Blog Archives

Daily stats
Start: 5:45 AM- Pine Island, VA
Finish: 5:15 PM - State line on Assateague Island, MD
Time: 11:30 Hours
Daily dist: 35 miles
Total dist: 3200+ miles
Companions: None
Weather: 5-10 mph head wind, fog then rain then fog then sun then fog
Notes: A hard day but I had to push across the state line to where camping is allowed. I also get a kick out of crossing state lines.

I made the call this morning to commit to two days of paddling on the outside of Assateague Island. The weather predictions showed tolerable winds out of the NE for the next several days so I went for it rather than deal with navigating the twisty marsh grass and shallows on the inside. I also figured that camping would be a lot simpler on the outside as well. There are few high and dry spots on the inside in this area.

sky water and fog for most of the day - I think you can almost see the shore in this photo

True to prediction the wind was in my face all day but was not bad to deal with. It also rained for about two hours which was also not bad. What made the day a bit challenging was the thick fog that drifted in and out throughout the day. It would go from bright and sunny at one moment to completely socked in with 200 yard visibility the next. To find my way along the coast I kept a careful eye on my compass and at the same time ran just close enough to where I could see the waves stacking up before they broke on the beach. It was actually fun for a while but did become mentally taxing as the day wore on. Because of the fog I really can’t say that I know what the outside of Assateague Island looks like. I could make out the boxy shadows of trucks driving on the beach and occasionally when the fog did thin I could see sand dunes stretching as far as the eye can see up the beach. I had hoped to see one or tow of the ponies that the island is famous for but the fog was not helping.

Somewhat dumpy surf but manageable

The state line was my goal for the day for two reasons. The first is because no camping is allowed on the VA end of the island. The second is because I get a kick out of crossing state lines, they’re sort of mini destinations in my much longer route. Of course making it as far as the border meant putting in a longer than normal day and with the head wind slowing me a bit it turned into a longer day still. It was worth it in the end as I ended up in a very pleasant camp spot with horse tracks right on the beach.

Horse tracks right on the beach - I spared you the picture of horse apples on the beach

Day 168 - An "off day" for Jake 05/22/2010

Daily stats
Start: 6:30 AM- Oyster, VA
Finish: 4:00 PM - South end of Cedar Island
Time: 9:30 hours
Daily dist: 30 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: Vic paddled with me for the first hour
Weather: Mostly cloudy and warm w/ ESE wind at 5-10mph
Notes: An off day for me for some reason

Everyone is entitled to have an off day now and then and for me today was one of those days. The day started out great with an on time launch at the Oyster boat ramp accompanied by Vic who paddled with me for the first hour toward the open coast. After we parted ways things seemed to go downhill for me and the day turned out to be more of a struggle than it needed to be.

Vic says farewell one last time

The weather was nice for running up the outside (open ocean) of the barrier islands. After a day of winding through the grass flats on the inside bays yesterday I was happy to be on the outside for a change. The 1-2’ wind waves that were out there shouldn’t have been a problem but for the first time in this trip my lower back was a bit sore and stiff. The constant side to side rock of the boat seemed to make my back stiffen up even more to the point where it became enough of a distraction that for the first time in weeks I didn’t notice how sore my rear end was.

With a sore back and waves constantly slopping over my boat I took advantage of a quick route back inside and ran the back side of the islands for the second half of the day. I had hoped to find my way along a secondary (unmarked) channel that would have cut a corner and shortened my inside route. Unfortunately, the featureless grass flats hid the route and I ended up running a couple miles west to get back onto the marked channel. My back felt some relief from being out of the constant motion of the bouncy ocean and I made good time heading north until I was slowed by the incoming tide. By the time I made it to the first unrestricted spot on the south end of Cedar Island I was very ready to pull in and set up camp. However, the beach there was crawling with people. I didn’t know if they had boated over and were going to leave or if they were staying in the nearby stilt houses on the remote island just that there was at least a dozen people hanging out on the beach.

sit right back and you'll hear a tale...

