Sailing Memories
Memories of sailing are vivid but not always pleasant. While tacking downriver on the York with Doug and Stephanie Gwilliam of San Diego, David Rane recalled the time he and his wife Mary Beth went out on a skippered boat in Washington State. “It was a howling wind and raining sideways, so I assumed we […]
Exciting Sailing
Two couples from Delaware enjoyed an exciting sail in brisk winds on the York River with their grown children. Jeff and Barbara Wesson are from Georgetown, and Brenda and Al Ebert are from Bowers. The Eberts live within view of the Delaware Bay and are used to high winds and waves. >Bowers is a small […]
Sailing to Oblivion
As you go sailing to Oblivion, you can name your boat almost anything except Mayday and Vessel In Distress. As long as it will make sense when hailing the Coast Guard on marine radio, they don’t care. Amusement arise when one tries to hail Tow Boat US three times on Channel 16, because it sounds […]
Success Story Sailing
Phyllis Glass of Columbia, PA, was sailing with us with her husband Gary. She recalled a harrowing counterpoint. “Our daughter-in-law is a parole officer for juveniles in Lancaster. They had to move her from an office in the courthouse to the school so she could be closer to the parolees. She wears a bulletproof vest.” […]
Sailing Healthy
Sailing brings out the best in people, including how they became healthy. Diane and Jim Glassmeyer of Marion, Ohio, joined two other couples on a brisk run along the York River, where she told a compelling story. “I was a corporate vice president for a big media company, proficient on both the radio and newspaper […]
Immigration Waters
If you think immigration reform is controversial in America, try Canada. Susan McBride Friesen is a lawyer/lobbyist for the Canadian mushroom industry, and she regaled us while sailing with her husband Larry and his brother and wife. “Canada allows visiting immigrants to stay five years legally, and then they have to go back to their […]
Mayday on the York
While taking two couples from Richmond sailing in the afternoon on the York River, we heard a mayday emergency call. It was a motorboat taking on water. As other boats came to assist, we learned that the water had submerged the engine halfway and killed it. Eventually the York County fire boat came and boarded […]
Sailing their Careers
Two dynamic couples visiting Williamsburg from Greensboro took a short sailing vacation on the York River. Having never been on a sailboat before, they did a fabulous job running the rig, raising the spinnaker, and conducting a man overboard exercise to rescue a hat—my hat actually. We saw a half dozen dolphin, who trailed the […]
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 […]
Wedding Under Sail
I get asked a lot, “Do you do weddings on board?” Brandon Marks wanted to surprise his fiancé Addie Misnier with a unique wedding venue. She always wanted to go sailing, so he chose the waters of the York River. The ceremony was performed by Pastor Chris and witnessed by Addie’s best friend Katherine. Then […]
Sailing Past William & Mary
Dan and Catherine Marino of Chatham NJ took their family sailing near Williamsburg before their older daughter Juliana toured the College of William & Mary. She’s looking at the club sailing team, having developed experience on 420s with her sister Marisa. We sailed past the Marine Science School of William & Mary. The small boats […]
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 […]
Memories on the Water
Patti Clark took her family of grown children on a cruise along the York River during a week-long “staycation” in the summer of 2015. It included golf, water sports, shopping, dining and a massage. Sailing brings out the best in everyone and occasional memories of the water that are less than great. People ask, “Do […]
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 […]
What’s that Ship?
Drivers along the Colonial Parkway and the York River can’t help but notice an unusual ship docked for months at the US Navy base Cheatham Annex. From afar, the blue hull and white deck resemble a cruise ship, but up close one can see multiple radars and other intel equipment on deck. This is 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 […]
Sailboat Wedding
Linda Dugan and Dennis Landry came all the way from arid Arizona to Virginia to get married on the water in a uniquely romantic setting. They chose Williamsburg Charter Sails to go out on the York River for their wedding ceremony. As we sailed to the middle of the river, almost miraculously several pods comprising […]
Learning in Rising Winds
In facHaving been a motorboat dude all his life, Steven Cucick of Littleton MA brought his wife Christine to Yorktown to learn how to sail on the York River. We covered all three points of sail: close reach, beam reach, broad reach. We did a heave-to for Man Overboard. He sailed in light and fluky […]
Will I Get Seasick?
People occasionally ask, “Will I get seasick?” on a three-hour cruise along the York River. The answer is No, for several reasons. 1. We sail in a river, which almost never gets enough chop to make the boat pitch forward and backward. High seas with seven-foot waves (measured from top to bottom) are found 20 miles […]