Brothers and Captives,
I have just returned from Norfolk, VA and am able to report that the Chesapeake Table has lost none of its energy or inventiveness in sponsoring an incredible Zaf. This was the National Zaf for 2007 and there was just short of 100 total participants. From the Sun Coast, our attendees included Blind
Mouth (Roger Meyers), Mr. Clean (Jon Frick), Listo (RK Ready), Rumbeaux/Goofy (Bob Hadley) and yours truly, The Crab, plus our lovely captives.
Stu Kauffman and Company outdid themselves at this event, which they had coincide with Virginia Sail 2007, a gathering of 31 "tall ships" in Norfolk harbor.
Thursday evening started with an all-you-can-eat (and drink) "crab fest" at the Norfolk Boat Club, a private venue on the harbor that the Chesapeake Table was able to reserve for the gathering of the brothers and captives. This building was located on the harbor front at the foot of Freemason Street in the historic downtown area. If you were not into hammering crab shells with heavy wooden dowels in an effort to extract the "innards," there was barbecued pork as an alternate entree (or in combination with the crustaceans) along with potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, etc. The kegs of draft beer were from St. George Brewery, a local microbrewery of some distinction, and I found the amber ale (in the British tradition) to be of exceptional quality (from what I can remember). The wine flowed for those ad
verse to fine ale. A splendid time was had by all.
Friday morning found the attendees of this soiree dispatching themselves to various boats of the brothers who were scheduled to sail in the parade of boats welcoming the Tall Ships. Cruz (Scott Ripley), Piper, (Scott Rogers), Blue Stache (Stu Kauffman), Floater (Eric Mathern), and others from the Chesapeake Table welcomed the visiting brothers and captives aboard for a wonderful day on the water as part of the parade of private yachts welcoming the ocean going sailing vessels from around the world as these impressive tall ships entered Norfolk Harbor. We were fed, given cold libations, and had first class seats for this event. Nothing short of marvelous. And we were all glad we were out on the water with a nice breeze, because it was 96 degrees on land. That made Florida seem cool. After the brothers' boats docked, many of us miraculously found our way to The BOC Hospitality Suite at the downtown Marriott (which was the host hotel) to slake our considerable thirst with a variety of adult beverages. Others found time to brave the heat and humidity and peruse the fair that the city sponsored on the waterfront to welcome the tall ships. This included arts and crafts, live music, more adult libations, etc.
At 6pm on Friday evening, we gathered at Waterside Harbor in the bustling downtown waterfront marina for a 3 hour cruise on American Rover, a schooner rigged sailing vessel. The BOC invasion took over the entire craft. Fortunately, adult beverages of all ilk's (the Rum Runners were particularly tasty) were available, and excellent sandwiches were distributed to all hands to keep our hunger at bay. After the three hour tour (I know you are thinking about the theme song from Gilligan's Island), some of us more hearty souls found our way back to the hospitality suite for more libations, mucho brotherhood, and fine cigars on the pool deck afterward. (It was a tough deal, but somebody had to do it.). By the way, Listo (RK Ready) introduced his new novel (Condemned to be Free) to the BOC in the hospitality suite, signing copies of his tome for the brothers and captives. Allegedly. it is loosely based on the life of Brise-Galets (Bernard Lefevre), but only Bernard and RK know for sure. For those interested in purchasing a copy, please contact RK, who can probably be coaxed into signing his name on your book.
For some of us (Table Captains and our seconds), as well as Ursa Major (National BOC Captain Tom Collier), Deputy Dawg (Frank Sessions) and Monty Python (Monty Rogers), Saturday morning came too fast. However, the National Captains Meeting was convened at 8:30am, despite the fact that there were several participants still trying to remember who had "over-served" them the night before. We also found ourselves competing with a Christian Rock band that was practicing in the next ballroom. Despite that distraction, several of the things that we discussed were as follows:
1) The National Captains Meeting in 2008 will be hosted by the Savannah Table sometime in the spring.
