Bar-B-Q/Sock Donation at Dockside Bar

Come enjoy grilled hamburgers/hot dogs with all the fixings and adult beverages. Bring a set of new white athletic socks to donate to the Chatham Homeless Authority. Socks are always most welcome. Come get reacquainted with old friends and enjoy fun and games and sights and sounds of sailboats and motorboats on the Wilmington River. $2.00 donation for adult beverages.

If you decide to attend, don’t forget to bring an old pair of socks to burn and a set of new white athletic socks to donate to the Chatham Homeless Authority.  Beer will be provided to toast the start of another boating season.

 In order for us to help plan the amount food to purchase and prepare, we need to have an accurate count of the members who will be attending.  Please RSVP to hughandcharlene@gmail.com no later than Wednesday May 4th.

Have you ever wondered where the tradition of Mariners burning socks came from? ….well wonder no longer:

Burning Socks – A Mariners Tradition

The concept of burning socks while drinking beer on the equinox began many years ago when Capt. Bob Turner, who managed the Annapolis Yacht Yard at the time, shed his dirty socks, dropped them in a paint-roller tray, sprinkled them liberally with lighter fluid and put a match to the mess.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, one he saluted with a beer.

You see, by the end of winter, his socks often were ruined from all the paint, varnish and fiberglass he used when working on other people’s boats (OPBs).

Other sailors embraced the event, ceremoniously stripping off socks and burning them because once boating season starts, nobody wears socks. Well, they don’t wear socks unless the temperature drops below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and winds increase to 17 knots. That’s when the “wimp-chill factor” kicks in. But, at all other times, sailors must wear boat shoes sans socks.

So there you go….now you know where the tradition started!!

See you at the Dockside Bar!

Hugh