We're officially T-minus two days until the start of the 23rd Caribbean 1500! The local news stations have taken a keen interest in the event this year, with the crews from Helia and Pendragon appearing on The Hampton Roads Show as the guest audience. And early this morning, Liz from T'ai Chi and Pat from Cutter Loose were interviewed for the local ABC affiliate. Both Liz and Pat get the enthusiasm award this year - they were on the dock in the wee hours of the morning, showing up for coffee and breakfast in the office at 5am! Click below to see the video of both events.
Audience: Caribbean 1500
It's the last day of seminars here in Hampton. Julie Palm covered what to look forward to in the BVI, followed by her husband Rick's radio commas lecture. Peter Burch followed that up with the ever-popular Handling Emergencies at Sea program, to a packed audience. Peter covered how to handle the worst-case scenarios offshore, stuff people need to think about but hope they never have to deal with.
Finally, Davis Murray and Peter Burch covered the all-important liferaft demo at the Crowne Plaza hotel pool next to Hampton Public Piers. Both Peter and Davis are experienced offshore sailors, Davis having participated in every edition of the Caribbean 1500, and having done the liferaft demo for the past few years. They showed participants how to properly inflate a raft, right an upturned raft and how to safely fire off flares.
With the safety seminars complete, boats are focused on handling last-minute preparations in anticipation of the start, which is now less than 48 hours away. Check-outs begin tomorrow morning at 0830 at the Rally Office at the Hampton Public Piers, with the Skipper's Briefing to follow at 1100.
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