Sailing Toward Fall

On a serene York River that slowly came to life as the wind built, we sailed past the lower range light at Yorktown to show how it has become obliterated. A vacant osprey nest has collapsed over the lens, leaving it nearly obscured to ship traffic. I notified the Coast Guard and sent them a […]
Celebrating Summer by Sailing

Celbrating Summer by Sailing inform couples and families how to enjoy private charters on the York River.
Skimming Along Lake Toho

Of all the boating our family has enjoyed over the years, we have never gone on an airboat. While on vacation in Florida, our son-in-law Trevor Phillips booked us for a unique and private two-hour adventure tour of the marshy shores around Lake Tohoperaliga near Orlando. Trevor knows how much we enjoy boating. “We call […]
30-Year-Old Sailor

Two couples and two toddlers got to see a 30-year-old sailor transit the Coleman Bridge when the USS Monterey came steaming up the York River on the way to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. It was quite an adventure. Host Christine Wells had her hands full with the kids, so her husband Frank and pal […]
If By Sea

Before the American victory at Yorktown came resounding defeat at Charleston. George Daughan’s If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy—From the Revolution to the War of 1812 tells the story of the early years of the American navy. The following excerpt examines Abraham Whipple’s command of the Continental Navy at Charleston in 1780. Daughan attributes […]
Sailing Metaphors

You can improve your life by applying sailing metaphors.
The Sullivans Transit

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 lower. But this view shows […]
Make-A-Wish Sailing

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 ADA compliant, I moved the […]
Sailing Under Spinnaker

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. Indeed, they wound up sailing under spinnaker. “We should have told you we’re in AA,” Rachel teased. “Accidents Anonymous is who we are. Every […]
Revolution Spycraft

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 American Revolution” proves that truth is […]
Sailing Under Brighter Skies

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 recalled sailing after a storm […]
Heave-To Simplified

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 Heave-To implies vomiting. Assuming you’re […]
Honeymoon Sailing
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 of Marine Science. Jennifer is […]
Sailing to a Common Cause

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 Cause: Creating Race and Nation […]
Sailing Past Cuba Gooding Jr.
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 get into sales, traveling the […]
How Do They Get on the Sailboat?

This ridiculous picture is from Willoughby Harbor Marina in Norfolk. The place has seen better days, having been battered by a few hurricanes and numerous nor’easters over the years. The photo lends new meaning to the term boat slip. I teach at Willoughby for the American Sailing Association, and their two boats are docked at […]
Sailing Teamwork

A Portsmouth couple bought a 27 Seward to dock near their house. Then they set out to learn how to sail as a team by mastering a Capri 22 through ASA SailTime Virginia Beach. So began four outings in three days of sailing teamwork. Days 1 and 2 were compounded by considerable Navy activity around […]
American Revolution in Art

Next time you visit the U.S. Capitol Building, stand in the massive Rotunda and you will be surrounded by eight historical paintings. Revolutionary War veteran John Trumbull painted four of them, including the British surrender at Yorktown, (which figures big on the History Cruise of Let’s Go Sail.) In “Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through […]
How Charter Sailing Started

Special to the KCSA Bulletin In retirement, Kingsmill resident Bill O’Donovan has pursued a charter boat business to share the joy of sailing. It all started on the beach of Kingsmill years ago when Bill and Bonnie Tully met. “He took me out one afternoon on a 14-foot Sunfish, and we sailed all the way […]
Big Winds, Big Noise by Navy

Big winds for days suddenly calmed by the time Debbie Kremer of Arizona brought her beau Bob Wickley of San Antonio to sail the York River. We quietly tacked back and forth near Yorktown and got under the Coleman Bridge before mild winds clocked northwest and picked up sharply. For someone who had never been […]