Day 153

Daily stats
Start: 6:15 AM - Sneads Ferry, NC
Finish: 11:00 AM - Cedar Point, NC (Barrier Island Kayaks)
Time: 4:45
Daily dist: 14 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: None
Weather: Clear with highs in the 80’s
Notes: A short run that took longer than I expected to Lamar Hudgen’s store Barrier Island Kayaks.

Early morning sunrise on the ICW

It always seems as though when I have a short day of paddling planed it takes forever to get to my destination. It must be the excitement of having a partial day off, or perhaps just the break in routine that disrupts my rhythm and thus my ability to sit in the boat for even half as long as I would on a normal day. Today with a 14 mile run to visit Lamar at Barrier Island Kayaks, I figured an average pace would get me there in about three and a half hours. The tides did work against me a bit and I may have calculated the distance incorrectly, either way it took an hour longer to get here than I planned and I was getting quite squirmy in my seat by the time I arrived.

Perhaps not a good spot for a lunch break

bombed out armored vehicles you never know what you're going to see on the ICW

When I started planning this trip last summer I placed a pin in Swansboro North Carolina very early on. After meeting Lamar at a symposium at Sea Kayak Georgia the previous year and working with him to get NDK boats shipped to Aqua Adventures in San Diego, I knew that he was a great guy and could help me sort things out when I came through his area. He was actually at the Sweetwater symposium down in Florida in February but I didn’t have much of a chance to chat with him. Mostly just a how’s it going… I’m on my way. Over the last week or so we’d been playing phone tag but had never actually spoken to each other. Just the same, when I crawled off the water and wandered up to his door he greeted me with open arms and a big hug. He truly is as nice as everyone says.

Some of the kayaks at Barrier Island Kayaks That's my kind of back yard.

Lamar is just now in the midst of gearing up for the upcoming busy summer season. Yet he made time to take me to lunch and help me track down some fresh lithium batteries to hopefully cure what ails my SPOT device. After I sorted my gear and got organized I had a chance to query Lamar on what he knew about the route(s) ahead. Information that I desperately need in order to figure out just how I’m going to get myself to Norfolk.

When he realized that he couldn’t help me beyond a certain point, Lamar put in a call to a friend that runs shrimp boats up and down the Outer Banks and is a kayaker. Thom the shrimp captain has a unique blend of experience that allows him to not only have seen much of the area but also know how it relates to a kayaker’s needs. From the phone call we learned that Thom was happy to give me some advice however he couldn’t make it over today but probably could in the morning. I had intended to stay for only a half day but with an opportunity to get valuable local knowledge, and with a need to track down a new SPOT device, it was worth sticking around an extra day. So as long as I was going to be here for more than just one night, Lamar invited me home to his house to grab a shower and sleep in a real bed. He also invited me to join him and his wife Lisa at their friend’s (and former employee‘s) rented vacation house for some dinner and good company.