THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150140
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 180 lines
WILLIAM S. STETSON carefully navigated the Cricket, his 40-foot power boat, through the choppy waters of the Nansemond River on the first day of the Labor Day weekend cruise.
``I haven't seen any crab pots, but watch for them,'' said Stetson, as he turned the helm over to his wife, Judy, so he could go below to check the engines.
The Cricket was headed to the marina at Norfolk's Waterside, where the Stetsons would rendezvous with other members of the Great Bridge Cruising Club for the three-day holiday. The 24-mile trip would take about an hour and a half at an average 16 knots, Stetson said.
As the club's commodore, Stetson had arranged this year's itinerary - five cruises between May and October. The longest had been a 10-day cruise to Maryland in July. The season's finale would be the Halloween Fest in Hampton.
On this weekend, billed as the Labor Day Frolic, the boating companions had several group activities planned. Friday evening, they would hold their customary first-evening gathering, a cocktail party on the dock. On Saturday, they had tickets to the sold-out Tides baseball game, the last of the season. And Sunday, they would visit Nauticus, the new maritime attraction on Norfolk's waterfront.
The rest of the time, the members usually go their separate ways, sightseeing or shopping or just resting on their boats, said Judy Stetson.
Yankee, the Stetsons' golden Labrador retriever and their companion on cruises, provides them with special insights into local areas when they take him for walks.
``With Yankee, we see a lot of different things the others don't,'' Judy Stetson said.
Some of the cruise club members also belong to local power squadrons, educational groups that offer free boating courses similar to the Coast Guard Auxiliary, said Bill Stetson, shouting over the engine's roar when he returned to his post on the flying deck.
``This is more or less a social club,'' he said. ``We cruise together and have good friendship.''
About 11:30 a.m., the wind whipped the water into small white caps as Stetson maneuvered the Cricket past the channel markers near the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and into the Elizabeth River.
``They said 15 to 20 mile-per-hour winds,'' said Stetson, 64. ``That's about right.''
Heavy clouds loomed overhead in the gray sky, but the morning's drizzle had ended. ``We gamble on the weather,'' Stetson said.
But unless there's a severe storm, the weather really doesn't bother them much because the boats are equipped for heavy weather.
``Most are boats you can live aboard for a week or so,'' said Stetson, who retired as Suffolk Postmaster in 1988.
As the Cricket neared the Waterside marina, Stetson raised James R. ``Jim'' Thomas, the officer of the day, on the citizens band radio to find out which slips were reserved for the 10 or so member boats that were expected.
Thomas and his wife, Joan, had docked their 43-foot boat, the Jay Tees, earlier that morning after arriving from Seaford, where he manages a Fine's men's clothing store. The OD, who acts as the cruise captain, is typically the first to arrive in port.
But Edward T. Miles and his wife, Betty, had arrived early from Virginia Beach, mooring their 53-foot boat, Miles Away, the night before. Miles had spent the morning at his seafood processing plant, J.H. Miles & Co. Inc., near Waterside.
Ed and Betty Miles and their two teenage children spend much of the summer on their boat.
``There are probably a half-dozen of these cruising clubs around,'' Miles said, ``with 20 or 30 boats each. People get together and travel together.''
His family enjoys the fellowship with the other members and the interesting places the club visits.
``You always have friends when you get there,'' Miles said.
Most of the other boaters attending the Labor Day Fest would arrive later that afternoon.
The club's members are scattered over Hampton Roads - Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach on the southside as well as Seaford and Poquoson on the Peninsula. There are no members from Portsmouth this year.
There's a limit of 40 boats in the club, and prospective members are invited to join. Yearly dues are $50, and boaters pay their own slip fees on cruises.
``We usually take five cruises a year,'' said Stetson.
And there are two mandatory meetings a year - one on the second Tuesday of December to elect new officers and a ceremonial change-of-watch party before Feb. 25.
And traditionally, the commodore hosts an optional cocktail party known as ``The Commodore's Party'' at the beginning of the cruising season.
