imported post
Since it IS Norfolk and the crime rate there is rather high, I will probably carry my mag pouch, too. I usually just carry a full 12-round mag in my USP 45, but me thinks I may add the double-mag pouch to my right side to evenly distribute the weight.
That .45 gets heavy after a few hours on the hip. Sometimes (not very often) I wish I was carrying something smaller that a full size .45
Looking forward to seeing you folks down there. So... the flag poles next to Waterside at 1900. We'll be there!
I'll actually be there several hours earlier visiting old friends. I'm an "Original Harborfest" kid from the 70's before the city got hold of it and screwed it up for the sailors.
It started around 1975 as an all-night sailboat race that started Thursday evening at Thimble Shoals Lighthouse, went to the Cape Charles side of the bay (Old Plantation Flats Light), Spinnakerboats continued NW to Wolf Trap Light while the Non-Spinnaker boats went West to York Spit Light and the finish line was at a fishing pier at Ft. Monroe where the finishers had to sail close enough to the pier for the race committee to hand you your HarborFest Flag (your ticket to a "parking spot" downtown) with a long-handled crab net. The Parade of Sail started around 10AM and consisted of the boats in the race along with a few local "character boats" and some Tall Ships whenever they could get them to stop here. The race boats tied up at the floating Dunmore Docks (where Nauticus and the USS Winsconsin currently reside) and had a continuous party that lasted until Sunday around noon when most had recovered from their hangovers enough to sail home. Sometimes they got some local bands to play Friday night and Saturday night and they had workboat races (docking races, actually)so the watermen didn't feel left out. Its quite impressive to watch a 50' work boat run full speed into a confined area and "parallel park" in a space less that 60' long.
Then the city got hold of it. Judge for yourself the results, but it definitely got away from the reason for the "festival". The race was a lot of fun. Sometimes it was a drifting contest and sometimes it turned into a survival contest. either way, it was an accomplishement to finish before sunrise and get a couple hours nap at anchor on Hampton Flats before the Parade of Sail.
Thus endeth the lesson...