Skip to content
Three Buoys Tackle • Elkton, MD
Three Buoys Tackle
SAILING ORDERS

One page. The whole trip.

Pick a water, a day and a launch, and print the passage plan: the Crow’s Nest windows, what’s running, the ramp’s own details, live gauge readings — and a float plan to fill in by hand and leave ashore, because the copy that matters is the one on the kitchen counter when you’re late back.

How it works: pick a water, a day and (optionally) a launch ramp below — the orders update instantly and are already filled in for the first water. Hit Print for a one-page copy: forecast windows on the front, a float plan to fill in by hand and leave ashore at the bottom. The link in your address bar is the plan — bookmark it or text it to whoever is meeting you at the dock.
Changing the water reloads the launch list.

Three Buoys Tackle & Supply · Sailing orders

Potomac River at Little Falls

Today · Monday, October 19, 2026 · First quarter, 56% lit

Printed from threebuoystackle.com/trip-planner
Generated Oct 19, 3:24 am

The day's windows

6:33 am – 9:03 am Good (57)
  • · Solunar major — moon underfoot.
  • · First light — low sun and feeding light.
  • · Forecast wind about 5 mph — comfortable water.
2:25 pm – 3:55 pm Slow (19)
  • · Solunar minor — moonrise.
  • · Forecast wind about 9 mph — comfortable water.
4:54 pm – 9:31 pm Good (57)
  • · Dusk — the evening feed.
  • · Solunar major — moon overhead.
  • · Forecast wind about 7 mph — comfortable water.

Sunrise 7:21 am · Sunset 6:24 pm · Moonrise 3:10 pm · Moonset 12:16 am · Not in this plan: Tide (see /crows-nest for why)

Running this month

  • Blue Catfish Fresh cut bait on heavy bottom rigs in the channel Invasive — no limits; harvest is encouraged.
  • Striped Bass Topwater at first light over structure; jig the channel edges after sun-up Seasons, slots and closures change — check MD DNR before targeting stripers.

The launch

No launch chosen — the finder lists every ramp on this water.

Gauge at print time

  • Water Temp: 75.7°F (USGS 01646500)
  • Discharge: 6300 cfs (USGS 01646500)
  • Gauge Height: 3.54 ft (USGS 01646500)

Float plan — fill in, tear off, leave ashore

Hand this half to someone staying ashore. If they have not heard from you by the “overdue” time, they call the numbers at the bottom — starting with you, then the Coast Guard. A float plan has ended searches in hours that would otherwise have started at dark.

Vessel name / description:
Persons aboard:
Departing from:
Departure time:
Returning to:
Expected return:
OVERDUE — raise the alarm at:
Skipper mobile:
Shore contact name:
Shore contact mobile:

If overdue: call the skipper · then US Coast Guard Sector Maryland–NCR 410-576-2525 (or VHF 16) · in immediate danger call 911.

Before you launch

  • ▢ Drain plug IN — check it twice, it is the one everyone laughs about until it is them
  • ▢ A PFD per person, worn by the kids, reachable by the adults
  • ▢ Kill-switch lanyard clipped on
  • ▢ Nav lights working if there is any chance of running at dark
  • ▢ VHF or charged phone in a dry bag; file the float plan above
  • ▢ Fuel: a third out, a third back, a third in reserve
  • ▢ Licences aboard and the day’s regulations checked