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Fooled the Anxiety Sensor

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oldengineer1949
1st Mate

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USA
75 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/23/2016 : 11:25:11

Went to the marina this past Saturday morning to work on Pualani's cranky Nissan outboard. Pu must have had a serious heart-to-heart talk with her engine (translation: "went Navy" all over it!). Anyway, before deploying all my fancy metric tools and such, on a whim, I went on board, lowered the motor, hooked up the fuel line, primed it, hooked up the Deadman clamp, pulled out the choke, yanked the starter rope ... once. VROOM! The little b@$t@rd started right up! I said to my grand-niece First Mate (and Pu) well, lets take her out under engine only, and give it a true workout. Powered all the way up to Leesylvania State Park. Against the current, it took us just over one hour, clocking 2.6-2.7 kts SOG. Met a Catalina 25 coming out from the Woodbridge Sailing School, and sure enough, dasreboot was on board, looking his Sailing Instructor Best! We hailed each other, but did not go along side, since he was in the middle of a sailing class. We motored back for another hour, and Pu's engine did not miss one beat. Docked under power, without incident.

Needless to say, I am one happy camper.

Fair Winds and Following Seas to all y'all,

Al and Bernadette, "Pualani Nui", '82 C25 SR/SK, homeport MCB Quantico

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3367 Posts

Response Posted - 08/24/2016 : 03:28:25

Al,

If you don't mind, I have a few questions regarding the Quantico Marina. I am north of you about ~ 25 miles at the James Creek Marina just off the Potomac River, on the Anacostia River adjacent to Fort McNair. About the furthest I have gone South has been to Mason Neck Park - That makes for about a 25 mile roundtrip. The one weekend I was going to go to Quantico for an overnighter, I made the mistake of sailing/tacking (instead of motoring at least half-way) until I got down to about Fort Hunt and then realized that I would not make it to Quantico until after your Marina office closed which I believe at the time it was open only to 430pm. My concern was that you have security gates and if I wanted to get off the dock, go out to eat, etc, I would not be able to get back in unless first checking in with the office.

1) Does the office still close early ? Do they usually have transient spaces available or you need to make a reservation ? (I am a DOD civilian, so I believe they allow DOD transients.)

2) How do you find keeping your boat at Quantico - Do you keep it in all year ? Do they have flow agitators or bubblers for the winter or find that your boat and others survive okay without them ? Many restrictions on available times you can work on or go sailing with your boat ? (Military bases usually have some unusual restrictions.)

3) I believe you do not have a travel lift or common marina services at your marina. So, where do get your boat pressure washed or taken out for painting the bottom ?

4) Since the marina has seasonal/annual slips for military, are their slips available or hit and miss for DOD civilians ? Just curious - It is a bit further away for me living west along RT66 and working in DC, my marina is very convenient. But there is more water down in your neck of the woods versus the upper Potomac, but we do have quite a few sailboats up where I am with the Washington Sailing Marina just south of Natl Reagan Airport. Still, the Potomac is a lot wider down by you and I suspect it is a lot quieter down by you versus the commercial planes, Anacostia Air Base helicopters constant buzzing around, Coast Guard, DC Harbor Police and countless tour boats up where I am including the BaseballBoat that plies the waters on home games at Natl Stadium. Figure it is always good to find out about other areas !

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

oldengineer1949
1st Mate

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USA
75 Posts

Response Posted - 08/24/2016 : 08:53:27

Larry,

I'll try to answer your questions in order:

1. Yes, the marina office still closes at 1630 every weekday. The weekend hours are 0800-1800. They do have transient spaces available, daytime and overnight. For more info, here is the URL: http://www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org/index.cfm/recreation/marina/

2. I find the marina is one of the better-managed ones, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. I do keep Pualani in her slip year-around. The marina staff deploys bubblers in the winter-time when needed. There are no access restrictions on boat owners; we are all issued RFI cards to open the front gate, and have codes to open the security gates to the marina docks. As to access to MCB Quantico itself, I believe the main gate is 24-hour access, all you would need is a photo ID and your CAC card (if you have one). I use my retired military ID, and have no issues getting on base.

3. You are correct, there are no maintenance facilities at the Quantico marina, all the folks either haul their own boats at the ramp north of the marina in Quantico Town, or they have their boats pulled at the marinas north or south of there (Hampton's Landing, Pilot House or EZ-Cruz).

4. The website says that the marina is open to all active-duty and retired military, plus DoD civilians living or working within a 35-mile radius of MCB Quantico. I think you qualify, so y'all come! Pualani would love to have another Cat 25 for a slip-mate.

In general, yes, this part of "the Ribbah" is much quieter than up North, with only the occasional C-17 or HMX-1 chopper flying around the airfield on base. It is much wider here, and there are several neat "gunkholes" to explore within an hour's sail in any direction.

Regards to all,

Al and Bernadette, "Pualani Nui", '82 C25 SR/SK, homeport MCB Quantico

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3367 Posts

Response Posted - 08/25/2016 : 03:44:33

Thanks for the info !! I have a CAC Card (ie for main gate by car entrance) but figured the security gates at the docks required a separate access card/combo. However, since the marina office is open a bit later on the weekends, that helps a bit getting there before they close for the day. It is just a bit tricky sailing down and not able to always count on a favorable tack, so I would have to break out my 6 gallon gas tank (vs my 3 gallon one) from my garage to ensure I could also motor if needed to cut the time down and get there earlier in the day. Going back home (up-river), usually the wind is more favorable for a return trip in that direction.

Not going to be able to do it this season as I have vacation plans and etc coming up but anticipate will try next summer and check things out.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

dasreboot
Admiral

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803 Posts

Response Posted - 09/08/2016 : 06:01:59

I'm pretty sure anyone can go into quantico. All you have to do is say you are going to q-town. Come on down, we'll have a meetup!

Todd Lewis
Eowyn 87 TR/WK C25 #5656
ARWEN 84 TR/SK C25 #4031
www.mainsailsailingschool.com

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