Thursday, December 09, 2004
Paddling December 7th, Emerald Isle shores
Paddling December 7, 2004 along the shores of Emerald Isle from about mile 20 Island Harbor Marina to Park Drive at about mile 15 opposite the beach access parking lot. We also began by paddling west to the 58 bridge and back
This was a virtual odyssey!
Every trip paddling excursion is different. This was very different and unusual. There was no trash for us to pick up which is baffling!
There were the longest docks we ever saw. It was the most shallow water we ever paddled all day long. We had to go under the docks to get close to the shore. After I bumped my head once. I never did it again.
Those long docks lead up to beautiful homes beyond the marshes. Mile after mile of them. And you know what? We had the eerie feeling that we were in a wilderness because we never saw another human being. There was no boat traffic and no one was on shore. We were all alone in the world! We did come across one lonesome oyster man gathering oysters.
Come lunch time we saw sandy beaches along islands over toward the ICW. They were very inviting and we broke our trip plans and headed over to one of them for lunch. We think we landed on the south shore of the island that Bill Richardson duplicated the Indian New Years ritual, cleansing and renewal of the mind with smoke from chips in a clam shell.
Today our esteemed President of Crystal Coast Canoe & Kayak Club stripped to the waste. It was a lovely warm day at the beach! Joanne said it was good our Canoeudist buddy was not with us! Pic on the web.
We came back to Archers Point and broke our trip plan again. The wind came up at this time and to paddle back up Archers Creek and canal would be directly into the wind so we turned and went with the wind along the shore.
Due to the wind our esteemed President again displayed an unusual talent. He unfolded an umbrella for a sail! See our web site. Should we impeach him? Brian, we are a canoe and kayak club, not a sailing club!
We came upon a canal and chased two male mallards all the way to the end. At the end they got out of the water up onto the shore and got behind us. The picture is what we saw at the end of this canal. Is this really Emerald Isle or somewhere along the Amazon?.
Further on we came upon another canal. This one paralled the Sound. We paddled on and on by lovely homes and, thanks to Ken Court, we were able to return to the Sound without retracing our paddle. The tide was low by this time and the exit was shallow. Ken waded in the water and pulled us over a very short very low water hazard. At mid or high tide this would not have been even noticed.
It was not long after that that we reached our take out point at mile 15. It was Park Drive. It was hard to recognize from the water. The electrical transmission station is your best identification to find it. Three houses east is Park Drive. Sorry no parking here. Park across Route 58 in the beach access parking lot.
The water was so shallow we had to get out of our boats and wade in to the sandy take out. At high tide we expect this would not be necessary.
Next week we will paddle from here to Hoophole Creek. Join us if you can. Who knows what we will encounter? Elmer
Participants were Joanne Somerday from Kinston, Jim Stevens and Tom Fineco from New Bern, Brian Leavy from Pine Knoll Shores, Ken Court from Jacksonville, Robert Wendle from Morehead and Elmer Eddy from Swansboro.
Here is Brian on the beach in December!
This is lunch stop on the beach on a island. The ICW was on the other side.
Is this Emerald Isle or are we on the Amazon?
That black spot is an unbrella being held by Brian as a sale. Will he be taking steroids next?
This was a virtual odyssey!
Every trip paddling excursion is different. This was very different and unusual. There was no trash for us to pick up which is baffling!
There were the longest docks we ever saw. It was the most shallow water we ever paddled all day long. We had to go under the docks to get close to the shore. After I bumped my head once. I never did it again.
Those long docks lead up to beautiful homes beyond the marshes. Mile after mile of them. And you know what? We had the eerie feeling that we were in a wilderness because we never saw another human being. There was no boat traffic and no one was on shore. We were all alone in the world! We did come across one lonesome oyster man gathering oysters.
Come lunch time we saw sandy beaches along islands over toward the ICW. They were very inviting and we broke our trip plans and headed over to one of them for lunch. We think we landed on the south shore of the island that Bill Richardson duplicated the Indian New Years ritual, cleansing and renewal of the mind with smoke from chips in a clam shell.
Today our esteemed President of Crystal Coast Canoe & Kayak Club stripped to the waste. It was a lovely warm day at the beach! Joanne said it was good our Canoeudist buddy was not with us! Pic on the web.
We came back to Archers Point and broke our trip plan again. The wind came up at this time and to paddle back up Archers Creek and canal would be directly into the wind so we turned and went with the wind along the shore.
Due to the wind our esteemed President again displayed an unusual talent. He unfolded an umbrella for a sail! See our web site. Should we impeach him? Brian, we are a canoe and kayak club, not a sailing club!
We came upon a canal and chased two male mallards all the way to the end. At the end they got out of the water up onto the shore and got behind us. The picture is what we saw at the end of this canal. Is this really Emerald Isle or somewhere along the Amazon?.
Further on we came upon another canal. This one paralled the Sound. We paddled on and on by lovely homes and, thanks to Ken Court, we were able to return to the Sound without retracing our paddle. The tide was low by this time and the exit was shallow. Ken waded in the water and pulled us over a very short very low water hazard. At mid or high tide this would not have been even noticed.
It was not long after that that we reached our take out point at mile 15. It was Park Drive. It was hard to recognize from the water. The electrical transmission station is your best identification to find it. Three houses east is Park Drive. Sorry no parking here. Park across Route 58 in the beach access parking lot.
The water was so shallow we had to get out of our boats and wade in to the sandy take out. At high tide we expect this would not be necessary.
Next week we will paddle from here to Hoophole Creek. Join us if you can. Who knows what we will encounter? Elmer
Participants were Joanne Somerday from Kinston, Jim Stevens and Tom Fineco from New Bern, Brian Leavy from Pine Knoll Shores, Ken Court from Jacksonville, Robert Wendle from Morehead and Elmer Eddy from Swansboro.
Here is Brian on the beach in December!
This is lunch stop on the beach on a island. The ICW was on the other side.
Is this Emerald Isle or are we on the Amazon?
That black spot is an unbrella being held by Brian as a sale. Will he be taking steroids next?
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