Evening star., 1941-04-04
Interest in Boating
High, Supply House
Reports Show
Waterman Eager to Help
Coast Guord; New Bosins
Are of Great Benefit
By MALCOLM LAMBORNE, Jr.


Washington, the boom town, may
look forward to a new boom in
yachting with the coming of the
boating season which already has
reached the scraping- sanding stage
for the old hands of the Capitals
large pleasure fleet.
Yacht brokers, boat dealers, ma
rine supply houses, all report in
terest and inquiries well ahead of
the number received this time last
year and they point to the Dis
tricts increased population as pri-
mary reason for prediction of boom
in the sport.
Hand in hand with this upSurge
of yachting interest, new note is
being sounded among the boating
colony. The accent on national de-
fense finds yachtSmen scanning
deck and cabin plans in an entirely
new light. Boatmen recall the part
English yachtsmen played in the
evacuation of troops from Dun
kerque last spring and they wonder
if this country might have similar
roles IOr Unem 10 play.
Nucleus of Defense Fleet.
Washington already has the nu-
cleus of a defense fleet in the more
than 100 boatmen enrolled in the
Coast Guard Auxiliary here, and
increased numbers have indicated
their desire to join the association
of boat owners, many of whom may
enlist in the new Coast Guard Re-
serve for active duty with the
United States.
National defense and the threat
of war have done little to mem
bership rolls of any of the local
clubs, a survey reveals. One club,
in fact, reports a membership OF
2l5 and club fleet of 1876 assorted
craft.
While spring has been tardy in
arriving, daily increasing activity is
noted both at local and nearby
boat yards. For a period during
the winter, yard owners spent Sleep
less nights wondering where they
would get carpenters and mechanics
to handle the usual spring rush.
Two Basins Ready.
Cantonment construction in Mary
land and Virginia left shipyardS
bare of these artisans, but a letup
on Army projects finds them re-
turning to their old jobs.
Completion during the winter OF
the western portions of yacht basins
/ and 2 on Washington Channel
fronting Marine avenue S.W. now
has available nearly 200 berths
capable of accommodating virtually
every size pleasure craft registered
here. These marinas, among the
finest in America, will aid materially
in solving the problem of accommo-
dating the increased fleet expected
this summer.
The District Commissioners this
week approved new leases on both
the basins after the local Engineer
Office of the War Department re-
verted the property to District jurls-
diction.
No New Marina Likely.
Yacht basin No. l, between Four
teenth and Twelfth streets, has been
leased to the Nash Marine Supply
Co., which formerly held a War
Department lease on its eastern
section. Under the new agreement
the concern will retain possession
of both sections until November 30,
1942. This marina contains slips
for approximately go boats OF as
sorted sizes.
Capital Yacht Club, located on the
site of basin No. farther down.
stream, has been given year lease
on this marina, which consists OF
112 berths.
With Federal funds needed today
on more important projects OF ma
tional defense, there is little pos
sibility of additional funds being
available for a third marina for the
use of pleasure craft. Work con-
tinues, however, on 340-foot long
commercial basin on the channel
at the foot of Sixth street S.W.