Mary Greblunas, organizer of Hampton Yacht Club's first year celebrating Summer Sailstice and US Sailing's June 2013 Sailor of the Month, sent in a terrific story and photos of a multi-faceted celebration on the Chesapeake. Click the image below for the full picture!
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There were plenty of Hampton Yacht Club’s burgees flying on the Summer Sailstice. HYC members celebrated by getting out on the River, Bay or Ocean and sailing. Here are some of the ways they enjoyed their Summer Sailstice.
We started off Friday night with a potluck gathering at the Sailing Center for everyone who was planning on sailing during the Summer Sailstice.
Even though it was raining in the afternoon, the rain cleared off so everyone could throw something on the barbie before Captain Ron started. There were a few members who had never seen Captain Ron before. Others stopped talking right before classic scenes. One of our favorite lines is "If anything going to happen, it’s going to happen out there!”
'Captain Ron' is always a great way to start a Sailstice weekend.
Summer Sailstice Weekend Cruise headed out Saturday morning to Norfolk Yacht and County Club. 3 of the 5 boats had never visited NY&CC. Spaniel Main and Tiki Rose headed out together. When we first started off we saw several groups of dolphins, which one of the dogs on Spaniel Main enjoyed watching (right photo).
The dolphins always seem to show themselves, no matter where we are, on the Summer Sailstice.
Everyone had a beautiful sail across, the wind was light, but we didn’t have to turn the iron sail on until we were in the channel. Hesperus, Belle and Calypso arrived a little later. With the world’s largest naval station located in Norfolk, there were several Navy vessels we had to stay clear of.
That evening we had a Summer Sailstice Progressive Happy Hour. All the boats were docked on the same pier, so it was easy to move from one boat to another. The host boats prepare a drink and an appetizer to share with everyone. The non-host boats brought an appetizer to share to one of the host boats. We had four host boats and we all had a great time getting to know one another.
After the wonderful food and drinks, we still found room for a little dinner at the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club.
We ended the day with the super moon rising and enjoying a Virginia’s chocolate dessert wine, Noche from Cooper Vineyards, along with melted (on the sail over) dark chocolate truffles on Tiki Rose. Sunday we had a little more wind on the sail back. Calypso and Tiki Rose sailed back together.
The HYC’s Up the Bay Cruise left Hampton on June 15th for two weeks. They were in the upper Chesapeake Bay for the Summer Sailstice. It was overcast most of the day and some of the boats got rained on when they were cruising from the Magothy River and then up the Chester River to Queenstown.
We had 8 HYC members placed in the CCV’s Moonlight Triangle Race which started the Sailstice evening at 5pm with the last boat finishing at 9:15pm. They experienced rough sea and winds at the start, but conditions continued to improve after the race started. Feather, Bad Habit, and Rocket J took first in their PHRF class. The Team Racing Scrimmage with NY&CC and FBYC, which was hosted by HYC, was one of the HYC Summer Sailstice options.
The team scrimmage went well. Though the conditions were stormy all around them, the team racers enjoyed great sailing conditions, and they did not get wet. HYC has acquired 6 Sonars in the last year and now have Sonar Team Racing every Thursday evenings which has help build confidence with the beginner sailor/racer and offers new tactic for the experience racer. It also creates teamwork and better communication for both the racers and the cruisers.
The last option, but nowhere near the least of the options, was to go sailing on your own!
We had one member who raced the Bermuda One Two-leg 2 (from Bermuda to Newport on the double handed leg). He raced on his good friend’s boat, Island Girl. He had a great ride from Bermuda. It was a slow start, but filled in after about 2 days of extremely light winds. On the Sailstice they were approaching the Gulf Stream. He said the Gulf Stream lived up to its reputation with 25 - 30 kts, 8 – 10 ft seas for about 2.5 days. He had good times, great sailing, and awesome rum. They won their class, and finished 8th overall. What a great way to celebrate the Sailstice!
We also had a group of HYC members who are also members of the Hampton Roads Fleet 30. Fleet 30 started their 9 days Criss-Crossing the Bay Cruise on the Summer Sailstice. Their first stop was Cape Charles. That evening they gathered for a happy hour and took stock of who were on the cruise, since members sailed from different starting point. They had a fantastic week.
A special thanks goes out to Adva Adams (standing in the photo below), she brings so much to Hampton Yacht Club. HYC has primarily been a racing club with a power boat cruising club.
With the addition of HYC Adult Sailing Program managed by Captain Adva Adams, the club’s sailing activities has exploded. She has helped to get the HYC Causal (sailboat) Cruiser group going. Two of the HYC Causal Cruises happened over the Sailstice, the Summer Sailstice Weekend Cruise and the Up the Bay Cruise. She maintains this is our club, but her enthusiasm on what could happen creates volunteers and now planned cruises are actually happening. We had a great time and look forward to next year’s Summer Sailstice. Now that Hampton Yacht Club is familiar with the Summer Sailstice, we are hoping to have the week (or 2 weeks) long cruise meet up with a long weekend cruise for the Summer Sailstice.
Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Mary and Joe s/v Tiki Rose