Day 172 (full report)

Daily stats
Start: 5:30 AM - Lewes, DE
Finish: 6:00 PM - Avalon, NJ
Time: 12:30
Daily dist: 40 miles
Total dist: 3500 miles
Companions: Rick and Hank for the Delaware Bay crossing
Weather: Flat calm and beautiful most of the day
Notes: Finding camp spots proved to be challenging on the inside ICW

Today started out as well as I could have ever hoped then ended up becoming quite a long day. Sticking to an early morning routine I was up and on the water by 5:30 AM. From my camp site I paddled two miles east along the shore to where two friends (Rick and Hank) were planning on meeting me. They had driven down from the Baltimore area last night and stayed in a motel room. Having missed the message Rick left on my cell phone Monday night about their plan, I missed the chance to stay with them rather than in my tent. The camp spot I found was so beautiful I’d be crazy to say I was disappointed though.

Sunrise viewed from camp smooth water

Even though they live on the east coast, I know Rick and Hank from San Diego. They were out there a couple years ago with another gentleman named Joel to do a month long trip on the Sea of Cortez. I gave them, three kayaks, and all their gear a ride from Aqua Adventures across the border to San Filepe where they started their trip south along the eastern edge of Baja. Interestingly I ran into Joel when I paddled into Key Largo way back in February. Today, about 1500 miles of paddling later, I met the other two of the “Three Amigos” in Delaware.

Hank taking a break mid crossing

The big plan (that we finally sorted out last night) was for me to catch up with the guys in the morning and do the Delaware Bay crossing with them. They would then catch the ferry back across the bay to their car and return home while I continued on. Right on schedule I spotted the guys carrying their kayaks to the water and a few minutes later we all launched into the glassy smooth water of the Delaware Bay. We enjoyed the great weather and smooth water as we paddled toward the lighthouse on the New Jersey side of the bay. I’ve crossed quite a few state lines on this trip but somehow my arrival in New Jersey was special. I think it’s because it was the first state that was separated by a significant boundary (15 miles of open water) so it truly seemed like I was arriving at a different place. The rest of the day proved that was true in more ways than one.

We reached the Jersey Shore by about 10:30 then continued up the outer coast to the Cape May inlet. There we came inside and after getting chased off a marked beach by the police, we parted ways. They paddled south down a canal to the other side of the island to catch the ferry back to Delaware and (after filling my water bags at a fuel dock/bait shop) I paddled north on the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJICW) in search of a place to camp about twelve miles ahead.

Rick in the marina where we parted ways

Upon finding the beach I had highlighted on my map as a potential camp spot I also found dozens of signs that read “Keep out bird nesting area”. Not wanting to ruffle any feathers (ha ha) I pressed on toward another suspicious looking island indicated on my map that I had also highlighted. Along the way I came upon a spoil island that I hadn’t noticed on the map which would have made a decent camp. Being a bit greedy, and not adhering to my rule about not passing up good camps, I pressed on. I truly thought that if I was finding high ground that wasn’t shown on my map then the high ground that was must be even better. Boy was I wrong. An hour or so later I came upon the spot I thought would work only to find a tiny grass and bird covered lump in the marsh grass that I wasn’t quite desperate enough to make work. So I pressed on a little further still to the last spot I had circled on my map the night before. Thankfully, after 12 hours of paddling, I found high ground. The island was full of several birds but I managed to find a high spot big enough for my boat and tent that kept me far enough from the birds to not disturb them too much. The island was barely above high water and when large boats would pass their wake would come uncomfortably close to my tent. By then I was so tired that I didn’t mind and the spot proved to be quite comfortable.

The day’s adventure taught me a valuable lesson about the spoil islands and topography of New Jersey. While it’s actually a more scenic place to paddle than I expected, it’s going to require more planning than I’ve had to do in the past months. It’s due to the fact that the spoil islands are either overgrown with vegetation or are posted bird sanctuaries where I can’t legally land. The wing it and figure it out as you go approach just won’t work around here. Lesson learned.