Fall, 2023: We left Cambridge and headed over to Solomons where we expected a strong blow to keep us in the anchorage for a few days. This was Jeff W’s first extended weather event at anchor, but we assured him that we had an excellent spot with nearly 360 degree protection. If it wasn’t for the trees moving, he wouldn’t even know it was blowing stink. I think he was skeptical, but by the end of the event he was a believer.
Looking ahead at the weather, it appeared that a system was moving in and plopping itself down for a week. It was going to blow hard on the Chesapeake, but the boundary line was on the western edge of the Bay. Jeff B and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to head up the Potomac and spend a few days in Washington, D.C. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for awhile, but it’s a good 80-90 nautical miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake to D.C. which for us means two days travel to get there and two days travel back. Add in a few days for sightseeing and you have a week of extra travel, something we had yet to make the time to do. This situation was ideal.
Jeff W is not a city person but he had not been to D.C. before. We told him he could spend a week waiting out the weather at anchor in Mill Creek near Reedville, which would be perfectly protected, or he could head up the Potomac with us. He chose to come along – good call!
We left Solomons with a rough plan as to where we would anchor along the Potomac, but as we entered the mouth of the Potomac and started bashing through the waves with the wind on the nose, I radioed Jeff W and said this was sucking, so we were calling it an early day. A quick look at the charts led us to Jutland Creek which was much more settled – thank goodness!
The next day called for great wind for sailing, and that’s exactly what we did. It was gorgeous. Infinity and Pegu Club were ripping along and we were all looking forward to sailing almost to the next anchorage. Alas, it was not to be. The military was practicing in the area and declared a security zone, so we fired up the engines and motored up the far eastern side of the Potomac – as far east as we could go. The military’s communications were excellent, telling us exactly what course to take until we were out of their way. Even though it was cut short, we still had an excellent sail that day. 54 nautical miles later, we dropped our anchors in Wades Bay. Another pretty, settled spot.
Up to this point we had been quite impressed with the scenery along the Potomac. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was VERY pretty with rolling hills and plenty of trees. I could easily spend a few weeks just to explore the different anchorages along the way.
Our third day of travel was going to take us into D.C. Just north of the anchorage we passed Mallows Bay Boat Cemetery. Mallows Bay has the Ghost Fleet, which consists of approximately 200 shipwrecks – the largest and most varied collection of historic shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere spanning over three centuries. The hulls ended up there after a company bought the ships for salvage, sold what they could for scrap, then abandoned them (or burned them in some cases). It’s now a National Marine Sanctuary with the hulls providing a habitat for plants and animals. The next time we anchor in the area, I’d like to take the dinghy to explore the hulls.
As we kept going north, we started dodging more and more logs and branches, and the countryside slowly gave way to a major metropolitan area which was a lot of fun. Helicopters and airplanes were flying overhead, and we joked that they were keeping an eye on us. After the quiet of Cambridge and Solomons, this was a nice jolt of energy. We passed Quantico, Mount Vernon, and Fort Washington, getting closer with every mile.
Approaching National Airport was a blast. I’m guessing it was the equivalent of rush hour for them, because airplanes would land as soon as the runway was clear from another airplane taking off. The synchronization was VERY impressive, and the river took us right by the airport so we were highly entertained.
From there it was just a few minutes to our mooring at The Wharf. Honestly, there isn’t a better deal in Washington D.C. For $50/night we had a protected mooring with excellent facilities, and a short walk to the grocery store, the metro, tons of restaurants, etc. We would absolutely stay there again. And the view was fantastic!
We spent five nights in D.C. which gave us plenty of time to explore, relax, and work on boat projects. Jeff W took his first subway ride, and we all enjoyed going to the Museum of American History and the Museum of Natural History. Jeff B and I spent a few days going to some of our favorite memorials and monuments, and we also went to a few more Smithsonian Museums.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial is one of my favorites. Jeff B and I spent quite a bit of time there.
We ate plenty of great food, did tons of walking, and came across an awesome setting to watch the Buffalo Bills game on TV – The Bullpen. Steps away from Nationals Stadium in Navy Yard, this was not what we expected when we went to find a Bills Backers bar. They had stadium food and beer, and the atmosphere was a ton of fun. Even better was that the Bills won!
The weather was picture perfect during our entire stay – Chamber of Commerce weather, as my dad used to call it. It couldn’t have been a better spontaneous detour. Certainly MUCH better than being holed up on the boat in an anchorage for a week. It was a great example of how sometime the best cruising memories are made when you keep your plans flexible and spontaneous.
We’ll definitely be heading up the Potomac again in the future!
Adventures on the Club 