Dolphins!

Dolphins!

People ask, “Do you ever see dolphins while sailing?” For the first time this year, we saw dolphins in May in the York River. Two couples from New Jersey and Tennessee got up close as the dolphins zoomed in the wake of the sailboat while cruising the York River. Art Ford spotted two of them […]

Sailing Under Brighter Skies

Sailing Under Brighter Skies

People summon up the distant past to remember the strangest things about sailing. After seven days of clouds and rain, the skies brightened and so did the customers. While navigating the York River in a rising wind as his wife and daughter looked on confidently, Matthew Reed of Higganum CT recalled sailing after a storm […]

Sailing Second Time Around

Sailing Second Time Around

Love is better the second time around, and so is sailing. Carol Logue and John Campbell of suburban Richmond reprised their cruise from August on a much cooler and blustery day along the York River. Winds out of the east grew from 10 mph to 15 mph as we sailed directly out the river on […]

Mega-Yacht Sails into York

Mega-Yacht Sails into York

A 142-foot mega-yacht sailed into the York River before landing at York River Yacht Haven. It trailed a substantial tender with three outboard engines. Out in the middle of the river, the yacht stopped to reel in the boat hawser so a driver could get aboard. He proceeded ahead of the yacht, criss crossing the […]

Best Quick Guide to Cayman Paradise

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 with the authorities

Sailing with the authorities

What could be more fun than sailing with the authorities, namely police and prosecutors? Trish and Joe Froelich joined Jean and Art Hall for an afternoon of smooth sailing on the York River in rising breezes. Once out of the channel and on the water, Trish was confronted by her childhood. “When I was a […]

Sailing to Maine

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 […]

Another Horror Story

Another Horror Story

Here’s another horror story, recalled fondly by Faith Olen of Lynchburg. We were sailing past the Coast Guard Training Center dock, which triggered her memory. “My father used to take me out on his old wooden boat along the Potomac River. It was a motorboat with two big honking diesels. We were downriver in Maryland […]

International Sail

International Sail

Guests from different cultures graced the boat on a day of light breezes for an international sail. Few people braved the hot temperatures outdoors, but it was cooler on the York River. Angel Eller was in town from Fredericksburg with her son as he attended Robotics Camp at the College of William & Mary. “It’s […]

The Zen of the Great Outdoors

Here’s what the Zen of the Great Outdoors can do for you. Amy and Jeff Guyer look like newlyweds but have been married 25 years. They spent nine years in Alaska and enjoyed it all. Now they’re taking lessons to learn how to sail. “We were in Anchorage, where the sun comes up around 10ish […]