UPDATE: This event has been canceled due to weather. Gotta love NoVA!
One of the events that truly marks the beginning of the season, is the annual Blessing of the Fleet put on by the Occoquan River Maritime Association. If you’ve never done this before, it’s a real blast. Think of it like a boat parade. The boats line up on the Occoquan River, and pass by the Blessing Boat at Belmont Bay Marina to receive their annual blessing from the good Rev Tim Bauckman of Tim’s 2 at Fairview Beach. The general idea is, the blessing may keep your props from spinning off or hitting a log maybe!
Each boat is typically decorated in crazy themes, and there is a contest for the best decorated boats. The voting happens shortly after the event. There’s some pretty cool prizes for the taking, including free fuel cards from local marinas, Washington Nationals tickets (right behind the dugout), and so much more.
The deadline for signups is midnight of May 17, and the event is May 18 at noon, so there’s still time to signup! Get yourself on over to the event’s Facebook page HERE to check it out and sign up right HERE!
To get an idea of how this all works, here’s a short video from last year’s event!