Defying Derecho

Story by Sandy Bildahl | Photos by John Bildahl

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A fleet of Boston Whaler Super Sports arrives just in time to rescue summer camp season from the clutches of a mighty storm

J

june 29, 2012.

It was the end of another sultry summer day in Worton, Maryland. In this Land of Pleasant Living, no one suspected that a now-infamous derecho was about to cut a line of destruction from Chicago to the mid-Atlantic coast.

At approximately 11 p.m., this monster windstorm began carving its name into the serene, coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay, a place where osprey soar, blue crabs swim and a YMCA camp called Tockwogh had been gearing up for the arrival, in just two days, of hundreds of young summer campers.

Known for its pristine two-mile beach, Camp Tockwogh boasts a huge fleet of sailboats, canoes, kayaks and some of the toughest vessels on the bay—more than a half-dozen Boston Whalers, which have weathered many trials and served through many successful camp seasons.

In fact, several of Tockwogh’s Whalers date all the way back to the 1970s. The boats are prized for their longevity at a camp where loyalty extends from the campers (many of whom come back year after year) to the camp’s executive director, Elizabeth Staib-King. She left Hawaii to return to Tockwogh, where she had once been a camper. When I ask how she could leave paradise, she responds, “This is the greatest place on earth! It was a no-brainer.”

But as the derecho approached, the camp’s 50 years of tradition were about to be tested. When 70 mph winds whip through an area, all bets are off.

Tockwogh’s dedicated counselors rely on the camp’s fleet of Whalers for a host of functions, from support duties for young sailors-in-training to afternoon outings in search of sun and adventure.

“It was terrifying,” says Courtney Izett, who spent 16 summers at Camp Tockwogh as a camper and is now director of conferencing. “I’ve been through hurricanes and tornados, but nothing like this.”

At 2:30 a.m., as the roar of destruction quieted, the staff stepped into the pitch-black night. Having lost electricity, their guide was an emergency “mega spotlight” that revealed a scene beyond their imagination. “It brought tears to our eyes,” Courtney says. “Everything was a jumble of trees that had fallen over everywhere.”

Making their way down to the waterfront, they climbed over the downed foliage to discover disaster. “Every boat, except one, was on the beach,” Courtney describes. “The wind had dragged the boats and moorings together. Boats were upside down, gas tanks were strewn all over… even the floating dock was turned over. It looked hopeless.”

With so little time remaining until the next group of campers arrived, they considered the unthinkable: They wouldn’t open. After all, the waterfront is a major part of what makes Tockwogh such a popular camp. But they allowed themselves only a minute with that thought before rejecting it and snapping into action. They mobilized, formed a plan and didn’t stop working despite the historic heat wave that settled in after the storm.

As temperatures rose to more than 100 degrees, a rescue crew of volunteers, former employees, staff, tree cutters, and a camp board member who jumped in his truck and sawed his way through downed trees to reach the site, got to work. Within 36 hours of the storm, campers arrived to find Camp Tockwogh, despite all odds, ready for action. “It was a miracle,” Bryan says.

One of the biggest saves goes to Rick Bouley Sr., the camp’s contact at Chesapeake Whalertowne located in nearby Grasonville, Maryland.

As the storm cleared, Camp Tockwogh’s Director of Waterfront Operations Bryan Wallace called Rick with an unheard of request: “We need seven boats yesterday!” And with heroic speed from the Whalertowne crew, he had seven new Whalers serviced and ready to roll by the start of the camp’s third session, a mere two weeks later. Two 170 Super Sports, two 150 Super Sports and three 110 Sports gave them the fleet they needed.

“We outfitted all the boats here at Chesapeake Whalertowne and test drove each one to make sure they were all equipped just right for each unique application. From the 110 Sport to the 170 Super Sport, we realized the importance of reliability and functionality for the camp,” says Rick Bouley Jr. Time was of the essence, and even a lack of electricity and extensive local flooding couldn’t slow Whalertowne. Two of the boats came from other locations—one from New York and the other from Virginia Beach. According to Rick, this is normal service for Whalertowne.

“We consider top-level customer service a priority and wouldn’t consider this ‘going above and beyond,’” he says. “We were just servicing the customer to the top level that is a standard with Boston Whaler.”

