Tobacco River

cmw2559
Sep 20
2 min read

Updated: Sep 21

Traveling either early or late in the season can throw the unexpected at you. Even two weeks post-Labor Day might mean that some dependable thing suddenly is ephemeral, a will o' the wisp. So it was on Thursday. We had to make tracks up the Potomac River towards Washington, DC. This meant that we had to leave the Rappahannock River and its tidewater Carrotoman River tributary, head out into Chesapeake Bay, go north, stopping for lunch at a formerly bustling fishing port, Reedville, then around Smith Point and into the mouth of the Potomac. From here, it was a run upstream towards Washington.

On the chart, Reedville is just north of the "66" mark and just to the right of the Rappahannock River label. It was a major fish-processing center with over ten such plants at the beginning of the 20th century. The stack in the photo below honors the industry.

But today it is gentrified and very attractive.

After lunch, we pulled up our anchor and headed out, around Smith Point and into the Potomoc. Notice that the boat's dashed-line trail hugs the north side of the Potomoc. By favoring the north side, we remained sheltered from the northwest winds and waves. It was much smoother. We had planned to refuel at Colonial Beach, just below the "to" in Potomac. It was shallow, so we crawled in, watching depths. Meanwhile, we were hailing the fuel dock. No response, although a single voice reply of "Good luck" warned us that we could be on a fool's errand. We tried calling. No answer. Finally, we got an outgoing message saying they were now on winter's hours (on September 18!!) and were only open on the weekends.

That meant we had to scramble to find marine diesel along this stretch of the River. Finally, we located a marina, Goose Bay, another 15 to 20 nautical miles up the River. It is located on the Port Tobacco River. The cruising guide warned of "thin" water as we approached the fuel dock. They weren't kidding. We still had a half-full tide of about 1.5 feet, but it was falling. Our fathometer measured 6 feet, then 5 feet, then varying depths of 2 feet to 4 feet. Our forward-looking sonar still indicated 4 to 5 feet. We required 4 feet. We squeezed in. The bottom was soft and we stirred up lots of mud as we crept to the fuel dock, filled up and crept out.

The Port Tobacco River offers some nich anchorages further upstream. The weather was pleasant, even benign. So we nosed into a nice spot nestled behind a bluff, dropped the hook and cooked dinner.

In the morning, we were greeted by mist-shrouded forests and shorelines.