It's WINDSday | April 10, 2024

Celebrating the Power of Wind, Clean Energy and a Green Environment

The eyes of the world are fixated on a mangled mess of metal in the Patapsco River in Baltimore.

A huge cargo ship sits wedged within the massive Francis Scott Key Bridge, blocking most ship traffic (for at least another month) and testing the skills of professionals trained in this hazardous line of work. “Going underwater to conduct inspections, remove debris, or make repairs is what we do every day,” says Roger Belch, Operations Manager for CROFTON in Portsmouth. “We don’t have divers at the Key Bridge, only equipment, but I can imagine what they’re dealing with. 

We all recall how the clock was ticking back in late January when a 57-year-old man deliberately drove off the 14th Street Fishing Pier in Virginia Beach, commencing a manic scramble to identify and recover the dead driver. CROFTON did get that call.

“Because the vehicle was in the surf zone and the wind-driven waves were bad, we could not safely get the crane barge close enough to go into the water right away,” recalls Belch, who would eventually dispatch a four-man dive team to the scene.

“When the weather finally cooperated about a week after the incident, we brought in a barge and crane and sent one of our senior divers down to confirm that there was just one deceased occupant. The diver then hooked up rigging so we could raise the vehicle and victim to the surface.” The crew pumped hot water into the diver’s wet suit to keep him warm. The whole process took less than an hour.

It wasn’t the first time CROFTON had responded to a submerged vehicle.

Roger Belch, Operations Manager for CROFTON

“Over the years, we have retrieved multiple vehicles, including semi-trucks, from local waterways,” says Belch. “In all cases, careful planning is paramount because we don’t know what’s down there. You can’t see what’s in front of you, and if it’s like Baltimore, there is very jagged metal and lots of it. There is great urgency to clear the channel using huge shears and other cutting devices, but you must let your people and equipment tell you when it’s safe to act.”

Belch, who started diving 32 years ago at age 19, says the job may appear “glamorous,” but it can be anything but. Thank goodness there are pros with talents and tools around when disaster strikes.  

Ironically, there is a stunning painting at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach right now depicting a wrecked cargo ship sharing polluted water with an odd assortment of creatures and trash.

It’s part of an unsettling yet thought-provoking exhibition called Journey to Nature’s Underworld by renowned artists Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman, “who have explored humanity’s strained relationship with the environment for more than three decades.”

Get to MOCA by June 9 to experience the art. Admission is free. www.virginiamoca.org.  

Kudos to the Hampton Roads Alliance for leading the regional conversation about how we will power our future. A consultant’s report it sponsored says, “We’re well-positioned to take advantage of the transition to clean energy,” but to do so, we need “a portfolio of different sources.” 

According to the Alliance, here’s where we get our electricity now:

• 91% comes from nuclear power, specifically Dominion Energy’s 50-year-old Surry Power Station. That’s compared to about 20% of the nation’s dependence on nuclear power now.
• By 2030, that share will drop to less than half, with offshore wind accounting for 36%. 
• By 2040, wind will be responsible for 52%, nuclear 34%, solar 8%. 
• Natural gas supply will be flat at 5% through 2040. 

Alliance President Doug Smith says local governments, including city staff, planning commissions, and city councils, have a key role.

“Do we want to put a battery storage facility here? Do we want to construct a solar farm there? Are we comfortable with the concept of a small nuclear reactor? All those will be impacted by local land use decisions.” 

Get ready for some tough but necessary choices.  

Charlie Sims has at least three obsessions: his wife Theresa and 18-year-old son Jay, authentic Mexican food with a Southern California flare, and Frankenstein.

“I am so obsessed with that monster that I named our restaurant Frank’s Monster Munchies,” says the San Diego native. “In fact, Theresa actually calls me Frank.” And he calls her Bride. A cool graphic on the wall of their year-old Hampton destination depicts that infamous couple.

But what comes out of the kitchen makes Frank’s a popular N. Armistead Road attraction. Credit Charlie’s Mexican mom and family for teaching him to season and serve. “Take our California Burrito. It’s a 14” flour tortilla filled with guacamole, shredded cheese, carne asada, fries, and cotija cheese.” It’s quite a meal for $15. For a buck more, there’s the Smothered Monster, with pinto beans, shredded mixed cheese, and lettuce plus a choice of protein, all rolled into a huge burrito coated in melted white queso, topped with pico de gallo and drizzled with Mexican creme.  

Charlie, who graduated from Kellam High in VA Beach, came into culinary late, after stints as a road manager for noted local DJs The Boodah Brothers and as a landscaper, locksmith, and Fed Ex freight driver.  

Before you come, visit www.franksmonstermunchies.com. The images, video, and descriptions of the drinks, starters, entrees, and desserts (like the Cheesecake Chimichanga) are mouthwatering. Charlie (or Frank) and the fam are there Tuesday through Friday for lunch (11am-2pm) and then back for dinner (5-8pm). Saturday hours are Noon to 8pm. Come hungry but also to wall-gaze, learning how Vic Frankenstein turned a dead body into a live man and, two centuries later, a mascot to move chorizos, tacos, and wings. 

Frankies Monster Munchies * 2710 North Armistead Avenue, Suite D, Hampton * 757.527.2898

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