Patience was another virtue, according to Bryan. “I can tell you, I was on the phone with Whalertowne almost every day for two weeks,” he says. “They also helped with small maintenance when we were overloaded with work. I can’t speak highly enough of the team there.”

They mobilized, formed a plan and didn’t stop working despite the historic heat wave that settled in following the storm.

he calm After the orm

One month later, on a busy afternoon in August, Whalers dot the camp’s shoreline, their wakes a stage for young campers to test their skill at wakeboarding and water-skiing. In the coming years, the fleet will continue to uphold Boston Whaler’s legendary reputation by passing the ultimate test of stamina: use by some 1,600 campers. “We put a great deal of time on these boats compared to the average boater,” Bryan says. “We put about 300 hours on each Whaler, every summer.”

Meanwhile several of the camp’s older Whalers are being repaired and will soon be good to go again. “Few boats have a design that can perform at a good level for a variety of activities,” Bryan says. “Boats are not made to move moorings and then pull skiers. But the Whalers do all of that for us, and then some.”

Ease of use is also a top priority. The new Whalers not only look sleek, but are also “low maintenance, self bailing, unsinkable and safe.

Anyone can hose one off and flush it out in 10 minutes,” Rick says.

Practical matters aside, the campers are happy. “Awesome” is their typical description. Teenage campers Hannah, Laura and Audrey are eager to try water-skiing and tubing as they wait for the Whaler that

J

june 29, 2012.

It was the end of another sultry summer day in Worton, Maryland. In this Land of Pleasant Living, no one suspected that a now-infamous derecho was about to cut a line of destruction from Chicago to the mid-Atlantic coast.

At approximately 11 p.m., this monster windstorm began carving its name into the serene, coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay, a place where osprey soar, blue crabs swim and a YMCA camp called Tockwogh had been gearing up for the arrival, in just two days, of hundreds of young summer campers.

Known for its pristine two-mile beach, Camp Tockwogh boasts a huge fleet of sailboats, canoes, kayaks and some of the toughest vessels on the bay—more than a half-dozen Boston Whalers, which have weathered many trials and served through many successful camp seasons.

In fact, several of Tockwogh’s Whalers date all the way back to the 1970s. The boats are prized for their longevity at a camp where loyalty extends from the campers (many of whom come back year after year) to the camp’s executive director, Elizabeth Staib-King. She left Hawaii to return to Tockwogh, where she had once been a camper. When I ask how she could leave paradise, she responds, “This is the greatest place on earth! It was a no-brainer.”

But as the derecho approached, the camp’s 50 years of tradition were about to be tested. When 70 mph winds whip through an area, all bets are off.

Tockwogh’s dedicated counselors rely on the camp’s fleet of Whalers for a host of functions, from support duties for young sailors-in-training to afternoon outings in search of sun and adventure.

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vol. 2, issue 2

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www.whaler.com

“It was terrifying,” says Courtney Izett, who spent 16 summers at Camp Tockwogh as a camper and is now director of conferencing. “I’ve been through hurricanes and tornados, but nothing like this.”

At 2:30 a.m., as the roar of destruction quieted, the staff stepped into the pitch-black night. Having lost electricity, their guide was an emergency “mega spotlight” that revealed a scene beyond their imagination. “It brought tears to our eyes,” Courtney says. “Everything was a jumble of trees that had fallen over everywhere.”

Making their way down to the waterfront, they climbed over the downed foliage to discover disaster. “Every boat, except one, was on the beach,” Courtney describes. “The wind had dragged the boats and moorings together. Boats were upside down, gas tanks were strewn all over… even the floating dock was turned over. It looked hopeless.”

With so little time remaining until the next group of campers arrived, they considered the unthinkable: They wouldn’t open. After all, the waterfront is a major part of what makes Tockwogh such a popular camp. But they allowed themselves only a minute with that thought before rejecting it and snapping into action. They mobilized, formed a plan and didn’t stop working despite the historic heat wave that settled in after the storm.

As temperatures rose to more than 100 degrees, a rescue crew of volunteers, former employees, staff, tree cutters, and a camp board member who jumped in his truck and sawed his way through downed trees to reach the site, got to work. Within 36 hours of the storm, campers arrived to find Camp Tockwogh, despite all odds, ready for action. “It was a miracle,” Bryan says.

One of the biggest saves goes to Rick Bouley Sr., the camp’s contact at Chesapeake Whalertowne located in nearby Grasonville, Maryland.

