Boat

Rescue crews in three boats responded to a boat in distress on the Potomac River at Dam No. 3 Wednesday night, according to a fire official. People on the boat were taken to the West Virginia side of the river, according to Roger Otzelberger of the Potomac Valley Volunteer Fire Co. People on the pontoon boat were able to drop anchor in the river at the dam up from Harpers Ferry after they experienced problems at about 8 p.m., Otzelberger said....

Remember the Brady Bunch driving off to the Grand Canyon in a station wagon singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in a round? It is one of those images that has stuck in the back of my mind over the years. It suggests the kind of joyful, connected moments a family can have. It is a snapshot of cheer and enthusiasm, and the simple, unadulterated joy of living and being with the people around you. Now imagine a different picture. What if all six of the Brady kids had appeared to be in a catatonic stupor as they gazed at a new release on a glaring portable DVD screen?

Eastbound Interstate 70 was closed for about 15 minutes Sunday after an accident in which a boat came off a trailer, Maryland State Police said. The accident east of the Clear Spring exit was reported at 5:25 p.m. Sunday, a Washington County 911 dispatcher said. Four vehicles, including the trailer carrying the boat, were reported to be involved in the accident, the dispatcher said. No injuries were reported and no one was transported to the hospital, the dispatcher said.

A 19-foot pleasure boat was untied from its dock in West Virginia early Saturday, taken to the Big Slack Water area of the Potomac River near Downsville and set on fire, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police. The boat, a 1995 model inboard-outboard 180 horsepower Ebbtide, was white with a blue racing stripe. It was completely destroyed and it sank. Divers from Maryland Natural Resources Police recovered the charred remains of the boat Monday afternoon, said DNR spokeswoman Patty Manown Mash.

Bowers Marine Sales Inc. on Virginia Avenue, Hagerstown, enjoyed a special visit from Santa Claus on Saturday, Dec. 1. Santa sat with children and discussed gift ideas and ways to enjoy the holidays. Sitting on a new 2008 Pro Team 190 TX boat for these meetings with Santa enthused both children and adults. Santa planned to visit Bowers Marine again on Saturday. Complimentary refreshments were to be served and pictures with Santa were to be available. Among those participating in the Dec. 1 event were Bowers Marine store manager Jocelyne Melton, rigging associate Daniel Lightfoot, title administrator Shauna Price, sales associate Archie Findley, parts associate Kevin Mills and lead mechanic Nick Zdziera.

Emergency crews towed a disabled boat back to the ramp near Dam No. 4 on the Potomac River around 11:40 a.m. Sunday, according to Washington County Emergency Services. A man and woman were in a boat when the motor quit about half a mile upstream from Dam No. 4, a 911 dispatcher said. No one was injured, the dispatcher said. A Washington County Special Operations boat and Williamsport Volunteer Fire & Emergency Medical Services responded to the call, which came in at 10:38 a.m., the dispatcher said.

Washington County Commissioners Vice President Terry L. Baker holds the hand-carved wooden C&O canal boat replica his grandfather made that was donated Tuesday to Discovery Station at Hagerstown Inc.'s C&O Canal display.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A fisherman in a boat was rescued from rapids on the Shenandoah River Wednesday afternoon after the boat's engine quit and the craft drifted into the rough water, a fire official said. The incident occurred in an area of the river known as "The Big Eddy," a favorite fishing spot along Bloomery Road, said Ed Smith, chief of the Independent Fire Co. The area is calm, but flows into some rapids that get progressively stronger as they extend down the river, Smith said.

Matt O'Connell of the Washington County Special Operations takes off from the Big Slackwater dock in a new inflatable rescue boat recently purchased to replace a 23-year-old boat. He will be testing Mike Haupt on the operation of the new boat. The new 14 1/2 foot swift water boat cost $9,800 and will be used for water rescues in the county. The department's old boat was ripped last year during a water rescue. During rescues, it will be easier to get people into this type of boat, said Washington County Special Operations Team Chief John Bentley.

