Avoiding the Bridge
Kathy and Ed Raskay of Horsham, Pennsylvania, took their four fabulous daughters sailing on the York River, near Williamsburg, before everyone has to go back to school next month. They found it to be great excitement. People ask, “How do you avoid hitting the Coleman Bridge?” Ed recalled, “One time I was sailing with a […]
Memories on the Water
Patti Clark took her family of grown children on a cruise along the York River during a week-long “staycation” in the summer of 2015. It included golf, water sports, shopping, dining and a massage. Sailing brings out the best in everyone and occasional memories of the water that are less than great. People ask, “Do […]
Sailing from Australia
My first Australian went sailing on the York River with his wife’s family. Sean Ironmonger said that one of the stereotypes is that Americans asked if he knew the late Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. “They can’t believe I never met him, so sometimes I just say, ‘Aye, we drink at the pub now and […]
Bachelorette Birthday Sail
On this day, the winds died down and clouds filled the air. Rain threatened off in the southeast. People ask, “Do you do birthday sails?” Mallory Beard took her friends and teammates from Hampton University out for her 20th birthday. Their volleyball team travels the country and plays 30 games over the course of the […]
What’s that Ship?
Drivers along the Colonial Parkway and the York River can’t help but notice an unusual ship docked for months at the US Navy base Cheatham Annex. From afar, the blue hull and white deck resemble a cruise ship, but up close one can see multiple radars and other intel equipment on deck. This is the […]
Sailing Past History
I get asked, “Why did the colonists rebel in the 1770s?” While conveying the Battle of the Capes and the Siege of Yorktown to a group of six along the York River, Susan Jennaro got to talking about what a good job the interpreters do at Colonial Williamsburg. One thing they don’t have time to […]
Sailboat Wedding
Linda Dugan and Dennis Landry came all the way from arid Arizona to Virginia to get married on the water in a uniquely romantic setting. They chose Williamsburg Charter Sails to go out on the York River for their wedding ceremony. As we sailed to the middle of the river, almost miraculously several pods comprising […]
Learning in Rising Winds
In facHaving been a motorboat dude all his life, Steven Cucick of Littleton MA brought his wife Christine to Yorktown to learn how to sail on the York River. We covered all three points of sail: close reach, beam reach, broad reach. We did a heave-to for Man Overboard. He sailed in light and fluky […]
Will I Get Seasick?
People occasionally ask, “Will I get seasick?” on a three-hour cruise along the York River. The answer is No, for several reasons. 1. We sail in a river, which almost never gets enough chop to make the boat pitch forward and backward. High seas with seven-foot waves (measured from top to bottom) are found 20 miles […]
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 […]
