Sailing with Celebrity
I made a rare run for the first time this season to Yorktown to pick up two couples. Yorktown has wicked currents and requires dock hands, which proved the case. Terri Devlin and David Haberman were on vacation from Pittsburgh, where she works for a company making sleep apnea monitors and sails a 21-foot Hunter. […]
Spinnaker Sailing Twice
It’s a rare day that we can fly the big blue and red spinnaker off the bow. We need just the right direction of wind to sail upwind so as to turn back 180 degrees and let loose. On this day we went spinnaker sailing twice. An east wind in the morning picked up […]
Polynesian Sailboat
Here’s a Polynesian update on that rickety pontoon sailboat Hakulai that was last seen towed out of the York River in May 2016 after two weeks on tour in Yorktown. It’s called a canoe boat but it’s more like two kayaks lashed together. With crews changing every month, the boat set out from Polynesia to […]
Sailing Surprise
Jenny and Rey Mendez of New York City surprised his parents and their three children with a sailing cruise on the York River. They thought they were going to Jamestown. The parents took off for town, while we went sailing and had a lot of fun. Their older son Steven was delighted because he earned […]
Sailing with Ships
An exciting day of the month on the water saw a parade of ships pass by. First, a Navy hover craft zoomed up the York River on an exercise. Next, a Moran tug lumbered upriver from Norfolk en route to the Naval Weapons Station. Then, off in the distance six miles away, another Moran tug led […]
Sailing with Families
As the summer winds down and thoughts return to school, the number of families who go sailing dwindles. I’ve had all variety of families on board this season, everything from toddlers to grown adults. Parents like to take individual children up to the bow to enjoy some private time. Sailing is quite the bonding experience […]
Submarine Update
My journalist colleague and author Ed Offley responded to a shorter version of “All the Ships at Sea” that I posted on Facebook. He said the sub is likely attached to COMSUBLANT, which stands for Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic. That is, the Atlantic Fleet. In this case, it’s part of an aircraft carrier task force based […]
All the Ships at Sea
Two young couples went sailing for a little adventure on their respective wedding anniversaries. They wound up encountering a lot of adventure, as they saw all the ships at sea. Craig Pancake of New Creek, West Virginia, took his wife Elissa out. Jean-Louis Lombos of Richmond took his wife Jennifer out as well, with a […]
Another Horror Story
Here’s another horror story, recalled fondly by Faith Olen of Lynchburg. We were sailing past the Coast Guard Training Center dock, which triggered her memory. “My father used to take me out on his old wooden boat along the Potomac River. It was a motorboat with two big honking diesels. We were downriver in Maryland […]
Sail Fast
Two retired couples set out on an adventure to sail fast on the water with brisk winds and clearing skies. Brian McNelis is looking to take the ASA 101 course in Norfolk, and Rick Baumler joined him in a preliminary class on the York River. Their wives were good sports to go along. Here’s what they […]
