Tim Etherington writes to us from Hampton, VA, where he is an active part of the Grandview Island Sunfish Fleet. He writes, "We sail year round almost every weekend in the south Bay off Grandview beach in Hampton, VA. There are greater than 20 Sunfish on the island with a hard core group of 4 of us. Myself, Jamie Chapman, Jay Boland, and Chris Borchardt can be found racing informally on any given Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Jamie and Jay more than Chris or I. At least once a month we have a formal organized race where anywhere from 6 to 15 boats are entered. Jamie is out commodore and a great time is had by all.
"I also own a Beneteau First 310 that sees time on the water in the South Bay. Although my wife Karen and I just moved here less than two years ago we have embraced the water lifestyle and I was able to rekindle a love of sailing I picked up in the Navy some 38 years ago in Hawaii and California. We had a slow start to the season this year due to extensive boat upgrades I started this winter but have been enjoying some great times on the water now that the season is in full swing.
"We are frostbite dinghy sailors in the South Bay. I reached my 100 days on Saturday November 15th and am now up to 110 days. It helps when we have an organized sail every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I don't make many of the Fridays (morning) but Jamie is the organizer and our "commodore". We have an organized race once a month and unofficial ones on the other weekends. There are close to 30 Sunfish in the neighborhood and we launch off the beach. There is a group of four of us that sail year round on a regular basis and we have 13 or do racers for the summer months. The latest race was last Saturday where there was no wind on the bay right before the storm blew threw on Saturday night. In the pictures I am sailing the boat that won the Sunfish Worlds this year in Oriental, NC. I bought it in October.
"Saturday was scheduled for the Hampton Boat Parade and we had our Beneteau First 310 entered. They ended up canceling because of the weather but my wife and I still spent the night on the boat. It is still lit every night until Christmas at Old Point Comfort Marina in Hampton, VA.
"Jamie does lessons on many of the week days in the summer as well and is the reason there are 30 Sunfish in the neighborhood. This all started only about 6 years ago. It would be nice to be retired. Jamie has about 230 days of sailing this year."
