Thunderstorm At Belmont Bay…

I’m trying too get the cockpit cover on the boat before the sky starts to fall…

It’s not that uncommon to have a thunderstorm pop-up when out boating on the river, especially during the latter half of the summer when temperatures are in the 90′s. So before heading out on the boat, I hit up the local radar and marine forecast to try and determine what the afternoon will bring in the way of weather and plan my boating day accordingly.

This past Sunday would be one of those day when we had to head back in early… and believe me, it was a good call to cut and run when we did. Some of the wind gusts in the marina were as high as 60 mph and even though we didn’t have much trouble getting back into our slip, some of our dock mates were not quite as fortunate. I’ve added some photos of the festivities for your viewing pleasure… enjoy!! (View Photos & More»)

Aquapalooza 2010…!

The view of Tim’s Rivershore from our raft-up – Aquapalooza 2010

Well here they are folks… I’ve finally have had some free time to download and edit the pictures from the Sea Ray Aquapalooza 2010 event at Tim’s Rivershore in Dumfries, Virginia. It wasn’t the best Aquapalooza I’ve ever been too, but it was a excellent day to be on the water and with most of our friends there to share in the fun… well, what can I say, everyone had a really great time! Here are some of my photos from the event… enjoy!! (View Photos & More»)

National Harbor Marina…

The M/V ‘Our Pleasure’ tied up at the National Harbor Marina

This is just a small collection of photos from our boating trip up to National Harbor, Maryland. We didn’t stay the night (this time), but plan on taking advantage of the beautiful marina again in the near future for a weekend get-away! The docks are very nice and there are so many restaurants to choose from within walking distance of the marina… it’s an excellent place for an overnighter! Oh yeah, Mike was with us on this trip wasn’t he… check out the photos!!

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On The Blocks at PWM…

The M/V “Our Pleasure” on blocks at Prince William Marina

Every two years we have to have our boat, M/V “Our Pleasure”, pulled from the waters of the Potomac and blocked at Prince William Marina for maintenance. Well this was the year and along with the usual cleaning and bottom paint she also need a good compounding and waxing and all the zincs replaced this time around. While she was high and dry, I also had the fiberglass guy stop by and fix a large crack in the swim platform from where we got blown into a piling during a bad storm two years ago. Oh yea, there’s always something to fix with a boat… after all, that’s what BOAT stands for you know… “Break Out Another Thousand”!!

The guys at PWM are great and along with the outstanding service and high quality of workmanship, I even got a little break on the price for being such a good customer (what ever that means). Regardless of cost, boat maintenance is a necessary evil and with out it… well lets just say that a boat won’t last long if not properly maintained. So after a little more than a week of being out of the water and up on blocks, it looks like “Our Pleasure” is again ready for another fun filled boating season on the Potomac! Enjoy the photos and check out that wax job…!!!
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The Memorial Day Weekend..

Me and my brother Mike on the back of  M/V “Our Pleasure” @ Belmont Bay

The thing I like most about the Memorial Day weekend is that it signifies the start of Summer. This is also one of the best weekends for boating in my opinion. Face it, after a long winter everyone has the itch to hit the water for the long three day weekend… and this year the weather was most cooperative! Here are a few photos from the weekend events on the water at Belmont Bay… Enjoy!
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The 2009 Boating Season…

I’ve taken the time to put together a small collection of photos that Julie and I took during this past summer. Most of these photos never made the normal journal posts because they were on our small camera (the one Julie uses) which doesn’t get downloaded very often. After cleaning out our little camera for the up coming holidays, I realized that I really hadn’t posted a whole lot of photos from the boating season. I normally try to post at least two boating photo stories a month during the summer, but this past summer was so busy I just didn’t have the time. So, as a tribute to this past summer, and the fun and sun that it gave us, here are some pictures to keep us warm over the winter…. Enjoy!!
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The Harvest Moon…

This past Sunday on the cruise back from dinner at the Fort Washington Marina, we noticed the moon rising behind us and had to stop the boat to try to capture it. It was the harvest moon and even though the full phase of the moon was the night before (I think?), it was still a spectacular site… especially from the water! For shooting free hand from the back of a rocking boat, I’d say the photos turned out pretty good, but I really wish I’d been on a stable platform with a tripod… then they would have been awesome! (View Photos & More»)

The ‘Girls Day’ Boating Excursion…

Julie asked me some time ago, if I could make myself available to take her and some of her girlfriends out on our boat before the end of the summer. So after much planning, we decided to put together a boating day for the girls this past Saturday…. and it turned out to be a fabulous day with nothing but blue skies and sunshine! We started the day with a quick cruise out to the channel between Occoquan and Mattawoman Creek and then back to Occoquan Bay where we stopped long enough to take some pictures of the Rock Island Wreck (a very popular attraction lately!)

Then it was on to Belmont Bay where we found a nice shallow spot just off the beach to drop anchor and spend the rest of the afternoon. I admit I might have gone a little over-board with all the food (grilled shrimp, steak and veggie kabobs) but hey, it was Julies idea and from the looks on their faces I would say her friends totally enjoyed it! Anyway, it was a truly enjoyable day for all and as I said back at the dock, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again in a second… just give me a heads up!

I’ve added some photos from the day to my journal gallery… just click the link below. For those of you who where there, I will send out an email soon with the URL where you can download the full sized image files for making prints. (View Photos & More»)

The Rock Island Wreck…

This past Sunday, after anchoring and rafting up with friends at Belmont Bay, I learned that there had been a mishap on the river the night before. This is all second hand information, but it seems that a couple of fellows in a small Wellcraft power boat ended up launching their boat onto Rock Island just South of the Occoquan River Inlet. At first I was under the impression that they had just run aground on the rocks when they got too close to the island, but my friends assured me that was not the case.

After hearing the story of how the entire boat was up on the island… well I had to go see it for myself. So on our way back to the marina we took a detour out to the island and sure enough, the boat looked like it had been set atop the island with a crane! This was a way funny site, but I do hope the two people in the boat were okay. Hitting a land mass like this at speed could kill someone!! Maybe it’s time to put up a navigational marker light… you think!? (View Photos & More»)

July 4th Fireworks in DC!

Well here we are… another year, another July 4Th and yes another boating trip up to Washington DC for the best Independence Day Fireworks show in the country (or so I’ve been told.) This year will mark the second anniversary of our new boat, so we where truly excited to be able to spend the entire weekend out on the water as we did last year. Saturday started out with the usual meeting of friends out at Belmont Bay for the pre-trip festivities and then around 4:30 we pulled the anchor and started the hour long cruise up to DC. Our goal… find a good spot to anchor for dinner and then relax & enjoy the show.

Charlie & Nichole were the first from our little group to make it under the 14Th street bridge and almost right away found an open spot in nearly the same location as we anchored last year. Just up river from the tidal basin with a great view of both the Washington Monument and the Fireworks show… who could ask for more! After getting everyone tied up and settled in for the show (and the evening) we broke out the grills for some shrimp, steak and veggie kabobs and then kicked back for one of most relaxing and pleasant evening on the Potomac River we’ve had in a very long time! (View Photos & More»)