http://occoquanwaterfront.com

Quick public safety announcement: boating licenses are here. In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law to establish a boating safety education compliance requirement. If you’re under 20 years old, you need a PWC license this summer. If you’re under 35, you’ll need a PWC license next summer. You can find the complete rules and phase-in schedule here.

No worries though, getting your license is pretty easy. You just need to buy a DVD from the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. The DVD is only 60 minutes long, broken out into 10 minute chapters. It looked like the video was filmed by BoatU.S. in 1987. Then you have to take a 50 question multiple choice test (open book) and mail your scantron back with $5.

It took about 2 weeks for us to get our licenses in the mail. We sent a copy to our insurance company and chopped 10% off our boat insurance.

You should join the new Facebook group that we just set up! The mission of the Potomac River Party Boaters Association is to promote the tradition and sport of boating on the Potomac River every summer.

If you already have a Facebook account, join this group to identify and connect with some fun local boaters that you may or may not already know. We’ll be setting up meetups and uploading fun pictures and videos throughout the summer.

To kick things off, there will be a spring dust-off celebration during the afternoon of Saturday, April 25th (weather dependent). The plan is to start off at Tim’s Rivershore and then cruise over to Mattawoman creek for the evening or until Sunday. All are welcome.

In May of 2008 the Occoquan Town Council approved a franchise agreement with Verizon to bring FiOS digital television, internet, and telephone service to Occoquan. The initial prediction was that FiOS television service would be available as early as late summer or early fall of 2008.

If you’re like me and sick of paying Comcast over $200/month but do it anyway because there isn’t any other option, good news is on the way. Verizon releases information about FiOS construction on a bi-monthly basis and Occoquan has finally made the list! You can view which streets in Occoquan are going to be wired here: FiOS construction locations [PDF]

I haven’t seen very much activity around town yet so I’m guessing that most of the construction will take place during March. If you encounter a fiber construction issue, call the Verizon Virginia Construction Help Desk at 1-888-250-9710 to work it out. If you are already up and running on FiOS, leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Local produce is on the way! A joint effort between the town and the Occoquan Merchant’s Association, the market is tentatively scheduled to run from April through October. The weekly farmer’s market will be held on Saturday mrnings from 8:00am until noon on the Mill Street lot across from the Route 123 bridge.

If you are interested in volunteering email Mayor Porta.

Welcome to the new OccoquanWaterfront.com!

Tucked away just 21 miles south of Washington DC, the area along the Occoquan River has been a hidden gem for many years.  The town of Occoquan and the surrounding region is a great place to live, a beautiful place to visit and an affordable place to shop.

The south bank of the Occoquan River, is also home to many marinas, nearly 1000 recreational boats and a thriving boating community. One of the main goals that we have for this blog is to bridge the gaps between the local boating community and the town of Occoquan.  Also, we want to invite everybody that enjoys living and boating on the Chesapeake Bay to learn more about what makes Occoquan so special.

Over the next few month, as we add more content and information to this site, we welcome you to participate with us.  If you live or work in Occoquan or nearby, we welcome any news or information that you would like to share.  OccoquanWaterfront.com is a platform for everybody that loves Occoquan!