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Broadkill Canoe and Kayak race info
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10 Things to Remember Seakayaking
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Beckman's Boatique and Repair Shop
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Cape Henlopen Paddlers Fall Winter 01, May 01, June 01 and July/August 01 back to main page
In this issue, we have: This e-newsletter is broken into 5 parts each under 100 kb so that everyone should be able to read it. Some browsers and e-mail accounts limit message size. We have 2 James Branch trip reports to show you, by 2 different people. By: Martha Withers After subscribing to CPA for several years, but never participating in any of their events, I have finally come out of lurk mode. It was the start of the new Delmarva Paddlers list (and I don't really live here just yet) and some very enticing emails from Larry and Chris that convinced me to sign up for an excursion down James Branch from the Trap Pond to Record Pond. Only problem was I had to work on Sunday. Fortunately for me "work" is on a charter boat out of Indian River, and the ocean served up some pretty inhospitable conditions in the form of dense fog, east winds, fog, rain, fog, building seas, and did I mention fog? Our Captain judiciously decided this would not be such a good day to be dropping scuba divers into the ocean, and trying to find them again, so we not too reluctantly turned around and headed back to the dock. Once the boat was unloaded, I made a mad dash for my car to call Chris and say I would be able to join them after all, having anticipated this event and loaded all my kayak stuff the night before. Armed with directions to the Trap Pond launch site, I promptly missed the turn and ended up in Laurel before I finally turned around. A couple more cell phone exchanges, and the group was waiting for me when I finally pulled in - a really great group of paddlers too - thanks for waiting guys. They had my boat off my car before I even knew what was happening. Off we went. I must say I have never paddled in anyplace quite like this before. The creek was very narrow at the beginning with barely room to get a stroke in. Round bends, hairpin turns, dodging branches, logs, going over logs, shimming over hidden logs - what was I getting into anyway? Just as I was sure I had signed up for the trip from hell, Delmarva Dennis assured me that it opens up a little farther down.... OK, I'm game for anything and slogged through - besides, it was not like I was going anywhere else. But it did open up. Sure there were still the obstacles
to get around, but it was a lot of fun, and it was a truly beautiful setting. Imagine being completely surrounded by some of the country's oldest bald cypress trees, which conveniently formed a formidable canopy, which shielded us from the constant light showers. Looking past the trees, it always looked brighter, but that is due to the narrowness of the forest on either side of the creek. Not so narrow that we weren't traipsing though the "living room" of countless critters - turtles, birds, beavers, deer - even a pussycat! There was some talk about 'gators and they really had me going there for a brief minute. We took a rest stop about halfway down, and Robin offered around pretzels and spicy ginger snaps. More stories - if you haven't yet paddled with Delmarva Dennis, you are missing out on one of this area's real treasures. In this lower half of the run, we came upon the old swimming hole - one of Dennis's old haunts from many years gone by. I could just picture it with 10-20 kids having a ball in the summer time. Dennis said the water was quite deep here. A little further down the run, we came to the first real obstacle. Chris had warned me that we might have to do several portages around logs and stuff, but the water level had increased significantly since his last trip and so far, we had not had to do this. However a tree was down across the entire width of the creek, and the shore on one side was quite mucky, the other side firmer, but more difficult to exit and reenter. After some mulling, Dennis said to clear the way - he was going OVER the tree - he just got up enough speed and paddled right up and over the tree! Of course the shape of his bow helped with that maneuver but remember I'm the newbie here, and sure had never seen anyone do THAT before! Chris and I selected to exit our boats, and sit on the tree while Chris and Dennis pulled the boats over and we re-entered. Robin and Charlie tried the alternate side routes, muck and all, again passing their boats over the tree as well. With everyone's help, we all got over, and continued the trip.
We approached the end of the run - a fork in the road so to speak. Charlie and I wondered which way and though some fishermen pointed for us, but we decided to hang out and let the group regroup for the final run down Chipman's Chase to the Records Pond for haul out. Again everyone helped to load the boats onto Dennis's truck, and we made the way back up the road to the launch site to reload the boats onto our respective cars. It was a great day on the water, despite the ever-present rain, and even though cloudy and overcast all day, the place had a wonderful eerie quality about it. I'm sure it's an entirely different place when the sun is out - and I'm sure I'll find out just how different before too long when I go back for my next trip. Thanks to all of you for making this a great day, and especially to Chris with whom I exchanged numerous emails about the outing.
By: Robin Snow
We arrived at Haven Road to find Delmarva Dennis ready and awaiting the arrival of the rest of the paddlers. This was to be a trip around Burton Island, billed to be more of a nature tour than a paddling trip – and so it was. Dennis escorted eight paddlers through the marshes out to Rehoboth Bay and around Burton Island on that early June Saturday. The trip through the marshes was slow and quiet, which enabled us to approach the osprey platforms without intimidating them. No chicks were visible yet, but mom osprey was dutifully sitting on the nest. Dennis informed us that the chicks would hatch in another week or so…usually two per nest. We encountered Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Osprey, Bank Swallows, Skimmers, and Terns before we got to the real birding hotspot. We heard, but did not see the ever-elusive Clapper Rail. As we meandered around the island, we pulled our boats up onto the beach at the Western side of Burton Island. I was quite surprised to find a beach covered in small stones. As far as I could remember, all Delaware beaches were sand. This was a nice change.
Dennis told us about two shipwrecks that occurred near this spot, one in 1785, and the other a few years later. Many artifacts have been found from these shipwrecks. With lots of patience and some keen eyes, we located collectively: an Indian spear point, a peg from one of the sunken ships, many pieces of broken rum bottles, an old milk bottle which was fully intact from a NJ dairy, a 60’s era Pepsi bottle with no chips or cracks, pieces of old china, large ballast stones and some ribs of the framework of the sunken ship buried in the sand. On a more natural note we discovered: moon snails, a sea cucumber, a good-sized starfish, and of course, mating horseshoe crabs.
Dennis carefully overturned the crabs to enlighten us as to how they do what they are most often seen doing. The male crab has a set of mitten like claws that enable him to grip onto the female. The miniscule eggs, which the female crab buries in the sand, will develop until a miniature horseshoe crab is visible in the egg sac. When hatched, the mini crabs will burrow in the sand. When they have grown and developed further, they head out to deeper water, returning to shore at sexual maturity to repeat the cycle.
We re-entered our boats and paddled to the southern side of the island. There again were the sandy beaches we were accustomed to. The island is protected on that side by a sand bar where the horseshoe crabs lay their eggs at high tide. At low tide, the ravenous shorebirds abound to feed on the plentiful, recently buried eggs. These birds have recently arrived from their migrations - most from South America. On the sand spit, we could see and hear Oystercatchers, Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, Yellowlegs, and Skimmers as well as several Gull and Sandpiper varieties. The birds were aware of our presence as we drifted quietly past them on the quickly incoming tide, but their frantic feeding frenzy was uninterrupted by our passing. The shoreline on the south side of Burton Island was littered with downed trees, testimony to many years of heavy storms. Dennis informed us that there was once a residence on Burton Island, with a futile attempt made to farm the island. The tide had changed, and the sky was darkening to our west, so we reversed our course and headed back to Haven Road. The wind had picked up, but once we were in the marshes, the paddling was once again easy. You certainly don’t need a guide to enjoy the natural world on your kayak trips. I have paddled this area solo for years, but I think everyone who paddled that Saturday went away with a better understanding of the importance of the cycles of the crabs and birds along with a peek into the past history of this incredibly rich area.
By: Sweet Pea B This was my first time ever doing this trip. But it was quite funny. The trip started with, of course, me getting my paddle stuck a tree. When my dad said it would be a tricky voyage, he was right! I never expected to be dodging brushes left and right! (Good thing I wore a hat!) We did stop about halfway through after a long hard, leg-asleep paddle. I was happy to see food more than my toes were happy to feel sand. Robin Snow came along with us too, and she shared her occasional jokes and her scrumptious ginger snaps. But my favorite part was the jumping over logs. Although when that time finally did come, I wasn’t as happy with the results as I thought I would be. As you will notice in the picture I got stuck. In the background you can see Jimmy’s boat on land. He decided to exit and reenter.
A little later down the road, the maestro went for a swim. He was talking with Robin and all of the sudden- PLOP! He rolled over. When he resurfaced me was standing waist deep in water, hands on his hips, looking at his overturned boat. Overall, it was a fun trip that certainly tested your ability to paddle. The only bad part was that it was over way too soon! P.S. Thankfully, Jimmy did leave with all 10 toes. J
J
By: Sweet Pea B
Some of you may think, how can a tiny piece of wood with vanish on it be a paddle? Well, let me tell you something, I used a Greenland style paddle for the first time when I was on my James Branch trip and it was so much better than my wide blade, Harmony Sea Passage. I had the most control I ever had on my boat with that paddle. It was lightweight and so easy to maneuver. You could speed up, slow down, and turn around so easily in your boat. With a Greenland Paddle you get a much better bite on the water. And, unlike your regular standard paddle, you can build a Greenland. Cool, huh? A Greenland has, like any kayak paddle, 2 blades. The blade is smaller and the barrel, (I call it the barrel. I play softball. Anything that is cylinder shaped, I call a barrel) is a little smaller than my Harmony, so it doesn’t give me as many blisters. Until my dad makes me a Greenland paddle out of what we have in the back yard, (Oh, yeah. Did I mention you could use just about any kind of wood that you can find?), I use Robin’s 7-foot paddle when she paddles with us! Thanks again Robin!
By: Sweet Pea B
It couldn’t of been a better day for going to James Farm. Nice breeze. Warm day. Warm water. Couldn’t get much better. Actually, it can. If you add kayaks to the picture, it’s paradise! James Farm Ecological Preserve is a place where you can go on nature trails, visit the beach, see tons of horseshoe crabs and have a great time! The mass number of trees makes it shady. There were many people, but the way I see it is that we were all divided into two categories, people having fun and people not having fun. Now which do you think most people were in? Tell me, what’s so bad about talking, kayaking, and seeing and meeting friends?! Come on peeps! This place is the Hawaii of Delaware! It can’t get any nicer!
By: Chris B We met Beth Webb of Bay View Marina Sunday night 6/3 around 6:30, a smaller than expected group, possibly the ominous clouds had scared the others off. A jovial bunch anyway and once we were sure all met the strict requirements of this shallow warm water trip we set off. Paddle-check, boat-check, PFD-check, enter the boat without falling in-check, fun loving attitude- double check. Next time we add water bottles, I forgot mine. This is Beth’s backyard so she led the way. Across the little Assawoman Bay past the entrance to the canal, carefully avoiding a pontoon boat and then up Miller Creek. It was evening and the light was fading, a brisk breeze was blowing, the clouds formed a beautiful sunset. Somewhere over our shoulders behind the clouds the moon was rising. Osprey, blue herons, egrets watched us carefully as we made headway up the creek, passing the Assawoman Wildlife Area (AWA) on our left. There was Strawberry Landing and then Sassafras Landing, thinking all the time that either of these would make a great place to have a paddle picnic. Strawberry has a pavilion, picnic tables, a boat dock and two small beaches. Sassafras Landing has parking, a sandy beach and a port-a-pot. The AWA is a federally funded area and as such is free for everyone to use. First come first served. Truly another underused jewel in southern Delaware. See this web site for directions and information http://www.beach-net.com/assawoman/assawomantour.html. The paddle continued up the wide creek. The wind seemed to be picking up, we had checked the weather radio, there were no storms predicted and since NOAA is never wrong so we kept right on plugging. Beth said she had heard of a Bald Eagle in the area, but she had never seen it. These birds are rare at the beach, and any sighting of one is a very special treat. Charlie spotted him almost immediately; we quietly paddled towards this splendid hunter. Silently perched in a dead tree, watching us just as intently, he decided we had come close enough and took flight. Flying over us to the opposite side of the creek he landed in a tree about 20 yards from his nest as if to boast of his own family, but also to show us he was the protector. Momma was home and it appeared that she might have been nesting some fledglings. We just drifted and watched with appreciation. Our group continued up the creek until we ran out of water and then turned around. The return trip was leisurely; we allowed the tide and wind to carry us. In the twilight we tried to identify various plants and birds. We hoped for one last glimpse of the eagles, but did not see them. The moon was playing a game of hide-and-seek, but as it was almost full it provided plenty of light for the return trip, making an assortment of headlamps and flashlights unnecessary. We pulled up to the marina, reloaded our boats and after some refreshments, gave in to the mosquitoes and headed home. Thank you Beth for sharing your backyard with us.
UPCOMING EVENTS By: EVERYONE! BAY VIEW MARINA SURFRIDERS FOUNDATION OTHER INFO A special thanks to Martha and Robin for two great articles! Sweet Pea and Chris
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