As the storm cleared, Camp Tockwogh’s Director of Waterfront Operations Bryan Wallace called Rick with an unheard of request: “We need seven boats yesterday!” And with heroic speed from the Whalertowne crew, he had seven new Whalers serviced and ready to roll by the start of the camp’s third session, a mere two weeks later. Two 170 Super Sports, two 150 Super Sports and three 110 Sports gave them the fleet they needed.

“We outfitted all the boats here at Chesapeake Whalertowne and test drove each one to make sure they were all equipped just right for each unique application. From the 110 Sport to the 170 Super Sport, we realized the importance of reliability and functionality for the camp,” says Rick Bouley Jr. Time was of the essence, and even a lack of electricity and extensive local flooding couldn’t slow Whalertowne. Two of the boats came from other locations—one from New York and the other from Virginia Beach. According to Rick, this is normal service for Whalertowne.

“We consider top-level customer service a priority and wouldn’t consider this ‘going above and beyond,’” he says. “We were just servicing the customer to the top level that is a standard with Boston Whaler.”

Patience was another virtue, according to Bryan. “I can tell you, I was on the phone with Whalertowne almost every day for two weeks,” he says. “They also helped with small maintenance when we were overloaded with work. I can’t speak highly enough of the team there.”

They mobilized, formed a plan and didn’t stop working despite the historic heat wave that settled in following the storm.

the calm After the storm

One month later, on a busy afternoon in August, Whalers dot the camp’s shoreline, their wakes a stage for young campers to test their skill at wakeboarding and water-skiing. In the coming years, the fleet will continue to uphold Boston Whaler’s legendary reputation by passing the ultimate test of stamina: use by some 1,600 campers. “We put a great deal of time on these boats compared to the average boater,” Bryan says. “We put about 300 hours on each Whaler, every summer.”

Meanwhile several of the camp’s older Whalers are being repaired and will soon be good to go again. “Few boats have a design that can perform at a good level for a variety of activities,” Bryan says. “Boats are not made to move moorings and then pull skiers. But the Whalers do all of that for us, and then some.”

Ease of use is also a top priority. The new Whalers not only look sleek, but are also “low maintenance, self bailing, unsinkable and safe.

Anyone can hose one off and flush it out in 10 minutes,” Rick says.

Practical matters aside, the campers are happy. “Awesome” is their typical description. Teenage campers Hannah, Laura and Audrey are eager to try water-skiing and tubing as they wait for the Whaler that

Several of Camp Tockwogh’s Boston Whaler Super Sports are outfitted with a tow arch, making them especially popular among the wakeboarding and water-skiing set. The unsinkable fleet also ensured tubing remained high on the agenda.

“Boats are not made to move moorings and then pull skiers. But the Whalers do all that for us, and then some.” will take them to idyllic Still Pond, a skier’s dream. For Hannah and Audrey, this is their fifth year at Tockwogh; Laura’s been coming here for seven. In fact, Audrey, who’s from California, has siblings and parents who once stood on this same beach as campers.

Credit for the happy atmosphere also goes to the YMCA of Delaware’s Camp Tockwogh Strong Kids Campaign. The charity helps children who would not otherwise be able to experience camp afford to come.

Monitoring the scene are returning counselors Cecelia Morrison and Liv Barber, who say they’ve waited all year to get back to camp.

They agree in unison, “We love it here.” But they were worried during and after the storm.

Liv describes that night. “Everyone was scared… We had to climb over 10 feet of trees and then we couldn’t see any boats. Our hearts sank. We thought it was the end of the summer. So we were so excited when the new Whalers arrived. We were saying, ‘The Whalers are here! The Whalers are here!’”

Watching the campers skiing, tubing, wakeboarding or simply taking a spin (a.k.a. “a Whaler ride”) and generally having a good time with friends, it’s clear the storm is past. And thanks to the boats, they’re enjoying all that the Chesapeake has to offer while fulfilling the camp’s goal of personal growth.

“The idea of harnessing the power of the wind to move something larger than yourself or being able to move on top of the water while skiing is something that breaks down the constructs that things are impossible,” Bryan reflects. “It lets people see that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to.”

Sounds like a motto for everyone who experienced Summer 2012 at Camp Tockwogh. When one of the most severe storms in 75 years rolled through, the camp, without a doubt, came out a winner.