Father’s Day Sail

Thom MacDonnell took his wife Kaja and friends out on the York River for a glorious Father’s Day cruise on a 32-foot boat that Bill O’Donovan operates as Williamsburg Charter Sails. Thom won the cruise during the annual auction held to benefit the Williamsburg Kiwanis Foundation. (Father’s Day Sail)

This is a rare use of a side camera mounted on the starboard roll bar. Thom went on to buy a boat of his own, but alas it’s a sport fishing boat. Hey, the point is that he made it onto the water. 

The Kiwanis Foundation was headed for many years by Gary Ripple, a longtime member of the Williamsburg club who held various posts at the College of William & Mary. At the end of his career there he was the director of admissions. One day the president asked him to fly out to the West Coast to talk down a big donor who wanted desperately for his son to go to W&M. By all objective criteria, he did not have the grades or extra-curricular chops to gain admission. More important, without that experience or success, his likelihood of surving freshman year looked grim. Gary offered to help the boy get into another college, and Dad agreed. Equally important, Dad maintained his generous donor status to the college. 

Let’s Go for a Father’s Day Sail

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