Mattawoman

Mattawoman Creek
N 38 33.788 W 077 13.212

Well, here we sit at yet another delightful anchorage. Mattawoman Creek is across the river from the Quantico Virginia US Marine base. It's very peaceful and quiet. That is except when a marine in his souped up motor boat goes roaring by at 60 knots. I guess that marines belong to that class of people who have never tested on thing on their vehicles -- half throttle.

The Potomac is still very nice, even this close to Washington. 95% of the river banks are still wild, not populated. That's remarkable. It also supports my favorite theory, that I've blogged about several times before. Boaters get to see the best face of America.

Soon after anchoring here I saw a pair of bald eagles swooping nearby. I also heard a Coast Guard alert on the radio saying that a whale was sighted entering the Potomac River. That would be quite an experience having a whale surface beside us way up here. It could happen. Yesterday there were two whales reported in the river in Sacramento California 75 miles upstream from San Francisco BaY.

Also, after several phone calls and radio calls, and help from Jennifer, I found out the real scoop on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. That bridge is infamous in the minds of many. For motorists is was a point of congestion impeding people's daily commute for many decades. For sailboaters it was a nightmare to get past. They would only open after midnight and then only after advance negotiations. It sounded almost as hard as passing the Panama Canal. Now the old bridge has been demolished, and
the new bridge is a draw bridge also. However the new bridge clears 83 feet when closed. The only problem is that the new bridge is under construction and construction crews hang below the bridge. To make a long story short, I got in touch with Mr. Baxter, the project engineer, and he said, "Those guys should be cleared out now. You have 83 feet. No problem." That sounds great to us. By tomorrow night we should be anchored within a few blocks of the capitol building. Cool.