Go Navy!

Go Navy!

To fully appreciate the US Navy plowing up the York River to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, you have to see the ships at their base. The last time I transited Norfolk Naval Base was in February 12 years ago when Greg Smith helped me sail the NTM 320 Hunter up from Waterside. I hired […]

York tugboats

York tugboats

Up and down the York River, tugboats provide safe and secure transit for ships. The biggest clients are Navy warships, which usually take one and sometimes two tugs to push and prod into port at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. The current is wicked, aggravated by the 2-foot tide. Moran Towing gets that job done, using […]

Sailing Near the Navy

Sailing Near the Navy

A dreary day on the York River perked up with the siting of an exceptional Navy ship. It was quite an adventure. Amy and John McCarthy took a long-awaited sail with their daughter C.C. and her boyfriend Chris Coe, in town from Ketchum, Idaho. C.C. sailed competitively in high school, so she had no trouble […]

They Met in Jail

People ask, “Do you get odd stories of how people met?” “We like to tell people that we met in jail,” laughed Ashley Bolden as she and her husband Michael sailed the York River on a spectacular afternoon. They were working at the Peninsula Regional Jail on Route 143, and she has since become an […]

Key Sailors

arais

People ask, “Is it hard to fly a spinnaker?” Aron and Caryn Arias took their boys sailing on the York and helped deploy the colorful spinnaker on the bow for running downwind. Aron and Ben (right) have sailed with Boy Scouts in the Florida Keys. Alex ran the helm as Ben raised the spinnaker. The […]