The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
On a gray day in mid-December, workers operating a towering crane at an Elizabeth River shipyard plucked the two wooden masts - both over 80 feet tall - from the Schooner Virginia and laid them gently down on a dock.
The masts, made of solid Douglas fir, had large cracks and needed to be replaced. The board of the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit group that owns the ship, had raised about $100,000 to buy new masts, booms and spars, executive director Will King said. The work is part of the effort to get the ship ready for OpSail 2012, the nautical festival coming to Hampton Roads in June.
The Virginia has been moored since late 2009 when money problems forced the foundation to lay off its dozen or so professional crew members. Talks with Nauticus about using the Virginia as the centerpiece of a community sailing center are ongoing.
A South Carolina boat builder will build new masts, booms and spars out of wood laminate, a material that's expected to last longer than solid wood. The Virginia's masts were originally installed in 2005. The new masts are expected to be installed in April.
"All of this is with the objective of participating in OpSail," King said. "While we have a vision beyond that, a lot of it depends on how things work out with Nauticus and the community sailing center."
A small crowd gathered to watch the masts come down at Lyon Shipyard in Norfolk, not far from Harbor Park.
Tom Ackiss, the shipyard's vice president, said the company was doing the work for free.
"We're a maritime community, and it's part of our heritage, and we ought to hang on to it despite the tough times," he said.
The Virginia was modeled after sailing pilot ships that guided ocean vessels into local ports until the early 1900s.
It's not the only tall ship facing financial troubles. South Carolina's tall ship, the Spirit of South Carolina, is for sale to pay off its debts.
More than $5 million in public money helped build and operate the Virginia. The ship's money troubles increased after public funding dried up.
King said tall ships are expensive.
"It just costs a lot to operate," he said. "It just does. Nothing's changed there."
What will happen to the Virginia's old masts? Nauticus has expressed interest in using them - for flagpoles.
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
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Countless dollars - 'cuz ya can't count was doesn't exist
IRT: "Schooner Virginia is an integral part of the festival and OpSail will bring countless dollars to the area. A very worthy effort!!
Ha, ha, ha, ha ... there is some TRUTH in this afterall:
The dollars that hole in the water brings to area taxpayers is "countless", because there aren't any!
That foolish, expensive toy is NOT an "integral" part of the festival - nor do we actually have any need for Opsail in the first place.
If the private sector wants to risk their own money - go for it!
But they don't. They want to risk the taxpayer's money instead.
We can't afford this wasteful spending anymore.
Not that we ever could.
A New Home
A lot of supporters would like to see her home port across the river on the Olde Towne Portsmouth side. She would then become an attraction and visible to the general public; not hidden tied to a pier that is out of view of visitors to Norfolk's waterside and competing with Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin. People in Olde Towne would embrace her and be proud to have her.
SCHOONER VIRGINIA
This ship is absolutely breathtaking. It is a true testament to the heritage of the area and projects a positive image of Hampton Roads. It needs to be maintained and readied for OpSail 2012. Schooner Virginia is an integral part of the festival and OpSail will bring countless dollars to the area. A very worthy effort!!
Oh, if that were true .. but it is not.
OpSail has been a significant failure to meet the financial promises its advocates have made. I attended the 2000 OpSail. I recall how the vendors lost their shirts. Like so many of these marketing "strategies", OpSail and the wooden ship replica "investment" fail to bring any true retrun on investment to those stuck paying the bills - taxpayers.
I love sailboats. My family has a long history of ship building. Go to Mystic Seaport and tour the Greenman Brother's shipyard. The schooner Virginia is far from "breathtaking".
It is an utter failure when we consider what has happened, to what was promised. The misuse of much need tax funds for this nice-to-have toy does not "project a positive image of Hampton Roads", it is an embarrassment.
Vendors at OpSail
I was also at OpSail 2000, here and in Baltimore. The only reason the vendors lost money in Norfolk was that there were so many or them. They also took up a lot of space, making the park seem very overcrowded. Baltimore did a much better job of limiting the number of vendors, which made it much more pleasant viewing the beautiful sailing ships.
Harbor Park, Waterside, and Norfolk in general, could learn a lot from Baltimore.
We are a sailing town, from the Navy Base to the shipyards to the many boat docks. The Virginia is a fine tribute to all of this. Without following the whole story, I suspect it has just been mismanaged.
Our transportation funds NOT at work
This expensive toy is another example of an endless list of failed "visions" that misuse our tax dollars. In this case over $1M of TRANSPORTATION FUNDS, money drivers paid in state gas taxes that was supposed to be used to keep our roads in good repair - $1M+ was diverted so Norfolk could buy a very expensive new toy boat.
The boat was sinking at the pier, useless - because there never was a need for it and it was a luxury toy in search of money to stay afloat.
What has the millions upon millions spent in tax dollars accomplished?
This replica of a ship does serve some good - as a symbol of how our tax money is wasted. When we look back and study WHO were the cheerleaders for this waste, we find the usual suspects.
Support the Schooner Virginia...You Can Help
Another way to help fund the Schooner Virginia is to buy and wear Schooner virginia apparel. The foundation still has a large investment in products originally produced to raise money and awareness for the Schooner Virginia. The Schooner Virginia apparel and accessories are still available at Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery located in Olde Towne Portsmouth, VA. and 24/7 on their webstore at http://www.skipjacknauticalwares.com. Skipjack Nautical Wares has donated the use of a portion of it's retail space to house the Schooner Virginia inventory as well as handled the sales and shipping of products for the last three years with the majority of the funds raised through sales going to the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation.