This is Hank's video of our recent kayak trip to the Exumas Islands in the Bahamas. Hank, who is an avid sea kayaker, grew up on a sailboat and spent some time in the Bahamas. So he was already familiar with the Cays and the history of the islands. He started organizing the trip late in 2007 and recruiting kayakers. In the end we had eight ... Hank, myself, Sandra, Rick, Steve and Muffy, and Marc and Anna. We rented seven kayaks from Starfish Kayak Tours ... six singles and one double. We also rented a gas stove and a portable toilet. Yes, it was leave no trace camping and we had to take it ALL out.


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As I mentioned in my previous post, I took my Spot Satellite Messenger on the trip so that people back home could monitor our progress. SPOT worked great. The Google Map above shows some of the original SPOT OK landmarks as well as some Cay identifiers. I didn't use the tracking feature. But I kept SPOT on while we were kayaking and sent an OK signal when we landed at each campsite and when we launched from the campsite in the morning. In addition, I sent an OK signal when we were out on the water with the idea that the OK GPS coordinate would show the direction of our route that day. I also used SPOT to mark places of interest like where we snorkeled and the mangroves and the iguana cay. If you'd like to see the original SPOT tracks, before I put those neat colored markers on the map it is still available HERE.



So the total trip was nine days on the water. You would think that one would tire of all those blue skies and turquoise seas. Well ... just for variety Mother Nature sent us rain and powerful winds a few days into the trip.



Hank is in the process of writing his very detailed trip report. You can read it HERE. I put together more of a photo essay. You can see it HERE. Below is a taste of what you might see ...




-Susanita

I finally finished the trip report and photos from our week long kayak/camping trip to Maine. The trip report was too long to fit within the blog so I put it on a separate site. I also had this cool magazine template I wanted to use. So the trip is written up to look like a magazine or book. You really have to see it. So just GO HERE. And don't come back till you're read the whole thing!

-Susanita

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. Maine was great! But we had so many photos and the trip was so long that it's taking longer than normal to do the photo editing and blog post. But here is a snippet from the trip. We spent two days camping on a very small island off the coast of Mt. Desert Island. It started raining as we were paddling out to the island and the rain lasted for two days. We left the morning that video was taken and the rain did clear the next morning but we forgot to wish for calm winds!

-Susanita

To step on the island of Tangier is to step back in time. For on Tangier the people retain a way of life that other parts of the Chesapeake Bay have long forgot. They are watermen, who leave early in the day to make a living from commercial fishing and crabbing. Not an easy life but one borne in tradition and rooted in love of the Bay. What adds to the appeal is the unique dialect one hears on Tangier. The island retains a dialect that is best described as old Elizabethan English. As Shannon would say on the return trip to Crisfield, "I felt like we left the country. That we traveled farther than we did."

This was my third trip to Tangier. Last summer I blogged about the second trip ... “Island Hopping in the Chesapeake Bay.” It was such a fun trip that I couldn’t wait to do it again. So when Shannon said she wanted to do the trip on her birthday I was more than willing to navigate. We started planning the trip way back in the Spring and I invited a few people through the summer. None of the invitees could make it but a few days before the trip I made a last minute invitation to David Moore, who by coincidence shares the same birthday as Shannon, and was looking for a birthday adventure as well. So I had two birthday kayakers on my first solo navigation around Tangier.



We met at the dock at Crisfield around 11 am Saturday morning for the 12:30 ferry. Many people have kayaked to Tangier. But Shannon had been busy all summer learning to sail, moving into a new house, changing careers and a host of other things unrelated to kayaking. The long open water crossing didn’t appeal to her, so we decided to save our energies for exploring around the islands and take the ferry out and back.

There are several ferries with service to Tangier and Smith Islands and most of them take kayaks as well. We decided to take the mail boat. So we loaded the kayaks on to the mail boat and the bags with all our camping and kayak gear. The cost was $15 per person and $10 per kayak. The sky was blue. The sea was calm. It looked like the start of a perfect weekend. Earlier we had heard reports of rain forecast for the weekend but it didn’t seem serious enough to cancel the trip. And besides I had built in a number of exit plans in the event of bad weather.

The original plan was to launch from Tangier and kayak east to the small uninhabited island of Watts, about 6 miles from Tangier. Have lunch on Watts, then kayak from Watts east to another island where we would camp for the night. Then on Sunday we would kayak back to Tangier, explore the island and camp on the southern tip of Tangier which is a long sandbar. Monday our plan was to kayak from Tangier north to Smith island and take the afternoon ferry back from Smith to Crisfield. But David was looking for a long open water crossing so he planned to stay with us until Sunday and kayak back to Crisfield. I was a little concerned that he would be making the long open water crossing alone, but David is an expert kayaker and loves the challenge of open water crossings.

I had printed out and laminated maps of the crossing, maps of Tangier and Smith and a list of important GPS coordinates for the trip. I had two GPS devices and in one I had programmed the GPS coordinates we would need to navigate around the islands. The second GPS was intended as a backup. Navigation is not a skill I claim to excel in. I get lost just wandering around my house. But I was sufficiently confident that I could navigate the short crossing from Tangier to Watts and out to the other island.



After eating a hearty lunch of crabcake sandwiches and steamed shrimp at the dockside bar we prepared the kayaks for launching. The first obstacle was finding a way to lower the kayaks from the pier to the water. The pier itself was perhaps five feet from the water. We found two lower launch docks but even at the lower levels we were almost three feet from the water. It was difficult but David was able to lower each packed kayak into the water and secure it to the pier pilings while Shannon and I took turns climbing down from the pier into our kayaks.

Once in the water I realized that the foot brace for my rudder was out of reach. The last person who used my kayak was 5’10”, much taller than me and I had forgotten to reset the foot brace to my setting. Raising the kayak back to the pier was out of the question as was adjusting the foot brace from inside the kayak. So we paddled over to a beach so I could make the adjustments.



Six miles later we landed on the south end of Watts. The sea had been like glass and the sky was clear and the humidity low. I told Shannon she couldn’t have asked for better weather. After a short snack at Watts we realized we were running a little behind schedule. It was around 5:30 and we wanted to get to the other island soon enough to set up camp before the sun set. The long lunch on Tangier was probably about a 1/2 hour too long. So I tried to pick up the pace a little for the final four miles. This was easy to do with a wing paddle but Shannon uses a greenland paddle and she started to lag farther behind. Still the weather was so clear I wasn’t too concerned. David must have felt as anxious as I did to get settled on the island because he made a bolt for the shore.



The sun was setting by the time we pulled all the kayaks up on the beach. I looked around the strip of beach that we had enjoyed so much last year on the Island Hopping Trip. It felt a little lower ... like it had sunk a little. Shannon seemed a little concerned that we didn’t see a really clear high tide mark and so was I.

We made camp and started battling the bugs. There were biting flies and the little noseeum bugs. Fortunately I’m not that tasty but Shannon was having such a horrible time she had to take refuge in her tent. David wore his tent. He brought this safari like netting that he wore over his hat. It was very entertaining.

Shortly after the sun set the wind started to kick up. The bugs disappeared and we were left with several hours of bug free living. Shannon crawled out of her tent and joined us in the meal preparations. We stayed up until around 10 telling stories or mostly listening to David’s stories. Neither of us had spent much time with him prior to the trip. I won’t spoil all his stories but what we did learn is that David likes to live on the edge ... and tomorrow when the weather would turn stormy we would find out just how close to the edge he was willing to go.

It was hard to sleep that night. The tide had brought the surf in closer to the tents and it was really loud. Several times I woke up and went out to check on the kayaks. They were fine, but just as a precaution I moved them up the beach about six feet. The next morning we awoke to grey skies and a stiff wind. But it was still within our abilities. We decided to kayak over to Watts and assess the weather from there. If we could make it, we’d continue to Tangier but if not, we’d stay on Watts until the weather cleared.

The four mile paddle to Watts was quite different from the paddle over. The swells were 2-3 feet. Shannon said that I often disappeared between the swells. And at times they were breaking over the bow. But it was the wind which was the real challenge. By the time we got to the south end of Watts we were clearly struggling. David and I both race recreationally and we have a racer mentality. When the conditions got worse we dug in deeper and harder. But Shannon is adverse to pain. I glanced back a few times and saw that she was starting to falter. Clearly we were not going to make it to Tangier, at least not without a rest stop.



Shannon and I had also both experienced kayaking in the wind earlier in the season at Assateague. After that fateful trip we had learned to respect the wind. But David is stronger, more confident of his skills and he still thought he could make it to Crisfield. So after discussing the options Shannon and I decided to camp on Watts and proceed to Tangier in the morning. David decided to continue his course to Crisfield.



I know at this point many people are wondering ... why he left us on the island with a storm approaching. Clearly there is safety in numbers. But we had planned this trip alone and we were both skilled kayakers and we had good tents. We had no fear about staying on the island through the storm. But I was worried about what he was kayaking in to. It would be hard for me to explain what he went through that night so I asked him to write it up. This is David’s story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David’s Story

Shortly after saying goodbye on Watts Island I began wondering if I was doing the right thing by leaving you and Shannon on the Island, knowing that a storm was coming that evening. I knew both of you were good kayakers and had good tents, but it is always better to have more people if things got ugly. I kept debating about leaving the whole time I was going by the island and wondering if I should just turn around and stay on the Island and go back to Tangier with you guys.

As far as the trip back to Crisfield I knew it was not going to be an easy one. It was going to be slow paddle because the boat was weather-cocking really bad, plus the fact I really did not know where or how far Crisfield was from Watts Island. I figured it was about 12 to 14 miles Northeast. I kept looking at the charts so that seemed about right and hey the Chesapeake is only but so big. I figured the trip would take me between 3 to 4 hours, since I left Watts Island around 1:00 PM or so I figured I would be at Crisfield no later than 5 PM and back home by 7:30 PM. I started to wonder how was I going get the kayak on the dock that is 6 ft above the water. I spotted the ladder at the dock before we left Crisfield and figured I could come up with some way to get the boat on the dock.

Right away I saw this was going to be an ugly paddle, going downwind with the waves to get around the island and on my way towards the northeast was a constant struggle. Every once and awhile I could just ride the waves and gain some speed but most of the time I had to keep using correcting strokes to keep me from turning into the wind, which was coming from the southeast. Normally I would just use body lean to turn my kayak, but with the boat weighted down with camping gear and the waves as rough as they were my leans were not as far as they needed to be nor as effective.

I normally take a lot of pride in the fact that I have a Greenland style kayak and do not have to use a rudder. Anyway I finally got past the island and attempted to maintain a heading between 30 to 60 degrees northeast. The wind was 150 degrees southeast so that is where my boat wanted to go, so the wind and I compromised and I ended up going 90 degrees due east, which was not where I wanted to go.

As I got further and further away from Watts Island the waves were getting bigger and the wind was getting stronger and for every two paddle strokes forward I had to do one back correcting stroke to head 90 degrees. As the waves got bigger and white capping I thought it was kind of cool being out here all alone in this turbulent water with the waves breaking over my head every once in awhile. I thought, well this was kind of fun. It was like doing whitewater. Initially I was not concern about flipping in the boat because my Roll was solid as a Rock. (Kidding) It was always hit or miss especially with gear, but what I was confident about was that I could always get back in my boat if I fell out. I had practiced this a lot. And the other thing I was confident in was that under very rough conditions I had never flipped this boat.

However, a couple things started to happen that caused me to think that I better be prepared for a flip in the middle of the bay six miles from the nearest land. First, I was taking in a lot of water every time the wave broke over me. Things were floating around in my cock pit. Second, the boat was really getting heavy riding really low and I was getting a bit tired.

I spotted the water tower that I knew was in Crisfield and it seemed like it was really far away. My GPS told me I had paddled seven miles so far from Watts averaging a very discouraging 3 mph. I then remembered that I marked the starting point in Crisfield on my GPS when we took the ferry ride to Tangier. All I had to do was find the location on the GPS. I did and it was 12 miles due north. So that was really disappointing.

Now the wind was beginning to howl. The waves were moving faster and they were breaking over my head ... and often. So I decided the only way I was going to get there was to start riding the waves since they were heading in the right direction anyway. Riding the waves was not going so well because it seemed like I was riding in the waves not on top and taking in even more water and not having any control. So now my biggest concern was getting the water out of my boat, which I did not want to attempt under these conditions. So I started heading to the nearest piece of land due east, the land turned out not to be so near, but an accommodating beach 12 miles away from Watts Island. I kept thinking who was the idiot who ever invented a kayak without a rudder and why didn’t my boat come with an automatic pump like Susan’s and why did I not use my whitewater skirt? When is that storm coming ... and this was not so fun anymore.

I finally made it to the beach and my GPS told me, Hurray you made progress. You are now only 10.4 miles away from the Crisfield at 330 degrees NW. Ok ... so now I am tired. So I lie down, setting my cell phone to wake me up in one hour. The time is 5:30 PM. Then I start to wonder ... should I just set up camp and head back in the morning so as to avoid the storm or do I push on because I do have that meeting at work the next day? After about a half hour of dreaming of waves breaking over my head the biting flies gave me a wake up call on my exposed ankles. I decided I really needed to make that meeting.

So now with a full belly of peanut butter crackers, chewy Granola bars and some Chocolate pudding I was ready to head out. With all the water out of the boat now I was going to surf the waves all the way with a whitewater state of mind, meaning no correcting strokes. I was just going to brace and lean my way through and surf the waves and make as much speed as I could. It worked for the most part. I was making pretty good progress and I was averaging about 5 mph and coming up to a land mass which my GPS wanted me to paddle right through to get to the starting point. Crap ... now I had to go paddle around the peninsula to get to the channel to get into Crisfield.

It was now completely dark. The storm clouds were blocking all the stars and the moon. It started to have a very eerie feel with my boat light casting an eerie glow. There were no other boats on the water and I thought this was pretty cool except for I couldn’t see anything and I needed to go to the bathroom. I could make out lights in the distance which I knew must be Crisfield so I started to head to the lights and every time I started to head into a channel the lights would disappear meaning that there was land blocking my progress. So much for short cuts. So then I just headed for the boat channel marked by the red and green channel lights, knowing that this was going to take me the long way into Crisfield but at least it would get me there.

Now I am thinking I am not that far away. The waves were dying down a bit so I probably won’t flip and drown and then I starting hearing the thundering and lightning. So now I am thinking, Oh great. Now I am going to get fried by lightning. So I pick up the pace and start down the channel into Crisfield finally arrived at the dock at 9:58 PM.

I did a grand total of 23 miles from Watts Island on top of the 4.5 miles coming from the other island to Watts Island. So I was a little bit worn out. Once I emptied out my kayak it was easy hoisting it out of the water onto the dock 6 ft above, especially with the lightning getting closer and the thunder louder. I finally got everything into my car right before the rain start pouring down. I called you guys to let you know I had made it and then started worrying that I should not have left. I should have stayed and helped out on the paddle back to Tangier and then hopefully had enough sense to take the ferry back to Crisfield.

So now all I had to do was drive two and half hours back in the rainstorm without falling asleep at the wheel. I finally made it back to Annapolis at 1:00 and I made it to my meeting the next day worrying how you guys were making it through the storm.

~David

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Back on Watts Shannon and I were bored. The island is small. We had hiked it earlier. There was only one bird and I had photographed it enough. It didn’t seem scared of us. It just hung out defiantly on it’s perch. It had no intention of leaving. But we couldn’t either. I’m pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be camping there. But we really couldn’t go any farther.

It was a struggle just to set up the tents. I started to wonder why I had skimped on the tent stakes. I had only bought 4 of the big sand stakes and two more of the cheaper sand stakes. Clearly if you need sand stakes you need the big ones. So I had saved a few cents. It didn’t seem worth it as a I was trying to secure the tent in the wind.

I had a book to read but Shannon had not brought anything. So she decided to go for a swim. I was a little concerned because the waves were getting higher and the tide was coming in. But she promised she wouldn’t go far from shore.

Back in my tent I tried to read but it was hot and muggy. And my hair wouldn’t dry which was annoying. The combination of sweat, dirt and saltwater had created a condition where my head seemed terminally wet. I turned on the VHF radio to the weather alert channel and listened to the forecasts. They have to run through every forecast in the area and that was tedious. So I decided to call David Shames, who always seems to be close to a computer and ask him to look up a forecast online. Fortunately my cell phone had excellent coverage. I got hold of David and explained our situation. Between the laughter he went online and found a forecast for Crisfield. The wind which was southeast would change to northeast by morning. Scattered thundershowers were forecast for the evening. I thanked him for the information and went to find Shannon.

Shannon was body surfing in the waves ... in the buff. I promised her I wouldn’t look but she had to come out of the surf so we could discuss the forecast. Lying on the sand with the waves crashing around her I told her what David had said. I suggested we aim for an early morning paddle to Tangier because the weather is usually calmer first thing in the morning. She agreed and like a seal slid back into the Bay.



I used the rest of my fuel to heat a can of soup then I went back to the tent to read. The sun set and the wind continued to pick up. The tent was holding steady but the sides were bowed inward by the force of the wind. Around 8 I tried to called David Moore on the cell. No answer. I tried again a half hour later. Still no answer. I was a little concerned but remembered that David is like a cat. He always seems to land on his feet. So I drifted off to sleep.

It was probably around 10 when the storm approached the island. I could hear the thunder from afar. Then the sky lit up with lightning. It was coming so quick that it seemed like someone had just turned the lights on outside and left them on. I could hear the waves crashing on the shore and wondered if the dune I had chosen was high enough. Then it hit. The force of the wind was incredible. The sides of tent were pushed inward and I could feel the tent lifting off the sand. The wind had shifted and was coming from the north. The tent stakes on the north end had come loose and the tent was being pushed upwards. I stood up and braced my feet to secure the bottom of the tent and used my arms to secure the sides of the tent. I wondered how long I could stand this way. I must have stayed in that position for 15 minutes or so battling the wind and hoping I could hold the tent steady. Then as quickly as it came it ended. The wind died down to a slow roar. Cautiously I climbed out of the tent to inspect the damage. Four of the six tent stakes had come lose. I looked over at the kayaks. They were still secure on the dune. I walked over the sand dune to Shannon’s tent and yelled into her tent to make sure she was ok. I checked her tents stakes and hers were fine.

The wind picked up and continued to blow throughout the night but that was the only thunderstorm which hit us directly. I could hear thunder in the distance. Somehow I got back to sleep and awoke the next morning to a steady rain. I waited about an hour for the rain to let up then ventured outside. The sky was grey and heavy but there was the hint of blue peaking around the clouds. The water was almost dead calm. I yelled over to Shannon’s tent to get ready to leave. A half hour later we had the tent and gear packed in the kayaks and we were on the water.



The GPS was helpful in keeping us on course but it wasn’t hard to navigate to Tangier. We could see the island from Watts. The waves were a little choppy as we got further away from Watts and out in the unprotected waters. But it was manageable. An hour and half later we paddled close to shore where the crab houses are situated. The channel was past the crab houses. But now we had another problem. The tide was low and we were running out of water. We tried pushing the boats forward with our hands in the sand but that would only take us so far. We had to get out of the kayaks and walk pulling the kayaks behind us.

Eventually we made it to the channel, got back in the kayaks and paddled up to the dock which was now about six feet from the water. Hoisting the kayaks to the dock was out of the question. Fortunately the water was low enough that a small beach had formed next to one of the sea walls and there was a break in the wall. So we were able to empty the kayaks from the beach and lift them over the sea wall.



I went back to the crabhouse / bar that we had eaten at on Saturday and asked if there was any place where we could shower. They directed us down the street to the marina where we found an open door and a hot shower ... waiting for us. Clean and refreshed we had lunch at one of the restaurants and called David Moore to let him know we were ok. We took the 4 pm ferry back to Crisfield and called it a day. To see the photo albums, CLICK HERE.

~Susanita

This past weekend I joined the CPA sponsored kayak trip to Assateague National Seashore. This is a regular CPA kayak/camping trip and I had signed up for it several times, canceling each time because I thought the weather looked bad. Kayak/camping on Assateague is usually only recommended in the early spring or fall due to the flying biting insects which take over the island during the hot summer months. So twice I had cancelled and twice I had regretted my decision afterwards because the trip leaders do such a good job of finding alternate paddling sites when the weather is too rough to kayak out to Assateague. So this year I was determined to make the trip. And Shannon also signed up so I had a travel companion. As it turned out, my first kayak/camping trip to Assateague was truly a memorable trip that I will not soon forget.

Shannon and I drove down Friday night and met the group at the National Park Campground. There were 11 paddlers total: Ralph, Greg, Bela, Todd, Mike, Ed, Nancy, Debbie (who would arrive Saturday morning). Kingsley, Shannon and myself. Shannon and I were late getting on the road because I had to stop at REI on the way down to pick up sand stakes for the tent. By the time we got to the campground the temperature had fallen and I was tired. So Shannon set up her tent and I decided to throw the rest of the gear out of the truck and sleep in the back. It was warmer but only a tad more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.

The next morning we awoke to a herd of wild ponies hovering around the porta-potties and water spigots. It turns out the horses wait around for campers to turn on the water so they can get fresh water every morning. Several of us obliged the thirsty ponies and Shannon photographed them. In one set of shots, Ed is slowing surrounded by ponies until he is completely boxed in.



We launched that morning from Ferry Landing. Debbie met us at at the put-in. Shannon had borrowed a very old drysuit from my friend Peter but it was made before Gortex and extremely heavy. I thought she would roast in it. So I convinced her to skip the drysuit and wear her wet suit. We were all suited up and almost ready to launch when Shannon made the startling discovery that she had left her spray skirt at home. I was pretty sure Ralph, the trip leader, would not let her join the group without a spray skirt. So we were very happy when Nancy produced a spare spray skirt. She adjusted it to fit her cockpit and we were off.

The water on the Bay side around Assateague is only a few feet at best and much of the paddle was a slog as we maneuvered through shallow water. On the way out we passed another herd of ponies and Shannon and I took turns taking photos of each other next to the herd. Before she got her new waterproof Olympus, just like mine, it was pretty much me taking photos of her on the kayak trips we did together. It's nice to have photos of myself on these trips for a change.

We paddled out to the Pine Tree campsite for lunch. I didn't bring my GPS but I'm guessing that was about a 5 mile paddle. I was famished and started in on a can of sardines I had brought. Shannon is a real health nut and I'm a recovering junk food addict. She likes to comment on the food I eat especially if it's not healthy or laden with additives. So Friday afternoon when I went shopping for the trip I looked for food that would meet the "healthy" standard. Shannon eats sardines a lot. And she had shared some with me on a previous kayak outing. They didn't taste that bad. So I figured a few cans of healthy sardines would work great as kayak/camping food. The can is small, packed with protein and it takes minimal space and preparation. I devoured a can of sardines, some crackers, and a bunch of healthy grapes.



It was during lunch that Shannon brought up the idea of circumnavigating Assateague. She had mentioned it to me before but I didn't know if she was serious. Now she was going over the map with Ralph and Greg and asking how we would do it. Circumnavigating the island is probably 70-100 miles which is not a huge distance over several days. But the issue is when to do it. The seas are generally calmer in the summer but the flying, biting insects would make camping miserable. Someone suggested we cover ourselves in mud like the natives. Hmmm.

Kinglsey and Debbie left the group after Pine Tree and paddled back to the put-in. About a half hour after we launched back into the Bay headed for the Pirate Islands I felt it ... the sardines were dancing in my stomach. I was also feeling the effects of caffeine withdrawal since I had forgotten to pack my camping gourmet coffee supplies. It was perhaps a 4 mile paddle till we got to our final destination at Green Run and it was all I could do to keep from puking into the Bay.



When we got to Green Run I rushed to put up my tent so I could crash and take a nap. Shannon went for a walk to the ocean side and took a few self-portraits of herself by the water. Ralph and the others put up a canopy tarp over the picnic tables. By the time I had woken up from my nap and people were preparing dinner the rain had started to fall. The tarp over the picnic tables was a great idea. It started out as a slow drizzle with light wind. Occasionally the tarp would fill with water overhead and we would have to raise it up to let the water drain away. But it kept our group of nine pretty dry. I tried making a dinner of rice but the sardines were fighting for survival in my stomach. It was either them or the rice. So I decided they had to go. I would give the details ... but as Shannon would say ... that's too much information.

When I returned to the group Greg offered some caffeinated tea and Nancy offered up some honey. A few cups later and I was starting to feel human again. Greg found some oysters while he was birding in Chincoteague Friday morning and hauled them down in his kayak packed in ice. Someone started a fire in the fire pit and Greg grilled the oysters for everyone to share. Still feeling a little "fishy" from the sardines, I declined.



Bela brought out a deck of cards and a few of us played several hands of hearts. A few people headed off to their tents and Ralph started discussing the paddling options for tomorrow. The weather forecast had deteriorated. There was a storm coming in which would bring rain in the evening then by morning the winds would shift and a low pressure system would fill the Bay and with it would come the winds. The prediction was 20-30 knots with gusts to 40 knots. One idea was to have two paddlers go north back to the cars at Ferry Landing and send the rest of the group to Chincoteague. Chincoteague is the name of the VA portion of Assateague island and it would put the majority of the paddlers in a southerly direction with the heavy winds at their backs. I volunteered to paddle north and Ralph informed me that I had already been volunteered. That was ok. I needed the workout.

Back at my tent with the rain pouring around I tried to settle in but it was cold and my sleeping bag was wet. I put on all the dry clothes I could find and piled the rest of the stuff on top of the sleeping bag. I felt like a bag lady but it was keeping me warm. The rain came down pretty hard until after midnight. And then it stopped and the wind seemed to stand still. I awoke to dead calm. The calm lasted about half an hour. Then the winds picked up ... slowly at first then gathering momentum. By the time the group was up and packing gear the wind was howling around 25 knots though less at the campground than out on the water. A 25 knot wind is a 6 on the Beaufort Wind Scale. It would be rough paddling but within the abilities of experienced paddlers. But out on the Bay the wind was gusting to almost 45 knots, which is gale force. It was the wind gusts which would later drive us back in.

The decision was made to keep the group together and paddle north back to Ferry Landing. The stronger paddlers would put the less experienced paddlers in tow. And at times we would probably have to walk the kayaks. It was going to be long day.

We launched into the somewhat protected waters of the cove at Green Run two at a time to avoid having windswept kayaks piled up along the pier. The launched kayakers paddled across the cove to the marsh. Once we were all together we started our paddle out to the Bay. There was this dividing line in the water where you could see the effects of wind in the non-protected Bay. It reminded me of what we call the eddy line in a whitewater river. I positioned my kayak at 11:00 and began to paddle out into the Bay. I didn't get very far and neither did the others. Shannon became stuck right away. The wind was trying to point her kayak south toward Chincoteague. She was able to paddle north few strokes then I was stuck. I put the paddle down in the water to find out how deep it was. The water was about 2 feet deep. Even if I tipped over I wasn't going to drown, although I might get covered in mud. But the wind was so fierce that I couldn't turn the kayak north. The only other option I could see would be to paddle south away from the wind and possibly turn the boat around later ... but if I got pushed down the Bay too far it would make a rescue harder. In desperation I called for help and Ralph came over and hooked up a tow.



Back with the group we paddled back into the cove. I don't know if there was any real discussion but it was clear that we were not paddling out. As the group reconvened across the cove from the take-out we saw the white ranger truck on the shore. Amazingly someone had come out to check on us. Ralph paddled in first to talk to the ranger and explain our situation. After reviewing the options it was decided that Greg and Bela, who had the best 4-wheel drive vehicles, would go with the ranger to the parking lot and return and start carting kayakers and gear out of the campsite. Not the great kayak/camping trip we had planned ... but at least we didn't have to camp out on the island and wait for the storm to pass which would take several days.



The only "road" back to the campsite was over the beach, which required a permit from the ranger office and only certain types of 4-wheel drives were allowed. There were special procedures for driving over the sand. You first had to let air out of the tire to make them wider and provide more surface area to hug the sand. Bela and Greg did both but Greg's truck overheated on the way out so he had to turn back. Then Bela missed the turnoff for the campground, attempted to turn around in the sand and got stuck. We were sitting in the sun at the campsite when someone spotted him walking down the path to the campsite waving his arms. There was an old abandonned house at the put-in. We grabbed two plywood sheets and carried them out to the beach to provide traction for the wheels. WIth a different group of people this could have been a real stressful period. But this was not a real serious crowd. It was a lot of fun.



So Bela and his truck finally made it to the kayaks and he made four trips across the beach to cart 9 kayaks back to the parking lot for a total of over 100 miles and maybe at the cost of burning out his clutch. Shannon and I were on the second trip. Bela, who loves to downhill ski, likened driving across the slippery sand to skiing. Ironically he had a Paul Simon CD playing in the car and we were listening to "Slip Sliding Away" for part of the trip back.



By 4:30 or 5:00 we were all back in the parking lot with kayaks and gear loaded on our cars. Mike left for home but the rest of the group went to a local restaurant for crabs, lobster and steak. Another successful Assateague Kayak/Camping trip! Between Shannon and I we probably had over 500 photos and video. She didn't have time to edit and post all her photos so I combined the two and created on online Assateague photo album. You can see it by clicking here.

-Susanita

"On an uninhabited barrier island, just off the coast of North Carolina, live wild horses. They roam the dunes and marshes and swim in the small channels between the island and the nearby tidal flats, which ebb-out on the low tides and disappear again with the next high tide. For generation after generation of the coastal people, there have been stories handed-down about the wild horses that roamed these sand banks we now call the Outer Banks. Hardy and tough, they have survived where man could not. They have endured ... through hurricanes, droughts, north-easters, so'westers, and centuries. Now they need protection to survive." From www.shacklefordhorses.org.

On Veteran's Day weekend I met a new kayaking friend, Dee, for a kayak trip to see the wild horses of Shackleford Banks. Dee and I had been emailing for over a month about my Purple Mirage. Dee was looking for another kayak and the Mirage kept coming up as the best kayak for the type of kayaking she does. I had read a few of her trip reports where she wrote about doing solo kayak trips out along the Outer Banks in NC, paddling in heavy surf and dealing with water streaming in the cockpit during difficult surf launchings. This is what the Mirage was designed for down in Australia. She was pretty sure she wanted a Mirage but she wanted to paddle one first. And I'm always looking for an opportunity to paddle some place new.

With a forecast of high's in the 70's and water temps in the 60's it looked like a perfect weekend for kayaking so Dee and I made plans for a kayak/camping trip out to Shackleford Banks. The original plan was to paddle around the sound side of Shackleford Banks and camp on the coastal side of the island, then paddle back to the put-in at Beaufort Sunday morning. But it seems like every time I plan a kayak outing it rains or storms or heavy clouds follow me around and this weekend was no exception. Although we had near perfect weather on Saturday the forecast for Saturday night was increasing clouds and wind. And the forecast for Sunday was even worse ... wind and thunderstorms. So the camping part of our trip never materialized but we had a great day of kayaking.

Friday afternoon I drove from Takoma Park to Dee's house in Durham, NC. Normally I would be a little hesistant about embarking on a long kayak/camping weekend with someone I had never met, but we had exchanged so many emails and it seemed we had so many common interests I had no doubts about the weekend. When I got to Dee's house we quickly transferred the kayaking gear from my car to hers and loaded up the Mirage on the roof rack next to her Explorer. And within minutes of settling into the car I felt like I was sitting next to an old friend. Although Dee is originally from NY she went to college in NC and has lived there most of her adult life. I grew up in Cary, NC not far from Durham. And we're about the same age so we grew up listening to the same southern rock bands.

It was a about a four hour drive down to Beaufort, NC. The time passed quickly as we shared stories about kayaking, traveling and life in the south. One of the best parts about traveling with someone new is that they haven't heard all your stories and you haven't heard all of theirs. We got to the historic town of Beaufort around 8 and found a nice seafood restaurant for dinner. According to Dee and what I've read on the internet Beaufort is a quaint little seaside town with houses dating back to the 1700's. It was known as "Fish Town" in the early 1700's when Blackbeard frequented the coast. We took a walk along the boardwalk after dinner and looked at the huge sailing ships and other vessels in the harbor. But since it was dark I didn't get to see as much of Beaufort as I would have liked. It's definitely on my list of places to see during daylight on my next visit.

Dee had made reservations for us at a small motel a few blocks from the put-in on Harker's Island. We both woke early. And my only request was that we find someplace for a real breakfast. We found a diner not far from the motel and had a real southern breakfast complete with grits!

We obsessed about what clothing to wear kayaking. After all it was November. But the air was already warm and muggy. I brought all my cold weather clothes except for the dreaded drysuit. I ended up paddling in neoprene tights and a tank top. We also obsessed about the camping part of the trip. We both wanted to camp on Shackelford. And even though the forecast was for heavy wind and rain by Sunday the sky was so clear and blue and the air so warm we decided to pack the tent and sleeping bags ... just in case. We figured we could paddle out to the island and keep checking the forecast ... just in case it changed.



Unfortunately the forecast never changed. We never camped. But we did take a break on the island and see a whole herd of the ponies. We also saw one of the giant sea turtles washed up in the surf. Unfortunately it was dead and decaying just a little. We saw lots of the regular birds like seagulls and pelicans but we also a flock of interesting birds with brilliant red beaks that Dee later told me were called Skimmers. And before heading back to the put-in we paddled over to Cape Lookout and toured the famous Lighthouse.



That evening we drove to Cedar Island and stayed in a small motel near the beach with the idea of launching Sunday morning for a short paddle in more protected waters. We were still obsessing about the decision not to camp on Shackleford. I rarely wish for wind and rain but since we made the decision not to camp that evening we were desperately hoping for confirmation Sunday morning that we had made the right decision. As I opened to door of our room to the parking lot Sunday morning I felt my heart sink a little. The sky was overcast but the wind was dead calm. Dead calm. Dee made the observation that it was often calm before a storm. We had a light breakfast at the motel and headed across the street to the beach area. Shortly after we had started our walk along the beach the wind started to pick up. Then the sky turned dark. By the time we had turned around and started walking back to the parking lot we had our confirmation. We could have camped and I'm sure we would have made it back safely. But with gusts up to 38 mph it would have been a struggle.

After driving back to Durham I headed to High Point, NC for a short visit with my parents before returning home. Too see the complete photo album go to the photo page and click on the photo of the pony. There is also a short slideshow/movie on the movie page with clips of the ponies.

-Susanita

Lately, it seems like every time I go camping it rains and this weekend was no exception. It poured down rain Saturday night while I was camping at Elk Neck State Park. Fortunately the rain held off until everyone had retired to their tents. And the group got in a full day of kayaking on the Elk Neck River and enjoyed a potluck dinner at the campground, all the while watching the sky as the clouds moved in and the sky turned grey.

Ralph Heimlich hosted the annual CPA Elk Neck kayak camping trip this weekend. I'm calling it an annual event only because as long as I've been a member of CPA there has been a fall Elk Neck kayaking trip. This was my first Elk Neck Trip. And we had about 20 kayakers for the Saturday morning paddle. Ralph split the group into a "slow paddling group" and a "fast paddling group." Ralph led the slow group and Brian Blankinship lead the fast group. And, of course, I paddled with the fast group.

We paddled about 8 miles to a park with picnic tables and porta-potties. Rarely do I get excited to see a porta-potty but when I'm kayaking and the alternative is to pee in the woods ... it's a welcome sight. As we were leaving the picnic spot Shannon was trying some kind of creative entry into her kayak and fell out into the water spraining her wrist. It made the paddle back a bit of a challenge and towards the end I convinced her to let Brian tow her back. Look for the pic in the photo album.



It was kind of overcast and drizzly all day long. But the big clouds didn't roll in until later afternoon. I saw this as a great photo opportunity and tried to get some good photos of people kayaking under the dark grey clouds.



Only Shannon and Brian would cooperate. Everyone else in the group wanted to hurry back to the campground before the rain started. So ... I got a few shots and then we paddled fast back to the put-in.

Ralph had secured a group camping site at the Park and arranged for everyone to contribute towards a group potluck, which meant we had way too much food. Special thanks to Suzanne for grilling the ribs. All the rest of us who were told to bring a main dish brought chicken. Lots of chicken! Bill Dodge organized a beer tasting for the group which helped put us all in a happy mood. And the rain held off.

Several people brought firewood which kept a nice bonfire going until late at night. I decided to experiment with the settings on the camera and take photos with only the fire as background light. Shannon who is a real photographer and bored with photography in general decided to sing. We sang a few songs but could never really get the group interested in joining in. The wine started to make me sleepy and I left the group around ten. I'm not sure how long the rest stayed up because I fell fast asleep in my tent.

Shannon says some guys came through our campsite late at night talking really loud. I might have heard them but I don't remember. But I do remember the rain. For some reason I find it hard to sleep when it's raining and I'm camping. I think the rain started around 3 am. All I know is that it kept me up until morning. The sun rose and the rain was still beating down on the tent. I laid in the tent and listened to the rain and waited for the sound of someone leaving their tent. For the longest time all I heard was the rain. Finally I heard the familiar sound of a zipper and footsteps walking around. A car door opened. When the rain finally stopped I got up and yelled over to Shannon's tent for her to get up as well. I was thinking we might just have enough time to load up the car before it started raining again.



But the skies were starting to clear. The rest of the campers came out of their tents and Ralph started breakfast ... ham and eggs. I think most people had decided not to kayak even though the clouds were clearing. Shannon was still worried about her wrist which we had taped up with an ace bandage. So we decided that it was best not to stress it further by paddling.

So we got in one day of paddling and one night of camping. Not bad for a weekend which looked like it was going to be totally rained out. Here is the complete Elk Neck Photo Album.

Thanks to everyone for a memorable weekend.

-Susanita

On Saturday, July 22, about 26 people participated in Marshall's Eastern Neck Island Kayak Camping Trip. The paddling was great as always but what really stood out about this trip was the food. Here is but a sampling of the great food we enjoyed on this trip. To the left is a photo of Marshall's strawberry shortcake, Ralph's blueberries and Marshall's homemade whipped cream. We also had grilled salmon, grilled marinated shrimp, homemade herb bread, fruit salad, many different kinds of vegetable and pasta salads, sushi, brownies, cookies and wine. For those who came to the paddle but didn't stay for dinner, you missed out. It was a feast! And all the food was consumed before the thunderstorm hit the campground.



All day long we fought the odds with the wind and rain. As Shannon and I drove on to Eastern Neck Island the sky was dark and crackling with thunder. Along the way we ran into Ralph, who reported that a severe thunderstorm had been spotted on radar and was heading our way. I really didn't think the trip would go as planned but when we got to the put-in we found that most of the kayaks were loaded, ready to go and people were anxious to get on the water. Because of some of the crazy adventurous things I have done in previous lives (hiking around the rim of active volcanoes, backpacking through Central America, ... ) I figure I've already used up about six of my nine lives, so I carefully choose my adventures. Thunderstorms make me nervous. Shannon and I debated the odds. Shannon seemed anxious for some serious surf action so we decided to join the group and venture out on what looked like a potential thunderstorm paddle.


Because the wind had picked up and we had such a big group Marshall redirected the trip to paddle up Church Creek which was more sheltered from the winds and growing waves. Brian and Saki, who like to paddle fast anyway, led the group, scouting out the river and potential lunch spots and communicated with Marshall by radio. Leading such a large group with so many different skill levels is not a small task. Through the combined efforts of Marshall and others keeping tabs on the group with their VHF radios, the group stayed together and no one fell behind.

We stopped for a quick lunch along the shore of Church Creek but the wind was picking up and Marshall decided we should head back to the put-in at Bogles Warf. Some of the stronger paddlers assisted the slower paddlers who were having trouble with the wind by towing them back to the put-in. As we were paddling back, the sky would darken and the winds would tease us. But except for a few light sprinkles the rain that threatened never came.



When we got back to Bogles Warf, Shannon, who is still trying to decide on her next kayak, decided to test paddle and roll Peter's red Anas Acuta.



She did several rolls and I tried to capture them with the movie feature on my digital camera. To see Shannon rolling in action go to the Movies page on my website. I combined all the rolling clips into one. Also this is the last photo we have of Shannon's paddle. She left it at the put-in and when Marshall went back to look for it ... someone had already taken it. It was a nice paddle and hand-made. It will be missed it.

We got to the campground around 2. The sky continued to tease us with these big rolling black clouds. I set up my tent and headed for the shower. Marshall had pulled three picnic tables together for the group dinner and the food preparations began early. We were all afraid that the sky would break loose any minute. So we had an early dinner a little after 5. Ralph brought out his ever powerful Mojo wand which doubles as a marshmallow roaster. See photo to the right. But even with the power of Ralph's Mojo we were not able to keep the rain away.

It was around sunset when the sky really darkened. The combination of the sunset and the heavy storm clouds created an orangish pink glow on the horizon. A group of us headed for the deck which overlooks the bay on the west side.


The wind had really picked up and whitetops were forming on the water. We stayed for a while watching the lightening light up the sky. And then someone pointed to a band of showers approaching us from the distance. I decided to make a run back to the tent. About 10 minutes after I had settled into my tent the thunderstorm hit. I don't have a watch so I don't know how long it lasted but it definitely pushed my tent around for quite a while.



I had forgotten my sleeping pad so I was sleeping on an old blanket which was really no different from sleeping on bare ground. It was a fitful sleep. I had really strange dreams all night long. The next morning Shannon, who enjoys relating dreams almost as much as I do, recalled her dreams which were even stranger than mine. I won't reveal the intricacies of her mind, but I will say that in my dream someone was stealing my shoes.

The rain drizzled throughout the morning. I delayed getting up until I absolutely had to. Fortunately there are some early risers and someone had made a fresh pot of coffee. Ralph cooked up the turkey sausage he had brought for dinner but never cooked. And those with heartier appetites feasted on a sausage breakfast. I had another cup of coffee.



Some people took off early Sunday morning. But about 12 of us headed back to Bogles Warf for another paddle. This time we would make it all the way around Eastern Neck Island. The wind was calm and the sky was clearing. We took one break about half way around the island. Shannon went for a swim while the rest of us took a break on the beach. We got back to Bogles Warf sometime around 1. Shannon and I drove to the office and visitor center to see if anyone had turned in her paddle. No paddle. We can only hope that whoever took it recognizes it as a kayak paddle and doesn't mistake it for driftwood or worse ... firewood.



Thanks to everyone for a great trip. And especially thanks to Nancy for organizing the group dinner, all the kayak herders with VHF radios and to Marshall who continues to organize these great kayak adventures.

-Susanita