Windsurfing near Washington Sailing Marina
- Belle Haven (7 km)
- Collingwood (12 km)
- Kims Beach (14 km)
- Marshall Hall (17 km)
- Mason Neck (25 km)
SUMMARY: Only a few hardcore urban windsurfers regularly use this polluted, shallow and shifty launch. But it's worth a try if you need a windsurfing fix and don't have time to drive a couple hours to much better spots on the Chesapeake Bay, in the Hampton Roads area or out in Delaware or the OBX.
GETTING THERE: Washington Sailing Marina is located off the George Washington Parkway between Alexandria to the south and National Airport to the north. The parkway exit is well-marked. To enter the marina, you may have to pay the guard in the booth, or not if he's not there and the gate is open. Park near the paved boat ramp to the east of the dinghy cranes. But remember not to block in any of the boats. Rig on the grass near the boat storage racks.
WATER: Launch from the boat ramp. The wind in the cove is notoriously shifty. Make your way out from the ramp as best you can, heading east. Don't go north as you will run aground on the mud flats near the airport. The flats are strangely littered with submerged grocery shopping carts -- a real fin killer. Avoid the area. The water is also shallow and the wind unpredictable inside the cove to the west.
WIND: The only decent wind is out in the main channel of the Potomac. There's a mud bar to the east of the launch that extends out from the airport landing lights pier. You can stand up there and get your bearings before heading out into the main channel. The Potomac works best on a northerly or a southerly. Westerlies are no good from this launch and easterlies are marginal as there isn't much fetch from the Maryland shore. If you can score a north or a south, then you can reach back and forth across the river, bearing in mind the current will carry you south, but not with much force. Look out for floating obstacles -- logs, branches, trash. The river is cleaner than it once was, but still far from healthy. Waves will set up after a few hours of steady wind, but they seldom get very big.
BOATS: Beware of boat traffic. Many power-boaters are making the full-throttle run these days from Woodbridge and Occoquan up to the Georgetown waterfront. Right-of-way rules are unknown to a lot of them.
SCENE: On a good day, there may be a half-dozen windsurfers drag-racing in these conditions. If you can work your way upstream past the airport toward Haines Point, it can be fun to sail with the DC monuments in the background. But as you will find, you will definitely want to jump in the shower as soon as you get out of the river.