One of the amazing things about sailing with guests on the York River is how they rise to the occasion by using appropriate metaphors. They enjoy learning about the derivations. To sail professionally is to be above board, even if one is adrift, against the tide, or at loggerheads with
USS The Sullivans made a rare Saturday morning transit through the Coleman Bridge, backing up weekend traffic momentarily. The cruise missile destroyer takes its name from five brothers killed in World War II. People comment that ships like this would make it through if only their antenna stood a little
A Texas family sponsored in Williamsburg by the Make-A-Wish Foundation wound up their vacation with an outdoor adventure by going sailing on the York River. Earlier we got rained out but rescheduled the next day under cloudy and cool conditions. It was actually quite pleasant. Because Let’s Go Sail is
Memorial Day Weekend started with light winds on a cool, sunny day. Rachel Shepherd brought her family up from Newport News and Portsmouth for a lively outing they did not expect. “We should have told you we’re in AA,” Rachel teased. “Accidents Anonymous is who we are. Every time we
The recent popularity of the AMC show “Turn” has increased awareness of the little-known spy networks that helped Washington defeat British forces during the Revolutionary War. James Armistead Lafayette was a highly educated slave whom the Marquis de Lafayette recruited to spy at Yorktown. John Nagy’s 2010 book “Invisible Ink: Spycraft of the
People summon up the distant past to remember the strangest things about sailing. After seven days of clouds and rain, the skies brightened and so did the customers. While navigating the York River in a rising wind as his wife and daughter looked on confidently, Matthew Reed of Higganum CT
Let’s say you’re out sailing the York River and want to stop and have lunch. That way the boat will flatten out and food won’t wind up flying everywhere. The procedure is called Heave-To, which slows the boat to a stop. Then you’re Hove-To. I prefer the latter term because
To wind up their honeymoon week in Williamsburg, Jennifer Griffith and Bob Moran went sailing on a serene York River. A morning rain blew past and we motored out to a glassy sea that barely rippled from light winds. An incoming tide slowly drifted us upriver toward the Virginia Institute
At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the differences between the 13 American colonies seemed insurmountable and the likelihood of them uniting together appeared impossible. The leaders of the Revolutionary movement recognized that they would need a “common cause” to unify colonists politically from Bunker Hill to Yorktown. In “The Common
Gregory Schon of Newport News took his wife Carol sailing on the York for their 15th anniversary. With sails reefed in warm 15-18 mph winds from the southwest, he celebrated appropriately by reaching 15.7 mph. Carol is a retired lab technician who moved up the hospital and corporate ladder to
