Rescue Training
Sol and Kimberlee Zira went on a charter sailing excursion near Williamsburg while visiting from the Los Angeles area. She was anxious because their dog back home in Sherman Oaks had been mauled by a pit bull and required more than a hundred stitches. Her mother was caring for the dog while they’re away. Anxiety rose […]
Seasick when Sailing
People occasionally ask if they’re likely to get seasick when sailing on a three-hour charter 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 […]
High Tides, Few Guns
The tides on the York River have been higher lately from a week-long storm and the passing of Hurricane Joaquin. There simply hasn’t been a low tide in ten days. We’re talking 3 to 4 feet range. On this day, we sailed from the high tides of Canada to its strict gun laws. “We saw […]
Designs on Sailing
John Thomas of Williamsburg took friends sailing on the York River on a brisk fall day. Our designs were on sailing, but the conversation ranged widely. Among his guests were Sultan Camp, who retired from the Navy after 20 years. He used to load and load from ships at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown […]
She Said Yes
Meghan Mannas said yes when Gregory Eyler proposed marriage to her on the bow of a boat during a charter sail with Williamsburg Charter Sails. Brisk breezes required that we move to lee of the wind and let the trees on the Yorktown cliffs slow the force. Otherwise Gregory might have dropped the ring, to […]
Fishing & Sailing
Dawn Simpson took her husband Joel sailing on the York River on their 27th wedding anniversary. They were visiting from Ocean City, Maryland, the charter sail brought back memories for Joe of the water. “My father’s father was eight when he came to Ocean City to work on steamship ferries as a boy. My father […]
Sailing with the Navy
While taking a Lowery family from Hawaii sailing on the first sunny day in nearly two weeks, I spotted something five miles out. “Oh look, a Navy ship is coming into port.” They looked at each other as if to respond, “Meh.” Maile Lowery said gently, “We’re from Pearl Harbor. We work for DOD, all […]
Sailboat Parts
People feel understandably overwhelmed by the nomenclature or parts of a sailboat. Yet many of the terms are derivative of common sense, and other parts have become part of the lexicon as veritable metaphors. Let’s look at a few parts so that you have a rudimentary knowledge and will show some verbal sea legs on […]
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, […]
Sailing 30 Years Later
A British couple joined their American friends sailing on the York River. They were good sports to endure the story of the Battle of the Capes and the Siege of Yorktown. John Thomber recalled his time in the Royal Navy and had sailboats at his yacht club in England. He got back on the helm […]
Sailing Memories
Memories of sailing are vivid but not always pleasant. While tacking downriver on the York with Doug and Stephanie Gwilliam of San Diego, David Rane recalled the time he and his wife Mary Beth went out on a skippered boat in Washington State. “It was a howling wind and raining sideways, so I assumed we […]
Exciting Sailing
Two couples from Delaware enjoyed an exciting sail in brisk winds on the York River with their grown children. Jeff and Barbara Wesson are from Georgetown, and Brenda and Al Ebert are from Bowers. The Eberts live within view of the Delaware Bay and are used to high winds and waves. >Bowers is a small […]
Sailing to Oblivion
As you go sailing to Oblivion, you can name your boat almost anything except Mayday and Vessel In Distress. As long as it will make sense when hailing the Coast Guard on marine radio, they don’t care. Amusement arise when one tries to hail Tow Boat US three times on Channel 16, because it sounds […]
Success Story Sailing
Phyllis Glass of Columbia, PA, was sailing with us with her husband Gary. She recalled a harrowing counterpoint. “Our daughter-in-law is a parole officer for juveniles in Lancaster. They had to move her from an office in the courthouse to the school so she could be closer to the parolees. She wears a bulletproof vest.” […]
Sailing Healthy
Sailing brings out the best in people, including how they became healthy. Diane and Jim Glassmeyer of Marion, Ohio, joined two other couples on a brisk run along the York River, where she told a compelling story. “I was a corporate vice president for a big media company, proficient on both the radio and newspaper […]
Extreme Sailing
Three days of rain on the York drove nearly everyone off the river. On the other side of the world, eight international teams raced in St. Petersburg, Russia for the sixth stop on the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series™ eight Act global tour. After four days of racing in the heart of St. Petersburg, it was […]
Immigration Waters
If you think immigration reform is controversial in America, try Canada. Susan McBride Friesen is a lawyer/lobbyist for the Canadian mushroom industry, and she regaled us while sailing with her husband Larry and his brother and wife. “Canada allows visiting immigrants to stay five years legally, and then they have to go back to their […]
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 […]
Battle of 1813
Tom and Veronica Friesen of Windsor, Ontario, went sailing on a history cruise of the York River with his brother Larry and wife Susan, where they regaled us with their participation in the bicentennial of the Battle of 1813 on Lake Erie. “It was a huge rendezvous of tall ships and battleships of the period, […]
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 […]