Walking around the campus of Hagerstown Community College, Seth Chapelle is a tall, mild-mannered student pursuing a registered nursing degree. But put him in a kayak and set him on a whitewater river, and he transforms into a freestyle athlete capable of making his boat do rapid-fire rolls, flips and pirouettes. He becomes a competitive athlete. A world-class athlete, in fact. Chapelle, 22, of Sharpsburg, has qualified to represent the United States at the World Championships in Plattling, Germany, in June.

Area high school baseball coaches whose teams competed against those coached by Ronald Clatterbuck knew they were often in for a hard-fought battle. Clatterbuck, a former Berkeley Springs, W.Va., High School baseball coach, came at games with “every ounce of energy he had” and the enthusiasm was evident in his players, some of those coaches said Sunday. Clatterbuck, 75, of Berkeley Springs, died Saturday afternoon in a boating accident while he and his son, Ross, and grandson, Chasen, were fishing on the Cacapon River, according to Morgan County Sheriff Vince Shambaugh.

Big Slackwater Oct. 13 - Images of the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which had faded with time, were resurrected in 2012. The 2.7-mile section of the towpath known as Big Slackwater was closed after flooding in 1996 and it deteriorated into a treacherous ridge overrun with brambles, thistles and poisonous plants. Towpath visitors were detoured off the trail and onto a dangerous route with no shoulders following 4.5 miles along Dam 4, Dellinger and Avis Mill roads. Two years ago, the National Park Service determined that during a five-year period, there were 35 accidents along the detour that resulted in someone being taken to a hospital.

Jan “Scott” Frey, known for his love of boating, hunting, fishing and golf, is remembered by his family and friends as a “true Eastern Shoreman at heart.” Treasured family memories include days and weeks spent on their boat, which was docked in Cambridge, Md., the hometown of both Scott and his wife of 36 years, Jacalyn “Jackie.” “We did love it,” said daughter Heather Burke of Smithsburg. “The beauty of boating was that we didn't have TV and telephones. It was just our family.

The Big Slackwater boat ramp along the C&O Canal will be closed from Friday at dusk to Saturday at 3 p.m. to accommodate a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the restoration of the area of towpath known as Big Slackwater.  The ceremony begins Saturday at 10 a.m. Park Superintendent Kevin D. Brandt will lead a tour of the newly restored towpath from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Parking for the event will be at the Bowman Farm fields at 15910 Cheneys Neck...

Rescue crews in three boats responded to a boat in distress on the Potomac River at Dam No. 3 Wednesday night, according to a fire official. People on the boat were taken to the West Virginia side of the river, according to Roger Otzelberger of the Potomac Valley Volunteer Fire Co. People on the pontoon boat were able to drop anchor in the river at the dam up from Harpers Ferry after they experienced problems at about 8 p.m., Otzelberger said....

For more than 35 years, the town of Williamsport has held a festival in late August that has been called by various names - first C&O Canal Days, then Williamsport Days.  This year, though, the festival has a new name, C&O Canal Days of Williamsport, and is new and improved, according to festival organizers. C&O Canal Days run today through Sunday, Aug. 26, with most activities Friday night through Sunday.  Joyce Kramer, co-chairwoman of the organizing committee, said it's a new day for the festival.

Robert Calum Lunsford of Fairplay achieved the Eagle Scout rank in 2011. Calum's Eagle Scout project was to refurbish a reproduction Civil War-era cannon, carriage and limber at Antietam National Battlefield. When his project was completed, the rangers gave him a certificate that would allow him to fire the cannon during one of their live-fire weekends. Since you have to be at least 18 years old to legally fire a cannon in Maryland, Calum has had a long wait. But on July 28, he finally got his moment on the battlefield and fired the cannon.

Eastbound Interstate 70 was closed for about 15 minutes Sunday after an accident in which a boat came off a trailer, Maryland State Police said. The accident east of the Clear Spring exit was reported at 5:25 p.m. Sunday, a Washington County 911 dispatcher said. Four vehicles, including the trailer carrying the boat, were reported to be involved in the accident, the dispatcher said. No injuries were reported and no one was transported to the hospital, the dispatcher said.