We’ve had another beautiful day for the 2016 Caribbean 1500 program and preparations here in Portsmouth. A few more boats arrived this morning and are already well into their check-in and safety inspections. Some boats have taken advantage of the beautiful day to move over to the fuel dock to top off their tanks with diesel. The Crews are also completing some final projects before shoving off on sunday. I talked with Beverly Gardener from “Breeze On” who was completing a cockpit enclosure she built for their boat: “When heading down to Portsmouth we were freezing due to the light misting rain we had” she said, “the full enclosure should keep the spray and wind off the crew during our trip down to the Bahamas, if I get it done!”
A new addition to the program this year were several tours of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command Center. Crews got to see the response center where all distress calls inside the mid-Atlantic coverage area are routed too. From the command center they are also able to monitor events like the Caribbean 1500. Lieutenant Commander Wes Geyer spoke to the attendees: “It’s so important that the owners of the EPRIB assign an MMSI number with correct contact details to the beacon, this lets us gather information on the rescue and assign assets much faster than if we have no information to start with.” A big thank you to Atlantic Area Command for this insight into Coast Guard response logistics!
Another new addition to this year’s program of events was “Styles by Jake”, which took place over on the Ocean Marine Yacht Center’s deck. A $20 donation got you a mimosa and custom haircut by our own Jacob Albano. All proceeds benefit the “Make A Wish Foundation”. We managed to raise over $500 for the charity and World Cruising Club will be matching the amount raised! A number of the staff and participants are sporting new looks around the marina this afternoon. I asked Jake where he learned to cut hair, he responded “I learned this morning!”.
Tonight we have a screening of the “Accountant” scheduled over at the Commodore Theater in downtown Portsmouth. The theater was built in 1945 and has been restored to it’s former glory featuring full service dinner before and during the show. This is always a highlight of our time down in Portsmouth as only a few theaters of this style survive today. We hope to see you there!