2008-04-28
2007-04-23 New River south of Jacksonville, MCAS Marina to Olde Towne Point
This trip provided us with a visit to the County Seat of Onslow County in 1741!
Our take out. The monument says the town here, Johnston, was settled in 1705 and
destroyed in 1752 by a hurricane and not rebuilt.
Historical marker at the take out.
doses, but it wasn't cold. It was hot in between brief showers.
from Little Ragged ( Holmes Point) to Olde Towne Point. A little rough as you can see.
We had white caps most of the way but the wind was at our backs but on the east a little.
Jim Niedermeyer of Hubert, and Elmer Eddy of Swansboro.
Eight bags of trash plus a gas can, a ghost crab pot and a sign. Camp Lejeune picked this up for us.
for Elmer, Ed and Jim to return from wherever they went in search of the takeout. The
noxious Alligator Weed is up Southwest Creek. We saw none of it on this trip on the New
River. The salt water kills it.
Here is Dale Weston. He should have been paddling with us but he was manning one
of the two early, curb side voting stations in Onslow County. His station was in Verona
which by coincidence is where we were on our way to set up our shuttle.
to Doug Toltzman for getting my picture of Dale in here doing another kind of
public service.
Elmer Eddy
Elmer, The White Oak River Trashman
Stewards of The White Oak River Basin
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
2008-04-27
Scotts Creek New Bern, NC
2008-04-19
2008-04-17 Scotts Creek New Bern, NC
This creek was reported to us by members of The Twin Rivers Paddle Club in New Bern. The report was bad!
Trash, trash trash everywhere. Filthy! An open sewer! We could not stand this. We are members of the Stewards
of the White Oak River Basin. This creek is in the Neuse River Basin.
For years members of the Twin River Paddle club have been helping us clean our rivers. So, we decided to help
into two groups. We could not locate any access to get on the creek. We called Charlie Hall of the New Bern Sun
Journal and we told him of our plans and problem. He graciously put an article in the paper and we had two responses.
That is Charlie to the right with his back to the camera in the group picture.
Hilda Pope of 502 Howell Road was the first. She has been cleaning the creek for years. She was delighted to get our
help and offered her back yard as an access to get on the water. She paddled with us and picked up trash. Pallets
were part of the trash that washed up on her land. She used them as a walk way over the silted in shoreline to get to
the water.
Ron Phillips was the second one to call. He lives at 316 Johns St. He also offered his premises as access to the river.
We split into two groups Ron lead one group to his house and the rest of us went to Hilda's.
The group: Dale Weston from Jacksonville was late and is not in the picture. They came from Jacksonville,
Hubert, Swansboro, Emerald Isle, Pine Knoll Shores, Arapahoe, New Bern, River Bend and Pollocksville.
They are all now automatically members of Stewards of the White Oak River Basin. Guess we have to
They are Mike Markham, Jim Stevens, Ed Mazzilli, Shep Harvey, Ron Phillips, Bob Bordeaux, Julia Miner,
Ed Gruca, Edie Romaine, Dale Weston, Dave McCracken, Bill Murray, Frank Bruno, Joanne Somerday,
Dean Carzoo, Elmer Eddy. Hilda Pope, and Dale Weston, not shown. For all his help in making this trip a real
success story we are making Charlie Hall an honorary member.
Mustang kayak carrier
That is alligator weed in fore ground. This is a very noxious weed from South America which has taken
over this creek. We had to dig our way through it to get to the water. Hilda Pope tells us it completely
closes the creek in the summer. This should not be! We are contacting North Carolina Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources about this.
a foot in a day!
it will be impossible to get through it at all!
They actually dug it out and pushed it back into open water. It was a foot to two feet thick!
It has washed up here on high north east wind tides and deposited here behind the
marsh grass and alligator weed. It is still there and can be picked up by land.
This would be a nice project for some group to do for our Governor's Clean Sweep
which commences April 19th. Someone has picked a little of it.
There is lot's more of it. This is only a sample.
which we are facing! Actually, if it had not been so full of silt, it would have been possible to tow it.
Would make a nice three kayak race! (Gentlemen(Ladies) start your kayaks!
