Day 223 - Willard — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $75, daily high temperature 61°f

The tide was particularly high on Wednesday night. Kim Russo the Looper director made an announcement at dinner that anyone with a boat on a fixed dock might want to check their lines. The tide was so high it looked like the fixed docks would be submerged.

On Tuesday we took the ferry across the Elizabeth River to the Bier Garden restaurant. The cost is $1.75 per person and exact change is required.

We observed the Portsmouth, VA city docks were under water by several inches. That makes it hard to get on and. off your boat at high tide. CL is on a floating dock so we rise and fall with the tides. No worries.

Robert and Brenda from Over Ice stopped by after the Looper banquet tonight. Robert had a bad experience with another boat broker. Brenda won a sun visor with that broker’s logo on it so Robert wrote an epitaph on it and gave it to me. I can not make this stuff up. They visited for a while and shared their Looper story. Robert had worked for the government in Homeland Security boarder patrol. He took early retirement and bought a 40′ trawler. He cashed out his 401k to afford to do the Loop. His wife Brenda quit her job to accompany him. Their 24 year old son is a helmsman on a Mississippi River tug and recently received his USCG captains license. He is in line to become the youngest tug captain on the river system. They have enough money to maintain their live-aboard lifestyle for two years before they will have to refill their cruising kitty. That is true grit. They might sell the house they just built to be able to extend their live-aboard lifestyle.

Robert, John and Brenda with the visor of fame.

They also gave us some coozies with their boat name. The “waken, not stirred” refers to making a drink on their boat at the exact time an uncaring boater with depraved indifference for life blasts by and rocks them gunnel to gunnel and they don’t have to stir their drink. It has been waken.

One of our readers, Bob Dick, commented that the photo of the bow of the USS Wisconsin looked unusual. The ship is very long and very narrow. The maximum length and width is determined by the size of the locks in the Panama Canal.

Iowa-class battleship
Displacement: 52,000 tons
Length: 887.2 ft (270.4 m)
Beam: 108.2 ft (33.0 m)
Draft: 28.9 ft (8.8 m)
Speed: 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Complement: 1,921 officers and men

Peter (Willard) Fisher provided some commentary.

Col,

Some intel about the USS Wisconsin. She was the 4th Iowa Class Battleship to be commissioned by the US Navy. The original plan for for 6 to be built, but aircraft carriers were taking over as the primary ship of the fleet and the war was ending. Had the last two been built, they would have been the USS Illinois and the USS Kentucky. The Iowa Class was not the biggest battleship ever built, the Japanese built larger ships, but the US was a two ocean navy and had to be able to navigate the Panama Canal, so this limited the beam of the ship.

In 1956, the Wisconsin had a collision with a destroyer during a training exercise off of the East Coast. The bow of the ship was severely damage, The ship was repaired by using the already constructed bow section intended for the USS Kentucky. This resulted with her picking up 1 foot in LOA.

That will buff out. The nickname for the USS Wisconsin became Wisky because she was part Wisconsin (Wis) and part Kentucky (Ky).

This is the other ship in the collision.

So, not only was the Wisconsin the last US battleship, she also became the largest US battleship.

Willard

It is Thursday and time once again for Captain Jack Sheppard to wax poetic.

The Long Fetch Down

The long fetch down churns the Great Lake
from Canada the winds flow with some give and take
on the way down
they beat each shore town
with waves 8 foot high
as 15 to 35 knot wind fills the sky
as we prepare
in the cool air
for Summer racing with care.
Cap’n Jack
5-5-16

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“I just thank God I don’t live in a trailer.”
– Jimmy Buffet , Son of a son of a sailor

James William “Jimmy” Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American musician, songwriter, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an “island escapism” lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including “Margaritaville” (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America’s list of “Songs of the Century”) and “Come Monday”. He has a devoted base of fans known as “Parrotheads”.

Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a best-selling writer and is involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Margaritaville”. He owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain.
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