The sleek vessel led a parade of dozens of boats a few miles down the Occoquan River toward the Rev. Denise Bates, who was standing on a boat next to a pier on Belmont Bay, clutching a microphone and holding her right hand up high.

Marking the start of the boating season, Prince William County Fire and Rescue boats led the parade on the Occoquan River for the Blessing of the Fleet. (Photos By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

The guests -- a mix of county and state politicians, the well-to-do and well-connected -- softened their chatter as they approached the minister, who was dressed mostly in pink.

"Gracious God," Bates began, "Send your blessing upon the vessel Days of Indulgence, her crew and all who travel aboard. Grant her safety upon the seas, peace in her harbor, and may she always enjoy your fair winds and following seas. Amen."

The Blessing of the Fleet, a rite that began centuries ago to bring luck and safe passage to fishermen and other seafarers, marks the official beginning of the boating season. Yacht clubs and other maritime associations sponsor similar blessings throughout the Washington area, particularly on the Chesapeake Bay.

Yesterday's blessing on the Occoquan was also a celebration of a recently completed dredging project, which helped make the river deeper and cleaner. The river, used by hundreds of power boaters and several companies carrying sand and gravel, was becoming so muddy and filled with silt that skippers often would run aground in waters they thought were deeper than they were.

Even during yesterday's festivities, which featured fire and rescue boats spraying water high into the air, Days of Indulgence and a commercial tugboat churned up some mud with their propellers.

But many watermen say the Occoquan's more pressing concern should be the influx of new skippers who are not well-versed in the rules of the water. Officials with the Occoquan River Maritime Association said the number of accidents on the river has increased in recent years.

"The most prevalent unsafe habit is operating the vessel under the influence of alcohol," said Chris Webster, the group's presiding coordinator. "There is a constant need for understanding what the rules are, who has the right of the way, what you do if you're running toward a vessel head-on."

In short, said Bob Anderson, who was scrubbing his boat, Absolut Paradise, for yesterday's event, the blessing is no joke.

"It can always help," Anderson said. "I was in a bad storm three years ago, off Point Lookout near Maryland. We were saying our prayers and a few other words -- words I've never heard my wife say."

Bates, associate pastor at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Woodbridge, extended her blessings to anyone who sailed past her yesterday, even people who seemed to have been unaware that the ceremony was taking place. Boaters honked horns, waved and yelled back "Thank you!"

Inserting the right name of the boat into the prayer was half the battle for the reverend. A Coast Guard official several feet down the shore radioed the name ahead to an aide standing beside her.

Any names the church would frown upon?

"Topless," she said. "We had that one in the morning."