June 29, 2005
Shrimp Fest
The Occoquan Yacht Club (OYMC) held its annual Dinghy Regatta and Shrimp Fest on June 25th. If you've never been to a Dinghy Regatta it's hilarious! The husband and wife are put in the dinghy together with the husband (oarsman) blindfolded and the wife (helmsperson) calling out directions to him around a timed, measured course. Afterwards, both old OYC members and future members sat down to a shrimp feast while the band played on. Thanks so much to the OYC for putting on a fun and well organized event.
Anniversary Party
The Anniversary party in May was the best-attended ever. Since this is a family function we had bluegrass music and added a moonbounce as well as the face painting. Steve opened the snack bar up with a free burger and hot dog bar—a tremendous time was had by all.
Marina News
The sales activity has put a damper on our fix-up plans. We've cleaned out the picnic area, landscaped the hill by the showroom, and decked the demo slip at the ramp. We haven't gotten around to our other plans—some are small like fixing the remaining storm damage, and others are large—but as we run out of boats to deliver, the yard should get freed up to work on more improvements around the marina. It's a good thing but it's also a tough thing when even your store people are in the yard working on boats.
Looking over the marina always brings me back to the old days. When I was little there was a ski jump out in Belmont Bay operated by the Occoquan Ski Club. My recollection is that Wesley Jennings and a bunch of his buddies put it up—one of the big enthusiasts was our neighbor on Swan Point Road, Bill Fischer. I started skiing at an early age right in Belmont Bay behind Gene Nelson's little boat but I never used the jump because I was too young and scared. We used to go swimming at the beach right across from the marina where the crew team dock is today. It was a great beach, beaver used to swim across the river from there. One day the government started dumping rip rap there. My father Paul looked into it and learned that this beach was to become the dumping ground of the hydrilla harvested from the Wilson Bridge—he put a stop to that quick!
Ever wonder why we have Mason Neck? (By the way, you should stop by there and pay too much money to use the park—if they ever really enforced it we couldn't use the beach from our boats.) A few homes were standing originally (long since abandoned, you can see it from buoy #4) and the area was slated for development. Elizabeth Hartley was the big force behind turning Mason Neck into a Wildlife Refuge. In 1965 she spotted two bald eagle nests from a plane! That started the movement to turn the land into a park. But in 1965, Elizabeth Hartley spotted two bald eagle nests from a plane! She was a driving force behind the movement to turn the land in to Mason Neck State Park. The Park connects with the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge and covers over 2,000 acres.
Does anyone remember River Terrace? How about Sweden Point? When I was growing up we busted hardshells at Roberton's and what is now called Capt. Billy's at the 301 bridge. We also had Sweden Point Crabhouse—where Smallwood State Park is now on Mattwoman Creek—and River Terrace, roughly where Buoy 72 is on the Potomac.
My recollections of both are a little fuzzy, but I always recall Sweden Point as not being quite as nice as Robertson's but very convenient. It was a frequent watering hole for some of our customers back in the 70's, causing many a stress-filled run home at midnight I'm sure. River Terrace closed down shortly after slots were made illegal. It was a very nice little restaurant overlooking the water. I remember a steep climb up a hill to the restaurant (note the word "terrace") but an excellent run down the hill for a 5 year old like me.
We used to be able to ski just outside the marina. We'd test run boats between 95 and Route 1 or up between the marina and the 123 bridge. I look at how the harbor has developed over the years and although I miss those times, I am very glad to see so many happy boaters using the Occoquan. Dad started a lot of it—heck we were the only marina on the Occoquan that sold gas! Maybe we were the kings of the river back then. We aren't now but in return we have so many people loving what happens down here that I find myself with only good and positive feelings about it.
I wonder though if Dad really felt like a king—living on a boat at the end of D pier while mom and my sisters lived in Maryland when they first got started. Back then you used to have to go to Shirlington for a bottle! There was no I-95. To get to the marina you had to drive down Route 1, make a right on Occoquan Rd. (then 123, there was no Gordon Blvd.) and then a right on Devil's Reach Road. My sisters could sled from our house on Devil's Reach all the way down to the marina!
But would we have all we have now had the harbor and the highways not been built? Of course not. And Occoquan would never have flourished. We don't know the plan do we? But the plan can be better than we understand. The river is much cleaner than when I was little. Birds are all over the place. The Potomac River is on the Bass tournament circuit. Who would have thought all that?
One Last Thing
We often complain about the wake that others leave when they pass our marina—especially large boats of a certain brand. But as boaters, we must remember to extend the same courtesy to others. The other day I was out on Hardshell and as I passed a house in the No Wake Zone stretch, I got a "slow down!" from the residents—even as I was honking and waving to them (they are neighbors). It was then that I realized that I had left my engines at 100 RPM above idle while warming them up and hadn't backed them down. Although the change in wake wasn't much, it reminds me to remind everyone: even though "no wake" supposedly means under 6 MPH it really means keep the disturbance of water behind your boat to a minimum. We have a long no wake zone and even I tend to bump her up 100 RPM's between marinas. Bottom line though is that you are responsible for your wake. If your wake causes damage or injury, you are liable and wake violations are a ticketable offense. Besides, it's just being plain nice. Hoffmaster's boaters are educated boaters, the cream of the crop! We need to remember that when we pass other people and docks.
Contact Information
Joe Hoffmaster—Sales Manager, General Manager, Sales Specialist new boats. M-W and F
8am-4pm, Sat 10am-4pm.
Martha Hoffmaster—Chief Financial Officer; M, T, Th and F 8:30am-11am, 12:30pm-3pm.
Kathleen Walker—Accounts Receivables, billing questions, and boat sales; M-F 8:30am-4pm.
Terry Verity, Service Writer, Jeff Atwood, Parts Manager—Parts and service questions, Cobalt sales; M-F; 8am-4pm.
Charles T. Hedrick—Sales Specialist; M, W, Th, and F 8:30am-4pm; Sat 10am-4pm; Sun Noon-4pm or by appointment.
Sam, Steve, John, and Dave are techs M-F 8am-4pm.
For Service and parts orders and follow-up, call Terry or Jeff. On the weekends leave Terry notes. Parts order forms and work order forms are located on the parts counter. Anybody in the store can assist you with this.
To put your boat up on brokerage or to get a value call Chuck.
If you have a question about your bill call Kathleen.
