Debris situation Potomac River

[Mikemapva]

I have a day off tomorrow and plan on taking a trip from the Occoquan to either DC or down to Shark Tooth's Island and Colonial Beach.

Does anyone have a current status on how much stuff is in the river in either direction?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Mike, we made that trip yesterday. We are in Coles Point currently. From the end of the No Wake Zone on the Occoquan, all the way to at least Quantico or even Wade's Bay, the debris is significant. We hit an invisible piece right around Sea Ray Bay, and then minutes later, had something snag on a prop. I was able to free ourselves, and no damage was done. I was really stressed thinking that I had a 3 1/2 hour cruise ahead of me dodging debris every 15 seconds.

As I said, fortunately it cleared up. I would recommend (if I had to do it again), is to plan for an extra hour of cruise time, and idle all the way to the power lines at Possum Point. From there down to Quantico and further south, it cleared up quickly.

We hope to be at Shark Tooth later today. Give us a holler!

Jaybeaux

 

[Mikemapva]

Thanks for the update! Probably doing in lunch in Colonial Beach and then on to Shark's Tooth. We'll see what it looks like when we head out. Was one side of the river better than the other?

 

[PlayDate]

Mike,

It is a bit better headed to DC today. A few days ago you could have walked across the river......it was ridiculous.

Fortunately the most recent rain has pushed it further down river and the towards Fort Washington and Colonial Beach. We saw entire trees in the river last week but those aren't the things I worry about. I worry about the cut wood and logs that are floating just at the surface. Hard to see and when you have prop tunnels....really bad things happen.

 

[Mikemapva]

Thank you both for responding. We headed south and encountered some debris near Quantico, but not a whole lot was visible. Once we made the turn at Thomas Point (across from Fairview Beach) we did not see any debris the rest of the way to Colonial Beach or on to Shark Tooth's Island.

The ride back Friday evening was very clear.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Thanks Mikemapva...we are cruising back to Occoquan in the morning. I checked this afternoon, and Dahlgren is not using the range! Easy cruise!

 

[Mikemapva]

Jay, sounds like you've had a nice mini vacation. Hope the rain this past weekend didn't push more stuff into the river for your trip home. Dahlgren was quiet when we came by too.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Mike, we cruised home today. Dahlgren was idle. The river was clear as a bell till just approaching Fairview Beach.....right around "the angels" I saw my first deck board. So, essentially Maryland Point up to Wade's Bay or Mallow's Bay, you had to be vigilant. And the stuff, while not overly large, it was extremely hard to see! We made it back to our home port without incident.

On a side note, a few weeks back, I was bird-dogging a slight temperature rise on my Starboard engine. Even replaced water pump impeller, but it didn't help the situation. Now, after about 175 mile trip in total, plus going to some saltier water, my starboard engine temp has dropped a good needle width, maybe a width and a half. I guess a 3.6 hour run and a 3.9 hour run at 2200 rpm is good for the soul!

 

[Mikemapva]

Jay,

Glad you made it back without incident, but sorry it wasn’t very relaxing on that Northern stretch.

Great news on the temp change!

Hope to see you out on the river.