Downriver Cruise 2007
A Light Day on the Potomac

By David Thompson
PRSA Rear Commodore

All month we had been promoting participation in the 2007 PRSA Downriver Cruise, but the date conflicted with out-of-town regattas and scheduled beach vacations for many in our fleets.  Also, the wind forecast was on the light side, making us recall last year’s event where we needed a tow to get down to Ft. Foote.  And that may have been a deciding factor for others who had been considering this year’s trip.

Consequently, the only PRSA boat to splash at the appointed time was Lord Jim, with Chandler, Rose, Gianna and Elana on board.  David, with Kai and Kylie,  drove the 16’ skiff as an escort, and we were joined by two Sailing Club of Washington (SCOW) boats, Danschweida and Selkie, as we left the docks.

The two SCOW boats hooked up a tow behind the Scow keelboat Rebecca, while Lord Jim hooked up behind the 16’ skiff.

SCOW skipper Zaafar Hasnain, on board Danschweida, describes the trip down river as follows:

I wish I had a picture of Rebecca towing Danschweida and Selkie downriver recently. The only simile that springs to my mind is a mother duck waddling – there was a bit of a waddle because we wanted to steer slightly to the side of Rebecca – purposefully towards the Wilson Bridge, with her two chicks toddling and tripping behind her. There was a touch of toddling or tripping whenever a pesky motorboat went by. I’m sure our readers would have appreciated a picture of that little procession, rather than my lame attempt to describe a fundamentally indescribable experience.

Rebecca was operated by our legendary Bill Davenport with the bikini-clad and tanned Rhonda Glassman; Danschweida had two fun ladies in the persons of Mary Siverson and Teri Nachazel, in addition to yours truly; and Selkie had that young, intrepid Lisa Eller and her friend.

Bill towed us south through the Bridge and then set Danschweida and Selkie loose. Thanks Bill, for being the mother hen, and David, for organizing this event in the first place. You’re both awesome.

David and Chandler worked their way south slowly at what David thought was a safe towing speed, and we soon lost sight of the SCOW boats.  The DC Harbor Patrol did come along side as we were motoring south, reminding us to all wear our PFDs, but other than that, the trip was uneventful, and we arrived at the Ft. Foote beach at about 1:15 PM.  Albacore crew Glenn Daigon met us on the beach when we arrived – he had driven to Ft. Foote – which was a big help to us as we landed.  After beaching and securing the boats we hiked up to the picnic area and set up our picnic.

David made frequent inspection trips back to the beached boats, and on each trip used his cell phone to try to make contact with the SCOW boats.  It turns out that they had continued south towards Ft. Washington, sailing slowly in the 5 knot breeze.  Eventually Danschweida came back north and reached the Ft. Foote beach, in time for crew to drink some water and munch on nibblies before it was time for us all to return.  We never did see Selkie again.

Zaafar continues his saga thusly:

We identified a rafted-up flotilla of boats opposite what I took to be Smoot’s Cove, and so we and sailed towards it. We circled the flotilla, within hailing distance, a couple of times and asked whether we could raft up. Upon not receiving an answer, and because it was a hot, muggy afternoon with light winds, the prospect of rafting became quite unattractive quite quickly.

My crew and I decided it would be more fun to sail farther south (because the winds were southerly) and fly the spinnaker on the way back. Alas, the wind continued to be anemic, and we just sailed around, possibly halfway between the Wilson Bridge and Fort Washington. During this period, we got a phone call on my cell phone from David Thompson of PRSA, who had obtained my cell phone number before we cast off at the marina. David was concerned about what happened to us, because we had sailed out of sight of his boat as well as the flotilla.

I assured him we were fine and that we were on the way back. He told me that he was on a small powerboat and that he and a Lightning were beached at Fort Foote and gave me some pointers on how to follow them. My crew, bless you girls, enthusiastically concurred with this plan and we headed to that spot.

In our case, David was on the beach. He guided us in and helped secure Danschweida. We walked the anchor out towards deeper water, set it, and then tied the bow of the boat to a medium-sized fallen tree on the beach. I had brought along a long rope I found in the sail locker for this purpose, and we needed it to lengthen the bow painter.

There’s a trail from the beach up to a bluff overlooking the river, with a nice view of the river and the Virginia shore. There’s also a barbecue grill like you often see at state parks. It’s an approximately 10-minute hike but well worth the schlep.

At 4:30 PM we cast off from the beach and headed back home, working our way north in a steady southerly 5-knot breeze.  Chandler and rose set their spinnaker and were soon out of sight under the bridge.  Zaafar and his crew worked hard to get their spinnaker set and eventually they did, but by that time Chandler and Rose were too far ahead to make it a race.

Once north of the bridge the wind lightened up, and for a while the only thing that carried us was the incoming tide.  But eventually we caught enough breeze to make it back to the docks, at 6 PM.

Possibly the high point of the day for Kai, Kylie, Gianna and Elana was the ritual scrubbing of the 16’ skiff – inside and out – filling the cockpit with enough water to float away the debris, then scrubbing with brush and sponge, rinsing with the hose, then scrubbing again.  It was a scene that would make Pat and Bill K. very happy!  The cool water from the hose must have felt good on this hot afternoon.

 For next year we’ll need to try a different strategy to get more PRSA participation.  For those of us who made it, it was a fun day.