http://occoquanwaterfront.com

January 19th – 22th

January 27th – 29th

February 17th – 19th

March 9th – 11th

March 23rd – 25th

The Occoquan River contains many aids to navigation, commonly known as buoys or channel markers, which are designed, built and maintained by the United States Coast Guard. While some Aids to Navigation are buoys, many others are day markers. The general purpose is to provide the boating public with a “sense of direction” while on the water.

Generally speaking, green markers are kept to the RIGHT when leaving a harbor and red markers are kept to the RIGHT when returning to harbor, thus coining the famous phrase: “Red, Right, Return”

The Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge is a strip of 325 acres of pristine riverfront property wedged between Route 1 and the Potomac River.

In 1970, the refuge was made off-limits to the general public. As of today, access is no longer limited. At this point, only boaters can access the refuge via the trail at the southernmost point of Farm Creek, which leads out to Occoquan Bay.

If you’re a fan of hiking and boating, you’re in luck!

The “true color” image below, courtesy of Maryland’s Eyes on the Bay website, shows just how unbelievably muddy the Chesapeake Bay has become the in the wake of the copious amount of rainfall that has fallen in the past 2 weeks.

Not the most dramatic rescue but a rescue nonetheless! WARNING: Watch out for those unexpected rocks on the north side of the Occoquan walking bridge.

Red Bull National Wake 2.0, a professional wakeboarding competition, will take place July 23rd at National Harbor. This very cool event will feature professional wakeboarders Brian Grubb and JD Webb, along with a crew of local riders. It seems that all-star Parks Bonifay will be M.I.A. from this year’s competition.

These tremendous water athletes will be flying off of custom made features built especially for National Harbor. Towed by Red Bull Waverunners, the riders will put on quite a show for National Harbor visitors. There will be a post event autograph signing and give-a-ways throughout the day.

Check out the Facebook page here and the official event page here.

When: Saturday, July 23, 2011 @ 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Where: National Harbor, Maryland

This weekend, for the third year in a row, the Prince William Marina is hosting a boat show along the Occoquan waterfront. The boat show will be running all weekend long, from Friday at 2:00 until Sunday at 5:00. The event has been rebranded this year, with the curious name “Washington Capitol Boating Show” (not to be confused with the “National Capital Boat Show” that took place in Dulles 2 weeks ago).

There is an impressive list of 50 vendors that will be in attendance. Prince William Marina is a Sea Ray dealership and they will have many new & used boats on display. This year promises to include a large number of boats to explore, as both Hoffmaster’s Marina (Chaparrel Boats) and Holly Acres (Bayliner and Regal Boats) will also have boats on display.

If you’re thinking about buying a boat or just counting down the days until summertime, you should plan on stopping by.

With Spring right around the corner, it’s time for the crazies to run into the freezing cold Potomac River. The 9th Annual Polar Plunge to benefit Virginia Special Olympics will take place on Saturday, February 26 at Tim’s Rivershore.

The river will be rocking with live music, contests, prizes and more! Visit Tim’s for more information.

The image above, courtesy of the Fairfax County Stormwater Management Program, indicates that the watersheds around Mount Vernon are the lowest quality in the county. The areas around Belmont Bay, fortunately, are high quality.

With the exception of the Colchester stretch, the entire Fairfax shoreline of the Occoquan river is a high-quality watershed.