Sailing from Iowa
Paul and Linda Johnson brought their children east from New Hartford IA to tour American history at Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. They always wanted to sail, which they did splendidly on a brisk day along the York River where everyone got a turn at the helm. In their spare time, the family performs as The […]
Sailing Class
Sam Melville, Jon Sargent and Robert Dexter Lilley concluded an intensive two-day course with SailTime Virginia Beach by running a Catalina Capri 22 out of Willoughby Bay at Norfolk beside Interstate 64, over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel toward Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, and back to port at Willoughby Marina. The crew fought a wicked ebb […]
Why Do Sailboats Lean?
People wonder, “Why do sailboats lean?” The short answer is that the power of the wind tilts the boat slightly. On a more technical level, the breeze passing through the sails creates a “lift” like that of an airplane taking off. But in this case the “wing” operates sideways as the mast holding the mainsail […]
Sailing with Critics
People ask, “Do you have any professional video?” Michelle Alexandria was in Williamsburg shooting video with her crew Tom Allen and Kyle Ervin for eclipsemaganize.com and blogcritics.org. She views around 200 movies a year as a member of the Washington DC Film Critics Association. Once a year she gets the full treatment of promotional materials […]
Racing and Sailing
I get asked, “Do you race?” Bob Davies told me while sailing that he once got to race a Jaguar XKR up to 170 miles per hour on a track. It was rated at 150 mph but was juiced up by the factory. (I explained how my sailboat was juiced up to exceed the 7 […]
Sailing to Victory
Family and friends of Bob Davies celebrated his 60th birthday by sailing along the York River. Bob and his wife Jennie are Brits who return to England frequently. He brought up an interesting dichotomy about history tourism. “At Jamestown, they love the British. At Williamsburg, they fear us. At Yorktown, they hate us.” After I […]
Sailing off the Beaten Path
The Zahns and McMandons live in Palm Coast, Florida, an hour south of Jacksonville and an hour north of Orlando. Part of Palm Coast’s charm is that it’s relatively remote, off the beaten path and away from a metropolitan center. But you have to want to get there to go there. Similar places are Charleston, […]
Where Do You Sail?
People often ask, “Where do you sail?” The question is answered magnificently in this photo by pilot Chris Herion of Queens Lake. His aerial shot captures the breadth of the lower York River as it extends out Sara Creek and across to Yorktown, below the Coleman Bridge (on the right, out of view). The boats […]
Sailing Refresher
Joel Petrow is an expatriate nuclear engineer visiting Williamsburg who decided to brush up on his sailing skills with an informal lesson on a bright afternoon along the York River. He and his family live in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, outside Frankfurt. He found one big difference with America to be the walk-ability of German towns and […]
A New Day
People ask, “Does everyone drive to get here?” Ed Bender flew his wife Susan down from Philadelphia on his private plane so they could stay at a Yorktown B&B and go sailing along the York River. They got married last June and wanted to renew their skills on how to sail. She grew up sailing […]
Houston Problem
The Howell family enjoyed a beautiful afternoon sailing on the York River, near Williamsburg. After all these years, the three sisters retain varying degrees of their native Georgia accent. That led to a generalization that people outside the South find the drawl charming in women but not so much among men. It could be that […]
Sailing Upright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrW7avH8PjA People ask, “Is extreme sailing dangerous?” This YouTube video shows how perilous it can be to sail a performance catamaran, such as found in the 2014 America’s Cup. By 2021 they were attaching the air foils to sloops for racing. The Vendee World was nearly all foiled sloops. Better that you stay with a […]
Sailing Surprise Birthday
Larry Alan Smith (far left) of Avon, Connecticut surprised his wife Margarita (at the wheel) with a birthday sail in 2014 off Yorktown. Among the family attending were their son Chris (William & Mary ’07), a former executive with JP Morgan Chase who’s starting a micro-brewery in Williamsburg; and their son Will, (W&M ’14) who’s […]
Sailing vs. Hiking
Adrian Baird followed up with an account about hiking a meadow along the Pacific Crest Trail that was as expansive as the lower York River that we sailed together. “I am roughly 800 miles from the border of Mexico. About six miles in I walked through Becks Meadow, which had to be thousands of acres. […]
Will You Marry Me?
Sean Kosmann brought Jessica Pettrey to Williamsburg and took her sailing on a bright fall afternoon, where he proposed to her in an elegant romantic setting. He escorted her up on the bow of the boat and got down on bended knee (made difficult by recent knee surgery) to offer a fabulous diamond engagement ring. […]
Bungee Sailing
Kevin Schmoyer indulged his wife Donna with a sailing trip because it was on her bucket list. They have also bungee-jumped, as has their friend Ted Vigeant. Ted regaled us with his death-defying jump hundreds of feet off the original bungee bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand. “They asked if I wanted to touch the water, […]
Adrenalin Rush Sailing
People ask, “Is sailing inspirational?” Sailing can be downright inspirational. Donna Schmoyer’s son is a Pennsylvania state trooper who happened on a stalled van one frigid snowy night, stranded on the shoulder of Interstate 81. While assisting, he noticed a Mustang sliding directly their way on the ice and shouted for everyone to run. As […]
Midwestern Ingenuity
Boating builds self-confidence, among other things. Mike Ahfield of Birdseye, Indiana, related to me while sailing the other day how he helped perform an unusual rescue. Worse, he and his brother and nephew were out on a rickety Jon boat when the transom began to depart from the top of the stern. The weighty outboard […]
Made in America
Some amazing people enjoy sailing when they aren’t saving society. Megan Key and Justin Gerner enjoyed sailing the York River on a warm fall day as they prepare for their wedding. Years ago, Megan’s grandfather and uncle complained about poor service at their VA hospital. One day she accompanied a second uncle to the VA […]
Sailing Without Tenants
“The residential rental business is stinky,” summarized Doug McSwain. He took his wife Valerie out sailing off Yorktown in brisk winds ahead of an afternoon of rain. He’s endured myriad problems with tenants in Huntsville, Alabama, and elsewhere, mostly due to perceived entitlement by tenants and their exploitation of arcane state laws. Valerie once got […]