The Crusty Cruise started in 1969 as a dream of Norwood Richardson. His vision was to gather friends and relatives to cruise the Chesapeake Bay for fun and pleasure.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Saturday - Plugger struck out for an
early end to their Crusty and headed
across the bay and up to Urbanna
leaving the 3 sailboats to head across
the bay with that NW wind just pushing us
along. We finally decided on
heading into Fishing
Bay
and up into Jackson Creek
for a raft up off of Gadfly?s
anchor.
Sunday - Back to homeports for all
boats. On the way out of Jackson
Creek,
Windora offered assistance to a
grounded sailboat from Germany
but
became
grounded themselves and Ted and Mike
jumped into the water to give a push
off of the shoal that Windora was
sitting on. The rest of the trip
down
the bay had to be a great ride with the
wind behind them.
Tom White emailed me to say that his
new ride a Grand Banks Trawler named Plugger averaged 2.667 GPH and he was
just thrilled that he arrived at
destinations first instead of sailing
in last. Now that is a poor
excuse
to give up a sailboat. Step Three is
still available if you know
someone
looking for a good boat . See you on the water Capt. Penn
It is with great sadness that I
share the news of the death
of Guy Beale. We all loved this guy “Beachball”
and we all
have our memories of him and Norwood Richardson on
board the Wanderer.
Guy was always available for listening to a great
story or joke and was ready
to share one of his own. Some of us even learned
the finer points of
playing Poker when Guy was sitting at the table.
Guy passed away on
Saturday and there will be a Celebration of Life
for Guy at Westminster
Canterbury (Va. Beach)
on Wednesday at 1:00 PM.
I am certain that Beachball has
connected with Norwood
Richardson, Donnie Dreelin, Father Morgan, Lea
Wilds, Dale McClure, Farley
Powers, Fletcher Barnes, Capt Chuck Seader and
others that have sailed off
before him.
Captain Penn Burke
(See you on the Water)
"If
we
couldn't laugh, we would all go insane" J.
Buffett
The official kickoff of the fall 2014 Crusty Cruise was a delicious
spaghetti dinner prepared by master chef Sharon at Chez Chuckies.
The attending crewmen sang an amazingly in tune version of happy
birthday to the last living founder of the Crusty Cruise, Guy,
Beachball Beale via phone on his 90 th birthday.
At 7:45 AM Wednesday, Gadfly departed Regent Pt. Marina with a crew
of Larry McGovern, Charlie J. Maresh, Gordon Glover and son Mike
Glover. Favorable southwest winds faded that evening requiring
assistance from the ironwind when boat speed dropped to 2 knots.
Early Thursday morning a sailable northwest wind allowed anchor drop
at 6:45 AM followed by nightcap and a beautiful harbor sunrise.
After some catchup sleep, Gadfly joined crews of Dog Daze (Cappy Ta)
and Painkiller to celebrate Chuck's birthday at the bars of
Annapolis. At Dockside we were joined by charter captain Billy
Wilson(prior Crusty Cruiser) and first mate Michelle Emmons of
Steppin Up based in St, Thomas. The unexpected arrival of Commodore
Penn Burke(on the injured disabled list) was a big surprise, It was
on to McGarveys for dinner followed by O'Briens for a nightcap that
lasted until the last water taxi run for some. It is my
understanding that the return to the water taxi dock required a
joint effort.
Friday dawned grey and misty but boat show spirits remained elevated
with the help of painkillers. Gadfly enjoyed companionship and a
good onboard meal Friday night while others returned to the
pleasures of the Annapolis scene.
Saturday dawned rainy and blustery from the north. Despite the
weather we enjoyed a rocking and rolling down wind sail to the Great
Wicomico. Engine could not be started off Wicomico Light until the
primary fuel filter was changed. Tied up at the Crazy Crab bulkhead
at Cockrell Creek at approx. 10PM. Retired after a hot dinner and
libation at midnight.
A leisurely sail under sunny skies ended the Crusty Cruise
uneventfully back at Regent Pt. Marina
