Sailing Back to the 1600s
My typical history cruise covers the battles of the Capes and Yorktown, but this one had us sailing back to the 1600s. Kate and John Jesberg drove up from Virginia Beach to take their friend Gayle Smith sailing on the York River. But instead of heading east, we motored northwest. Here’s why. “I’m descended from […]
Commemorative Sail
Every summer I take Nanci Bond and Ellen Janoncyzk out on a commemorative sail on the mutual day of their late husbands’ birthday. They were both named Bob. On a virtually still day with the York River like glass, we motored over to the other side of the river and all the way out to Tue […]
Sailing with Patriot Pirates
Then.People ask, “What’s with the pirates?” The Battle of the Capes was a classic sea battle. Not so the battles by pirates. George H. Patton’s “Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution” presents another story. Here is the tale of America’s insurgency against the British merchant ships and Navy. […]
Washington’s Spies
The Siege of Yorktown had everything: Cannon fire, sea battles, death, destruction, sickness, victory— and spies. So it’s odd when people ask, “Was Yorktown important?” In the summer of 1778, George Washington authorized the formation of a secret chain of agents known as the Culper Ring to operate in British-occupied New York. The following excerpt from […]
Historic Halloween
If you suspend the disbelief that there was no Halloween in Williamsburg during the 1770s, you will find the presentation by Colonial Williamsburg in the Revolutionary City quadrant of the Historic Area to be quite compelling. Welcome to “A Haunting on DoG Street: Blackbeard’s Revenge.” It’s designed to draw in more families to a wider, more […]
The Gunpowder Incident
We take a short vacation from sailing to report on the history of the Gunpowder Incident, courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, from which this is reprinted. The Revolutionary era’s newspapers are rich with stories that inspired the American Revolution. In Reporting the Revolutionary War, Todd Andrlik publishes an array of […]
Avoiding the Bridge
Kathy and Ed Raskay of Horsham, Pennsylvania, took their four fabulous daughters sailing on the York River, near Williamsburg, before everyone has to go back to school next month. They found it to be great excitement. People ask, “How do you avoid hitting the Coleman Bridge?” Ed recalled, “One time I was sailing with a […]
Sailing from Australia
My first Australian went sailing on the York River with his wife’s family. Sean Ironmonger said that one of the stereotypes is that Americans asked if he knew the late Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. “They can’t believe I never met him, so sometimes I just say, ‘Aye, we drink at the pub now and […]
Bachelorette Birthday Sail
On this day, the winds died down and clouds filled the air. Rain threatened off in the southeast. People ask, “Do you do birthday sails?” Mallory Beard took her friends and teammates from Hampton University out for her 20th birthday. Their volleyball team travels the country and plays 30 games over the course of the […]
Sailing Past History
I get asked, “Why did the colonists rebel in the 1770s?” While conveying the Battle of the Capes and the Siege of Yorktown to a group of six along the York River, Susan Jennaro got to talking about what a good job the interpreters do at Colonial Williamsburg. One thing they don’t have time to […]
Sailing War Stories
People ask while sailing the York River how Gen. George Washington could communicate with Admiral Francoise DeGrasse in the Caribbean to get the French fleet here. Much it transpired by letters sent by couriers on single-mast sloops that could go faster than conventional warships. Frigates with two masts comprised sloops. The most famous early sloop […]
Kennedy Sailors
People ask, “Who are the most inspiring sailors?” Kennedy sailors are an American icon. President Kennedy made it glamorous by sailing on his sloop Victura out in the Atlantic off the coast of the Kennedy compound. Ted Kennedy enjoyed the contemplative nature as a sailor so much so that he cruised off Hyannis Port the […]
Sailing to Mexico
Ramona Findley of Los Angeles has crewed in offshore races from Newport Beach to Ensenada, Mexico, a 125-mile stretch that includes overnight sailing. So she and her colleagues from the LAPD and LA Sheriff’s Department had no problem sailing a mid-size Hunter on the York River on a beautiful afternoon. “I worked as the spinnaker […]
America’s Cup 2013
The fastest sailing on Earth took place during the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay. These $100 million catamarans rose up out of the water on hydrofoils, which can be seen in this video. They touched an astonishing 55 mph. America was down 8-1 and roared back to win 8 straigt to win 9-8. […]
Navigating a Career
People ask, “What’s with the Army’s Navy?” Ft. Eustis is home to the “Army’s Navy,” where soldiers learn everything from becoming a stevedore to captaining a boat. Donald Topping explained while sailing the York. Tens of millions of dollars have been invested to teach 27 discrete programs to Army troops and Navy SEALS. “We owe […]
Sailing Crazy
“Right out of college, I worked for the state of New Hampshire under Governor Mel Thomson. He was crazy. One time he shut down the entire state government so everyone could search for his favorite pen because he lost it. He found out the next day that his brother had inadvertently taken it off his […]
Sailing for Show
“Whenever we do an evolution [event] of 15 or 20 ships at sea, we have to take photos to show the formations and the ships. Sometimes we have to get within 400 yards with ships on each side to get good photos, and that’s difficult to do while moving at 13 knots on the open […]
Sailing from Saigon
People ask, “Where’s the farthest that people have come to sail?” Hue and Hung Ngo of Fairfax took their 9-year-old son sailing on a quiet day on the York River, long removed from their native Vietnam. They emigrated in the mid-1990s after eight years of processing by the communist government. “No siblings allowed to leave […]
Sailing to Jamestown
People ask, “Is Jamestown worth visiting?” “Emma’s third-grade teacher led us to go to Historic Jamestowne, with her enthusiasm for the nation’s founding,” said Christine Erickson as her four children scampered about the boat while sailing the York River. Unbeknownst to them, Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg have invested heavily to bring educators here from every […]
Sailing with Bernoulli
I get asked all the time, “How does a sailboat sail against the wind?” Albeit counterintuitive, sailboats have to stay close to the angle of the wind to get the most power and speed. It’s explained by Bournelli’s Principle in which air going over one surface of an object (the mast) is faster than the […]
