NOAA ENC

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

US4MD40M - POTOMAC RIVER


INDEX:

NOTE A
AUTHORITIES
AIDS TO NAVIGATION
ADMINISTRATION AREA
CAUTION - SUBMARINE PIPELINES AND CABLES
OYSTER AQUACULTURE
WARNING - PRUDENT MARINER
POLLUTION REPORTS
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
CAUTION - TEMPORARY CHANGES
RADAR REFLECTORS
NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS
MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS
CAUTION - WARNING CONCERNING LARGE VESSELS
CAUTION - USE OF RADIO SIGNALS (LIMITATIONS)
CAUTION - SMALL CRAFTS
RULES OF THE ROAD (ABRIDGED)
SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS
CAUTION - DREDGED AREAS
TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME
SPEED REGULATION
RACING BUOYS
WATER LEVELS, CURRENTS, AND TIDES
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
COMMENTS REQUESTED


NOTES:

NOTE A
Navigation regulations are published in Chapter 2, U.S. Coast Pilot 3. Additions or revisions to Chapter 2 are published in the Notice to Mariners. Information concerning the regulations may be obtained at the Office of the Commander, 5th Coast Guard District in Portsmouth, Virginia or at the Office of the District Engineer, Corps of Engineers in Baltimore, Maryland.
Refer to charted regulations section numbers.


AUTHORITIES
Hydrography and topography by the National Ocean Service, Coast Survey, with additional data from the Corps of Engineers, Geological Survey, U.S. Coast Guard, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.


AIDS TO NAVIGATION
Consult U.S. Coast Guard Light List for supplemental information concerning aids to navigation.


ADMINISTRATION AREA
The entire extent of this ENC cell falls within the limits of an Administration Area. This area covers land, internal waters, and territorial sea. The territorial sea is a maritime zone over which the United States exercises sovereignty extending to the airspace as well as to its bed and subsoil. For more information, please refer to the Coast Pilot.


CAUTION - SUBMARINE PIPELINES AND CABLES 
Additional uncharted submarine pipelines and submarine cables may exist within the area of this chart. Not all submarine pipelines and submarine cables are required to be buried, and those that were originally buried may have become exposed. Mariners should use extreme caution when operating vessels in depths of water comparable to their draft in areas where pipelines and cables may exist, and when anchoring, dragging, or trawling. 
Covered wells may be marked by lighted or  unlighted buoys.


OYSTER AQUACULTURE
Oyster bed aquaculture leases may exist within the limits. Mariners are cautioned that numerous markers may exist and watermen may be active in the area. Caution should be exercised when navigating in or near these areas, not to anchor or ground, in order to avoid damage to the beds. Depths may be shallower then the soundings shown. For more information, contact the local department of natural resources.


WARNING - PRUDENT MARINER
The prudent mariner will not rely solely on any single aid to navigation, particularly on floating aids. See U.S. Coast Guard Light List and U.S. Coast Pilot for details.


POLLUTION REPORTS
Report all spills of oil and hazardous substances to the National Response Center via 1-800-424-8802 (toll free), or to the nearest U.S. Coast Guard facility if telephone communication is impossible (33 CFR 153).


SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Consult U.S. Coast Pilot 3 for important supplemental information.


CAUTION - TEMPORARY CHANGES
Temporary changes or defects in aids to navigation are not indicated. See Local Notice to Mariners.
During some winter months or when endangered by ice, certain aids to navigation are replaced by other types or removed. For details see U.S. Coast Guard Light List.


RADAR REFLECTORS
Radar reflectors have been placed on many floating aids to navigation. Individual radar reflector identification on these aids has been omitted from this chart.


NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS
CITY     	    STATION	FREQUENCY	BROADCAST TIMES
Heathsville, VA     WXM-57	162.400 MHz	24 hours daily
Salisbury, MD	    KEC-92	162.475 MHz	24 hours daily
Washington, DC	    KHB-36	162.550 MHz	24 hours daily
(Manassas, VA)


MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE	TELEPHONE NUMBER	OFFICE HOURS
Baltimore, MD/ 			*(703) 260-0107		24 Hours daily
Washington, DC	
Wakefield, VA			*(757) 899-4200		24 Hours daily
*Recorded 


CAUTION - WARNING CONCERNING LARGE VESSELS
The "Rules of the Road" state that recreational boats shall not impede the passage of a vessel that can navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway. Large vessels may appear to move slowly due to their large size but actually transit at speeds in excess of 12 knots, requiring a great distance in which to maneuver or stop. A large vessel's superstructure may block the wind with the result that sailboats and sailboards may unexpectedly find themselves unable to maneuver. Bow and stern waves can be hazardous to small vessels. Large vessels may not be able to see small craft close to their bows.


CAUTION - USE OF RADIO SIGNALS (LIMITATIONS)
Limitations on the use of radio signals as aids to marine navigation can be found in the U.S. Coast Guard Light Lists and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Publication 117. Radio direction-finder bearings to commercial broadcasting stations are subject to error and should be used with caution.


CAUTION - SMALL CRAFTS
Small craft should stay clear of large commercial and government vessels even if small craft have the right-of-way.
All craft should avoid areas where the skin divers flag, a red square with a diagonal white stripe, is displayed.


RULES OF THE ROAD (ABRIDGED)
Motor less craft have the right-of-way in almost all cases.
Sailing vessels and motorboats less than twenty meters / sixty-five feet in length shall not hamper, in a narrow channel, the safe passage of a vessel which can navigate only inside that channel.
A motorboat being overtaken has the right-of-way.
Motorboats approaching head to head or nearly so should pass port to port.
When Motorboats approach each other at right angles or obliquely, the boat on the right has the right-of-way in most cases.
Motorboats must keep to the right in narrow channels when safe and practicable.
Mariners are urged to become familiar with the complete text of the Rules of the Road in U.S. Coast Guard publication "Amalgamated International & U.S. Inland Navigation Rules".


SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS
During the boating season small-craft warnings will be displayed from sunrise to sunset on Maryland Marine Police Cruisers while underway in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries.


CAUTION - DREDGED AREAS
Improved channels are subject to shoaling, particularly at the edges.


TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME
Recommended traffic lanes have been established 2.8 kilometers / 1.5 miles east of Smith Point Light.


SPEED REGULATION
No vessel shall be propelled or operated at a greater rate than nine kilometers / six statute miles per hour in the Potomac River upstream from the Arlington Memorial Bridge, in the Washington Channel upstream from Haines Point, in the Anacostia River upstream from Greenleaf Point to the Benning Road Bridge, nor within or bordering any of the anchorage areas; nor shall any vessel be propelled or operated at a greater rate than sixteen kilometers / ten statute miles per hour when passing the wharf area of Alexandria, Virginia, except in case of emergency.


RACING BUOYS
Racing buoys within the limits of this chart are not shown hereon. Information may be obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard District Offices as racing and other private buoys are not all listed in the U.S. Coast Guard Light List.


WATER LEVELS, CURRENTS, AND TIDES
Real-time water levels, tide predictions, and tidal current predictions are available on the internet from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) at https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/water_level_info.html and https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents_info.html .


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Additional information can be obtained at www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov.  


COMMENTS REQUESTED
NOAA encourages users to submit inquiries, discrepancies, or comments about this chart via NOAA's ASSIST tool at https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/customer-service/assist/ .


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