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October 13-19, 2014  From Baltimore, Maryland, to Portsmouth, Virginia Schooners underway at the beginning of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. There are schooners here, there and just about everywhere participating in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race (GCBSR). The 25th annual race begins Thursday, October 16th on the south side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis, Maryland. The schooners race throughout the afternoon and night into the next day to their designated finish line. For classes A and AA, the finish is an east-west line at Thimble Shoal Light and classes B and C finish at Windmill Point. Then they proceed on to docking in Portsmouth, Virginia along the quaint historic seaport's basins and seawall. Schooners rafted together at the High Street Landing at the end of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Photo by Joe Elder. With 34 entries in this year's race represented from all around the Chesapeake Bay and as far away as Key West, Florida, they...

Kevin Collins holds one of his sea bowls. Inspired by marine life that survive in the brackish habitats that exist along our Virginia shore, kevin Collins brings to life a unique collection of ceramic (porcelain) creations for your coastal home. The forms take on shapes of modeled bowls with oyster shells and barnicles and shell colored inner surfaces in shades of pink, coral, blues, greens and purples. Kevin's earthenware creations also take on the form of shell lamps, some actually starting with a piece of driftwood with small sea creatures added to the natural surface. His collection also includes shell-designed necklaces and earrings and even individual oyster shell and clumps of barnacles as refrigerator magnets. His designs are endless and we never know what Kevin will come up with next. These porcelain art pieces are functional   art oieces and perfect decor item for your beach and coastal home. Sea-inspired coral colored ceramic bowl with barnacles. Kevin's first experi...

On the horizon lies a historic American milestone, an extraordinary occasion for the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, planned together with the spectacle of OpSail 2012. OpSail 2012 Virginia is collaboration between Operation Sail Inc. (OpSail) national, the United States Navy, Norfolk Festevents and th e  36th Annual AT&T Harborfest events, and hundreds of national, state and local organizations. From June 1 -12, 2012, the Port of Virginia will once again host an impressive fleet of tall ships, navy and military war ships representing the world. OpSail 2012 Virginia  and Harborfest is planned to illuminate the community with spectacle and festivity, and will place our Commonwealth front and center on the world stage. Tall ship 'KALMAR NYCKEL'  will be participating in OpSail 2012 and along  the Portsmouth, Virginia waterfront.  Photo by Joe Elder. This wi...

August 18, 1941 - February 14, 2012 Captain J.C. Waters teaching a maritime course aboard his schooner Spirit of Independence.  Photo by Joe Elder. We first met J.C. Waters in the spring of 2006 when he and his daughter Joy visited our store (then at 629 High Street) while on a voyage up the Atlantic coast aboard the"Spirit of Independence". J.C. had recently completed and launched the schooner in his hometown of Independence, Missouri, and was in search of a new location to relocate the schooner. We talked extensively during his first visit about the "Spirit of Independence" and told J.C. all about our quaint historic seaport, Olde Towne Portsmouth. He invited Alison and me to visit his schooner moored at Tidewater Yacht, so we met him after closing for a tour of the Spirit. What a magnificent vessel it was.  We stayed in contact via e-mail and J.C. kept us abreast of his travel and search for a new place to call home. A year passed by when we received correspo...

USS Raleigh, C-8, circa 1894 By Jim Dyson USS Raleigh a United States Navy, protected cruiser, the second ship of the U.S. Navy named Raleigh, C-8, was laid down on 19 December 1889 at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, launched 31 March 1892; sponsored by Mrs. Alfred W. Haywood; and commissioned on 17 April 1894, Captain Merrill Miller, commanding. The USS Raleigh was launched at the north end of the shipyard, near what now is Trophy Park. The Raleigh served in the Spanish American War and saw naval service until 21 April 1919. To read about the U.S.S. Raleigh's naval history, go to: USS Raleigh (C-8) Launch of USS Raleigh, March 31, 1892, Portsmouth, Virginia. On 5 August 1921 she was sold for scrapping to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's been a long time since 1921 and artifacts from Raleigh are scarce indeed. Recently, Portsmouth marine clock historian and collector, James Dyson was able to obtain the Raleigh engine room clock in a ...

Schooner SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE Participants sight the sun using a sextant Most of us are enthralled with the sea and are drawn to stories and movies that have a sea theme. We can all relate to the human experience of these stories and movies accept when we consider how they found their way across the featureless expanse of ocean. That to many of us is a mystery. Peter Youngblood demonstrates the use of a sextant. Recently, area sailors and crewmembers had a workup on celestial navigation in preparation for our cruise aboard Schooner SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE to Bermuda. The workup session was held on board at her berth, which is docked at Tidewater Yacht Marina in Portsmouth, VA. Sun sights were taken throughout the day, with emphases on sextant technique used to bring an object to the horizon. Between shooting sessions the group discussed the geometry behind finding ones position with a sextant. Additionally each person used his or her sight data for sight reduction using a celestia...