Ships Under the York
Underwater archeology is an important field that is poorly funded, according to John D. Broadwater, a world-renowned practioner who’s now pursuing his 11th ship under the York River. Broadwater once explored the Titanic and helped raise booster rockets from the Apollo space flights. His career has spanned 50 years, with much of it right here […]
Sailboat Swimming
Hot Days When guests go swimming in the York River, it’s on a hot day and the wind is flat. This is a great way to cool off in a expansive setting of genuine adventure. Typically, July and August are best for swimming. We simply stop the boat with a hove-to maneuver and then pull […]
Why Boats Sink
UPDATE – York River Yacht Haven moved quickly to remove the boat before any oil or fuel could leak into the water. Fellows at the marina yard think the bow went under in high winds and the bowrail got caught at low tide under a finger pier on G Dock. That drove the bow down […]
Sailing into History
A young man from Prescott AZ (originally Baltimore) brought his wife to Williamsburg for an annual trip they’ve done for years. They wanted the History Cruise, so I dived deeply in the 1781 Battle of the Capes and the Siege of Yorktown that effectively ended the Revolutionary War. They had some history of their own. […]
November Sail
A couple from Venezuela celebrated her 50th birthday by taking their children sailing on a brisk November day. Vanessa Martinez and Tony Torrealba moved here 20 years ago and live in Northern Virginia. Vanessa wanted to learn how to sail, and she did great on all three reaches. They got delayed crossing the Coleman Bridge […]
Sub Exits York
Two couples and a solo sailor chased a Navy submarine for much of the afternoon. It was overcast and still, so we motored under the Coleman Bridge to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station so they could see a sub in port. It was the third time this season that a sub arrived, which is very […]
Fall Sailing
As a couple and a family headed out for a brisk fall sailing adventure, we passed a USCG skiff at Red No. 8 in Sarah Creek. They were cleaning out the osprey nest since the birds have long gone to South America. What seemed odd was how they disposed of the nest, by simply tossing […]
Let’s Stop This Sailing Feud
At least once a week on the water, I’m asked about the feud between sailboats and motorboats. Do we resent their speed, arrogance, lack of manners, close calls, big wakes, loud music, etc.? Actually, no, because while motorboats certainly go faster, their owners are relatively humble, quite polite, deferential, and observant of the mariner Rules […]
Sailing on Megatankers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhCvR43nh8 Here is the ultimate boat rental: Hundreds of millions of tons of cargo shipped by a mega-tanker under sail. Massive sails. It’s part of a long-term effort to improve “rigid wing wind” transportation by ship. An earlier blog showed that in terms of fuel consumed per ton-mile, a tugboat moving a barge is 2.5 […]
Magic of Sailing
People ask, “Is it hard to learn how to sail?” Here is a short video that conveys how easy it is to sail. Even a teenager can do it well the first time. This became the Tussing Family’s Magic of Sailing. While visiting Williamsburg on vacation, the Tussings went sailing on the York River on […]
