The conditions were ideal for the two-mile open water crossing of the Potomac to see the half-sunken ships in Mallow's Bay. This trip was reminiscent of an earlier visit this year to Staten Island to photograph the Graveyard of Ships - assorted and rusting wrecks waiting interminably to be cut up for scrap.

The boat launch is located on the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Not an easy place to get to, but all the other put in options had bigger drawbacks that made them too far for an after-work paddle, or involved lugging my boat down a 200 meter trail to reach the water. If you can get to the Quantico boat ramp, located on Chopwamsic Creek, you'll find plenty of parking but no other facilities. The creek has a small channel that takes you quickly out to the Potomac River. From there it's a solid two-mile paddle to reach the nearest point in Maryland, on the opposite bank of the river.

The so called "Ghost Fleet of Mallow's Bay" consists of mostly completely sunken wooden ships with only their metal fittings protruding above the surface of the water. Not very interesting. However, two of the ships still had a substantial portion of their hulls well above high tide waters.

Interest in visiting this site came from reading a trip report about the sunken ruins at Woody Web. Paddling trips like this one, where there's an opportunity for a little exploration, hold the most appeal for me. Nothing's better than having an undiscovered place to paddle.

An opening in my schedule appeared just when chatter about visiting this site began, and so I had to jump or wait impatiently for another chance to go later or perhaps never. Unfortunately this meant a solo trip but the weather report was favorable, and upon weighing the risks and opportunities, I felt confident I could make it paddling alone.

I reached the Maryland shore quickly and with no problems. The waves began to increase from about six inches to a foot as I progressed. The first thing I saw upon arriving was rusted rebar-like spikes sticking up from the water in a pattern that suggested they had, at one point, held wooden construction vessels together. As I paddled around trying to avoid hitting anything I realized that there were also some spikes just below the water line, and nearly invisible. I found this out the hard way when I hit one, cringing as it scraped the bottom of my fiberglass kayak. My objective was the large steel ship at the far end of the bay. Once there, I tied up and went on board this rusting hulk. Of course the dangers are obvious, but my devilish curiosity won out. I won't reveal what I found on board beyond the contents of the pictures I took. I prefer to leave it as a mystery for like-minded wreck raiders.

Next stop was another decaying relic only a few paddle strokes away. Again, it's possible to land and simply walk aboard this ship where I attempted a few artsy photos. Once I had my pictures I left the eerie burial waters and headed directly back, using a longer route across the river. When I got within a few tens-of-meters from the edge of the river, I thought I heard singing. It turned out to be drilling marines rah hooing, and invisible to me from my shallow position in the water.

Before returning to the put in I decided to investigate Chopowamsic Island. It's a tiny spot of eroding land with a couple abandonded houses ready to drop into the water. I wanted to see if the island was circumnavigable. It turned out that it was, and I did paddle around the other side where I could see the marines helicopter base. From there I paddled back into the creek, took a sunset picture, and ended my 10-mile solo expedition.

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