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Potomac Trip #69284 10/01/08 07:05 PM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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We took a trip up the Potomac on our boat this past week. I had hoped to be able to get all the way to DC and see Mt. Vernon and possibly some of the lighthouses up there that I have not seen. But it was not to be.

We left from our home marina in Wynne MD on Saturday Sept 20th, and sailed up past St. George's Island. The drive shaft came off the transmission but Bob fixed that. We did not have a good view of Piney Point light.


But we got a fairly good view of the Ragged Point spider



before we went up Breton Bay to Leonardtown to spend the night at the new wharf.

Sunday Sept 21st it took us about an hour to get down to where we had a good view of Blackistone (or St. Clement's Island) Light.


We spent that night in Colonial Beach.

Monday, we went on up the Potomac (we got a good view of the spider off Dahlgren


and also the Mathias Point spider


We were passed by the Godspeed motoring past on their way to Alexandria



We went to Quantico marina to spend the night. But the next morning, the wind had us pinned down on the dock, so we couldn't get away to get the rest of the way up to Washington. So Wednesday, we left at the break of dawn (or actually before daybreak) to go back to Colonial Beach. This picture was taken looking back at Quantico after we'd been under way for about a hour.



The weather was supposed to be really rainy and windy until Sunday, but Colonial Beach is very protected and I thought we could wait the weather out there.

Re: Potomac Trip #69285 10/01/08 07:15 PM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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When we got down to the Governor Nice bridge (the 301 bridge) the wind was really picking up.

After we got to the other side of the bridge, someone came up on the radio for the southbound sailboat at the 301 bridge, so I answered. He was very polite. He kept calling me "ma'am"

It turned out to be the Dahlgren range boat,



and they asked us go over to the red 30 and red 32 and then to head for Swan's Point before we crossed to Colonial Beach.

Anyway, we saw R30 and 32 on the chart - now to find them in person.



On the chart they marked a very shallow 3 foot shoal. I didn't want to cross there. But Bob said we should cross to the left of them. The wind was also REALLY picking up to 26 knots or better and the boat was heeling. That made Bob happy, but me not so much.

We eventually went by the R30 on the 'wrong' side of it - i.e. going down the river it should have been on our port side, and wen passed on the starboard.

Then we headed for Swan Point. Bob had me steer into the wind to take in the jib, but it was wrapped so tight that he didn't have the lines around it like usual. He took in the staysail.

Then he tried to depower the main by putting it way out to the side so it wouldn't heel the boat as much. Eventually he had to have me steer again so he could take the main in. In the excitement, I forgot which way to go, which didn't make him very happy.

I will spare you the tale of driving from the library back to the marina after dark in the rain in a backfiring golf cart with no headlights.

We stayed here until Saturday and then sailed home. I did manage to get a shot of the submarine marker off Piney Point after we had passed it.



and also the St. Francis Xavier Chapel on St. Georges Island


But no photos of lighthouses where I didn't already have much better pictures.

Re: Potomac Trip #69286 10/03/08 02:05 AM
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Excellent photos, I can't wait until my son is a little bit older to get back out on the Potomac. He's 2 1/2 now, so it won't be long. These pics just made me miss it that much more!

Swan Point Bar has a VERY dangerous uncharted knoll on the downriver side of the bar. It's surrounded by 10-15 foot water, it rises out of nowhere to about 1-1 1/2 feet, it's hard sand and very hazardous to sailboats and power boats alike. I remember fishing near it with my dad, and a DNR officer was coming up to check our licenses and we tried to tell him to raise his outboard but I think he thought we were trying to fly with the arm signals and looked at us crazy. He wound up chewing his prop up pretty badly. If you frequent the area you can see the knoll on Google Earth, be really careful around there.

Anyways I'll stop my rambling:) Thanks for the great photos!!

Re: Potomac Trip #69287 10/03/08 10:27 AM
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Lighthouse Loon Offline
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Rosalie, Sounds like you had a bit of an adventure on the Potomac.

Great pics and narrative !!!


Stan M
New Jersey Lighthouse Lovers
------------------------------------
Harry Wishlist: Tinicum Rear Range, Miah Maull Shoal, Finns Point, Bergen Point, Cross Ledge, Old Ambrose Lightstation, Romer Shoal, Barnegat Lightship, Liberty Lightship.
Re: Potomac Trip #69288 10/04/08 12:48 AM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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If you want the whole trip report (and not just the lighthouses and spiders) it starts here and each section is linked to the next one.


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