Potomac River Swim 6/4/2016 - Volunteers wanted!

[GoldenDaze]

Hi all,

Saturday June 4th is the Potomac River Swim, where 40-50 swimmers will cross the 7.5 miles of the lower Potomac River in southern Maryland. Each year a group of mostly Boston Whalers participates as safety boats, watching over the swimmers and their escort kayaks. While there is ALWAYS room for some more Whaler friends, this year we are particularly short on boats (a big month for weddings, it seems) and any additional boats would be especially welcome.

The event starts on Friday night at 6pm with a big spaghetti dinner at Trinity Parish Church in St. Marys. Those of us who aren't local to southern Maryland have some hotel rooms in the Lexington Park area (paid for by the swim organizers) for Friday night, where we usually congregate for a tailgate with some snacks and beers. Saturday we are in the water by 6:30am at Point Lookout State Park, crossing the Potomac to the Maryland shoreline at Hull Creek where the Whalers transfer the swimmers from some commercial fishing/crabbing boats to the shore. The event usually kicks off at 8am with the swimmers entering the Potomac for the crossing.

For the next 6 hours, the Whalers (and friends) shepherd the swimmers and kayakers across the river, occasionally pulling out a tired or sick swimmer or helping a kayaker back into their boat. The USCG and USCG Auxiliary along with the Maryland Natural Resources Police assist by intercepting and diverting crossing boat traffic. When all is done and the last swimmers and kayakers have reached the beach at Point Lookout, the boaters usually pack up and head to a local seafood dive for a late lunch before heading home.

I've been helping with this event for the past 8 years or so, and it's always one of the highlights of my boating season. Conditions on the Potomac are very variable, and can range from hot, steamy and flat to howling wind and 4-footers, sometimes on the same day. In case of a small craft advisory or lightning the race is cancelled, though depending on conditions we might substitute a short out-and-back course or an inshore swim in Lake Conoy. Boat sizes range from a classic 13-footer (maybe a little bit dicey) to a beautiful 25' Outrage from Ohio. The 170 Montauk is usually the best-represented boat in the fleet.

For details on the event, see http://www.potomacriverswim.com/.

If this sounds like a fun day to you, please consider joining us. To sign up, just reply here or email me at bobkurtzjr(at)gmail(dot)com. We'd love to have some new friends with us!

-Bob

[Phil T]

Bob -

Good luck with the swim.

Great to see you back again. We lost all email addresses with the old forum software. Drop me a line, appreciate an update.

Phil