On Wed, 30 May 2012 10:01:04 -0700, "Califbill" wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
news
On Tue, 29 May 2012 16:05:49 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
. ..

Took younger daughter, husband, and the grandkids out for a day of playing,
tubing and eating on the
Potomac yesterday. Left Quantico and headed north to a place called
Leesylvania State Park. Nice
place with a nice long beach, camp store, picnic tables, etc. Hadn't been
there before. Boats are
allowed to be brought right up on the beach, if desired, but the water is
shallow for a ways out, so
anchoring is easy.

No problems with the boat. Put the battery in. launched it, and she fired
right up. A 150 Yamaha is
a great engine for tubing! Son-in-law thought he could stay on. He lost.

Great time was had by all.


--------------------------------------------
Two problems here. First the wind has been blowing for days. Big winds.
Ocean is tore up. 2nd, since we are retired, do not have to go out on
weekends and holidays with crowds of boaters.

The second part is true for me also, but the grandkids are still in school
until 20 June, or so.
That limits playing with the kids to the weekends. Once vacation starts, the
boat won't see the
water on weekends (unless wife says, "Let's go boating!")


---------------------
My oldest grandkid just turned 4, but the parents work. :) Which is good
these days.

My oldest is almost 13, just got a girlfriend, and has other things on his mind besides boating.
But, that's OK. The youngest is three, and gets a bang out of tubing in the Potomac.

On Wed, 30 May 2012 10:01:04 -0700, "Califbill" wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
news
On Tue, 29 May 2012 16:05:49 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
. ..

Took younger daughter, husband, and the grandkids out for a day of playing,
tubing and eating on the
Potomac yesterday. Left Quantico and headed north to a place called
Leesylvania State Park. Nice
place with a nice long beach, camp store, picnic tables, etc. Hadn't been
there before. Boats are
allowed to be brought right up on the beach, if desired, but the water is
shallow for a ways out, so
anchoring is easy.

No problems with the boat. Put the battery in. launched it, and she fired
right up. A 150 Yamaha is
a great engine for tubing! Son-in-law thought he could stay on. He lost.

Great time was had by all.


--------------------------------------------
Two problems here. First the wind has been blowing for days. Big winds.
Ocean is tore up. 2nd, since we are retired, do not have to go out on
weekends and holidays with crowds of boaters.

The second part is true for me also, but the grandkids are still in school
until 20 June, or so.
That limits playing with the kids to the weekends. Once vacation starts, the
boat won't see the
water on weekends (unless wife says, "Let's go boating!")


---------------------
My oldest grandkid just turned 4, but the parents work. :) Which is good
these days.

It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation’s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/

On 5/30/12 5:48 PM, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 30 May 2012 10:01:04 -0700, wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
news
On Tue, 29 May 2012 16:05:49 -0700,
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
...

Took younger daughter, husband, and the grandkids out for a day of playing,
tubing and eating on the
Potomac yesterday. Left Quantico and headed north to a place called
Leesylvania State Park. Nice
place with a nice long beach, camp store, picnic tables, etc. Hadn't been
there before. Boats are
allowed to be brought right up on the beach, if desired, but the water is
shallow for a ways out, so
anchoring is easy.

No problems with the boat. Put the battery in. launched it, and she fired
right up. A 150 Yamaha is
a great engine for tubing! Son-in-law thought he could stay on. He lost.

Great time was had by all.


--------------------------------------------
Two problems here. First the wind has been blowing for days. Big winds.
Ocean is tore up. 2nd, since we are retired, do not have to go out on
weekends and holidays with crowds of boaters.

The second part is true for me also, but the grandkids are still in school
until 20 June, or so.
That limits playing with the kids to the weekends. Once vacation starts, the
boat won't see the
water on weekends (unless wife says, "Let's go boating!")


---------------------
My oldest grandkid just turned 4, but the parents work. :) Which is good
these days.

It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation’s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/


Not only isn't it drinkable, the water in the Potomac is hazardous to
your health.

http://wamu.org/news/11/05/04/potoma..._in_health.php

If you are swimming in the Potomac, you are drinking the Potomac.

On 5/30/2012 4:42 PM, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 30 May 2012 10:01:04 -0700, wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
news
On Tue, 29 May 2012 16:05:49 -0700,
wrote:

"John H." wrote in message
...

Took younger daughter, husband, and the grandkids out for a day of playing,
tubing and eating on the
Potomac yesterday. Left Quantico and headed north to a place called
Leesylvania State Park. Nice
place with a nice long beach, camp store, picnic tables, etc. Hadn't been
there before. Boats are
allowed to be brought right up on the beach, if desired, but the water is
shallow for a ways out, so
anchoring is easy.

No problems with the boat. Put the battery in. launched it, and she fired
right up. A 150 Yamaha is
a great engine for tubing! Son-in-law thought he could stay on. He lost.