Not wanting to rub elbows with herds of people I paddled back onto the open ocean (which was now mysteriously calm) and headed up the coast another mile and a half. There I found an empty beach, (empty but for the stranded trawler and dilapidated stilt houses that were there anyway) and finally called it a day.

Knowing Jake he got his tools out and fixed this place up!

Of course the work was not done yet, as I pulled by boat up and started to empty it out I discovered that with all the sloppy waves that washed over my deck in the morning a cup or so of water had managed to find it’s way into my front hatch. So once again I spread all my gear out to dry and dug the sealant out of my repair kit to try to seal up every possible port of entry I could find in the front half of my boat. With luck this time I got the leak fixed and it won’t be a problem again.

There is rain in the forecast tomorrow but the winds are predicted to be calm so I’m hoping to make good time toward Assateague Island.

Day 167 05/21/2010

Daily stats
Start: 7:00 AM- Fort Monroe, VA
Finish: 4:30 PM - Oyster, VA
Time: 9:30
Daily dist: 32 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: Vic Sorensen for the first hour and a visit with Kayak Kevin at noon
Weather: Absolutely perfect weather warm and glassy smooth
Notes: 20 mile crossing of entrance of Chesapeake

This morning Vic gave me a ride back to the Fort Monroe boat ramp where we pulled out last Sunday. Both of us launched again and Vic accompanied me for the first few miles of the day. After we parted ways I set a course of 60 degrees and paddled toward a flat watery horizon in search of land on the other side of the bay.

A few hours later after enjoying perfect weather and very smooth water I arrived at the eastern end of the Chesapeake bridge tunnel. There waiting for me on the other side, on his way out fishing, was Kayak Kevin whom I mentioned I met the other day when he stopped by to go over the local navigation charts with me. Kevin and I chatted for a few minutes then I continued north once again toward the tiny town of Oyster Virginia.

Oyster isn’t much more than a boat ramp, a few houses, and a seafood receiving center. I pulled out there and got comfortable while I waited for Vic to arrive in his truck. Our plan was for Vic to drive up after work and for us to stay in a motel then he would launch with me in the morning and paddle with me again for a couple hours. While I waited for Vic I struck up a conversation with a local Oyster resident named Larry who lives in a tiny boat tied up on one of the docks near the town boat ramp. Larry is a colorful character, a bit rough around the edges, but interesting enough to talk to. He shared some of the iced tea he had but wasn’t interested in the cookies I offered him because they wouldn’t go with beer.

Vic joined me in the mornig

Kayak Kevin was waiting for me on the other side.

Day 165 - 166 05/20/2010

The highlight of the last two days came via a batch of pictures and videos my sister-in-law Amy sent of my nephew Noah riding a bike without training wheels. He’s due to turn five in just a few weeks and seeing those images of him tooling around on two wheels reminded me of how much I’m looking forward to being back with my family back in Wisconsin. I can’t wait to be Uncle Jake full time not just on holiday visits.

My nephew enjoying one of his first two wheeled rides

Most of what I did do over the last two days was clean and maintain gear. Yesterday I spent the day shopping for food and charts to see me through the next couple of weeks. In addition I spent a few hours soaping and rinsing all of my camping gear and dry bags. They’d all become a bit salty over the last few months and consequently were prone to absorbing the slightest bit of moisture out of the air. Today I sanded out a fresh layer of “Marine Tex” epoxy I had added to the keel strip on the Ikkuma (my kayak) to extend the life of it and my hull. After a close inspection of the hull I was pleased to see how well it’s holding up after more than 3000 miles of hard use. I feel confidant that it will see me through the next 2000 miles back home. When the boat was finished I organized my gear and re-packed all of the freshly cleaned dry bags.

At the end of the day Vic and Tracy treated me to a giant meal at a local Italian place for my last night in town. They figured that a big serving of pasta would go a long way toward keeping me going strong during my crossing of the mouth of the Chesapeake tomorrow. The weather looks great for the crossing with only light winds in the forecast so it should be a great day to get back out there.

