Sailing Past the Laboon
People ask, “Can you get a photo of a Navy ship coming through the Coleman Bridge?” A Houston couple left on vacation after Hurricane Harvey and arrived in Virginia in time for the remnants of Hurricane Irma. The resulting sail on the York River was much more pleasant and quite an adventure. Dave and Sonya […]
Salvage After Storm
With the threat of Hurricane Irma looming and amid a bevy of oil tankers that showed up in the York River, we went sailing on a bright and beautiful day with two delightful couples. Julio Pons and his wife took their friends Steve and Bridgette Perry sailing so they could appreciate Julio’s passion of sailing. […]
How to Survive a Sailing Emergency
Hurricanes such as Harvey, Irma and Jose inspire anxiety among sailors. In describing how to survive a sailboat emergency, these are ranked not by worst case downward because all of them are bad scenarios. Instead, they are ranked by degree of likelihood-to-happen, with the top categories representing the least likely and the bottom categories more […]
1926 Herreshoff Arrives
A rare work of art blew into Sara Creek at Gloucester Point with the arrival last week of a 1926 Herreshoff sailboat. The name is famous as the manufacturer of America’s Cup boats going back a century or more. The Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island, heralds the sailboats and the Cup. Herreshoff still builds […]
Sailing with Slugs
“I was a slug, I’ve ridden with slugs, and I’ve driven with slugs.” So claimed Steve Relitz as we sailed an adventure on the York River with his mother and siblings on the occasion of his brother Sam’s 27th birthday. Steve lives in Stafford County, just outside Fredericksburg, and commutes to Washington to work for […]
Meet Winston Churchill
A couple from Leesburg and a family from all over Virginia coincidentally went sailing on the York River on a blustery, overcast day. Sara Bailey took the helm and managed very well despite rising seas in winds blowing around 10 mph. We headed across the river and then turned upriver to get on the […]
HGTV Shoots Sailing
A young couple from Prince George County is rehabilitating a summer home in Mathews County, with views of Chesapeake Bay. The job started last March with the husband and his father doing most of the work. Now that the job is almost finished, husband Ricky Elder is taking a break so his wife Ashley […]
Top 10 Things to Do After Sailing
People ask me all the time what to see in Williamsburg while they’re here on vacation. It depends on how much time you have, but here’s my list of Top Ten Things. It includes in parenthesis the ranking for the attraction or activity on Trip Advisor. This list correlates to the main Top Things list on […]
Eclipse on the Water
The York River took an eerie sky and temperatures fell slightly on the open water, compared to land. The best line of the day came from an 11-year-old whose mother asked sweetly if she could see the eclipse with her special solar glasses. “Yes, Mom, it’s ALL I can see through these. Everything else is […]
Sailing the Open Sea
Two wonderful ladies with exciting jobs went sailing on a serene afternoon along the York River. Chanda Ings celebrated her partner Janell Smith-Ings’ birthday, and Janell took it well. “Hooray, I’m 40!” she exclaimed from the bow. Janelle teaches dance for the Governor’s School in Norfolk and is an adjunct professor of dance at the […]
