Bill is not a morning person. Jeff figured this out by the response he received when he got out of bed at 6am--ready to face the day. Eventually, Bill found it impossible to sleep, so the guys decided to get to it.

"Breakfast, petrol, lunch supplies and a ton of ice should do it." First however, a little prep work needed to be done on FINSUP. The tow strap was pulled from the bottom of the toolbox and affixed to the front bumper, and 40' coil of Dacron® line was stowed in the spare tire. The SCUBA tank/air supply and shovels were re-bungeed for extra security and FINSUP was repacked to make room for Spenny, the cooler, Bill's camera stuff amongst Jeff's kit.

After another delicious meal we were off to find a grocery store. Bill surmised that there had to be something on Route 90. Soon the we were crossing a long bridge, heading away from any signs of commercial development. About half-way across bridge the driver of an oncoming Honda began honking and waving. "That was Spenny," said Jeff. "Was it?" "I think so. That sure looked like a Honda-toaster The tags on Spenny's daily driver read APLYANCE) to me. I guess we better turn around up here and go back to the hotel." At the end of the bridge we made a left turn onto a dead end road. Quickly ran to the end to dip the Rover's tires into the water, and headed back from whence we came.

Arriving back at the hotel there was no sign of Spenny and he hadn't collected the note we'd left for him. We went back upstairs to better prepare ourselves as we'd optimistically put on shorts earlier--and Jeff had no intention of putting the hood on FINSUP. Soon we had to leave or risk being late for the start of the event. We bought fuel, rapidly provisioned at a 7-11 and headed for Assateauge Island.

THE MAIN EVENT

We scoped the R.O.V.E.R.S. group which was made up of a Discovery, two Defender 90"s and Range Rovers. Our Empire Rovers were the only pre-LRNA vehicles present. It was also more of a family gathering than we're used to, so we silently agreed to be on our best behavior, and to try not to do anything that might emotionally scar the children--a task made much easier by Eric Zipkin's absence.

Jeff left the EROS gang, headed up by Spenny, to rig the flagpole on FINSUP while he went in to get the necessary over-sand permit. He returned to find the flag of the Conch Republic flying boldly over his Rover...in the inverted position. "Oh well, we're almost always in distress of some sort...or at least causing it in others. Leave it!" Elyse came over and thanked Jeff for the loan of the headlamp. "Did you find it helpful?" "Mike's lantern wouldn't work and it was the only light we had to set up camp with. Everyone else was using it so I never got the chance to try it out."

Tires were aired down while Peter Monk welcomed everyone to the event and provided us with a loose itinerary. He also hoped that everyone had brought a kite, as we'd be taking some time to fly them at lunch. We'd passed a kite store on our way through Ocean City and had we only known, we would have been properly equipped. (At least we have an excuse for not packing kites, but failing to bring sunscreen to the beach is an entirely different matter -Bill.)

As a few R.O.V.E.R.S. members were Roverless, we offered up FINSUP's center seat which was quickly snatched by young Jake Hollick. Meanwhile, Bill and Spenny were busy attaching the Bogen clamp to FINSUP's rollbar so that we could mount Jeff's video camera--ROVERcam™! (We were concerned that the name EROScam™ might send the wrong message.)

Technical Note: If you're going to recreate RoverCam™in a beach or desert environment, use that rain cover that's sitting in your camera bag to protect the camera from blowing sand. Trust me.--Jeff

Ground Rules

The group headed along the beach towards Virginia. Driving along the beach may not be offroading in the hard-core OVLR sense of the word, but it is breathtakingly beautiful and very enjoyable. After several miles of dodging surf-fishermen, all who looked in wonderment at the convoy of England's finest, we took to the leeward side of the dunes to try the inland route. The driving was about the same, but without the ocean view. During a brief stop Jeff let Bill take the helm until we reached our lunch destination the fence.

The fence separates Maryland from Virginia. Although our permits would allow us to drive along the Virginia portion of the Assateague Island National Seashore, we would have to drive inland and approach it from the other side as there's a nature preserve that separates the two parts.

Assateague Island runs parallel to Chincoteague, VA. If you've read Misty of Chinocteague, ("Yeah, it's a chick-book, but I still enjoyed it"--Jeff) you know that the area is famous for it's wild ponies. The fence helps to keep the cared for Chincoteague herd, which is owned by the Chincoteague Fire Department and provides the stock for their annual fund-raising roundup, from mixing with the completely wild, state-monitored Maryland herd.

The first contest was a kite flying contest, with prizes for young participants, as we had no-one in the eligible age group, we didn't participate. The second contest was a draw of driver's names for a Genuine Parts Land Rover sweatshirt, which Jeff won. Someone must have told Hank Lapa to go fly a kite because he seemed to be having a wonderful time doing just that.

Jeff noticed that bare-headed Alicia was shivering. I forgot to bring a hooded-sweatshirt! was her explanation. Always the gent, Jeff dug one up from the back of his Rover which she accepted with thanks. Elyse noted Even though I'm new to this Rover stuff, I can see that the object is be prepared. "That's me, a freakin' Boy Scout...But next time if I have to pack gear for you guys and myself, I'm going to have to buy a 109."