Day 164 (slideshows and planning) 05/18/2010

The highlight of today was the slideshow I did for a group of folks that gathered at the Appomattox River Company kayak store. With very short notice an intimate group of local paddlers rallied at about 7:00 to hear some of the stories and see more of the pictures of the trip. With a growing bank of stories and pictures I love to share, the slide show is in need of some streamlining before I run the risk of talking all night long, which I almost did last night. Everyone was very supportive and excited about the trip and I had a great time sharing the adventure.

A great group gathered to hear about the trip.

Because it rained almost all day and I couldn‘t spread out my gear to get it cleaned up, the rest of the day was spent catching up on administrative duties and planning my route for the weeks ahead. As far as planning goes I’ve been faced with a decision regarding which route I could take to get to New Jersey. The most direct route up the “Eastern Shore” of Virginia would take me along a fractured shore line much like Georgia. An alternative route would be to paddle up the Chesapeake then across over to the Deleware via the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) canal and back down the Deleware to the coast. The inside route would have added four days of travel but would have allowed me to see more of the area.

The decision was made easy today when I was tipped off in an e-mail from Jim, whom I paddled with the other day. He had heard rumor that kayaks are not allowed in the fifteen mile long C&D canal. I dialed the phone number that he gave me for the canal operator and learned that Jim was indeed right. No non motorized boat is allowed to travel the canal. Even sail boats must have a motor to go across. The ironic thing is that I’m actually faster than a lot of sailboats that commonly have underpowered motors that aren’t really expected to do much more than push the sailboat from a dock to open water. For a moment I considered trying to coordinate a ride on the back of a motor boat or something like that but in the end decided it just wasn’t worth the trouble. The Chesapeake is just another area is being added to my ever growing list of places I intend to visit again in the future.

Me with local kayaking legend 'Kayak Kevin'

For now my sights are set on the eastern shore of Virginia into coastal Maryland across the mouth of the Deleware into New Jersey and on into New York City. To help sort out some of the details of actual route selection and camp spots, I had the rare pleasure of talking, in person, to someone who has been there before. After the slide show Kayak Kevin, a local kayak fishing celebrity and accomplished kayak tripper sat down and poured over the maps of the area with me. Kevin has done several extended kayaking trips all the way around Florida up the Chesapeake and along the Eastern Shore.

Kevin's much slower pace (fishing all the way on a sit on top kayak) has given him an incredibly intimate knowledge of the places he has paddled through. Kevin is a literal warehouse of information for the waters he’s paddled and it was a treat to be able to get that kind of information first hand. As we talked it was funny to see how we both had developed the same selection criteria for what makes a good camp spot and how we’d shared many of the same experiences in our travels. Some of his experiences I’m happy to have not had such as a very real shark attack and when an alligator sounded it’s displeasure with his camp site selection in the middle of the night. It’s worth taking a look at Kevin’s web site he has had some amazing travels in his kayak.

Day 163 05/17/2010

Calm rainless start - Photo by vic Sorensen

So, what does an expedition sea kayaker
do on a day off?

Go canoeing of course.

That was the story for me today as I joined Vic and his friend Cliff in solo canoes on the Blackwater River near Franklin Virginia. Cliff is a paddle-sport product rep who was in the area for a kayak demo day so he decided to stay an extra day to get a little water time for himself. He and Vic had been planning this outing for a while and I was lucky to have made it here in time to join them.

Paddling through the trees - photo by Vic Sorensen

We woke to the sound of sprinkling rain and ended up donning our rain coats as we loaded the canoes on Vic’s truck after breakfast. As we drove to the boat ramp in Franklin, VA the skies opened and it started to pour. The rain paused long enough for us to get on the water with thoughts that we may not need our rain coats but minutes later a steady rain began that lasted throughout the day.