You can sing or make wild animal noises and other interesting sounds on your way thru!
Highway 70 and interchanges in the background.
the comments on them are Ed's.
the State of North Carolina.
Ed Gruca with his canoe loaded. The kayakers have to unload on the canoes.
the canoe too unstable on top of the boat. Ed had visions of sinking in the tunnel.
to compensate. That is why you may see some defects in the center of some photos. And a few other
nuances as well. We apologize to those who are the victims of this technical problem! Some corrections
were necessary and some "body parts" were harvested from other photos.
This is the trash unloaded at Ron's house that came from the Neuse side of the tunnels.They loaded it in a
pick up truck of Mike's? He took it to Hilda's and put it with the others. NCDOT very kindly picked it up for us.
We are reporting this to Niki Bell to be included in the Governor's Clean Sweep efforts now in progress.
Joanne Somerday and Jim Stevens waiting for Elmer to come through the tunnels.
the flea beetles that eat these noxious weeds.
We are sending this report to them in Raleigh.This creek seems to be overlooked and neglected and trashed. It is also severely silted in.
The locals blame this on the construction of the airport.
This small creek is a lovely as they come. It should be open and clean and navigable. It definitely should not be an open, clogged sewer!
Especially so right here in the historic cradle of North Carolina.
Elmer Eddy
Elmer, The White Oak River Trashman
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
2008-04-16
2008-04-11 Cowhorn Creek/New River Leg 2
Continuation of our paddle on Onslow County's only designated Canoe Trail.
We should have a hundred more like it for our visiting tourists to enjoy.
Julia at the confluence with the New River. Notice the New River water is turbid due to channelization and storm
water run off. Cowhorn Creek water was clear.
It was two feet thick and trash laden. We do not understand this existence of these obstructing blown down trees on the New River.
We understood this section of the New was cleared by the Grant Onslow County obtained.
recently and a nice rain that raised the river level to over 10 feet on the gage. It was at 4.3 feet on this paddle.
Pure spring beauty.
of our reptilian friends was resting in there somewhere. Elmer saw him drop into the water ahead of the canoe.
Ed saw nothing. Snakes love to sun themselves on strainers like this.
Here is the crew for the day: L-R Julia Minor of Arapahoe, Hugh Passingham of Mapelhirst, George Speth of
Wilmington, Elmer Eddy of Swansboro, and Ed Gruca of Emerald Isle.
And here is our ever present trash and litter. The 50 gallon drum is a trash can placed here by the County.
The rest is what we picked up today.
We are working with NCDOT to have DO NOT LITTER signs installed at each bridge. We must stop those of us
who are using our bridges as their own personal disposal convenience center for their discards.
As to the presence of the blown down trees blocking the river, they need to be removed! Maybe the Grant money
has not been used here yet. If it has, then this demonstrates that constant maintenance is needed. Our rivers are
like our roads. When a tree falls and blocks the road we immediately remove it. We need to do the same on our
rivers. We can and do do some of it. But what we have here today requires professional help. Elmer.
A great day was had by all. Our photographer, Ed Gruca, ran around and got in this picture. That's Ed on
the right. Thanks again for all the wonderful pictures, Ed.
Elmer, The White Oak River Trashman
Stewards of The White Oak River Basin
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
2008-04-11 Cowhorn Creek/New River Leg 1
Come and cruise down Cowhorn Creek with us!
This is the first leg of Onslow County paddle trail from the bridge on Cowhorn Road
over Cowhorn Creek. It was a real pleasure to to paddle this section. The water was
clear thanks to the fact that it had just been cleared by a Grant Onslow County
obtained to clear the creek of all obstructions. Blown down trees and the strainers
they cause catch every thing floating in the river.
We paddled this last year in early March. This time we had the signs of early spring
for added beauty. New River gage was at 4.3 feet. We paddled to the Rhodestown Bridge
take out for a distance of 7.5 miles.
The Cowhorn was clear with only one minor blockage. The three beaver dams were already
breached. All we had to do was paddle over them through the breach and the shouts of the
thrill of riding the rapids resounded as each of us went through. Cowhorn was perfect.
The following photos are from the Cowhorn to the New River. About 2.5 miles.