The club was started 35 years ago by the late Julius T. Herbst, a Great Bridge yacht broker. The name was chosen because most of the early cruises and activities centered on the Atlantic Yacht Basin there.
Herbst, the club's commodore for the first two years, had organized cruises to Ocracoke, N.C., in the early 1950s and their popularity led to the club's formation. Most of the early cruises headed south in protected waters.
Still, some members were reluctant to spend much time on their boats, which were smaller then and had fewer amenities than today's yachts. Instead, they would travel by car - a ``chicken wagon'' - meeting the boaters in each port.
In the early days of the club, the boaters had to carry extra fuel, sleeping bags and insect spray in their cockpits. None of the boats had showers, so the boaters would hose down on the docks in their bathing suits.
According to the club's history, lightning once struck a metal shed where the boats were housed in Washington, N.C., causing some of the members to lose their suntans but doing little actual damage.
The boats need constant maintenance.
``We put a lot of work into it,'' said Bill Stetson, who has been on the water most of his life. ``If I wasn't retired, I couldn't do it.''
The Stetsons' current boat is the fifth version of the Cricket. The first, a 16-foot outboard, was named for a stowaway.
``A darn cricket got on there up in the bow somewhere,'' Bill Stetson said. ``I never did find the bugger. It wouldn't make a sound on the trailer. But I would take the boat out, it would start chirping like crazy.''
Their children - two daughters and four sons, now all grown - enjoyed the water. All but the youngest son grew up while the family was living in Devon, Penn., near Valley Forge. They spent most of their summers on the upper Chesapeake Bay before moving to Suffolk 15 years ago.
Their boats have varied in size and types, Judy Stetson said. They also have done some sailing, though they prefer power boats.
``We know all the `don'ts,' '' Judy Stetson said. ``We just don't know the `do's.' ''
The Great Bridge Cruising Club members all have different sized boats - ranging from 30 to 60 feet - and they all travel at different speeds, so they do not actually cruise together.
Instead, they meet at an pre-arranged point.
``We all leave the same day,'' Bill Stetson said, ``and we all land the same day.''
On the dock, Thomas was overseeing the activities, helping the other members get docked and hooking up their electricity and water.
Wearing a green club T-shirt, symbolizing that he was the OD, Thomas watched as Frank H. ``Hanny'' Miller deftly backed his 36-foot boat, Lady Fair, into the slip between two larger boats.
Miller and his wife, Elizabeth, had come that afternoon from Willoughby Bay Marina, where they keep their boat.
Miller, 84, had been cruising with the club since 1967, even before he retired as general manager and chief engineer of Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
``We've had some beautiful cruises,'' Miller said. ``We've had our troubles, but we always get out of them.''
Once while returning from Crisfield, Md., the boaters had difficulty navigating in a storm, Miller said. Visibility was nearly zero, he said.
``Boats today are so instrumented now, it takes all the fun out of it,'' he said.
On other trips, boats have had transmission problems or blown engines, Miller said.
On this summer's long cruise, Elizabeth Miller caught a virus and the Millers stayed an extra day at the port, joining the rest of the cruisers after missing only one stop.
In 1965, a squadron of 22 boats visited the New York World Fair, all arriving safely, Miller said.
``We have not had any serious problems that I know of,'' Miller said. ``We've been 35,000 to 40,000 miles and not had any big trouble.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Bill Stetson, commodore of the Great Bridge Cruising Club, and his
dog, Yankee, meet friends from all around Hampton Roads at the
marina at Waterside in Norfolk. [This photo ran on the cover of this
issue]
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Stetsons' 40-foot Cricket heads downstream from Brady's Marina
in Suffolk. Destination: Waterside.
Bill and Judy Stetson have a long weekend of fun ahead with their
boating buddies as they guide their craft toward the Labor Day
Frolic in Norfolk. Bill Stetson is commodore of the cruising club.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Great Bridge Cruising Club members gather near their boats for a
dockside party at Waterside. A ball game and a visit to Nauticus
also were on their holiday agenda.
Photo
The Stetsons' dog Yankee, a golden Labrador retriever, gets to share
in the fun of club cruises.
by CNB