A bit of rain - Photo by Vic Sorensen

I wouldn’t say the rain really bothered any of us, more so it added to the mystique of paddling the twisty tannic brown river through and around enormous cypress trees who’s branches created a tunnel of green overhead. It had been quite some time since I was in a canoe and I felt a bit clumsy at first, but after an hour or so I was getting the hang of it again. We paddled on for several hours, each of us with the curious desire to see what was around the next bend. Frequently what was around the next bend was interesting wildlife ranging from Muskrats to Blue Herons and even, at one of our break spots, a small Snapping Turtle, we think that was digging a nest.

This turtle was the only bit of wildlife slow enough for us to get a picture of

Wanting to try out each of the three different canoes we had along, we paused a couple times to take a break, swap boats, and empty the accumulated rainwater. The fun couldn’t last all day so we finally did have to turn around and enjoy the scenery all the way back to the boat ramp near the paper mill in Franklin. Amazingly, after a full day of steady rain it paused long enough for us to load up and change out of our damp clothes before it began again. Hungry and cold we all ordered a hot beverage and warm meal at Fred’s restaurant in Franklin then continued on toward home. It was a great day of paddling with great company.

Day 162 05/16/2010

3 Comments

Daily stats
Start: 7:15 AM - Great Bridge Locks (near Oak Grove, VA)
Finish: 3:15 PM - Fort Monroe (Hampton, VA)
Time: 8:00
Daily dist: 23 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: Lots! (the biggest group to join me yet)
Weather: Storms early in the morning but for us - Partly cloudy, highs in the 70’s, NE wind 10-15 mph
Notes: I paddled with the group for the first eight miles then with Vic to the take out at Fort Monroe.

So much happened today I can hardly keep it all straight. The day started with a loud clap of thunder as a very active storm rolled through the area. As I listened to the storm rage outside at 4:00 AM I was very grateful to Bill for arranging for me to be in a snug little cabin at the North Bay Shore campground for the night instead of out on a buggy spoil island where I had planned on camping. As big as it was, the storm didn’t last that long and by 6:30 when we were pulling our boats off of the cars the skies had started to clear revealing the beautiful day that was in store for us.

Because the locks were not working yesterday, and because they don’t operate the locks for only kayaks, we couldn’t lock through to the north side of the lock. So this morning we did the next best thing and put in at a boat ramp on the other side. To make the loop as official as possible I paddled a hundred yards upstream to the bottom gate of the lock and took a picture. From there our group of four kayaks continued north up the last miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on toward the Elizabeth River and Norfolk Virginia. Along the way the scenery quickly changed from thickly wooded bottom lands to a very very industrial corridor.

We're not in Kansas any more

The plan was for our group to paddle together for the first eight miles to the Jordan Bridge Park. There the morning crew would catch a shuttle back to their vehicles at the put in and I’d meet up with my friend Vic. Vic would then accompany me through the rest of the very busy Norfolk industrial and Navy harbor to where his truck was waiting at Fort Monroe. Amazingly, it all went off like clock work.

Warm welcome from my friend Vic

After arriving a bit late due to the morning’s storm and an incoming tide flow we found a small crowd waiting for us at the mid point. After fueling up on the snacks that Vic brought, telling a few stories, signing my boat, and taking a few pictures, Vic and I re-launched and continued north. From there the waters went from a busy industrial corridor to an outright HUGE commercial and Navy port. We did what we could to maintain the buffer zone from the Navy fleet while at the same time not getting run over in the middle of the channel where that mandated distance put us. At one point a Coast Guard Patrol boat came by and asked us to please move out of the middle of the shipping lane. Honestly there was no place else we wanted to be less… but the Navy guys have bigger guns. Just the same (with a “the Coast Guard told us to” up our sleeve) we gladly moved to the edge of the shipping lane closer (legally too close) to the Navy fleet. Thankfully the Navy patrol boat that was running up and down the line didn’t give us any trouble and we continued on in peace.

