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My Adventurous Trip to Norfolk – Chapter One

By Miss Periauger

Having been sanded and varnished in the spring by my bevy of volunteers, and being tired of sitting quietly by the dock in downtown Hertford, I was hoping for some new adventures. And then, on Monday June 6, John, Ken, “Hutch,” Don Johnson and Kent Saunders (and a local, admiring passerby) unstepped my masts and put me on Buddy, my trailer, in anticipation of what I hoped was some watery adventure at an unknown and exotic destination. To my great disappointment, we only got as far as the other side of Hertford, to the brick house of my original (1730) owner, Abraham Sanders, now a Quaker homestead museum with a different name altogether.

On Thursday, June 9, after sitting for three hot and disappointing days on Buddy, “Hutch” and Ken returned, hooked us up to Hutch’s truck and hauled us all the way to the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club in Norfolk, Virginia. There, to my delight, in the water at a dock was Destiny, looking pretty spiffy with her pennants flying. When I saw her, I knew I was in for some adventure!

Destiny told me that her owners (you remember them - John and Joan Ernst), with my old friend Kent Saunders, had started out with her on Tuesday from Hertford and sailed by way of the Dismal Swamp Canal. She took lots of pictures on her way up, but here are my favorites: one of the peaceful canal and one of Destiny with other boats in the lock at South Mills.

Meanwhile, at the yacht club in Norfolk, Monty (my creator), was there while they put me in the water, stepped my masts and bent on my sails (that’s sailor talk for ‘tied them on’).

I spent a peaceful night being ogled by club members who passed by with provisions for their boats. It seemed as though everyone was getting ready for a big event.

Day broke to a steel gray and threatening sky.

Soon more of my crew arrived and I began to hope that I might go sailing today. Terry Facey, Janet Benton and Sarah Parr joined my crew to help sail me. Here are Ken, Janet, Terry, Sarah, Don and Kent, dressed in clothing more familiar to me:

Soon we were underway, as they rowed me out to be towed beside Destiny.

The towing “abreast” turned out to be a rather wet affair, with water shooting up between the boats,

…but I nonetheless felt secure.

Soon we were way out in the confluence of the Elizabeth and James Rivers, opposite the big naval base. At first we were the only ones out there, and I heard my crew wondering out loud if we “had the right day.” But soon all kinds of boats starting showing up and circling around each other. I saw some old friends and some new friends. My spirit soared!

Here is the wooden schooner Delight, with two of what my crew called “flat-tops” in the background.

Then I saw my old friends Godspeed from Jamestown and American Rover from Norfolk, with some modern thing sailing in between them:

And here is Terry’s picture of the Swedish Tall Ship, Kalmar Nyckel, a friend from my era, belonging to the State of Delaware:

Eventually, we all lined up and a parade began. Even though I was not sure where we were going, I trusted Monty, who was now enjoying some time at the helm on Destiny, and I recognize a good parade when I see one.

It got even more exciting when the wind piped up. With Don Johnson as skipper for the day, they hoisted my main sail while Terry took this picture:

……but alas I still had to be towed because the wind was too much on my nose and I have trouble sailing up wind.

I could only hope that it was all worth it. And pretty soon, I was rewarded with excitement beyond my dreams.

We passed fire boats shooting water…

….the new schooner Virginia making her debut (coming down the wrong side of the harbor!)

…and thousands of people cheering and blowing air horns.

We waved as we sailed by (still under tow to assure that we could maintain our spacing in the parade).

We heard and felt some rig shaking booms, and I looked back to see Meka II firing broadsides at the crowd. That certainly added some excitement! (But I do wish I had a cannon, too…)

Bringing up the rear in the parade was a big gray monster my crew called a “Destroyer”. Her crew all lined up on deck just to watch me sail by (Destiny had just cut me loose).

For another hour, we sailed by the waterfront a few more times (without the tow line!), and then headed for our cozy slip at Freemason Condominium Marina.

Destiny was always nearby, as shown in this picture taken from my deck by Kent Saunders:

My crew, still in costume, went off to the Mayor’s Reception, while I sat peacefully at my dock, reveling in the memory of the day’s events. At the reception, John accepted a nice plaque, made of scrap teak from the Virginia, from the mayor – and it has my name on it!

After a “debriefing” session aboard Destiny, Terry, Sarah and Don drove home. Destiny told me that John, Joan, Kent, Janet and Ken all fell into their bunks very early that night! I stayed awake most of the night enjoying the cooler air, soft breezes and the faint sounds of rhythmic music coming from Town Point Park. Had I had some idea of what would be in store for me the next day, I would have spent more time sleeping.

A footnote for today: Destiny had her own little problem while coming into Freemason Condo Marina this afternoon. It seems that in her effort to keep an eye on me and my crew, she tried to sail her five foot deep keel through 4.7 feet of water. It took her about ten minutes of maneuvering at full power, but she broke free of the muddy bottom with just a shiny keel and considerable damage to her crew’s pride! Oh, the sacrifices she makes for me!!

Periauger

Norfolk Harborfest, Chapter 2

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