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 […]
Returning Sailors Conquer the York
Two couples returned from last year for exciting spring sailing on the York River. Carol Logue and John Campbell were looking for big winds and they got it. Winds blowing to 20+ required reefing the main and the jib. Carol reminded me that John is a retired music teacher who plays the timpani for the […]
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 […]
Revolution Against Empire
People ask, “How does Yorktown fit into the American Revolution?” In “Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence,” Justin du Rivage argues that the American Revolution was about more than “no taxation without representation.” He argues that the violent break between Great Britain and its colonies stemmed from a fierce ideological debate […]
Sailing Past a Sub with AARP
While getting ready at the dock to host an AARP video crew, I heard the Navy announced over marine radio, “Attention all boats in the vicinity of the Coleman Bridge, this is the United States Navy announcing a submarine transiting the vicinity. All vessels are to stay 500 yards away in all directions. Repeat, 500 […]
Baptism of Sail Spray
A couple from Northern Virginia came to Williamsburg for the weekend to go sailing for the first time. They wound up getting a baptism of sail spray. Julie Koontz gave her husband Mike a unique birthday present of sailing the York River. On a bright, sunny day with steady winds of 12 mph, we […]
Sailing Past the Laboon
People ask, “Can you get a photo of a Navy ship coming through the Coleman Bridge?” A Houston couple left on vacation after Hurricane Harvey and arrived in Virginia in time for the remnants of Hurricane Irma. The resulting sail on the York River was much more pleasant and quite an adventure. Dave and Sonya […]
1926 Herreshoff Arrives
A rare work of art blew into Sara Creek at Gloucester Point with the arrival last week of a 1926 Herreshoff sailboat. The name is famous as the manufacturer of America’s Cup boats going back a century or more. The Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island, heralds the sailboats and the Cup. Herreshoff still builds […]
Meet Winston Churchill
A couple from Leesburg and a family from all over Virginia coincidentally went sailing on the York River on a blustery, overcast day. Sara Bailey took the helm and managed very well despite rising seas in winds blowing around 10 mph. We headed across the river and then turned upriver to get on the […]
HGTV Shoots Sailing
A young couple from Prince George County is rehabilitating a summer home in Mathews County, with views of Chesapeake Bay. The job started last March with the husband and his father doing most of the work. Now that the job is almost finished, husband Ricky Elder is taking a break so his wife Ashley […]
