“Dreamtime” is the word that the Australian aborigines use to refer to the time of creation. Both widowed and trying to build a new life together, it was a fitting name for Jim and Bev Borberg’s first boat. “It was our time of creation,” Jim said.
The couple met nine years ago on a friend’s sailboat. Bev enjoys the weekly Little Creek races but prefers week-long sailboat cruises, when they rendezvous with other couples each evening. When she wants to share her email address with someone they’ve met, she has a stack of “boat cards,” business-sized and complete with a picture of their boat.
For a retired naval engineer, it’s the creation – and the challenge – that Jim likes most. Back in 1963, he said, “there were no sailboats in Guam, so I built one.” Although he’s sailed in many places, the Chesapeake Bay is “one of the best places in the world.” Jim’s not doing the construction now, but the Little Creek races are challenge enough, particularly when the wind is light.
Crew members waved hello as they skirted past each other toward the red buoy which marked the invisible starting line. “Little creek racers! little creek racers!” the voice of the race committee called across the radio before dictating the course. “Thirty… Fifteen…” Jim’s daughter, Ronda, counted down the seconds as they hovered and waited. “Ten…Five…”
A half a mile off the Ocean View shoreline past the tall, pastel block houses of East Beach, a dozen tiny white triangles glided across the horizon.
(The races are organized by the Little Creek Sailing Association, a division of the Broad Bay Sailing Association. For more info, visit http://www.broadbaysailing.org )
ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the “Report Violation” link below the comment.
