entire propellers. As he said this morning in his young Southern drawl, “I can do pretty much anything under water but paint the bottom.”

 

The area yards have also been helping out. Katahdin, Larry Clough’s Cambria 44, was at a family run yard in Little Creek. They underwent the herculean task of repairing a broken rudder bearing this week and the boat is meant to go back in the water this week. “I offered them a bonus if they finished the work by Friday,” said Clough, yesterday. “They were offended that I would think they would do anything less than top quality on our schedule.”

 

Katahdin’s rudder was put back in order, but with one snafu. She is going in this morning, on the dawn of the start, because, “The lift operator was going hunting yesterday.”

 

What many of the participants each year miss out on is the trove of historical treasures, museums, shopping and restaurants in the Hampton Roads area. Now that the start is postponed, crews are heading to the Virginia Air and Space Museum where there is also an Imax theater.

 

Having the distinction as the area first colonized by the British and a hinge point in the Civil War, the region has sites including Fort Monroe where the start is being held. There is also the spectacular brick, waterfront buildings of Hampton University just next door to the marina. This is the largest historically African American university in the country.

 

Hopefully sailors will take in these sights now that their boats are ready and they are now awaiting their start later in the week. It’s sunny, 60 degrees and there’s a lot to see.