Great time was had by all.


--------------------------------------------
Two problems here. First the wind has been blowing for days. Big winds.
Ocean is tore up. 2nd, since we are retired, do not have to go out on
weekends and holidays with crowds of boaters.

The second part is true for me also, but the grandkids are still in school
until 20 June, or so.
That limits playing with the kids to the weekends. Once vacation starts, the
boat won't see the
water on weekends (unless wife says, "Let's go boating!")


---------------------
My oldest grandkid just turned 4, but the parents work. :) Which is good
these days.

My oldest is almost 13, just got a girlfriend, and has other things on his mind besides boating.
But, that's OK. The youngest is three, and gets a bang out of tubing in the Potomac.

My youngest is just 18 and gets a kick out of killing it in the gym

On Thu, 31 May 2012 01:07:53 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2012 18:06:58 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:




It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation’s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/


Not only isn't it drinkable, the water in the Potomac is hazardous to
your health.

http://wamu.org/news/11/05/04/potoma..._in_health.php

If you are swimming in the Potomac, you are drinking the Potomac.


"Overall health" in that article probably refers to nutrient
contamination and low DO numbers, not necessarily the various
coliforms that are unhealthy to people.

When I get a minute I will look at the test numbers and see what they
are talking about. Usually we start looking at coliforms when the
colony count gets over 200 or so. If it is enterococcus you really
want it under 35.

The whole damned bay ain't really "pure". ;-(


Badmouthing is a thing some folks do out jealousy or childish spite.

Best to disregard it.

Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.

On 5/31/12 11:12 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 31 May 2012 01:07:53 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2012 18:06:58 -0400, X `
wrote:




It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation’s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/


Not only isn't it drinkable, the water in the Potomac is hazardous to
your health.

http://wamu.org/news/11/05/04/potoma..._in_health.php

If you are swimming in the Potomac, you are drinking the Potomac.


"Overall health" in that article probably refers to nutrient
contamination and low DO numbers, not necessarily the various
coliforms that are unhealthy to people.

When I get a minute I will look at the test numbers and see what they
are talking about. Usually we start looking at coliforms when the
colony count gets over 200 or so. If it is enterococcus you really
want it under 35.

The whole damned bay ain't really "pure". ;-(


Badmouthing is a thing some folks do out jealousy or childish spite.

Best to disregard it.

Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.


Herring, it's just fine with me if you and your whole family want to
swim in polluted water. I hear there are still timeshares available at
the Love Canal.

I think boating on the Potomac is fine. I've done it a few times. I
wouldn't swim in that river, and I wouldn't eat fish caught in it. In
fact, I prefer the River above Key Bridge, though I wouldn't swim in it
there, either. You like to "recreate" south of the Blue Plains sewage
treatment plant. Perfectly appropriate for you and your brood.

Oh...I don't swim in Chesapeake Bay, either. I prefer the ocean or
properly maintained swimming pools.

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 31 May 2012 11:12:50 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 31 May 2012 01:07:53 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2012 18:06:58 -0400, X ` Man
wrote:




It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation?s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/


Not only isn't it drinkable, the water in the Potomac is hazardous to
your health.

http://wamu.org/news/11/05/04/potoma..._in_health.php

If you are swimming in the Potomac, you are drinking the Potomac.


"Overall health" in that article probably refers to nutrient
contamination and low DO numbers, not necessarily the various
coliforms that are unhealthy to people.

When I get a minute I will look at the test numbers and see what they
are talking about. Usually we start looking at coliforms when the
colony count gets over 200 or so. If it is enterococcus you really
want it under 35.

The whole damned bay ain't really "pure". ;-(


Badmouthing is a thing some folks do out jealousy or childish spite.

Best to disregard it.

Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.

I did not have much luck finding current WQ numbers on the web. There
are some numbers on the Fairfax County site referring to the Wilson
Bridge project but they are aimed at nutrients, turbidity and DO, not
coliforms.
The DO numbers are pretty dismal tho (2s and low 3s). That will limit
the types of fish that can live there. They did not specify a time of
day but if these are not done at dawn, the number will be higher than
the accepted standard monitoring protocol would give you.

I have an Email in to the Potomac Riverkeepers organization to see
what they can tell me.

Most of the problems with the Potomac in the 60's and 70's was due to
Blue Plains. Even today they are a major cause of problems in the
Potomac.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress...5257359003f534
8/4c0ca7a507be26cf8525779a00536add!OpenDocument

On 5/31/12 8:10 PM, BAR wrote:
In ,
says...

On Thu, 31 May 2012 11:12:50 -0400, John
wrote:

On Thu, 31 May 2012 01:07:53 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2012 18:06:58 -0400, X `
wrote:




It's nice that the Potomac has cleaned up from what it was many years ago. Of course the water isn't
drinkable, but it's clean enough for the Nation?s Triathlon - which it wouldn't have been thirty
years ago.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/09/13/n...-record-crowd/


Not only isn't it drinkable, the water in the Potomac is hazardous to
your health.

http://wamu.org/news/11/05/04/potoma..._in_health.php

If you are swimming in the Potomac, you are drinking the Potomac.