Soon it was time to head back up the beach. At this point Ben Lapa joined Team Empire, deciding in a show of remarkable taste, to abandon father Hank's Defender for some top-down Series fun. Jake jumped in back with Spenny, and Ben got the roll yourself into a little ball when we tip spiel. To both of their credit, neither of the lads seemed too concerned by this possiblity--but then again Spenny wasn't driving.

After driving back a ways we stopped for the final contest. Tom Bache announced that it would be a tire-changing race. The vehicle had to be jacked up with the official Rover jack - no high lifts would be allowed,. The tire must be removed, run about the vehicle replaced and the equipment re-stowed. Pretty standard stuff for ROAV Aluminium Man Triathlon™ vets like Team Empire.

We were in a pinch though. Jeff's vehicle only had a Jack-All and it's use was forbidden. Quintin's Rangie was fully-loaded so we'd never get to the needed equipment, never mind re-stow it.

R.O.V.E.R.S. members looked on in amazement as Team Empire pulled together to change the tyre without a jack in a manner that only serious Land Rover Owners would dare to.

The full story with incriminating photos.

Team Empire attracted a much larger crowd of on-lookers and had a lot of fun doing it-- in Series style. At this point, about 3pm, Tom and Peter declared the event to be officially "over" and we were all free to do as we pleased, but all were encouraged to meet for a group campfire at around 9pm. We decided to head back to camp. Spenny started making noises about wanting to play mini-golf. Nobody had any better ideas, but all seemed to have something a bit more sheltered in mind. The sun had never really come out, and with the wind off the ocean we were all pretty chilled.

DRIVING: MISS ALICIA

It was time for another driver change. Always a sucker for a pretty face, Jeff offered the opportunity to Alicia Hollick--she had been stuck in the back seat of a Range Rover all day. Brother Jake graciously moved to the Rangie and Jeff, showing remarkable restraint, elected to sit on top of the cooler in the back rather than squeeze between Alicia and Bill.

Alicia knew how to handle the manual transmission, but wasn't familiar with the art of double declutching. "No problem," said instructor Bill, Jeff volunteered "just start out in second." Alicia did a wonderful job. After a little expert advice from Bill her thumbs were safely placed on the steering wheel, and she knew enought to not try to be a strong-woman, in the unlikely event that it went paws-up. Alicia was moving along the beach like a pro, it was obvious from the smile on her face that she has future plans for Dad's "in progress" Series Rover--can you say Calabogie?. Even when we got back to the tarmac and Bill told her to "hit second"--neglecting to remind her to 'double-down'--she engaged the lower gear crisply, if loudly. Jeff must have been smitten because he just laughed it off. The group pulled up to the air compressors provided by the Park Service and tires were brought back up to street pressure.

APRES-R.O.V.E.R.S.

We headed over to the official camp site to see what was going on. Spenny was still trying to get up a group for miniature golf, but it never happened. Mostly we sat around and talked about Rovers. The wind was blowing something fierce, so the Hollick gang decided to join Team Empire for dinner at a local crab restaurant. Our first choice in eateries was closed for the season. The second was open and doing a booming business. So booming, that we decided we were too hungry to wait. We decided to try a local pizza joint--crabs would have to wait until our next trip to Maryland. Someone must have tipped off the staff at the pizza place. They immediately sat us in a private room upstairs where even our loudest screams didn't disturb the other guests. Jeff made a fundemental error by taking time to raise FINSUP's hood. By the time he got to the table, the seats by the girls were taken so instead of working his charms on them he was forced into more male bonding. Conversation at the boys' end of the table, included cars that Quintin has owned (hundreds) and great deals found at recent auto auctions. Apparently Jake found the conversation to be dull because he fell asleep and resisted Jeff's best efforts at waking him. At least he doesn't snore like Bill! Fortunately, the aroma of hot pizza rapidly revived him. After we'd all eaten our fill, it was back to camp for the bonfire.

We were dispatched to get some refreshments for the long vigil ahead but arrived back at the camp and found most everyone had retired to their tents--the wind had gotten to be too much. The rest of the EROS group was quietly tending a camp fire which was, unfortunately, located right outside the sleeping Monk family tent. Fearing heavy rain, the Hollick gang decided to break camp and head for home (after returning all of the borrowed articles to Jeff of course.) We bade them adieu, and sat as a subdued group around the fire. Spenny declared half the beer Jeff had bought to be an "Undrinkable combination of Bud and maple syrup." So much for Pete's Wicked Maple Porter.

Jeff had also purchased two Upman cigars after confirming their 'freshness' with the proprietor. Apparently freshness standards differ in Maryland--the stogie crumbled in his hand when he tried to ignite it. The company was excellent though and the rest of the beer met Spencer's expert standards, so conversation continued until the rain started. We used the bad beer to extinguish the fire, then Quintin and party headed for their tents while Spenny, Bill and Jeff drove back to the Holiday Inn.

Back to: Index Page | Friday or Forward to Tyre Changing | Sunday

Bill Caloccia, Jeff Berg
Ocean City, MD
April 1997

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