Chesapeake Sailors To Receive Ocean Cruising Club Award

Ocean Cruising Club Port Officer Service Award

Bill and Chris Burry will be recognized in April with an Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) Port Officer Service Award for their assitance to OCC cruisers visiting the Chesapeake Bay. For years the Burrys have welcomed to Mathews and Deltaville, VA, OCC members cruising in the area, especially if they need a little assistance or local knowledge. OCC members sailing the Chesapeake have come to learn that they can count on the Burrys to assist them in many ways. The generous couple encourages members to stop at their dock to provision, fill water tanks, prepare for offshore passages, and more. 

Bill and Chris Burry, Ocean Cruising Club Port Officers
Bill and Chris Burry welcome to their dock Ocean Cruising Club members sailing the Chesapeake Bay. Photo by Phil Dunn Photography

Often there are several OCC boats on the Burry’s dock, and the couple makes sure all have a good time, opening their house and offering “southern hospitality.” Since they were appointed as port officers, Chris and Bill have provided local knowledge to visitors about mechanics, and other amenities in the area, as well as sharing their considerable knowledge of Chesapeake Bay anchorages and places to visit. If needed they can help with finding haul-out yards for hurricane season. Prior to their appointment, they were already offering members one of the best free docks for visiting boats, allowing parcel deliveries to their address, which is also convenient to rental car services, groceries, and propane refills. For a true Chesapeake welcome, Bill and Chris sometimes host oyster and crab cookouts to give OCC cruisers a taste of local food.

The Burrys plan and host the annual OCC Southern Chesapeake Bay Dinner at Mathews Yacht Club (MYC), typically in October. MYC offers reciprocal privileges to OCC members, and the Burrys encourage MYC attendance at the dinner to foster ties between the two sailing communities. All MYC commodores support the OCC and speak at the annual dinner; they are always enjoyable, interesting evenings and are a great way to meet other cruisers. The highlight of the 2022 dinner was a presentation by OCC Commodore Simon Currin on cruising the waters near Iceland and Greenland. 

Plover. Photo by Simon Currin
The Burrys have completed two trans-Atlantic crossings aboard their Dickerson 41-foot ketch, Plover. Photo by Ocean Cruising Club commodore Simon Currin

A great way to meet fellow bluewater cruisers

The Burrys tell Spinsheet, “It was a pleasant surprise to wake up one morning in January to notification from the OCC Commodore, Simon Currin, that we were being recognized with a Port Officer Service Award. We were nominated as port officers for Deltaville and Mathews, VA, in 2018. Several years prior to that, not long after we retired to Mathews from Northern Virginia, we got involved sponsoring OCC boats at our dock. It was a great way to meet fellow bluewater cruisers and we have met numerous sailors along the way, many of whom have become life-long friends. 

“We will travel to Poole, England in April to receive the award and attend the OCC annual general meeting and will return to the U.S. on a seven-day trans-Atlantic passage aboard the Queen Mary 2, sailing out of Southampton, UK to New York City—leaving the navigation to someone else for this trans-Atlantic crossing!” 

Chris and Bill moved to Mathews after retirement, Bill as an electronics engineer and Chris as a senior executive from the U.S. Department of Defense. Bill served for two years as fleet captain at MYC. It was under his stewardship that OCC and MYC put in place a permanent reciprocal agreement between the two clubs, one of a handful of yacht clubs that offer such privileges. 

In addition to their years of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, the Burrys have extensive experience sailing offshore to the Caribbean, the Canadian Maritimes, and Newfoundland. They have completed two trans-Atlantic crossings aboard their Dickerson 41-foot ketch, Plover, which served as their qualifying passage for membership in the OCC. Both hold USCG Merchant Marine Licenses with sail endorsements and amateur radio licenses. They cruise with Flaco, their sailing dog, who writes a blog.

The OCC is a club of over 3000 international sailors from 86 countries around the world that promotes bluewater cruising. The club has a worldwide network of port officers.

By Daria Blackwell, edited by Beth Crabtree