THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180367
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
For such a balmy day, the marina in Wachapreague was uncharacteristically empty - but for Herb Thom tightening the lines on his 40-foot fishing boat. Watermen who could afford it had moved their boats bayside or onto dry land. But many, like Thom, had to nurse them through the Felix threat, adjusting the lines every few hours to match the massive tide shifts.
Fishermen said they lose $300 or more in potential income every day they can't fish; Charter captains as much as $1,000. They budget for the occasional storm, though not one that lasts a week.
And Thom said it's not even the 12-foot swells that scare him. He'd fish spot and croaker through just about anything - if he could catch them.
``It's just not economical to go out there,'' he said. ``With all the turbulence, your nets'll be full of nothing but seaweed.
``These guys out here go to work the way you and I go to church. But they're not going to go just for a boat ride. It's frustrating. We have no idea how long we'll have to wait.''
- Robert Little
At a Kempsville supermarket, shelves that once held stacks of tuna are empty - not a water-packed can in sight. Soups and fruit juices are nearly gone. Still a few low-fat peanut butters, plenty of grape jelly, but no bread aside from some hot dog rolls.
How do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread? The cart is rolling toward the cash register when the loudspeaker blares, ``There is now bread on Aisle 15.''
Triumph! But wait, other carts are headed in the same direction. A queue of shoppers, trying to maintain decorum, storms Aisle 15.
Each shopper grabs one loaf of the precious bread, still warm and soft from the oven. One woman takes two. She's broken the unwritten rule, is eyed with suspicion, but refuses to surrender the second loaf.
Home at last. No Felix yet, but we feast on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on warm, fresh bread.
- Lynn Feigenbaum
Felix as seen from Ocean View:
``In my opinion, you can have all of the computers in the world with all of the technology to track a hurricane, and nature is going to do what nature wants to do,'' said Debora Hendrix, 37, an Ocean View resident for 20 years.
``What scares me is that everyone is so psyched and ready for a storm that isn't coming,'' Hendrix said. ``They might not take the next storm as seriously.''
Judy Beach, 39, of Virginia Beach said she was drawn to Ocean View to see the high waves.
``There is something about hurricane water that you want to see,'' Beach said. ``I just wanted to get my feet wet.''
But Beach was out of luck. Lifeguards had closed the beach Thursday forcing her to watch with her 9-month daughter Marina from the boardwalk.
``I had a bad feeling about the storm, but I don't today,'' said Margaret Snowden, 70, of Norfolk, as she watched Ocean View's high waves and enjoyed the sunny skies. ``My garbage can is still in the garage, though. It's going to stay there another day.''
- Mara Stanley
Where is he?'' asks Jason Vaught, shading his eyes from the afternoon's bright sun and scanning the roiling surf.
``It's crazy to go out there alone,'' says Don Binkley, stretching for a better look.
``There he is,'' says Byron Gentry, pointing to a distant figure emerging half a mile down the beach, surf board under his arm.
The young men are poised with their own boards ready to brave the five tiers of high tide breakers off 76th Street. They've made one attempt and failed.
``We couldn't get past the last breaker,'' Binkley says. ``It's brutal out there.''
The waves churned up by Hurricane Felix have lured a handful of surfers to the North End.
The breakers look as innocent and surly as teenagers tossing back their hair. But appearances are deceiving. Strong undertow and rip tides lurk just beyond the nearest row of breakers, Binkley says.
``You can feel it if you're off your board. If I lost my board out there, I'd be crying and drowning,'' he says.
Nearby, two kayakers also wait for a lull in the crashing waves.
Arthur Nelson and Charlie Logan made it past the second tier of surf before they gave up on their first try.
The two will put on their life vests before making another attempt.
``I may be a little foolish, but I'm not crazy,'' says Nelson, who lives in Roanoke and is working in Virginia Beach for the summer.
``I just couldn't resist it,'' he says. ``But I didn't want to go out by myself.''
- Nancy Lewis
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX by CNB