We had a sunny and calm trip up the Potomac to Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina on Friday, May 15. This marina is located off the South Yeocomico River which is one of the first rivers on the western bank of the Potomac. We learned of this marina from Fred Olverson himself who we met at our home port at Beach Marine and then again at a luncheon of the Marine Trawlers Owners Association (MTOA). He travels from the Chesapeake to Florida each year and promotes his marina by offering MTOA members free first night dockage. We couldn’t possibly pass up this opportunity to see Fred again and experience what he has built over the last couple of decades. In addition to dock space for about 200 boats, he also uses his 40 plus acres of fine waterfront property to rent space for RV owners and long term storage for boats, trailers, etc. What a friendly and helpful operation he runs!
We had never seen a marina with so many covered docks before and you can see from the pictures how gaily decorated they were! There were four primary docks and we were assigned a T-head (end dock) at Dock B. Locals, as well as folks from Richmond and Fredericksburg, keep their boats here and many spend their weekends at the marina. Every night (especially on weekends) each dock has their 5:00 “docktail hour” in which we happily participated. Our original plan was to spend one night here and continue on to Alexandria. However, once we arrived at this unique, funky and fun marina, we couldn’t help but stay a second night.
On Saturday, we borrowed one of their courtesy cars to go into the tiny town of Heathsville for a farmer’s market that took place within an interesting historic area. There was an old jail and tavern and local artisans displaying their wares. Lynn was particularly interested in the old spinning wheels, looms, weaving and beautiful knitting projects that were on display. The countryside in that part of Virginia consists of rolling pastoral hills with a variety of crops just starting to show progress. We had fun getting lost as we drove around.
It turned out that the dock we were assigned was hosting the monthly dinner for all members of the marina and guests. So we stayed for the steak dinner (a whopping $10 for each of us) and met many warm and friendly people. They helped us to scope out “local knowledge” anchorages for the the remainder of our trip up the Potomac and treated us like family. Afterwards we strolled up the hill behind the marina and watched the sunset. What a beautiful setting! You can be sure that we’ll stop here again and recommend Olverson’s to all our cruising buddies. We left early the next morning and watched the sunrise as we headed east back towards the Potomac and onward to Alexandria, VA.
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