A set of 4 PCV pipes was dropped six weeks ago as the boundaries for an oyster farm in Sarah Creek. One of them was placed inexplicably at the opening of the creek, making it a navigational hazard. It sat just 50 feet away from R-2. Typically, such pipes are anchored with cement in a cinder block.
By late afternoon yesterday, someone apparently had pulled it up and dropped it farther out in the river as a prank. I reported the Lat/Long I to the USCG Hampton Roads in Portsmouth: 37-13.691N, 76-30-794 W. Now it is a worse hazard because it could hole a boat if someone hits it just right/wrong.
These are not to be confused with a longtime PVC pipe anchored as “local custom” at the bend of Sarah Creek to warn boaters of a severe sandbar. It’s located between R-8 and the point of Little England, closer to the marina.
I suggested the Coast Guard talk with VMRC to ask why in the world they would allow an oyster farm in an active boating channel.
Prison Sail
Three couples from around the country converged for a pleasant afternoon sailing adventure in a late summer breeze. Susan Dillow of Ironton OH took her beau Eric Bryson, who proved an excellent helmsman.
I occasionally ask what people do for a living, and I was floored by Susan’s response. “I’m retired from the Southern Ohio Penitentiary, in Lucasville. I wasn’t a guard, but I worked in Administration and would sometimes walk the prison to deal with inmates’ problems. It has 1,500 prisoners and was infamous for the Lucasville Riot of 1993. It involved 400 inmates. One prison guard and nine inmates died.
“They eventually built a supermax prison somewhere else, and we sent a hundred of our worst there. They all came back,” she smiled proudly, “because the supermax couldn’t handle them.”
We talked about “The Shawshank Redemption,” and Susan had her own real-life version. “I never had any trouble with the inmates. One of them used to clean my office every night. He was a convicted murderer but by now he was old and harmless. Nice guy. After I retired, I heard that he had flipped on two inmates for something. As a result, they took him up onto the prison balcony and threw him over. He landed on the cement below and died.”
Prospective Sailor
A North Carolina couple staying in nearby Mathews County went for a sail to see how she liked it. Tom Smith is hoping to buy a sailboat in retirement, and together we gave his wife Peggy instructions. It was a light breeze on a late summer morning, with the ocean current running in as we tried to sail out the York River.
Along the way, I took a call from USCG Milford Haven, where they keep track of ATONs. The officer was following up on my PVC pipe reporting, and I told him they were all gone as of this morning. He found that to be the case as well, and I could see him in the distance. Who knows who took them?
Peggy did great by following targets to point to as we tacked back and forth between Yorktown and Gloucester Point. Tom had quite a background.
“I started out as a psychologist, and I naively got into work with young people. I built a home for a dozen boys aged 11 to 18. No, it wasn’t a foster home but a group home. I took them to Canada for a big bike ride, and two of them vanished. Eventually I got into homebuilding. Now I’m retired. At 74, I think I can still sail.” He has all the tools: experience, wisdom, patience. The wind picked up and the current abated at high tide as Peggy sailed along blissfully.
Women enjoy sailing today more than ever, and particularly a romantic cruise. Couples get to enjoy a romantic getaway as they sit up on the bow for privacy, and Let’s Go Sail provides professional photos for free. First-time or skilled mariners are welcome to sail a modern-32-foot sailboat in a unique setting of wildlife and Fall foliage or Spring bloom. It makes for an extraordinary anniversary idea.
Puget Sailing
Mark and Pam McKeown vacationed in Williamsburg in their retirement quest to visit all 50 states. They went sailing on the York with another couple, and Mark held the helm most of the way.
We talked about how many of the towing rescues by the commercial fleets are unnecessary because the owner/driver simply forgot to push the choke down after killing the engine.
“We got towed once,” Mark recalled with a smile. “It was a big tugboat, pulling our little boat in such a fashion that we swerved from side to side behind him. Our engine had died because when it was rebuilt the guy didn’t tighten all the bolts and the oil spilled out entirely into the bilge. It was very embarrassing for me. We had to be towed because we were stuck in the shipping channel, with cargo freighters passing close-by.”
On a lighter note, Pam and Mark used to take friends salmon fishing in the Puget. “We caught more than a dozen fish, 18 to 24 inches long and big girth.”
Sailing the World
From Montgomery AL, Greg and Cecelia Teal were staying in Yorktown and chose to sail the York River. He’s retiring after 40 years in and associated with the US Air Force and is thinking of what to do next.
Together, they talked about friends of theirs in Miami. Cecilia said, “They decided they wanted to sail around the world. But first they had to learn how to sail. They did that over time, bought a boat and took off. Covid broke out during their voyage, and they had a terrible time coping with different safety protocols in different countries.”
Greg added, “They wound up staying for a long time in Fiji, which isn’t bad when you think about it. Eventually, they returned home. Now, after a few years, they’re thinking of doing it all over again on a bigger boat.”
As an ocean-going boat turned downriver, I told them that I’ve sailed around the world — 24,000 miles with Let’s Go Sail, nearly all of it in the York River.
Sailing to Swim
Only twice this season did people take advantage of swimming off the sailboat. Doug Drummond is a local retiree who wanted to get more training in big winds. So, we sailed directly southeast toward the mouth of the Bay, heeling to 20 degrees routinely.
“I swim in the ocean and recently was in the Pacific. But the swells were awfully big,” he said from the helm. “I used to swim for William & Mary, including across the James River for charity. The jellyfish weren’t bad because it was November, but the water was very cold. It slows you down, then your legs get heavy and sink. Today, my knees bother me because of competitive swimming.”
I wondered if swimming across the York or the James is considered a big deal, since it certainly is to me. “No. The Triple Crown is a big deal. That’s across the English Channel, around Manhattan, and to Catalina Island.”
Let’s Go Sail
Check Couples and Family rates and pick a day for a sailboat charter. Scroll down reviews on Trip Advisor. Go back to the home page of Williamsburg Charter Sails.
The best Williamsburg boat tour offers safe sailing daily for up to 6 people. It’s an extraordinary experience for couples. Leave your worries behind. Enjoy the thrill of moving with the wind without a care in the world. Put life back on an even keel with a romantic experience for a birthday or anniversary. 3-hour sailboat cruise as a semi-private yachting charter lets you exhale and relax as you enjoy comfort, stability and speed.
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