S/V Catharsis

Entrance to the pirate Camp

Finally able to get back to blog writing after being busy. Got the pleasure of attending the Blackbeard

Festival in Hampton, VA May 30-June 1st. That Thursday I sailed out and decided to sail to Willoughby Bay in Norfolk, VA. The waves were around 3-5 feet with winds around 15 knots. My friend Kathy drove up to assist me in the voyage, always nice to have an extra pair of hands on board. We made the short sail to Willoughby Bay, and dinghyed into the local marina there, where Kathy lives aboard her 45 foot Morgan with her husband. We enjoyed the local restaurant and some live music, the plan was the set sail the next day and travel into Hampton.

The next day was a quaint day, not much going on. I enjoyed the relaxing motion of the boat anchored in Willoughby. I had a doctors appointment that I actually sailed to which was interesting to say the least. Anyways, ended up

not sailing over to the festival Friday evening, as had some errands and projects to complete.

Saturday morning, Mike, Kathy's husband, untied his Morgan 45, and we set sail, well ok we motored, the short distance to the festival. I followed behind him in Catharsis. Once we arrived, we rafted up (he anchored and I tied up next to him), I took a shower and came up on deck to cannon fire. Right in front of us was a mock sea battle. There would be several of these going on throughout the day, all mere feet from my vessel. It had to have been the best seat in the house. After a few of these we dinghyed into the festival.

Rafted Up

Being a pirate fan, the festival was amazing. They had sword fights, cannon fire, re-enactments, vendors, and living history personnel making crafts of the time period. I got to speak with several of them and even ordered me a pirate hat that is being hand made (yea, I'm a nerd, I'll probably start doing pirate living history). After walking around the pirate camp, we ate at a local deli and dingyed back to the boat, where others would meet and we rafted up with them as well. Sadly, the holding was not that great, and we had about 5 boats tied up, so after several attempts of re-anchoring and a very messy dinghy from grabbing the anchor (I am now dubbed "dinghy boy"), a few of us went up river and anchored there.

After a few drinks, I decided to go back into the Blackbeard Pirate Festival. I'm glad I did, the captain of the group had passed away recently and they did a service for him, which included what I call a 21 gun salute with cannons. It was sad, yet honoring. At about this time, it was getting dark, so I dinghyed back to Catharsis where I would enjoy some food and some beer with friends and watch a great display of fireworks.

Firing of the Cannons

The next morning I awoke to a plate of breakfast that one of my new friends Nikki and her boyfriend had made me. We left and did a little bit of sailing, this time I was solo, the winds and water were calm. Sadly upon starting my engine, I could not get it into gear. Of course my first thought was a freakin crab pot (That would later be determined not to be the case). S/V Sophina (Kathy and Mike's vessel), also had engine trouble. Kathy is an expert sailor and managed to sail Sophina into the marina, come back and sail Catharsis into the marina. Mike would determine it was a transmission problem, which is in the shop as I type this. Having an older boat is not without it's repairs, the transmission had lasted about 25 years, which is understandable.

I spent a week at Willoughby Spit marina in Norfolk, enjoying the Sunset Grill and live music and hanging out with Kathy and Mike and competing in another race aboard their boat "Figaro". Mike then helped me sail out of the marina and Nikki and her husband towed me back into my slip in Hampton. Now the waiting game begins.

I am currently in NC in the mountains on vacation with my parents and 3 year old son. When I get back I will finish my first video "Becoming a Live-aboard", which is almost complete.