Tuesday, December 28, 1993 - Washington, DC

SNOW!!! Jofian's covered with snow, the land's covered with snow, snowflakes are drifting down from the sky. Beautiful, clean, white snow everywhere. How lovely!
The temperature inside the refrigerator was 38. The temperature inside the main cabin was 36.
The engine didn't turn over when I tried to start it, but Roy managed to start it, and soon we were warm and cozy.
Our anchor had dragged during the night and we were close to another sailboat, so Roy immediately raised the anchor and took off. We ate breakfast underway.
Snow is a lot of fun to walk in, but navigating a boat in it is another matter. Visibility was about a quarter mile. The channel markers are about a mile apart, so we had to stare at the radar screen on the one-mile range until we saw a teensy-weensy little blip, and then steer towards it, hoping it was a buoy and not a rock or something. Without radar, the trip would have been impossible. For once, the numbers on the buoys coincided with the numbers on the chart, which helped tremendously. If they'd been different, as they often are, we wouldn't have known where we were. Even with the right numbers and the radar, the trip was nerve-wracking. The person at the wheel had to keep one eye on the depth-gauge, one eye on the radar screen, one eye on the chart, and one eye peering through the window at what little could be seen. As the snow got thicker, both of us had to be watching.
We thought we were the only ones nutty enough to be on the river in a snowstorm, but suddenly we saw a multi-million-dollar motor yacht coming towards us. The skipper hailed us on VHF. We told him we saw him approaching and would stay on his starboard side. He thanked us and continued on his way down the river.
In spite of the weather, we made good time. By two in the after-
noon, we were approaching Alexandria, about ten miles from Washington. The snow was coming down more and more, so we decided to try to tie up in Alexandria instead of pushing on to Washington.
We saw a sad sight just after we went under the bridge--a car had apparently gone out of control and plunged into the frigid water. A large group of rescue workers were pulling it out of the river. I feel sorry for whoever was in the car; they wouldn't last long in that icy water. What a horrible feeling it must be to have your car speeding towards the river bank and be totally unable to control it!
We pulled up to the first dock we came to. Really lucked out. It was a very nice, new marina with floating docks, good cleats, both 30 and 50-amp electrical outlets, and even a Pumpahead and Pottikleen. (If you don't know what those are for, don't ask.) There were no other boats at the marina, and the wind was blowing in the right direction for once, so it was very easy for us to drift right up to the outside dock and tie up. We were very glad we had waterproof neoprene gloves to keep our hands dry and warm. We were also glad we both had good warm boots to wear in the snow.
The marina, which was very small, was right in front of a very large brick building. We didn't see a marina office, and there weren't any signs. The gate was wide open, so as soon as Jofian was securely tied and the electricity hooked up, we walked towards the brick building. It looked like a college, so we figured everyone would be gone for Christmas vacation, but there might be a maintenance man or security guard around. Suddenly, a door opened and a young couple called to us and invited us in. We hated to track snow on their beautiful floor, but they had the door wide open and kept insisting we come in, so we finally did. Turned out the "college" was a luxury condominium complex. The "marina" belonged to the complex, but the couple said they didn't see any problem with our staying there. They owned one of the slips and said we could move our boat to their slip if we wanted to, but we preferred to stay where we were. They were very nice. Told us where the stores were and said if we needed anything to let them know.
We had a lot of fun walking through the snow. We found the real marina a few blocks away, but it wasn't nearly as nice as the one we were at. Didn't even have floating docks.
Alexandria is a lovely town. Most of the well-paid people who work in Washington live in Alexandria.
We soon found a Safeway. It was small and high-priced but only two blocks from the boat, so we bought a bunch of groceries, returned to the boat, ate supper, and relaxed, all warm, cozy, and safe. We were very glad we had decided to dock in Alexandria instead of trying to push on to Washington.
For several months, we've had occasional problems with the sound on the TV cutting out. We thought we were going to have to take the set in for repairs, but tonight I noticed that the problem occurred when I turned on the fluorescent light in the galley. As soon as I turned the light off, the sound came back. So there's nothing wrong with the TV after all. Roy will replace the lamp, and that should take care of the problem.