Sailing to Success
Two couples from New York City quit their jobs in fashion, corporate, nursing and teaching to find success in a group home setting in Washington, DC. Charrisse and Mark Ifill and his brother Mike Ifill and his wife Khardieita related their collective experience while sailing on the York River near Williamsburg with their small children. […]
New Sailors
While sailing in a wonderful breeze, I explained to the Bartlett family of Minnesota how the Coleman Bridge met deadline when it was replaced over the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester Point. For a detailed look at the history of the bridge, check out the video below. Mike Bartlett served in the “Brown Navy” […]
Mariner Spectrum
Two ends of the mariner spectrum were captured in a sea change along the York River. A waterman sets up for the day to harvest oysters off the river bed while the destroyer USS Mitscher transits toward the Coleman Bridge and Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. The Mitscher was the Navy’s official welcoming ship when […]
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 […]
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 […]
Kalmar Nyckel at Yorktown
Delaware’s state ship Kalmar Nyckel roared up the York River under motor (and with aft flag unfurled) to visit Yorktown briefly. This is a recreation of the ship that brought Peter Minuit to Delaware in 1638 to settle the colony. It remained largely a merchant ship except for occasional war duty, when all 12 cannon […]
Will You Marry Me?
Sean Kosmann brought Jessica Pettrey to Williamsburg and took her sailing on a bright fall afternoon, where he proposed to her in an elegant romantic setting. He escorted her up on the bow of the boat and got down on bended knee (made difficult by recent knee surgery) to offer a fabulous diamond engagement ring. […]
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 […]
Calling a Rain-out
As heavy rain passed through Williamsburg early Tuesday morning, I elected to cancel today’s sail with six people. Radar suggests the rain will end by mid-morning, but more rain is visible on radar out west, past Petersburg, and likely to come our way. It may only be a shower, but still. People expect to sail […]
Party & Dolphins
One evening in 2013 we hosted three couples, all of whom are nurses at a big New Jersey hospital. They took turns at the helm, running the boat. And they took many creative photos as the sun began to set. What was truly remarkable was that during their singing and chatting and laughing, they forgot […]