2) The 50th Anniversary Party of the BOC in the US will be hosted by the Houston Table in the spring of 2009.
3) The International Zaf scheduled for 2010 will be held in Australia as previously announced, and it will probably be sometime in March
While the "leadership" of the BOC met, the rest of the attendees were free to do as they pleased. This usually took people to the waterfront to browse among the tent booths that had been set us as part of the festivities, tour the tall ships, or visit the USS Wisconsin (one of four vessels of the Iowa class of battleships built during WW II), which is "in ordinary" (Navy lingo for mothballed), but is still on the vessel roster of the US Navy, though moored to the Nauticus Exhibit in the inner harbor.
After lunch, some of us found our way to ORZA, Cruz's (Scott Ripley) beautiful custom 58' Power Catamaran which was docked for the weekend at The Waterside Marina, right in the heart of the activities. We were welcomed aboard with the familiar refrain from Cruz, "Come on now, here is something to quench your thirst. I'm not going to hurt you too bad. If this stuff was bad for you, the government wouldn't allow it to be sold." Famous last words.
Considering that a Saturday night banquet was planned for us back at The Marriott starting with a cocktail hour at 6pm, with dinner following at 7pm, some of us had to remain (relatively) sober. The Saturday evening soirée was fabulous consisting of a buffet of considerable variety, and a bottle of rum on each table with special BOC shot glasses to celebrate the various toasts that always seem to accompany our functions. Stunningly, Blue Stache is stepping down from his "captain for life" position and Rocket Boy (Preston Carraway) is now the Table Captain of this Chesapeake "band of brothers." After dinner, an e
xtraordinary 30 minute fireworks display took place over the harbor which many of us witnessed from the 6th floor pool deck of the Marriott. Of course, the Hospitality Suite was again the destination after the fireworks ceased.
A "good bye" brunch was held the following morning at The Marriott to wish everyone safe travels back to their destinations. Several brothers took Snapper King (Bernie Dove) up on his invitation to drive to his house in Solomon Island, MD and be his and captive Margie's guests for a few days following the Zaf., Mr Clean and Blind Mouth decided to take Snapper King up on that offer. Rumbeaux/Goofy and Marge arrived via land yacht (new 40' RV motorhome), so they will take their time returning to the Sun Coast (on the way to the Zaf, they were waylaid by Joczka (Joe Horvath) and his captive Maureen of the Savannah Table, and one wonders if the Hadleys can make it home without further damage to their livers in BOC meeting opportunities).
In addition to the splendid hospitality demonstrated by the Chesapeake Table, Country Boy (Mike Monteith), Piper (Scott Rogers) and El Maestro (Mark Eller) recorded a CD (I kid you not) called "Another Brotherhood Day" which was engineered by Upwind (Peter Dennert), containing the original title tune by Country Boy, as well as several covers of familiar (ie, Jimmy Buffet) tunes. Each attendee was provided with a copy of this CD and it makes a wonderful sonic background for consuming vast quantities of rum and other combustible substances. Accolades to Scott, Mark, Mike and Peter for this fine effort and innovative gift in the w
elcoming bag of goodies. The Chesapeake Table certainly sets the bar high on Zafs, and hopefully they will spur other Tables to new heights of Zafdom (I do not know if that's a word) in the future.
So that's a thumbnail sketch of the Chesapeake Bay Table National Zaf. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures to share with you because I did not have a camera, though I believe my captive was so equipped. I will have to find out where she has hidden that device.
Those that attended the Zaf had a wonderful time. The Sun Coast was well represented with 5 brothers and their captives. I strongly encourage anyone who has the time (and money) to make every effort to attend out-of-table functions. This is where we have the opportunity to experience the true spirit of the BOC and meet our brothers and captives from other areas, while having a most memorable time.
The pictures for this event are available on
the Zaf photo album which will be updated regularly in the coming weeks. Keep checking !
ORZA,
The Crab a.k.a. John D.
