http://occoquanwaterfront.com

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.

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.

1- Finally, VDOT will open the 4th lane of I-95 Southbound, which spans a five-mile distance from the Fairfax County Parkway south to the U.S. 1 exit, just north of the Occoquan River Bridge, per Fredericksburg.com. (Commuters rejoice!)

2- According to the News & Messenger, a shoreline boardwalk may soon come to town, stretching from the existing pier at Madigan’s Waterfront, through the Gaslight Landing development, all the way to the Mill House Museum at the end of town. More details coming soon.

3- ChesapeakeBoating.net just published the feature article from the November issue of Chesapeake Bay Magazine, which recounts a weekend trip from Annapolis to Occoquan and puts the town in a wonderful light.

According to the Washington Post, the Potomac River is now the healthiest that it has been since the 1950′s.

“The comeback has been closely tied to the Blue Plains treatment plant, which handles waste from the District and parts of Montgomery, Prince George’s, Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington counties. Its outflow is a river in itself: about 300 million gallons a day of treated sewage, enough to fill RFK Stadium.”

“In the past decade, responding to mandates from federal regulators, the plant has added $1 billion in new efforts that allow bacteria to consume the algae-feeding pollutant nitrogen in sewage.”

Read the full article at the Washington Post

I would be remiss if I did not mention the “Bull Shark in the Potomac River” frenzy that blew up on Facebook and the mainstream media while I was away. I tracked down the original reports and it wasn’t just one bull shark, it was two.

One was caught of Cornfield Harbor in extreme southern St. Mary’s county, MD. The NBC Washington website, which broke the “story” has a gruesome slideshow. The second was caught a bit farther north, near Tall Timbers, MD.

Both of these sharks were caught at the very, very edge of the Potomac River Watershed. So far south that one shark was actually caught by scientists collecting stingrays. This map shows where the bull sharks were caught:

The catches were very far away from Occoquan, almost 100 nautical miles south. Even down there, at the very edge of the Chesapeake Bay “you very, very rarely see them”, according to the Washington Post. Ok, no more bull shark jokes.

** UPDATE ** Aquapalooza 2010 will be held on July 24th at Tim’s I in Dumfries.

There has been lots of speculation this year about whether or not Sea Ray and/or Prince William Marina would host Aquapalooza once again on the Potomac River (after lots of weather mayhem last year and the year before).

Turns out the answer is…YES! Aquapalooza 2010 is on, with a change in venue. This year the shenanigans will take place at Tim’s Rivershore (aka Tim’s I) in Dumfries, just a stone’s throw from Occoquan. I’ll post more details as they become available.

Prince William Marine is hosting Aquapalooza this year at Tim’s II at Fairview Beach on the Potomac River. I’m looking forward to a good party this year, albeit with a country twang. Headlining the Occoquan-Washington DC Aquapalooza this year will be country singer Daryle Singletary and Thunder 104.5 will be onsite broadcasting live.

Daryle Singletary is a crooner that topped the country charts with a few hits way back in 1995. In February 2009, Singletary released a new single, “Love You With the Lights On”. The single was the lead-off single to a new album, Rockin’ in the Country, released in June 2009. Give his new album a listen:

Here’s the rest of the musical line-up for the weekend: Key West Band, the Wild Bunch, Borrowed Time Band, Drivin’ South Band and the Darby Brothers. I haven’t seen any of these guys before, leave a comment if you know who they are.

The FAQ put together by PW Marine is full of helpful tips, if you have not attended Aquapalooza previously. Check out the map of Fairview Beach below. If you will be arriving by boat (the preferred method of transport), check out our nautical map of the Potomac River to chart your route.

Take your cameras, remember to take some pictures and send us your best, we’ll post them after the main event! We’ll be there partying it up, see you there!

The largest boat show in the region takes place this weekend at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia. If you’ve got spring on your mind, you should cruise by to check out the 85 exhibitors. Almost all of the major boat manufacturers will be represented.

Here are the boat show hours:
Friday, March 13, 2009:     12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 14, 2009: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sunday, March 15, 2009:   11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Prince William Marina and Hoffmaster’s Marina will both be onhand with large displays of new models. Boat manufacturers usually team up with dealers to offer special incentives during boat shows, so it can be a favorable time to buy a boat. If you are thinking about buying, maybe now is the time!

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.

I found an interesting EPA report released in the waning days of Bush 43 shows that many areas around the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline are already witnessing the effects of sea level rise and that vulnerable tidal marshes may erode more rapidly over the next century because of climate change. This graphic really says it all:

Luckily, it appears that Occoquan is in the green “safe” zone but when I think about the loss of habitat throughout the bay region, I don’t feel so lucky.  The report, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region, examines the impacts of sea level rise on the human communities and wildlife habitat of the Mid-Atlantic coast, including Chesapeake Bay. According to the EPA, the Mid-Atlantic region is one area of the U.S. that will likely see the greatest impacts of climate change due to rising waters, coastal storms and a high population concentration along the coastline.