Sailing on Megatankers

Sailing on Megatankers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhCvR43nh8 Here is the ultimate boat rental: Hundreds of millions of tons of cargo shipped by a mega-tanker under sail. Massive sails.  It’s part of a long-term effort to improve “rigid wing wind” transportation by ship. An earlier blog showed that in terms of fuel consumed per ton-mile, a tugboat moving a barge is 2.5 […]

19 Ways to Sail Faster

Landlubbers Learn Sailing

For outdoor adventure while traveling to Williamsburg or Yorktown, nothing beats sailing on the York River. Here’s some advice on 19 ways to sail faster. Read a primer such as “Sailing for Dummies” to get the idea. The illustrations show various angles of the wind on the boat. That’s the big deal. You’re positioning the […]

Skimming Along Lake Toho

Skimming Along Lake Toho

Of all the boating our family has enjoyed over the years, we have never gone on an airboat. While on vacation in Florida, our son-in-law Trevor Phillips booked us for a unique and private two-hour adventure tour of the marshy shores around Lake Tohoperaliga near Orlando. Trevor knows how much we enjoy boating.  “We call […]

Sailing to Serendipity

Sailing to Serendipity

A couple eager to sail hard on a windy day joined a family who thought they were just going for an outing on the York River. The result was sailing to serendipity. Cathy and Steve Kirby vacationed in Williamsburg from their home near Charlotte. “I have a 26-foot Hunter that’s trailerable with the water ballast. […]

Bay Sailing

Bay Sailing

Two experienced sailors from Boston blew into Tidewater for a government contract job and chose to go Bay sailing with SailTime of Virginia Beach as a fun thing to do. That worked out well because Paul Metzger is a SailTime member who also has his 33-foot Hunter in charter with the Boston franchise. “They assign […]

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 […]

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.’ […]

Wednesday Night Races

People ask, “Do you race?” No. Here in 2013 we dodged the Wednesday night sailboat races (in background).But they were colorful as boats of different sizes popped their spinnakers going on the downwind track. This is group of timeshare concierges and activities directors. They took a complimentary “fam tour” or familiarization tour to better promote […]