"Overall health" in that article probably refers to nutrient
contamination and low DO numbers, not necessarily the various
coliforms that are unhealthy to people.

When I get a minute I will look at the test numbers and see what they
are talking about. Usually we start looking at coliforms when the
colony count gets over 200 or so. If it is enterococcus you really
want it under 35.

The whole damned bay ain't really "pure". ;-(


Badmouthing is a thing some folks do out jealousy or childish spite.

Best to disregard it.

Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.

I did not have much luck finding current WQ numbers on the web. There
are some numbers on the Fairfax County site referring to the Wilson
Bridge project but they are aimed at nutrients, turbidity and DO, not
coliforms.
The DO numbers are pretty dismal tho (2s and low 3s). That will limit
the types of fish that can live there. They did not specify a time of
day but if these are not done at dawn, the number will be higher than
the accepted standard monitoring protocol would give you.

I have an Email in to the Potomac Riverkeepers organization to see
what they can tell me.

Most of the problems with the Potomac in the 60's and 70's was due to
Blue Plains. Even today they are a major cause of problems in the
Potomac.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress...5257359003f534
8/4c0ca7a507be26cf8525779a00536add!OpenDocument




The Potomac above Key Bridge looks a lot cleaner to me, but I've never
seen any test results from that area. I've canoed there, along thousands
of other people.

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 31 May 2012 20:10:03 -0400, BAR wrote:


Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.

I did not have much luck finding current WQ numbers on the web. There
are some numbers on the Fairfax County site referring to the Wilson
Bridge project but they are aimed at nutrients, turbidity and DO, not
coliforms.
The DO numbers are pretty dismal tho (2s and low 3s). That will limit
the types of fish that can live there. They did not specify a time of
day but if these are not done at dawn, the number will be higher than
the accepted standard monitoring protocol would give you.

I have an Email in to the Potomac Riverkeepers organization to see
what they can tell me.

Most of the problems with the Potomac in the 60's and 70's was due to
Blue Plains. Even today they are a major cause of problems in the
Potomac.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress...5257359003f534
8/4c0ca7a507be26cf8525779a00536add!OpenDocument


They are talking about nitrogen and phosphorus, (nutrients).
Those are tough on DO but it is not what closes beaches and makes
people sick. When they look at swimmer safety they look at coliforms.
Blue Plains shoots enough chlorine into the effluent that it would be
safe to drink if you could get over the yuck factor. When I was there
they did have a plant manager take a big drink on TV.
This is still down river of DC. It would not affect people up there.
I would worry more about street runoff if I fell in the water at the
14th street bridge. The Anacostia has it's own unique problems with
industrial pollution that you don't see on the west side.

Blue Plains was constantly letting untreated waste into the rivers.
There are no good swimming areas above Haynes Point and most of the
fishing for eating is down below Alexandria.

On Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:18:38 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 31 May 2012 20:10:03 -0400, BAR wrote:


Your comment about the bay is on target. Sandy Point beach gets closed quite frequently because of
the fecal stuff floating in the bay.

I did not have much luck finding current WQ numbers on the web. There
are some numbers on the Fairfax County site referring to the Wilson
Bridge project but they are aimed at nutrients, turbidity and DO, not
coliforms.
The DO numbers are pretty dismal tho (2s and low 3s). That will limit
the types of fish that can live there. They did not specify a time of
day but if these are not done at dawn, the number will be higher than
the accepted standard monitoring protocol would give you.

I have an Email in to the Potomac Riverkeepers organization to see
what they can tell me.

Most of the problems with the Potomac in the 60's and 70's was due to
Blue Plains. Even today they are a major cause of problems in the
Potomac.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress...5257359003f534
8/4c0ca7a507be26cf8525779a00536add!OpenDocument


They are talking about nitrogen and phosphorus, (nutrients).
Those are tough on DO but it is not what closes beaches and makes
people sick. When they look at swimmer safety they look at coliforms.
Blue Plains shoots enough chlorine into the effluent that it would be
safe to drink if you could get over the yuck factor. When I was there
they did have a plant manager take a big drink on TV.
This is still down river of DC. It would not affect people up there.
I would worry more about street runoff if I fell in the water at the
14th street bridge. The Anacostia has it's own unique problems with
industrial pollution that you don't see on the west side.

Careful!!

Any mention of pollution in the Anacostia *can* be used as 'proof' of racism!

I've taken friends up the Anacostia to see the sights and been embarrassed by the crap floating on
the water and lining the banks. It's a mess. If, as some say, it's caused by blacks living in the
area, then they should start using trash cans instead of the river for their trash.