At the put-in. Beautiful, isn't it! It was a joy to behold.
This river must have been gorgeous before all the 1,000 year old cypress were cut.
Due to the higher water level they were mostly covered and not as spectacular as when the are exposed.
open and clean. And thanks to Ed Gruca of Emerald Isle for these lovely pictures.
Stewards of The White Oak River Basin
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
2008-04-13
2008-04-08 Southwest Creek, near Jacksonville, NC
2008-04-08 Southwest Creek, near Jacksonville, NC
Another Canoe Trail for Onslow County!
We put-in, launched, our boats at Haws Run Road bridge. This is an excellent
natural access. We should have an access like this at every bridge. It did not
cost anyone one red cent. Contrast this to Old 30 new bridge over little Northeast
Creek where NCDOT just went to considerable expense installing rip-rap on all four
shoulders. We had asked them to give us a access here but they ignored our requests.
Now we will have to climb over rip rap on the north west shoulder to launched our boats.
We could and should have a hundred more new accesses if the local governing body
would simply ask NCDOT to cover the rip rap so we can get to the water without
breaking a leg climbing over the rip-rap.
has not fallen as fast. We had excellent high water and very good flow.
All this has washed the litter and trash which has been thrown into this lovely
creek to was downstream to where it has caught in a strainer or sank to be
forever on the creek bottom.
Here is a map of today's paddle.
Our put in. Excellent and natural and of no cost to anyone! We need a
hundred more like it at every bridge.
(Only because I left my paddling hat in my truck at the take-out.) It was supposed
to be a warm sunny day. It was warm and partly sunny in the afternoon.
We took the left fork and came upon this blockage. We wondered if we were
on the correct course?
by a grant obtained by Onslow County. Thank you Onslow County. Everyone
can now enjoy paddling this beautiful creek right here in our back yards.
found him under a blossoming tree, comfortably seated at a picnic table.
it difficult to pick the main channel. We paddled through the trees and took
the best guess at the channel.
now in the Marine Air Corps base. A most enjoyable trip thanks to the high water
and to Onslow County for making it clear for navigation again! Now let's
designate it as a Canoe Trail and put signs up so our tourists can find it and use it.
when found dead.
Brown Water Snake
(Nerodia taxispilota)
It is nearly impossible to convince folks that brown water snakes are harmless. After all, they are so large-bodied, and so intimidating, and (on occasion, as when they drop into your boat from an overhanging limb) so startling that a person’s usual reaction is "Kill, Kill, Kill," and repairing the bullet holes in the boat is an afterthought. Even trained herpetologists who are catching brown water snakes for research will take a long look before grabbing "just to be sure" [view the Brown Water Snake fact sheet]. Of course, the reason behind bullet-ridden boats and herpetologists actually being safety conscious is this—brown water snakes resemble the venomous cottonmouth, and often share a somewhat similar habitat. Some individuals of both species can appear to be long, fat, dark, non-decrypt snakes. So, although I have no illusion that merely reading this will change many minds, here are some observations on differences between the TOTALLY HARMLESS brown water snake and the venomous cottonmouth.
Brown Water Snake below
Passingham of Maplehirst, Bill Murray of Atlantic Beach, Ed Gruca Emerald Isle,
and Jim Niedermeyer of Hubert.
Seven bags of trash, a tire, a chair and a mop handle.
Are we going on forever allowing some few people to use our bridges as their
personal disposal convenience centers? This is what will happen until our
leaders take definite steps to enforce our anti litter laws.
Let's put $1,000. fine signs up at every bridge both ways facing traffic as a
beginning. Elmer
Elmer Eddy
Elmer, The White Oak River Trashman
Stewards of The White Oak River Basin
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
2008-04-08
2008-03-26 Southwest Creek MCAS Jacksonvlle, NC
This is Jim and Elmer leaving the forested shores of Southwest Creek and entering the marsh grass
area.
Elmer, The White Oak River Trashman
Stewards of The White Oak River Basin
101 River Reach Drive West,
Swansboro, NC. 28584
910-389-4588 e-mail: elmer@whiteoakstewards.org
Please visit our website: http://www.whiteoakstewards.org/
"If no one litters, there will be no litter!”
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