Paddle to the Town of Quantico

Sid asked me recently if I would be interested in a week day trip over to Mallows Bay. Mallows Bay is also know as the "Ghost Fleet of the Potomac," as about a hundred wooden ships were parked there at the end of WW I and left to rot. He proposed launching from "Quantico Town," to make it a shorter trip.

I had heard there was a launch at Q Town but had also heard it was now closed and guarded. Doing some research I turned up an article where in the current mayor of Q Town suggested launching from a shore-front park in town. Sid volunteered to drive over and scope out the launch, while I called the mayor's office and asked if it was still okay to launch and land there. Indeed, I was told, we are welcome to use the spot for paddling.

Cobbling together both Sid's report and the suggestion of the gal who answered my call, Deke and I decided to launch from Leesylvania State Park and paddle down to scope this launch out from the water. I figured it would be a 12 mile roundtrip paddle. It was a bit shorter, at around 10.4 miles. We were joined by Tall Tom and Dan L, both seasoned paddlers who join our club occasionally.

I arrived late, literally 5 minutes before launch time and had to scramble to get my kit in and on. As a result my relatively light load was not balanced properly and I spent the down river portion fighting to keep my slippery boat from tossing me in the drink. I had chosen the CD Solstice GTS due to its speedy nature but with speed comes twitchiness that is disconcerting. I had spent the day before in my NDK Romany Surf, a much more stable ride. This seemed to underline the Solstice's less cooperative nature. I was reminded I have been planning to sell this boat.

"She" is awfully pretty though, isn't she?

The trip down was with the wind at our backs but against the incoming tide. It felt like work. When we got to Q Town we spotted our tiny beach from the river using the picnic tables and basketball court as land marks. Sid had said it was "tiny." He really meant dinky-tiny, just big enough for eight or maybe ten boats, max.

Watch for the large concrete shards when landing or launching. They were lurking just below the surface of the water when we arrived. None the less, we were able to land easily and take our lunch and a porta-john break.

At 10.4 miles, this is sure to become a regular paddle for me. It is the perfect distance for a bit of exercise; a stretch and run trip, really.

One last photo, an art shot from the beach at Leesylvania. Coach titled this "yeah, there's one in my boat too!"