The Wisconsin now a museum in Norfo

Vic and I made great time and by about 3:00 we had bounced across the windy Hampton Roads and on into a boat ramp near Fort Monroe. We quickly loaded up the boats and took a half hour tour of Fort Monroe itself. From there we made a couple stops on our way back to Vic and Tracy’s house where we feasted on a dinner of hamburgers, corn on the cob, and beans followed by a double helping of ice cream. Having thru hiked the Application Trail a few years ago, Vic knows what my body is going through and has made it his mission to try to fatten me up while I’m here.

3 Comments

Day 161 05/15/2010

Daily stats
Start: 5:45 AM- Piney Island on ICW two miles north of Coinjock, NC
Finish: 4:00 PM - Great Bridge, VA (at the only lock on the main ICW)
Time: 10:15
Daily dist: 29 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: Bill Sauer
Weather: Sunny w/ high of 80 and NW then N wind 10+
Notes: I paddled solo the first 14 miles then with Bill to the take out. It was great to have company on the water.

At about 6:00 AM morning I was treated to the last sunrise I’ll see in North Carolina as two and a half hours later I crossed the state line into Virginia.

My last sunrise in North Carolina - notice the wind has already blown up a chop on the water

About an hour later still I pulled off at the Pungo Ferry Road Bridge and met up with local kayaker Bill Sauer. Bill had e-mailed a week or so ago wanting to paddle with me while I was passing through the area. However, at the time it looked like I was going to be past before he got back from an out of town training. As it turned out the day I was held up in Cedar Point last weekend allowed Bill time enough to catch up with me. Having been without cell contact (or internet contact) for the better part of the week I didn’t receive many of the e-mails that had been sent until last night. One of those e-mails was from Bill saying that he was back in town and still wanted to paddle so if I was interested give him a call. It was last minute but to me much of this adventure is about sharing it with others so I gave him a call. Amazingly he convinced his wife and daughter to drive shuttle for him and plans were quickly hatched for him to meet me at the half way point and paddle to the day’s finish line with me. From there he had made arrangements for me to stay in a cabin, if I so chose, at the “North Bay Shore Campground". Bill actually keeps his camper and kayak there all year and stays frequently enjoying direct access to miles and miles of kayaking in the local waters. Of course it’d be un-polite (and crazy) to turn down an invite like that so that’s where I am tonight.

Bill waiting for me at the half way point.

At a quarter to ten this morning (a half hour behind schedule because of the wind) I found Bill, a stranger but for our shared love of kayaking, waiting for me with his wife at the kayak launch spot at the foot of the Pungo Bridge. We said our hellos and after I gave my sore rear end a break from constant sitting we were on our way.

We paddled together enjoying several hours of excellent weather and pleasant conversation where I learned about Bills Navy days and current work as a maintenance technician for a local school bus fleet. At the end of the day we arrived at the Great Bridge Lock, which is the only lock on the main Intracoastal Waterway, and which I didn‘t even know existed until Bill told me about it last night. Bill’s Jeep was waiting for us on the other side (the lower - at low tide - Chesapeake Bay side) of the lock. I was excited to pass through only the fourth lock of the trip so far but it was not to be as the gate was jammed by debris and wouldn’t close rendering the lock inoperable. So we crawled out of the water on the nearby sea wall and called it a day.

The one and only lock on the main Atlantic ICW - and it was jammed open and not operable

As I unloaded the gear from my boat a gentleman approached me and asked if I was Jake. It turns out that it was James Fields from up north who has been following my blog for a while. He was literally on his way to do some paddling on the Outer Banks and figured he’d take a chance and see if he could catch me as I passed through the locks. It was like finding a moving needle in a haystack but the trip karma prevailed once again and he found me. After a quick snap shot and the obligatory signing of the boat I bid him farewell and good paddling as he got in his car and continued south. With luck we’ll be able to re-connect when I pass his neck of the woods in a couple weeks.

I can't believe James was able to find me.

Tomorrow the plan is to meet up with a couple other local paddlers and get back on the water on the other side of the lock then continue on toward Norfolk. My friend Vic will be waiting for me at about the half way point and will accompany me past the very busy Navy and commercial shipping docks.