Sailing to a Robbery
People ask, “Do guests share harrowing stories?” “My daughter Erin had started work as a bank teller. She had her head down when she felt round, cold steel right here.” Mary Baldwin pointed to her forehead. “Then a man in a mask said, ‘Push that button, Bitch, and you’re dead! Give me all the money.’ […]
Sailing Politically
In 1973, “I was a lawyer and had just moved to Virginia Beach from New York,” said Stuart Gordon while sailing on the York River. “I interviewed with a law firm in Norfolk, to help cover for Henry Howell who was on the road a lot. He asked me about Bobby Kennedy, since I had […]
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 Reminiscence
“My mom grew up near the water in Massachusetts,” said Molly Warmbein while sailing the York River on a brisk afternoon. “She used to go down to her father’s sailboat every day after school and sit on the bow to do her homework. I think she still misses sailing.” So Molly texted her a photo […]
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 […]
Sailing into Genealogy
People ask, “Do you do family reunions?” Michael and Julie Curnick of rural Tennessee traveled to Ireland recently. They went for a reunion of family members from all over the globe. Here they went sailing along the York River with their son and his friends. Julie related how many of them at the reunion had […]
Sailing to the Homeless
People ask, “What do the homeless have to do with sailing?” Williamsburg never developed a shelter for the homeless because officials feared it would become a magnet for homeless from Newport News. “Many communities take a similar approach,” Thomas Fortuna explained while sailing the York River. “But that ignores the fact they’re still out there, […]
Dolphins Galore
People ask, “Do you ever see dolphoins?” During the summer of 2014, the Verellen family of suburban Pittsburgh hit the jackpot as three pods of dolphin suddenly showed up alongside our boat in the middle of the York River. As we picked up speed with the wind, the dolphins dove below the boat, crisscrossing without […]
Sailing into Port
People ask, “What’s it like to see the bridge open?” The opening of the Coleman Bridge is a nuisance for drivers, but from out on the water it looks fabulous. Lois Anne and J.Q. Anders of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, joined Mary and Rob Yeager of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, on an afternoon sightseeing cruise in which a […]
