Best Quick Guide to Cayman Paradise
We returned to Grand Cayman after an earlier vacation, looking for relaxation and the Caribbean sunsets. Every day is sunny, warm and breezy, comparable to perhaps 30 days all year in Tidewater Virginia. No wonder people flock here from Ohio, Canada, Germany, Poland, you name it. There are no panhandlers, no crime, no police sirens, […]
Belonging to the Army
With great anticipation, a large area behind the $50 million American Revolution Museum at Yorktown opens shortly as a reproduced army camp, complete with female interpreters. They cooked, cleaned and cared for the troops. The following excerpt from Holly A. Mayer’s “Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution,” introduces the different […]
Best Kids Ever Sailing
I’ve taken thousands of people sailing over the years, including hundreds of children. These were the best kids ever sailing for reasons that are at once obvious and mysterious. Jonathan and Rebecca Torres were vacationing in Williamsburg from Sanford, Florida. Their children range in ages 8, 7, 7 (twins) and 6. It was chilly, so […]
Sailing Past Navy Destroyer
While on a weekend getaway from Washington, DC, Dave Ramish took his girlfriend Ilana Freedman sailing for some outdoor fun off Yorktown. They hit the jackpot by observing a rare Saturday departure of a Navy warship from the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. We set out with anticipation after a chilly, drizzly morning into clearing […]
Season Opener
People ask, “How early does the season beging?” We begin in mid-March for hardy sailors who can tolerate the chill on the water. For the season opener of Let’s Go Sail in 2017, Hannah and Jeff Davis drove up from the Danville area of Virginia to take their daughter Haylee and her friend Bella sailing […]
Oyster harvest comes up short
Commuters from Gloucester County who were headed south on the Coleman Bridge this week could look up the York River and see dozens of deadrise workboats clustered offshore. Watermen were out in force after opening day Jan. 1 of oyster rock season. By Wednesday the fleet had thinned as pickings were slim. Dickie Owens of […]
Power sailing with the Navy
A power couple from Washington celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary by observing the power of the US Navy — twice. On an otherwise placid York River, I saw off in the distance the USNS Zeus proceeding slowly downriver from its home port of Cheatham Annex. That seemed odd, since the ship just returned from deployment […]
Boarding El Galeon
Hundreds of visitors to Yorktown have been boarding the Spanish replica El Galeon Andalucia for self-guided tours. It’s called El Galeon for short and its home port is Seville. The ship spent the summer touring the Great Lakes and most recently sailed in from Long Island, where thousands of New Yorkers boarded for a look above and […]
Sailing for serenity
After a breathtaking day of sailing for speed in brisk winds, the skies darkened with clouds and we wound up sailing for serenity on calm seas. As the wind picked up slowly the conversation picked up quickly. Bobby Joe and Nan Nay operate a cattle farm in Panguith, 8,000 feet high in the mountains of […]
Sailing for speed
We got the sail of a lifetime on a brisk morning breeze coming out of the northeast. Luis and Spring Aponte came from Ft. Eustis to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. Spring took the wheel once Luis and I set the mainsail. Before long we got up to 10 mph, and then we rolled out […]
Classy sailors take to the water
Sam Scovill was among the students in the 16th annual fall sailing class offered by the Williamsburg Area Learning Tree through Williamsburg Charter Sails. Students typically come to class with little experience, but not so here. “Last week I helped a guy bring his 50-foot sailboat down from Annapolis to Hampton. I hadn’t sailed in […]
Hailing France 235 years later
Blandinnd David Posiadala took their toddler daughters as well Blandine’s parents sailing along the York River on a magnificent early fall afternoon. The Posiadalas live in the Ft. Meyers area of Florida and the parents are from Paris. The girls enjoyed sitting in the small catbird seats. It was a delight to convey to them the […]
Sailing the Great Lakes
The York River is pretty big and the Chesapeake Bay is large, but there is nothing like sailing the Great Lakes. They are veritable oceans. Mary and Mike Wlodarski were vacationing in Williamsburg from Naperville, Illinois, so they went sailing on the York with another couple to celebrate Mary’s birthday. Naturally he recalled harrowing sailing […]
Scouting the Carolinas for sailing
Hurricane Matthew was unusual for how the damage occurred. Typically a hurricane batters the coast and diminishes as it heads inland. In this case, the outer bands of rain pummeled central North and South Carolina with up to 9 inches of rain, cutting off roads with high water that crested to 28 feet above normal […]
The sheer adventure of exciting sailing
Nancy and Mark Clark of Leander, Texas, visited Williamsburg and took their first sail on a very brisk York River. Mild winds from the northeast got stronger as we ventured out toward the Chesapeake Bay. Whitecaps began to show at 10 mph, and the seas built to 3 feet as neared Goodwin Island. The couple […]
Sailing past a submarine
Two couples who’ve been married for decades celebrated their anniversaries by sailing past a submarine during their vacation to Williamsburg. Lisa Kuert surprised her husband Paul on their 35th. “I had no idea where she was taking me,” he said. “I had sandals on so I figured it couldn’t be too dangerous, like rock climbing.” […]
Sailing from Annapolis to Florida
I picked up a hitchhiker named John who was headed to an auto parts store. “I’m looking to fashion a gasket for my fuel pump. I found a leak in the line and have pumped the manual pump to death. It’s for an Atomic Four gasoline engine in my Catalina 27 that I sailed down […]
The ride of their lives
Two couples from Florida got the ride of their lives in 20 mph winds along the York River. For safety’s sake I had everyone suit up in Class I life preservers. Johnny Motoc held the helm throughout. Under a reefed mainsail we plowed out toward the oil terminal, where one freighter was making weigh while […]
With charity toward motorcycles
While sailing near Williamsburg, we got to talking about business and charity. Lucinda Lobach is a partner in 21 Red Robin restaurants in Pennsylvania. “I’m proud to say that since 2010 our Red Robins are proud to have donated $500,000 toward the support of research on leukemia. My brother died of leukemia.” I asked about […]
All the Ships at Sail
People ask, “What’s it like to see a Navy ship come close?” With a retired US Coast Guard admiral on board, we encountered all the ships at sea beginning with the big one. The USS Mesa Verde rolled past us as we exited Sarah Creek into the York River. The Mesa Verde is an amphibious […]