Houston Problem
The Howell family enjoyed a beautiful afternoon sailing on the York River, near Williamsburg. After all these years, the three sisters retain varying degrees of their native Georgia accent. That led to a generalization that people outside the South find the drawl charming in women but not so much among men. It could be that […]
Will You Marry Me?
Sean Kosmann brought Jessica Pettrey to Williamsburg and took her sailing on a bright fall afternoon, where he proposed to her in an elegant romantic setting. He escorted her up on the bow of the boat and got down on bended knee (made difficult by recent knee surgery) to offer a fabulous diamond engagement ring. […]
Bungee Sailing
Kevin Schmoyer indulged his wife Donna with a sailing trip because it was on her bucket list. They have also bungee-jumped, as has their friend Ted Vigeant. Ted regaled us with his death-defying jump hundreds of feet off the original bungee bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand. “They asked if I wanted to touch the water, […]
Adrenalin Rush Sailing
People ask, “Is sailing inspirational?” Sailing can be downright inspirational. Donna Schmoyer’s son is a Pennsylvania state trooper who happened on a stalled van one frigid snowy night, stranded on the shoulder of Interstate 81. While assisting, he noticed a Mustang sliding directly their way on the ice and shouted for everyone to run. As […]
Midwestern Ingenuity
Boating builds self-confidence, among other things. Mike Ahfield of Birdseye, Indiana, related to me while sailing the other day how he helped perform an unusual rescue. Worse, he and his brother and nephew were out on a rickety Jon boat when the transom began to depart from the top of the stern. The weighty outboard […]
Made in America
Some amazing people enjoy sailing when they aren’t saving society. Megan Key and Justin Gerner enjoyed sailing the York River on a warm fall day as they prepare for their wedding. Years ago, Megan’s grandfather and uncle complained about poor service at their VA hospital. One day she accompanied a second uncle to the VA […]
Sailing Without Tenants
“The residential rental business is stinky,” summarized Doug McSwain. He took his wife Valerie out sailing off Yorktown in brisk winds ahead of an afternoon of rain. He’s endured myriad problems with tenants in Huntsville, Alabama, and elsewhere, mostly due to perceived entitlement by tenants and their exploitation of arcane state laws. Valerie once got […]
Colorado Sailors
Linda and Bill Schmidt of Westminster, Colorado, had a blast sailing the York River as they enjoyed their best amenity visiting Williamsburg. “This is the highlight of our trip. I love this boat,” Linda said as she ran a delicate helm after Bill helped deploy the red and blue spinnaker for downwind sailing. They mastered […]
Living the Dream
Living the Dream Debbie and Kevin Weber of Appleton, Wisconsin, are immensely proud of their two grown boys. Ryan is a portfolio manager in Madison, and Kyle operates charter boats at a renowned fishing resort near the Minnesota border with Canada. Kyle knows where the fish are and how to negotiate the tricky Customs procedures […]
Wednesday Night Races
People ask, “Do you race?” No. Here in 2013 we dodged the Wednesday night sailboat races (in background).But they were colorful as boats of different sizes popped their spinnakers going on the downwind track. This is group of timeshare concierges and activities directors. They took a complimentary “fam tour” or familiarization tour to better promote […]
