2-hour Photographer's boat ride!
Experience a unique and up-close view of the ponies of Chinconteague on their return trip to Assateague. Over 100 horses make the return trip, and they can often be seen frollicking in the sand once back on shore.
Roy Widgeon, fellow club member and resident of the Eastern Shore, has volunteered to put together trips to his home island for the club. For this trip, he's working with a friend and charter-boat captain to give VBPC members (and other area club members) a unique opportunity to get some great shots of these fine horses on their annual swim. Most boats go straight back to shore after the very short swim across by the ponies, but the caption of The Tortuga, a fellow amateur enthusiast, has promised to keep us taking photos for a couple of hours! The best shots of those shared with the Captain will receive credit on the captain's web page www.fishawn.com)!
Roy says:
The best way to experience the pony swim is by boat as they make their way from shore to shore in late July. The major problem with this is that it is really expensive to get a spot on the boat for the initial swim. I have contacted a Chincoteague charter captain who has plenty of spots for the not so well known swim back of the horses on August 1st, and the captain is giving us the opportunity to fill the boat with photographers before he opens it up to the public.
August 1st
Chinconteague Island
5:30 a.m. Meet at Curtis Merritt Harbor
6:00 a.m. Boat departs harbor
· 50ft vessel with a cabin restroom
· for the past four years he has been the lead boat for the swim!
· Charter Boat Company: www.fishawn.com
Price per person $75.00 (as compared to $125 for initial swim) if we share the boat (in this case, we're not guaranteed a special two-hour photo tour)
If we fill the boat the cost will be only $50.00 per person (the captain is giving us a tremendous discount just for doing the legwork!)
If we nearly fill the boat, the captain will increase our costs slightly, divided by the number of total passengers. In either of these last cases, the captain will keep us on the water for a couple of hours just for photography.
Registration Deadline Feb 15th (Now extended to May 6th!)
Payment Deadline by 29th Feb (Now extended to May 20th!)
Virginia Beach Photography Club members, register and pay at the Feb. 5th members meeting.
All other clubs, please select one designee to register and collect payment from your club members (registrations & payments due to Roy Widgeon by Feb. 29th).
If you do this trip, you'll need to be in Chinconteague very early. You'll probably want to stay overnight, at least the night before.
Roy's found a couple of nearby hotels with good rates
· Best Western Exmore, VA. they are about 44.4 miles away with a drive time of +- 1 hour http://www.easternshoreinn.com/
· Comfort INN Onley, VA. is about 32 miles away with a drive time of +- 46min. http://www.comfortinnonley.com/
Contact Roy w/ questions or to register your club members.
rwidgeon@vbatoz.com
757-621-8288