Sailing Past a Navy Sub

Sailing Past a Sub

While getting ready at the dock to host an AARP video crew, I heard the Navy announced over marine radio, “Attention all boats in the vicinity of the Coleman Bridge, this is the United States Navy announcing a submarine transiting the vicinity. All vessels are to stay 500 yards away in all directions. Repeat, 500 yards.”

That was unusual for two reasons. We rarely see subs at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station because they are super-secret and they train extensively to reload at sea. Of course, it boggles the mind to think they would need to reload at sea, given that they have a 154 Tomahawk missiles on board.

The second oddity was the announcement itself. It violated the stealth behavior that subs maintain. A few minutes later came the announcement a second time. This was going to get exciting today.

Three members of a freelance photo/video team out of New York arrived to board for a short trip to Yorktown. Our neighbors Sue and Mike Carruth joined Bonnie and me for the shoot. As we motored across the river, we could see the sub in the dock and two Moran tugboats departing back to Norfolk. Dustin Cohen, Matt Clegg and Austin Daniels took video and stills from all over the boat, all day long.

At Riverwalk Landing, dockmaster Sue Ripley caught the boat at perfect high tide. I try to avoid Yorktown because of the wicked mid-tide currents that can buffet the boat badly. As luck would have it, we took a rolling wake from the tugboats as they chugged past Yorktown. Two smaller Navy patrol boats left as well, with their .30 caliber guns on the bow.

At Yorktown, we did two shots of the Carruths boarding the boat for an afternoon sail. We motored under the bridge and passed the sub snug on the pier. You could easily see the con, or the sail as they call it in the Navy. By proceeding upriver just past the sub, we caught the sunlight bouncing off the hull. It was magnificent to see. Meanwhile another Navy patrol boat ran interference between us and the sub. Mike asked if we knew the name, and I didn’t even know the class—either Los Angeles or Virginia. He knew about the Tomahawks.

We turned 180 degrees and flew the spinnaker all the way back to the bridge and under it. Eventually the wind shifted to the east and everyone got to sail the boat on multiple short tacks. Downriver we turned again and hoisted the spinnaker for the ride home. Never before have I run the spin twice in the same day.

Back at the dock, the crew collected their formidable equipment. Matt said he had to double check his lenses because a few months ago he misplaced the case holding them. I asked Dustin what the lenses were worth, and he said $50,000.

The AARP video is timed for release on aarp.org with the AARP Magazine story sometime in December or January. Stay tuned for details.