Spring Sail Class

Steady winds on the York River proved the perfect classroom for the first of three classes sponsored in the spring of 2015 by the Williamsburg Area Learning Tree. During an intense six hours, sailors rotated on the helm to learn the close reach, beam reach and broad reach. For the last, we deployed a colorful […]
Happy Birthday Sail

People ask, “Does sailing make a good birthday gift?” Every year, Chris and Marty McCurry of Spruce Pine NC try to do something special on their son’s birthday. This week John Caleb McCurry got an up-close look at US Navy submarine barreling up the York River to the Naval Weapons Station. We were sailing near […]
Sailing to the Homeless

People ask, “What do the homeless have to do with sailing?” Williamsburg never developed a shelter for the homeless because officials feared it would become a magnet for homeless from Newport News. “Many communities take a similar approach,” Thomas Fortuna explained while sailing the York River. “But that ignores the fact they’re still out there, […]
Sailing to Church

Newlyweds Angela and Josh Purdy just moved to Seaford from rural Indiana and are thinking of buying a sailboat. They spent the afternoon learning how to sail while zipping along the York River in a brisk breeze. They found it exhilarating and easier than they had imagined. And they learned how to “see” an approaching […]
Sailing and Balloons

By chance, two newlywed couples enjoyed sailing together on the York River this week. Ryan and Diana Galey live in Albuquerque, the site of an international Hot Air Balloon Festival. Lapel pins depicting balloons are widely bought and traded, and there’s even one for “Breaking Bad,” since the series was filmed in Albuquerque. Diana said […]
Sailing into Port

People ask, “What’s it like to see the bridge open?” The opening of the Coleman Bridge is a nuisance for drivers, but from out on the water it looks fabulous. Lois Anne and J.Q. Anders of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, joined Mary and Rob Yeager of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, on an afternoon sightseeing cruise in which a […]
Sailing Home

Wayne and Teresa Vick took their family sailing for a beautiful day on the York River. Their friends Sue and Dick Pflederer joined them for perhaps their shortest trip of the year, as they are world travelers who have a summer home in Italy. I asked Dick a routine question about where their three grown […]
Backing up a Sailboat

“People ask,” Is it hard to back up a sailboat into the slip?” ASA has an entire course dedicated to this, so yes it is. Corinna Caldwell is my first sailing student to take on the daunting task of backing a sailboat into a slip, under power. It’s like backing up a tractor-trailer in a […]
Kalmar Nyckel at Yorktown

Delaware’s state ship Kalmar Nyckel roared up the York River under motor (and with aft flag unfurled) to visit Yorktown briefly. This is a recreation of the ship that brought Peter Minuit to Delaware in 1638 to settle the colony. It remained largely a merchant ship except for occasional war duty, when all 12 cannon […]
Lynx Visits Yorktown

People ask, “Do you ever see tall ships?” The tall ship Lynx stopped at Yorktown on the way to Harbor Fest in Norfolk. Billed as “America’s Privateer,” a 122-foot square topsail schooner registered in New Hampshire and based in Newport Beach, California. She commemorates the Lynx that fought in the War of 1812. After Harbor […]
Sailing from Iowa

Paul and Linda Johnson brought their children east from New Hartford IA to tour American history at Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. They always wanted to sail, which they did splendidly on a brisk day along the York River where everyone got a turn at the helm. In their spare time, the family performs as The […]
Sailing Class

Sam Melville, Jon Sargent and Robert Dexter Lilley concluded an intensive two-day course with SailTime Virginia Beach by running a Catalina Capri 22 out of Willoughby Bay at Norfolk beside Interstate 64, over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel toward Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, and back to port at Willoughby Marina. The crew fought a wicked ebb […]
Why Do Sailboats Lean?

People wonder, “Why do sailboats lean?” The short answer is that the power of the wind tilts the boat slightly. On a more technical level, the breeze passing through the sails creates a “lift” like that of an airplane taking off. But in this case the “wing” operates sideways as the mast holding the mainsail […]
Sailing with Critics

People ask, “Do you have any professional video?” Michelle Alexandria was in Williamsburg shooting video with her crew Tom Allen and Kyle Ervin for eclipsemaganize.com and blogcritics.org. She views around 200 movies a year as a member of the Washington DC Film Critics Association. Once a year she gets the full treatment of promotional materials […]
Sailing to Victory

Family and friends of Bob Davies celebrated his 60th birthday by sailing along the York River. Bob and his wife Jennie are Brits who return to England frequently. He brought up an interesting dichotomy about history tourism. “At Jamestown, they love the British. At Williamsburg, they fear us. At Yorktown, they hate us.” After I […]
Sailing Refresher

Joel Petrow is an expatriate nuclear engineer visiting Williamsburg who decided to brush up on his sailing skills with an informal lesson on a bright afternoon along the York River. He and his family live in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, outside Frankfurt. He found one big difference with America to be the walk-ability of German towns and […]
Houston Problem

The Howell family enjoyed a beautiful afternoon sailing on the York River, near Williamsburg. After all these years, the three sisters retain varying degrees of their native Georgia accent. That led to a generalization that people outside the South find the drawl charming in women but not so much among men. It could be that […]
Sailing Upright

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrW7avH8PjA People ask, “Is extreme sailing dangerous?” This YouTube video shows how perilous it can be to sail a performance catamaran, such as found in the 2014 America’s Cup. By 2021 they were attaching the air foils to sloops for racing. The Vendee World was nearly all foiled sloops. Better that you stay with a […]
Sailing Surprise Birthday

Larry Alan Smith (far left) of Avon, Connecticut surprised his wife Margarita (at the wheel) with a birthday sail in 2014 off Yorktown. Among the family attending were their son Chris (William & Mary ’07), a former executive with JP Morgan Chase who’s starting a micro-brewery in Williamsburg; and their son Will, (W&M ’14) who’s […]
Sailing vs. Hiking
Adrian Baird followed up with an account about hiking a meadow along the Pacific Crest Trail that was as expansive as the lower York River that we sailed together. “I am roughly 800 miles from the border of Mexico. About six miles in I walked through Becks Meadow, which had to be thousands of acres. […]