Next message: Richard Goodwin: "Re: lv-ab: Catamaran life..."
Years ago when I was a student at G.W. University in Washington, D.C., I
used to hang out at a marina down around the Navy Yard, somewhere around
4th and P St. SE, I think, called Buzzard's Point. It was a real
rundown place at the time, owned by a couple of lawyers, and managed by
a 300-lb guy named Junior, who would sit on the dock drinking 151-proof
rum straight from the bottle while my friend and I did part time work in
the yard in exchange for sailing time in one of their old wooden day
sailors.
The slips were full of liveaboards who built "boats" that were basically
plywood shacks on empty steel drums, tied to the ramshackle dock
system. For $10/month they got to live there, complete with water and
electric, and pay no property taxes, which infuriated the local tax
collectors. The convicted spy Alger Hiss was reputed to have been a
resident there at one time.
One time there was a storm and a 20' tidal surge that lifted all the
boats so high they pulled the docks right up out of the mud, and the
whole shebang headed on down the Anacostia River toward the bay. They
had to send a tug boat after it to tow it back.
Another time a bunch of us were sitting on a picnic table enjoying a
beer from the coke machine that was secretly stocked with Bud, when a
guy came running in the front gates, across the yard, and out through
the bushes on the other side. While we were mulling this over, a second
guy came running into the yard and followed the first one, waving a gun.
Lady Bird Johnson approached the owners with a proposal to burn the
whole thing down, boats and all, as an example of beautifying the
nation's capitol. They turned her down.
Buzzard's Point might not have been the safest place in town, but it was
certainly interesting.
Anybody know if it's still around?
Dick
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