Portage to Portage Paddling Project
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Where to from here?
  • Equipment List
  • Who's Following Jake?
  • Trip Log and Location
  • Where I'm going
  • Calendar
  • Links
  • Photos
  • Extras
  • Best of the Blog

Day 164 (slideshows and planning)

5/18/2010

5 Comments

 
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.
Picture
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.

Picture
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.

5 Comments
Lyn Stachovak
5/19/2010 01:54:37 am

It looks like you're having a fantastic time in Virginia. I can't get over how many great people you're meeting on this adventure. I'll bet there's hardly any room left for people to sign your boat anymore???

Dad and I love you - keep paddling.

Mom

Reply
Sean F. link
5/19/2010 11:59:49 pm

Jake, We need to get the 2 Kayak Kevin's together sometime!! A meeting of the Florida KayakKev & the Virginia Kayak Kevin; how Kool!! Keep Paddling and sounds like the trip is going fairly smooth. Hope to get up to see you in Wisconsin in the next year!!
-Sean F.

Reply
?
5/20/2010 03:52:28 am

Is there a way to hook up a make shift temporary motor to your kayak ???

Reply
Larry
5/20/2010 03:57:32 am

Please post when you think/know you'll be on the Erie Canal, so we can try and get up there for a bit. That is if Aqua Adventures doesn't keep Otto too busy this summer!

Reply
Ron in Vancouver
5/20/2010 06:22:56 am

Hey Jake! Thanx for the link to Kevin! Planning a figure 8 tour around Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands), hopefully next year.

You seem to be enjoying a very exciting journey. Your blog very well set up. I am thrilled with your sharing this. May the winds and tides stay with you.

Ron
A fan in Vancouver BC

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Best of the Blog
    Freezing temps, theives, pepper spray, manatees,  gators, & tornados.
    Get up to date by reading blog highlights from the trip so far.

    Picture
    Photo by Michael Franklin

    Author

    Jake Stachovak
    The Portage to Portage Paddling Project guy
    .

    SPONSORS

    Aqua Adventures
     
    Seda Kayak

    Kokatat

    Werner

    North Face

    Snap Dragon

    Nigel Foster Designs

    Seal Line

    MSR

    .

    Need help with the lingo?  Click here to go to the Portage to Portage blog vocabulary site.

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2012
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.