Sub Exits York

Two couples and a solo sailor chased a Navy submarine for much of the afternoon. We motored under the Coleman Bridge to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station so they could see a sub in port. It was the third time this season that a sub arrived, which is very unusual. The last one had its missile tubes worked on. That’s not how a sub exits the York.

I noticed that instead of one Moran tug, there were two. That suggested the sub would be heading out. They keep one in port just in case, but only send the second one for transiting back to Norfolk. I radioed the Navy security patrol standing guard, asking if the sub was weighing anchor so I could get out the way. He responded, but it was garbled. I thought the sub exits the York when it fact it was coming in.

As we motored back under the bridge, three hefty Navy patrol boats came roaring toward us with guns everywhere. You could see four machine guns, one for the bow, stern, port and starboard. We jockeyed near the Alliance to watch the parade, but nothing happened. Finally the wind piped up a little, so we sailed downriver. Then we heard it.

“Attention, US Navy Submarine 507 transiting the Coleman Bridge and going out to sea! All vessels, stay away 500 yards! Do not cross the bow of the submarine!” By now we were in the middle of the river, so we set out for R-24 and advised the Navy of our attentions. They seemed pleased.

The sub emerged from the middle of the Coleman and turned right to stay in the channel. Once near the US Coast Guard training dock, it turned to port to go out in the channel. The tugboats were the advance party as the three heavily armed patrols scooted back and forth to protect the sub. “This is so cool!” said Lisa Glenn. “I’ve never seen a submarine before.” As the sun came out, it reflected off the hull to show all its length. Later I could find no name for 507, the last one dating to World War II.

Family Sail

Nancy and Pete Perkins of Kingsmill welcomed their sons and their gals home for a pre-Thanksgiving weekend. Their third son was en route from Utah, where he has been working on an astronomy team deep in the heartland where there is no light pollution. Nancy said, “It takes him two hours to drive to the nearest small store for food, and he has no wi-fi out there. So he’s kind of out of touch.”

Sam ran the helm in light winds as I recounted the 1781 Battle of the Capes and Siege of Yorktown. The winds were chilly from the approaching winter, and this was the last afternoon of Daylight Savings Time. Sailing season is fast winding down.

Learning to Sail

A Richmond couple stayed the weekend in Williamsburg and went sailing ahead of ASA lessons in Norfolk with SailTime, where I used to teach. Cynthia Levine said, “He wanted to learn how to sail and we thought this a good introduction.” I took them through much of the ASA 101 basic course, including close reach, beam reach, broad reach, hove-to and more. 

“We’ve been looking for something to do together,” Jay said. “She doesn’t want to ride motorcycles with me, and given my recent history of accidents I thought I’d give that up. This seemed safer, so she’s having me take the course first to see if she would like it as well.” Jay and I set the mainsheet and turned the helm over the Cynthia, who figured it out quickly. She was in a peculiar position of starting out with brisk winds just over 10 mph that slowly diminished as the day wore on. The learning is tougher in light winds, but she did just fine. 

Sailing Through Beaufort

Bonnie and I took a quick trip south to see old friends in Beaufort SC. While Bonnie shopped one afternoon in Charleston, I checked out the city docks, now taken over by the company Safe Harbor. I asked the clerk if things were better or worse now that the city was no longer in charge. She shrugged and said, “It’s corporate now, so no.” True dat.

Charleston docks are unique for the Megadock, where yachts worthy of Pier 66 or Tortola tie up. One of them was a long, open motorboat with five outboards comprising 325 hp each. Do the math. It looked very sleek.

Megadock is not only big, but higher than the other docks by 4 feet. A fuel pump showed a $1,838 sum for 559 gallons of diesel. Nearby on an interior dock was a skiff with a center console that goes from boat to boat pumping out their waste tanks. The name is Bow Movement. I passed a sailing yacht named Silver Slippers with a dinghy named Flip Flops. 

Another standout was a 1984 Catalina 27 that was perfectly restored. I noticed it right away because the nonskid shined as glossy gray, and all the boat lines glowed as well. The boat’s errant aspect ratio got corrected after production with an 18-inch plank extending off the bow. That appeared Bristol with a varnish finish. Indeed, all the brightwork gleamed with varnish. Even the rubrail looked replaced, from 1980s brown to 1990s grey. The most glamorous thing was the nonskid, which was professionally finished. 

Farther along was a dock loaded with Oceanis 48s and 51s by Beneteau of South Carolina. I could see around $2 million worth of luxury sailboats. Nearby a workman was trying to mount not one but two furling systems on a 50-foot yacht. While turned upside down, he struggled just to grab his tools. “I’m a contortionist!” he said cheerfully.

To see how a sub exits York, watch the video below. It shows two Moran tugs escorting the sub past Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown. Next it transits the Coleman Bridge.

Let’s Go as Sub Exits York

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