Cars vs. boats, the other joy of sailing

Cars vs. boats, the other joy of sailing

Cars and boats don’t have a lot in common, but they lend themselves to exotic shows of elegant display. My friend Ed Lafferty and I went to the auto show in Virginia Beach at the Convention Center. He’s a retired Chrysler exec who worked in Detroit and who knows his cars like I know sailboats. […]

Washington’s General: Nathanael Greene

Washington's General: Nathanael Greene

He was one of the few American generals to miss Yorktown. As a Quaker, he was an “unlikely warrior” according to Terry Golway in “Washington’s General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution.”  Greene took command at the low point of the Southern Army in 1780, replacing Horatio Gates. Greene engaged the British Army across […]

Unusual Navy ship

Unusual Navy ship

This very large and unusual Navy ship has been in port for two weeks at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. I had trouble tracking it down because the number 12 does not show up on typical lists of Navy vessels. Retired Capt. Mike Maddocks discovered that it’s USNS William McLean, a dry cargo and ammunition ship […]

Oyster harvest comes up short

Oyster harvest comes up short

Commuters from Gloucester County who were headed south on the Coleman Bridge this week could look up the York River and see dozens of deadrise workboats clustered offshore. Watermen were out in force after opening day Jan. 1 of oyster rock season. By Wednesday the fleet had thinned as pickings were slim. Dickie Owens of […]