The Connection

Alexandria — Blast, blast … BLAST! Captain Alex Skubel is backing out the first water taxi of the day from the Port of Alexandria. "How many on board?" Eighteen for the first run of the day with 122 capacity but he adds they don't sell that many tickets. However, it is very busy at this time of the year. He powers up to 10 knots; it will be 20 minutes to the first stop at Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center and then on to National Harbor. He fills out his log for the Coast Guard and checks the gauges for pressure, voltage, tides and the two generators.

Skubel is dressed in his black shorts, crisp white shirt with four gold bars on the shoulder. He explains he likes the autonomy of being on the boat. It is almost like a desk job, but you are going somewhere. Skubel started school at Virginia Tech but he didn't enjoy it too much. He had been a deck hand in the summer but went full-time after he left Virginia Tech. His training led to getting a license that required 360 days on the water as well as captain training.

He is out on the water and a large boat has gone by kicking up waves. "We are going to rock a little. Please be seated or hang on." They have landed at Gaylord with the large silver coach seats on the Ferris wheel whirling around in the background. He announces to the passengers they will be there for three minutes. He checks; there are 19 on board, seven new passengers. Skubel said, "I have to be very strict on time. If I wait for one more, there is always one more coming."

Skubel says it is very calm today. He says he looks at the weather hour by hour but it is so inaccurate. "I keep an eye on the radar. And with the wide-open river ahead," his hands move across the river, ”I can see weather a long way away." He says the company has the same approach as the postal service, that the water taxi must go on. He says he has been in zero visibility fog with 40-60 knot winds. Skubel remembers one squall that was almost hurricane status with waves crashing over the stern. Fortunately he was not out there but another boat was coming in, and the power was out on both sides of the river and the only lights visible anywhere were on the boat. The ticket person had a flashlight writing tickets by hand. He said, "Passengers sometimes get a little nervous, but we know how to be safe."

Skubel says they have had their fair share of incidents, people getting sick, etc. and they have had a few people fall off the dock because they don't see the gap. But no one has fallen off the boats, and they have installed safety precautions.

As he heads into National Harbor he points out the huge screen where people sit on the concrete steps and watch sports events. “They watched the women's soccer championship there.” As he slowly maneuvers toward the dock, he says he uses mostly throttle to get in. He turns the wheel to port. "I have a lot of control with the throttle." He points out the channel is very narrow here. At low tide it is only several inches deep. "That's why we have to take the south channel, the long way around." He announces to the passengers, "we will be exiting off the back of the boat once the gangplank is in place."

"Stern clear,” the deckhand calls up. Twenty-five on board leaving National Harbor under Woodrow Wilson Bridge back to Alexandria. Skubel says a lot of tourists from the U.S. and all over the world ride the water taxi as well as a few who live in the community. “I had a chef who commuted to the Gaylord Resort and a shoe salesman who went back and forth.” The boat passes by an orange triangle indicating the edge of the channel. Skubel was on the first crew of the water taxi when it was established in 2008. “When I started, it was a ghost town in National Harbor.” Now he works 10 months of the year when the boats are operating, with a varying schedule since he also captains the Georgetown, Mount Vernon and Nats boat trips. “It's always a fun trip. We stay on the boat until the game is over. We can hear the crowds yelling in the distance. But it isn't always so much fun coming back depending on the outcome of the game.” Today on the Lady Josephine he will work eight hours with five round trips to Maryland and back. The last trip returns at 11:30 p.m. "Some would prefer it to be later. It is quite a light show at night."