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 […]
Sailing Home
Wayne and Teresa Vick took their family sailing for a beautiful day on the York River. Their friends Sue and Dick Pflederer joined them for perhaps their shortest trip of the year, as they are world travelers who have a summer home in Italy. I asked Dick a routine question about where their three grown […]
Sailing by Feel
Sometimes I get asked, “Can blind people sail?” Wayne Kislinburg is a retired Navy lieutenant commander whose final sail before retirement was to bring a submarine tender under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. He later developed macular degeneration and is now legally blind, but you’d never know it. At the encouragement of […]
Backing up a Sailboat
“People ask,” Is it hard to back up a sailboat into the slip?” ASA has an entire course dedicated to this, so yes it is. Corinna Caldwell is my first sailing student to take on the daunting task of backing a sailboat into a slip, under power. It’s like backing up a tractor-trailer in a […]
Lynx Visits Yorktown
People ask, “Do you ever see tall ships?” The tall ship Lynx stopped at Yorktown on the way to Harbor Fest in Norfolk. Billed as “America’s Privateer,” a 122-foot square topsail schooner registered in New Hampshire and based in Newport Beach, California. She commemorates the Lynx that fought in the War of 1812. After Harbor […]
Alabama Sailors
The Baeder family of Auburn, Alabama, took time out from Busch Gardens to sail the unusually high seas of the York River. Because they boat on southern lakes, they enjoyed riding the bow in stiff winds that rocked the sailboat with a mild roller coaster effect. Francesca is an assistant professor at Auburn University, and […]
Sailing Class
Sam Melville, Jon Sargent and Robert Dexter Lilley concluded an intensive two-day course with SailTime Virginia Beach by running a Catalina Capri 22 out of Willoughby Bay at Norfolk beside Interstate 64, over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel toward Thimble Shoal Lighthouse, and back to port at Willoughby Marina. The crew fought a wicked ebb […]
Sailing with Critics
People ask, “Do you have any professional video?” Michelle Alexandria was in Williamsburg shooting video with her crew Tom Allen and Kyle Ervin for eclipsemaganize.com and blogcritics.org. She views around 200 movies a year as a member of the Washington DC Film Critics Association. Once a year she gets the full treatment of promotional materials […]
Racing and Sailing
I get asked, “Do you race?” Bob Davies told me while sailing that he once got to race a Jaguar XKR up to 170 miles per hour on a track. It was rated at 150 mph but was juiced up by the factory. (I explained how my sailboat was juiced up to exceed the 7 […]
