D.C. Bound Day 20-23 Up The Potomac

Because we didn’t leave St. Mary’s River until 12:30 p.m. we missed getting to the Colonial Beach Yacht Club in time for a much needed pump out. (The emptying of the potty waste holding tank.)  We created our own anchorage just outside Colonial Beach and enjoyed an evening of air conditioning, splurging by using the generator.  The Potomac was full of debris and quite muddy like the Mississippi River but it’s width and depth put the Mississippi to shame.  I can’t stop singing “Muddy Water”  from the musical “Big River”…”Look out for me, oh, muddy water, your mysteries are deep and wide…”

Today I finished reading “Chesapeake” by James Michener.   Steve and Sandy Bruckner lent me the book explaining how they read it as they boated in the Chesapeake for the first time.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to visiting as many of the sites from the book as we can.  There was a big downside to this book, the reality of my forefathers’ cruelty and mistreatment of the Native Americans and the slaves.  Although I was aware of the issues I was appalled at the details and wish I could apologize for the atrocities of the past and prevent future incidences.

We planned to go in for the pump out at slack tide (a short period of time where there is no movement either way of the tidal stream) the next morning but on the advice of other boaters we concluded that we would not risk the shallow depths and tricky turns within the marina.  Also, we will test the accuracy of the level indicator in the pilot house; it shows us being on “low” so we should be able to wait until we arrive in D.C.  If it is correct we will have gone a full two weeks between pump outs, meaning that we can go 20 man-days without emptying the tank.

Since we had waited until slack tide then took our time pulling up the anchor we made it a short day and only went to Fairview Beach and anchored alone.  In fact, we have seen very few boats on the Potomac which seems odd to us.  We took the dinghy to Tim’s II restaurant/bar for crab balls, Rockfish sandwiches, and hush puppies.  I can’t say that I would recommend either the food or the beer list.  We made it back to the boat just in time for a big rain that caused a lot of rocking and rolling all night.  The gentle sway of the boat gave me a fantastic sleep!  Couple that with the drop in temperature and a good  wind and I slept like a log!

The next morning it was foggy, yucky, windy, “Blowing like stink” as Scott would say, so Scott worked in his office and tried to get the weather vane to work.  I had a great workout, a full hour of improvised Zumba, plus core stabilization exercises.  I have created a fun and challenging list of exercises that can be performed in small spaces.   It consists of a little Pilates, stretchy bands, ballet and some can even be done in the captain’s chair!  In fact, all exercises that we do on a moving boat are good for balance!  I alternate these with a dozen or so Surya Namaskara A with variations to attempt to keep up my strength and flexibility which is so important on a boat.  All the while Scott feels that he is wasting away to nothing because he is not swimming laps.

Crossing the Potomac in our dinghy with a 70 hp motor wasn’t quite the same as it was in the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Luetze but we did not tell a lie all day!  We anchored across from Mt. Vernon and learned so much history while visiting George’s home.  One can easily spend the entire day enthralled by all the authentic features in the home and museum.

Tomorrow we head into Washington D.C. on day 24 of our trip.  We began the journey a bit panicky as to whether we would make it from Stuart, Florida in time.  In reality, we managed to fit in a few days of rest and a few days of fun, actually everyday is fun, and still arrive right on time!  We only docked in a marina 2 nights, stayed at friends’ dock 2 nights and anchored the rest of the time.  It was a fabulous trip.

I couldn’t be more thankful that we do not live in a house.  We are so very blessed to live on the water and travel.  I thank God, Scott, and my lucky stars every day!!!