Sailing Safety
A hazardous PVC pipe was removed as a prank and dropped into the York River, making it a worse hazard to navigation.
Learning to Sail
Learning to Sail recounts the thrill of going fast on 3 reaches.
The Oil Scoop
A Richmond family drove down to get away from the lockdown and the George Floyd protest violence to enjoy a quiet and picturesque day on the York River. They enjoyied a big day of sailing and got the oil scoop on barges. Faika Zanjani is a professor at VCU specializing in bacterial issues, but we […]
Sail a Tall Ship
People ask, “Do you get much repeat business?” Jim and Jo Ann Giesen of Ford’s Colony made a return voyage from last year, bringing with them their son Mike and new bride Jess. Mike had no problem on deck casting off. “I sailed on the US Brig Niagara,” he said. “It’s a warship made to […]
Couples Enjoy Sailing
I get asked, “How far down in the water do the buoys extend?” Those two USCG buoy tenders were still there at the Yorktown Training Center, and today the classroom work had moved outside. As we sailed past, we got to watch them pick up a red buoy off the deck and extend it over […]
Sailing the Great Loop
People ask, “What’s the Great Loop?” One of the most ambitious sailing adventures in America is the Great Loop, essentially up the East Coast to New England, down the St. Lawrence into the Great Lakes and on to Chicago, down the Mississippi to the Gulf, and across to Florida. Meet David and Susan Houghland of […]
Sailing to Maine
Two couples who’ve known each other since the 1970s went sailing along the York River and wound up sailing to Maine. Jim and JoAnn Giesen of Williamsburg hosted Jan and Pers Jonas, who coincidentally live in York, Maine. I was explaining how the current of our York can run to 4 knots, which led Pers […]
Sailing with a Sub Rescuer
Of all the military veterans I’ve taken sailing, none had a more peculiar stint than Robert Durrant. He’s a machinist in upstate New York who took his wife Marianne out on the York. That brought back memories on the water. “I was in the Navy serving on the catamaran ship that rescued downed submarines.” What! […]
Sailing to a Robbery
People ask, “Do guests share harrowing stories?” “My daughter Erin had started work as a bank teller. She had her head down when she felt round, cold steel right here.” Mary Baldwin pointed to her forehead. “Then a man in a mask said, ‘Push that button, Bitch, and you’re dead! Give me all the money.’ […]
