World’s Largest Sailing Yacht
The world’s largest sailing yacht is so big that its size rivals a Navy warship coming through the Coleman Bridge at Yorktown. This week the modestly named Sailing Yacht A set out for sea trials in Germany, where it’s being built for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. He owns the equally unique Motor Yacht A. Sources put the length of […]
Oysters in the Bay
They are comparatively few and far between today, but oysters used to clog the Chesapeake Bay. These days, we see precious few oyster men while sailing the York River. Virginia’s catch has dropped from nearly 8 million bushels in the early 1900s to half a million today. The industry began here in the early 1800s when […]
Sailing to Safari
Regenia Frazier brought her mother, Celestine, from rural Charlottesville to revisit Mathews County, around the bend from the York River. Years ago, Celestine took care of a wealthy man in a wheelchair who had multiple houses. We went out on a charter sail on the York River on a bright but chilly afternoon. “We decided to […]
Sailing on the Bow
Most of the time on a charter sailboat is spent in the cockpit having conversation and running the boat. But sometimes people prefer a little privacy and prefer to go sailing on the bow to contemplate the zen of the experience. I find while chartering along the York River that friends and siblings like the […]
Kin to George Washington
Chris and Stetson Hoffman of Franklin, Tennessee, had a special reason to bring their friends Sam and Teddy to Williamsburg. They took a charter sail on the York River in the shadow of Yorktown, where Stetson is kin to George Washington. He won the Battle of Yorktown that sealed America’s independence. “I go back twelve generations […]
Rescue Training
Sol and Kimberlee Zira went on a charter sailing excursion near Williamsburg while visiting from the Los Angeles area. She was anxious because their dog back home in Sherman Oaks had been mauled by a pit bull and required more than a hundred stitches. Her mother was caring for the dog while they’re away. Anxiety rose […]
Seasick when Sailing
People occasionally ask if they’re likely to get seasick when sailing on a three-hour charter 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 […]
Kudzu to the Rescue
Chesapeake Beach is midway up the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. People think that hurricanes are the Bay’s worst nightmare, but historically nor’easters have been worse. That’s because they’re more frequent and often pound the coast for days instead of the hours of wind and rain usually associated with a hurricane. Margaret […]
High Tides, Few Guns
The tides on the York River have been higher lately from a week-long storm and the passing of Hurricane Joaquin. There simply hasn’t been a low tide in ten days. We’re talking 3 to 4 feet range. On this day, we sailed from the high tides of Canada to its strict gun laws. “We saw […]
Designs on Sailing
John Thomas of Williamsburg took friends sailing on the York River on a brisk fall day. Our designs were on sailing, but the conversation ranged widely. Among his guests were Sultan Camp, who retired from the Navy after 20 years. He used to load and load from ships at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown […]
