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It’s unusual to see a big ship come up the York River, but we got to see two in one afternoon. The USS Mustin, a Navy guided missile cruiser, transited Yorktown to the Naval Weapons Station, and this time the Coleman Bridge was stuck open only 10 minutes.
Buoy Replaced
An hour later, the USCG buoy tender Frank Drew lumbered into the river from Portsmouth. I radioed to ask if it was going to repair R-24, and they said yes. I told him I was the one who reported and asked why it was sinking. “The metal sleeve tends to rust over time and develop holes that leak water. We’re here to address it.”
The ship came up beside the buoy and used a crane to pull it close to the hull. The gunwales have been cut down sharply to allow the crane to rest the thing on the deck, but this one just dangled there. The family and couple on board were fascinated by the operation, and it drew four Coastie fast boats as well.
According to a GOA website, this 6’ x 20’ lighted steel buoy is eroded and rusty from extended exposure to saltwater and other harsh maritime conditions. It was quite something that they replaced R-24 in so short a period of time since the USCG is short-handed and short-funded for this work. Attaboy.
Up close, it looks like the ship got side-swiped on the forward side. But it’s really an opening in the gunwale to hoist buoys aboard for shipment. The side is all beaten up from dragging them out of the water.
From the GAO report: “According to Coast Guard data, its key metric for ATON condition—the Aid Availability Rate, or percentage of time that ATON are functioning correctly—declined from 98.0 to 97.1 percent during fiscal years 2014 through 2018. During this time period, the overall costs to repair and replace ATON increased from about $12 million in fiscal year 2014 to about $20 million in fiscal year 2018. According to Coast Guard data, the majority of the costs for fixed ATON were spent on repairs whereas the majority of the costs for floating ATON were spent on replacements.”
Buoys such as this are known as ATONs for Aids to Navigation. The boats that service them are Aids to Navigation Boats.
Hurricanes
August begins hurricane season in earnest. We missed the first three because they went south through Mexico. Debby hit the East Coast and lingered for days over the mid-Atlantic states, wiping out nearly four days of bookings. Ernesto, by contrast, went up the coast 100 miles offshore, creating magnificent winds and cooler temperatures.
Two Minnesota widows went sailing together on a brisk autumn-like day, and one of them was quite familiar with hurricanes.
“My son said he was giving up on Minnesota weather. He packed up everything as well as his boat to drive as far south as he could get,” said Lindy Sue Palmer. “At the time, he was working 16-hour days and needed a break. He got as far as Marathon, where he and his girlfriend found work their first day. He’s a fireman.
“They were getting married in Marathon when the big hurricane hit. It wiped out everything, including their home. No restaurants, no wedding venues, no nothing except an enormous clean-up operation. They mentioned it on Facebook and the producer of ‘My Big Wedding’ saw it. They were giving away eight free weddings to needy people, and they added Jesse for free. It included everything, including flowers imported from Holland.
“It wound up running $8,000 – all for free. That was seven years ago, Hurricane Irma.”
Canal Sailors
Sarah Samuels and Stephen Mueller took their two children sailing on the York for a summer adventure. “I hope this turns out better than last year,” she said. “We went on a canal tour on the Erie Canal and it was a near-disaster.”
Stephen piped up, “It was a houseboat with living quarters beneath the deck. They gave us no instructions or guidance. They simply cast off the lines and said, ‘Good luck.’ I had my wife and her mother and the two kids on board, so I was basically on my own. It was very stressful.”
“It took three days and nights,” Stephen added, “of navigating 10 locks out of Seneca Falls and 10 coming back. At least with the boat in the locks, we couldn’t cause much damage. At one point, there was another boat with us inside a lock and I thought ‘I am not going in there.’ But I did.”
“It was a test of relationships,” Sarah quipped.
Wedding Sail
A team of wedding planners from Richmond did a romantic sunset shoot on the York River for promotion on social media and their websites. The boat was festooned with flowers, and the loving couple toasted their bliss with champagne. Overhead, a drone took it all in as the sun went down.
Women enjoy sailing today more than ever, and particularly a romantic cruise. Couples get to enjoy a romantic getaway as they sit up on the bow for privacy, and Let’s Go Sail provides professional photos for free. First-time or skilled mariners are welcome to sail a modern-32-foot sailboat in a unique setting of wildlife and Fall foliage or Spring bloom. It makes for an extraordinary anniversary idea.
Let’s Go Sail
Check Couples and Family rates and pick a day for a sailboat charter. Scroll down reviews on Trip Advisor. Go back to the home page of Williamsburg Charter Sails.
The best Williamsburg boat tour offers safe “social distance sailing” daily for up to 6 people. It’s an extraordinary experience for couples. Leave your worries behind. Enjoy the thrill of moving with the wind without a care in the world. Put life back on an even keel with a romantic experience for a birthday or anniversary. 3-hour sailboat cruise as a semi-private yachting charter lets you exhale and relax as you enjoy comfort, stability and speed.
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