Top Speed
Note: Sailing charters resume in Virginia on June 10 when the lockdown is lifted. Longtime student and friend Corinna Caldwell joined a couple from Connecticut on perhaps the last day of summer as a cold front moved in for autumn. They had a day of sailing at top speed. Bob and Gail Sokolowski were in […]
Learning to Sail
A Richmond area couple drove down to the York River to learn how to sail. Kate Riley sailed a Sunfish once and wanted to try a bigger boat. She got the full experience in a steady breeze of 10 mph that enabled us to sail under the Coleman Bridge to see the Navy submarine still […]
Sailing on Megatankers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhCvR43nh8 Here is the ultimate boat rental: Hundreds of millions of tons of cargo shipped by a mega-tanker under sail. Massive sails. It’s part of a long-term effort to improve “rigid wing wind” transportation by ship. An earlier blog showed that in terms of fuel consumed per ton-mile, a tugboat moving a barge is 2.5 […]
Magic of Sailing
People ask, “Is it hard to learn how to sail?” Here is a short video that conveys how easy it is to sail. Even a teenager can do it well the first time. This became the Tussing Family’s Magic of Sailing. While visiting Williamsburg on vacation, the Tussings went sailing on the York River on […]
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
This woman is posed on a yacht charter, but she’s sitting on the rail which is always precarious. The rail is better than the lifelines, which tend to shift, but it’s still a terrible idea. Her center of gravity is too high, which could send her into the drink with a sudden move of […]
Fast Pitch Sails Past
147 teams from 16 states showed up in York County for a girls’ fast-pitch softball tournament.
Red Skies Myth Debunked
“Red skies at night, sailors delight. Red skies in morning, sailors take warning.” This durable ditty has survived the ages because it is pithy — but often wrong. Think about it for a moment. Just because the sky is red in the evening doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a clear day tomorrow. It could […]
Sailing from Childhood
People ask, “Do sailors recall their childhood on the water?” Yes, fondly for the most part. A Wisconsin couple transplanted to Palm Harbor FL was visiting Williamsburg and saw they could go sailing on the York River. Peggy Wearing grew up near Lake Michigan. “I started out sailing prams and later 210s out of the […]
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 […]
60th Sailors
“Do people celebrate their anniversary by sailing?” As a surprise, a Williamsburg woman went to extensive lengths to reserve a private sailboat charter for her parents to mark what she called “their 60th.” She provided a limo and driver from Richmond. We had to shift the trip around rainy weather and develop an early morning […]
Boat Extremes
Sailing from New England People ask, “Are there extremes in boats on the York River?” We saw it on this day. Two couples who had never met enjoyed a warm, sunny breeze on the York River as part of their Williamsburg vacation adventure. Shirley Patrick of Washington DC brought her beau James Artis after having […]
Last Sail
People ask, “How deep into Fall do you still sail?” Deep into November, I took veteran sailors Jeanne Kushabar and Ugo Boggio out on the York in a light breeze from the east. I hadn’t see Ugo in a year, during which time he bought a 24-foot sailboat for his house on Boothbay Harbor, Maine. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sailing Past a Navy Freighter
Monday’s sail was canceled due to high winds, a first. Tuesday’s sail presented stiff winds but more easily managed by reefing the main and keeping the Genoa furled. Longtime civic activist Margaret Fowler brought two friends from Southern California who were visiting Williamsburg so they could experience the excitement of the York River. They had […]
Sailing the York, Recalling the Navy
John Wilson of Virginia Beach took a break studying for his Virginia bar exam by taking four of his five children sailing on the York River. They arrived at a sunny and very breezy marina, and everyone donned life preservers. During the sail, the kids alternated going up on the bow with their dad, one […]
Opening Day 2018 Sailing Season
Two couples from metro Richmond enjoyed opening day of the 2018 sailing season with a three-hour cruise in brisk winds and sunny skies. They alternated sitting up on the bow, where excitement meets romantic contemplation. Amy Lane took her beau Steve Litton sailing on his 42nd birthday. He said, “The last time we went sailing […]
Sailing Past Thanksgiving
The cruising season winds up by mid-November, but I held off until after Thanksgiving to take Adam Six of Charlotte NC and his girlfriend on a surprise sail for her. Lennie Gorman was recovering from shoulder surgery, and Adam was on leave from Afghanistan. He said, “I work in maintenance with MRVs,” which I took […]
Last, Great Sail
The last sail of the regular season came to a stunning end with a couple from suburban Philadelphia enjoying a great sail on the York River. “This time last week we were sailing in Massachusetts Bay with my brother on his 44-foot boat,” said Sam November. “Now here we are in Virginia.” Sam and […]
Team-Building Sail
A small company in Roanoke chose Let’s Go Sail to work on team-building. They got a full day of activities in half a day on the waters of the York River. Bright blue skies enhanced blustery winds of 10 mph and seas rising and falling two feet. Their assignment was to rescue someone in the […]
