Stout Sailors
Stout Sailors show a US Navy destroyer coming into Yorktown en route to the Naval Weapons Station. Let’s go sail.
Sailing with Heroes
People ask, “Who has inspired you the most?” Among 900 essays in the Captain’s Blog over the past seven years, Sailing with Heroes from 2016 is the most poignant. On a dark and dreary afternoon, a couple from Portsmouth drove up to the Peninsula to go sailing on the York River. Then they found the […]
Army Ship Maneuvering
People occasionally ask, “Does the Army have a navy?” Yes indeed. USAV Missionary Ridge has been maneuvering for several days in the York River near Cheatham Annex. The ship has radioed that it is conducting dive exercises and has asked boaters to stay 500 yards clear. At 174 feet long, it’s one of 35 Army […]
Ice Sailing Has Storied Past
People sometimes ask, “Is there a faster way to sail?” Oh yes, on ice! Before global warming, people used to sail on ice. It’s long forgotten, but our kin from the 1800s convey that ice sailing has a storied past. Americans live for speed and always have. Beginning with horse racing in 17th century New […]
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 […]
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, […]
Sailing home to Virginia
Is it possible to lose a southern accent? Carolyn and Steven Wrench retired from their respective jobs in Minneapolis this summer and immediately went traveling. She grew up in Front Royal in Northern Virginia, and they have lived in Minnesota for 35 years. She had a discernible Midwestern accent, but not too flat. Carolyn took the […]
Sailing from history
Three couples from Maryland, Utah and Tennessee enjoyed a light afternoon wind on the York River as they took in a narrative of the Battle of the Capes and Siege of Yorktown. History suddenly came to life when a giant replica galleon came into view at the entrance of the York River, way out on […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sailing with Sturgeon
The Hasz family was fully aware of the need for lifejackets because the waters of the York River are still cold. Tamara and Eric Hasz were in Williamsburg from Northern Wisconsin, where they live near Lake Winnebago. “It’s 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, but only 15 feet deep,” Eric said. They took their […]
Commemorative Sail
Every summer I take Nanci Bond and Ellen Janoncyzk out on a commemorative sail on the mutual day of their late husbands’ birthday. They were both named Bob. On a virtually still day with the York River like glass, we motored over to the other side of the river and all the way out to Tue […]
Sailing to Modernity
I get asked, “What’s with all these bridges?” Two things we take for granted in Tidewater Virginia are weather and bridges. I was explaining to two couples from Norfolk that I get people from all over the country for whom the weather is not a big news story but a big tragedy. You name it: […]
Norfolk Boat Memories
While taking their gals sailing near Williamsburg, two fellows recalled their Norfolk boat memories, having grown up together during the 1950s. Dale Murray said, “I’ve been around the water all my life, but I’ve never been sailing.” He did just fine on the helm. On the water indeed. “I have a center console 22-foot fishing boat […]
Voyager Canoe
This is the second week of the Polynesian Voyager Canoe visiting Yorktown. John Raines of York River Yacht Haven was there for the creation. He joined the Williamsburg Area Learning Tree for a six-hour training day. “I was 20 years old in 1970 when they launched the Hokule-a in Hawaii. It was recreated to demonstrate […]
Washington’s Spies
The Siege of Yorktown had everything: Cannon fire, sea battles, death, destruction, sickness, victory— and spies. So it’s odd when people ask, “Was Yorktown important?” In the summer of 1778, George Washington authorized the formation of a secret chain of agents known as the Culper Ring to operate in British-occupied New York. The following excerpt from […]
Sailing Home
Five decades removed from where I grew up, we ventured back to go sailing home. Bonnie and I met our younger daughter Wendy in New York for three days of touring that included a day in the suburbs of Westchester. Wendy was in town from Denver to deliver a talk to the Queens Dental Society, […]
Sailing the Blue Mind
There comes a time in a man’s life when he hears the call of the sea. If the man has a brain in his head, he will hang up the phone immediately. –Dave Barry That explains why many people are reluctant to buy a boat, much less board one. Despite the lure of the sea, […]
Toy Boat at Sea
A toy boat launched in the Atlantic Ocean by South Carolina school students has reached the coast of Wales, after a stopover in Bermuda. The Royal Gazette reports that the Carolina Dreamer was built by the St. Andrew’s School of Math & Science in Charleston and fitted with a GPS tracker. The little vessel went […]
Oysters in the Bay
They are comparatively few and far between today, but oysters used to clog the Chesapeake Bay. These days, we see precious few oyster men while sailing the York River. Virginia’s catch has dropped from nearly 8 million bushels in the early 1900s to half a million today. The industry began here in the early 1800s when […]
