Sailing with Fire
I’ve never had a firefighter onboard before, so this was like sailing with fire. Derek Hayes of Elko, Nevada, joined his mother DeLyne and her husband David out on a dark but otherwise pleasant day for a private sailboat charter on the York River, off Yorktown. DeLyne is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, […]
Mayday on the York
While taking two couples from Richmond sailing in the afternoon on the York River, we heard a mayday emergency call. It was a motorboat taking on water. As other boats came to assist, we learned that the water had submerged the engine halfway and killed it. Eventually the York County fire boat came and boarded […]
Sailing their Careers
Two dynamic couples visiting Williamsburg from Greensboro took a short sailing vacation on the York River. Having never been on a sailboat before, they did a fabulous job running the rig, raising the spinnaker, and conducting a man overboard exercise to rescue a hat—my hat actually. We saw a half dozen dolphin, who trailed the […]
Sailing Memories
Elizabeth Blatz and her friend Heidi Smith went sailing while visiting Williamsburg, and it brought back fond memories. “My parents had a 70-foot sailboat, built in Japan,” Elizabeth said. “The man who built it sailed it to the U.S. after the war and sold it. It presented as a magnificent boat and we kept it […]
Sailing to Safety
Paul and Pauline LaRoche of Mays Landing, New Jersey, enjoyed a brisk afternoon sailing the York River off the USCG Training Center Yorktown. Marine safety was the topic of the day. Her grandfather ran pilot ships on the Great Lakes and is still active in retirement at age 94. Paul flew helicopters for the […]
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 […]
