Day 159

Daily stats
Start: 6:15 AM - Under Hwy 94 Bridge on ICW
Finish: 3:15 PM - Durant Island (very beautiful camp spot)
Time: 9:00
Daily dist: 30 miles
Total dist: 3000+ miles
Companions: None
Weather: Rain for the first three hours then NE wind 15mph (crossing head wind)
Notes: I had to break camp in the rain. Then follow shore on Alligator river to stay out of the wind as much as possible.

After spending the last three nights on a spoil island, concrete dike, and under a bridge I thought I was in for another marginal camp spot on wind swept shell beach. You can only imagine how my heart sang after a long day of hiding from the wind when I laid eyes on this place.

A beautiful sight when yo thought you'd be sleeping on a pile of shells

I’ve camped in dozens and dozens of spots on this trip and few were as peaceful and beautiful as this one. Perhaps it was the fact that I had anticipated much worse or because I had woken up and broken camp in the rain. But this beach on this island will be worth re-visiting some day. It’s that nice.

Today was all about strategy. No matter how long it took I needed to get myself to the top of the Alligator River in order to be positioned for a 15 mile crossing of the Ablemarle Sound tomorrow. There wasn’t much (if anything) for camping further south but it didn’t matter, I needed to be here to be sure I could get across the sound before the winds blew up tomorrow morning. Murphy’s law dictates that when you absolutely must be somewhere in your kayak the winds will try to work against you. Sure enough the wind was out of the NE at 10-15 mph all day as I paddled straight north on the three mile wide Alligator River. Thankfully the shallow draft of my kayak allowed me to literally weave between stumps along the East shore of the river to stay out of the wind as much as possible. The armada of sailboats I’d been leap-frogging the last few days were stuck at the south end of the river waiting for a more favorable wind… suckers.

I was 'stump bumpin' all day to stay out of the wind.

Near the top (north end) of the river I passed under what was probably the longest bridge I’ve gone under on this trip. From my position on the far east side I couldn’t see the other end over three miles away. Without the shelter of land on my right past the bridge I had to work hard the last hour to reach Durant Island where Google Earth had shown what I thought could be shell/oyster beaches on the north side of the island. As I came up behind the isalnd, seeking shelter from the wind, I caught a glimpse of sand amongst the trees on shore. Instead of beating another two miles around to the other side of the island I paddled in to investigate and that is when I discovered this beach. Boy I’m glad I did.

This scenery and a squeeky sand beach - it doesn't get much better.

Still overcast and humid it wasn’t exactly drying weather but I laid out my rain soaked tent and gear to dry and drank in the sight of the placid water in the lee of the island framed by cypress trees and pines right at the waters edge. Friday’s crossing of the sound was still the major order of business so I made dinner and repacked everything I could in the boat so I could make a hasty departure in the morning