Blessing of the Fleet is an ancient maritime tradition, dating back to the mediterranean fishing fleets. The thought is that if your vessel received a blessing, your season would be bountiful and you stood a better than average chance of not drowning at sea! For 20 years now, the Occoquan River Maritime Association has been hosting this event on the Occoquan River.
The latest blessing happened this past weekend on May 15, and it was a huge success. Untold numbers of boats passed by the Blessing Boat to get theirs, and they were joined by various local marine police departments and fire & rescue teams. Even though there was a fuel shortage, the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department still brought out their super-cool fireboat!
Events like this tend to bring everyone out, and there was no shortage of Prince William County VIPs and other interesting characters. We got to corner a few, and after we convinced them we were harmless, they actually talked to our Captains John and Karla! Please enjoy the video: