Our inagural Civil War Tour on the James is fully booked.  We now have a new date available and that is on July 24.

The Civil War on the James Tour offers the natural beauty of the James River as you trace the Naval actions that took place in the area of Dutch Gap and Jones Neck from 1862-1865.  Listen to stories about Confederate torpedoes, the Dutch Gap Canal, The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, and the James River Squadron's desperate attempt to break out at Trent's Reach.

2-hour tour:  $40 per person

Click here for more info on the Civil War Tour

The photo's stories?  To the right:  During the Civil War, Union troops started to build a canal at Dutch Gap in 1864 to cut off a large bend in the James River protected by Confederate forts as in Batter Dantzler.  The digging of the canal failed during the war, but was completed in the 1930's and is now the main James River channel.

For more information or to book your outing, contact Capt. Mike Ostrander at 804-938-2350.

May 22, 2010.

Being new to eagles, and having learned so much over the last seven months, I saw my first fledgling eagle today. When an eagle 'fledges', it leaves the nest for the first time and begins a new chapter in its life. Wow, what a moment for both this amazing young raptor and this Captain on the James. 

This "first flight eagle" was not named Wilbur or Orville, but rather, she was named "Gigi" and she had left her next earlier in the morning. As we rounded the bend to the main channel, there she was ... perched in a tree, about 100 yards from her nest.  The beautiful old tree, standing strong, next to the river happened to be a prime hunting spot for her parents, "Virginia" & "James".  It makes one wonder if Gigi saw her parents there day after day, and knew this was a safe spot, or perhaps it was just a gust of wind, and strong branch for an early, clumsy landing.

I'm getting to know Virginia & James better with each observation, and am learning their territorial boundaries on the upriver and downriver sides of their territory. The downriver territorial boundary is interesting and remains a bit of a mystery, but the upriver boundary is about as strong of a line in the sand as you can draw. They have another pair of residents just upriver, "Varina" & "Enon". 

I was viewing the parents and offspring and wondered if the parents were proud to see their offspring fledge, or if it's just assumed to get to that point of raising young to fledge. Just moving on ... next. And now, a new set of work begins for the family of eagles. 

It was an incredible experience to see Gigi go from a bobble head in the nest on March 28 to first flight on May 22, 2010. 

-- Capt. Mike