Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

craft which he subse
quently used in cruising tbs
Potomac, and a sailing vessel which
he maintained at Mount Vernon Tor
many years. he qualified as one oil
the New Worlds charter builders and
yachtsmen.
For the wind-powered vessels of
Washington's time, with their belly
Ing sails, symmetrical sparS and cum
herSome hulls We're the ancestors OF
the smart aquatic runabouts and lux
urious cabin cruisers which now, every
holiday and week end, churn the
waters of the Potomac as they flow
steadily down to the sea.
The Federal City, although many
knots removed from the salt-scented
tang of ocean breeZes, is nevertheless
a yachting center of parts, with "A
fleet OF several hundred power boats,
which run the gamut from cupboard
motors for river trips to palatial
pleasure cruisers suitable for coast
wise voyages.
Washington bankers, business men,
professional workers, congressman
and officers of the national defense
don duck and flannels, ass-buttoned
blue coats and natty yachting caps
when the business duties of the week
are ended and steer their sharpnosed
little gasoline ships down the channel
of the Potomac
In the van of this yachting process,
sion glides the flawless Maytiower.
carrying the First Gentleman and
Lady of the Land on d pleasure
voyage away from the distractions of
the most difficult position on the
american roster, that of Chief EXecu-
tive. When President and Mrs
coolidge are in Washington, it is
habitual for them to cruise the placid
Potomac every once in so often dur
ing pleasant weather, and invariably
friends or Government officials accom-
pany them. The President does not
cast aside all work during his trips
on the Mayfiower, but frequently dis.
cusses important affairs of state
with cabinet members, and often de.
cides momentous matters while speed
Ing smoothly down the Potomac.
The Capital at present is in the
throes of the greatest yachting boom
in its history. More and more, each
year, those Washingtonians who en-
joy aquatic amusements and who can
afford to own either large or small
yachts are responding to the lure of
modern navigation. Some of the local
clubs report increases in their power
boat strength of 25 to 40 per cent
X X s.
DURING the peak pitch of the mo-
tor-touring season, the main-trav-
eled highways in the District. Virginia
and Maryland are congested with
traffic. Many motorists who delight
in short trips as well as longer cross
country tours are abandoning their
journeys on cushions of air because of
crowded thoroughfareS and the multi
piicity of automobile accidents. These
motorists are purchasing power boats
and responding to the Potomac's pub
lie invitation to gain diversion and
relaxation on its smooth waters.
The perpendicular steering wheel of
q motor boat is thus supplanting the
inclined wheel of the favorite coupe,
cabriolet or sport roadster.
Five yachting clubs foster aquatic
sport and sponsor regattas in the
land of the forgotten ballot box. The
Corinthian Yacht Club, which spon-
/ sored the first national. power boat re-
gatta on the Potomac, last Autumn, is
the largest of the Washington organi,
cations. with a membership of $50 and
fleet of 100 motorized craft. The
| Capital Yacht Club has a roster OF 93
members who cruise river, bay and
! the inside coastal lanes in 56 pleasure
yachts. The Washington Yacht CLUB
of the Eastern Branch, the Eastern
| Power Boat Club and the Old Domin-
| ion Boat Club of Alexandria are other
| organizations which put on nautical
toggery and sail over billowy waves
during the boating season.
! The Old Dominion Boat Club spe'
cializes in rowing, and regularly en-
| ters well trained crews in Middle At
| lantic and South Atlantic regattas.
! However, some OF its members are
also amateur yachtsmen and MAINTAIN
: q small fleet of a dozen craft.
A run of scenic splendor and in
yisorating freshness down the river
for 100 miles brings the Washington
Yachts and yachtsmen to Chesapeake
Raw. where salt water flows and ire
o,tently kicks up considerable or
rtmpus which tests the sea legs OF
the river cruisers when they brave
it's scintillating ups and downs. 1t is
about a f1ve-hour cruise from the zone
of East Potomac Park to the mouth
of the Potomac, guarded on the Mary
land side by Point Lookout, with its
lighthouse and repair station, and
overlooked by Smith Point on the
Virginia exposure.
If you would gain familiarity with
the early navigation of the Potomac
River. YOU have to bark back in his
1orv to the pioneering period when
can't. John Smith first explored that
waterway boundary between lands
which later were staked out as the
States of Maryland and Virginia.
Cant. Smith was the first white
man skilled in seafaring ways to eX-
More and map the Potomac. One OF
his boating expeditions penetrated as
far north as the present site of Wash
ington.
The log of that epochal excursion
tells about the landing of the party
somewhere in the neighborhood of the
Georgetown water front. The Eng
lishmen saw, grazing on the rolling
terrain above the river valley, curious
herds of "humpbacked cattle" as they
called the ponderously crowned, big
bodied beasts. This is the first record
in history of buffalo being seen by
foreign explorers in the New World.
Mighty herds of bison once grazed
the fields where the Federal seat of
government has been established.
Washington yachtsmen Of the pres
ent generation who cruise the Pc
tomac will not come face to face
with any wild buffalo. but they may
occasionally sight white-tailed Nir
einia deer, come to the riverside for
a drink or bath. If they cruise as
far south as Norfolk and, during the
cunning season, penetrate the hinter'
lands of the Dismal Swamp, they may
even run across big-pawed Bruin, sly
Reward and other remnant jewellers
i'm that internetted wilderness.
X x x X
THE National Capital is admirably
located for amateur yachting be
cause. no matter how rough Chesa
peake Bay and the Atlantic Ocear
may be. the Potomac ordinarily Is
calm enough for delightful cruising
The big storms which temporarily
hold coastal power boats and yachts