Stewards of the White Oak River Basin

2008-05-28 Beaufort to Core Creek, Hwy 101 Bridge, Carteret County, NC.

Here we are already loaded with trash after one stop on shore to pick up trash.This was at the entrance to Core Creek

on the Inland Waterway after leaving Beaufort at the Grayden Paul Bridge this morning at 9:30.

We usually begin picking up all trash immediately as soon as we see any. Today when we put in, Julia Miner from Arapahoe, had already set up

our shuttle at the Core Creek Lodge Ramp at our take-out with Bill Murray from Pine Knoll Shores. Julia had left her van there as our shuttle vehicle

to get us all back to our put-in and Bill drove them both back to Beaufort.

We were greeted by a surprisingly strong S/W breeze. Julia had informed us that she had to get back to catch the four o,clock ferry across the Neuse River.

It was obvious we could not follow the shoreline with this strong wind in our face if we did. So we cut straight across to the next point thus omitting our exploration of the large bay to our right.

Before we got there we came upon a sand bar which we had to go around. Jim and I had to stop there and change positions because the S/W wind was blowing

our tail around to the east. Jim is heavier than me and with our prow lower in the water than our stern I could hardly paddle at all without continuously correcting

our course. The shallow water we encountered made the waves stand up and slap against the canoe.

We rearranged the stuff in our canoe to the rear and balanced it and we continued on a straight course to Core Creek entrance where we finally were able to get to shore. The low tide and the sandbars and the strong S/W wind made it impossible to do so earlier. We learned one cannot get to shore to pick up trash at low tide

in this area of the Newport River. It must be done a high tide.

As we reached the wide entrance to Core Creek we could get to sandy beaches. At the first stop we loaded our canoe full as you can see below. The kayakers have to dump their stuff on us as they do not have much room to store trash. Jim and I changed positions again in the calmer waters.

You can see our lunch stop at the oyster shell beach ahead on the right. We arrive there at 11:30 and enjoyed our lunch and picked up all trash there too.

Lo and behold! After lunch the wind had turned around to the north and we paddled against a head wind all the way to our take-out. It was a cold front

coming through. We got there at before 2:00. When we got back from the shuttle Mr. Garrett Wheelus of Core Creek Lodge was there. He had opened the gate for Julia and Jim early and again for all of us as we arrived.

He very much appreciated our picking up the trash along the way and invited us to come back anytime. Core Creek Lodge is certainly a very nice place to stay if

if you wish to canoe this area.

Marion Adams of New Bern kindly contributed this picture of the scenery as we entered Core Creek from the Newport River. Beautiful, isn't it. It depicts the weather conditions very well. But, we did not have any rain and we got Julia back in plenty of time. These are all the pictures we have for today. We were too busy just paddling to get any more.

HI ELMER

I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR HELPING ME TO GET BACK FOR MY

AUNT CALLING HOUR.

I HAD ENOUGH TIME TO FIX MY HAIR AND PUT MAKE-UP ON.

HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU ON ELMER'S NEXT PADDLE.

Here is what Marion said: (This was her first trip with us.)

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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 09:55 0 Comments Links to this post

2008-05-21 Crab Pt to Morehead City

Come and take a trip with us on our The Lovely Newport River.

We enjoyed it very much. We hope you do too. Come with us anytime you want.

We continued our paddle on the Newport River to the park on at the

northeast end of the high rise bridge from Morehead City to Beaufort.

This paddle was 6.6 miles and took us from Lawton Pt to Phillips Island,

where we visited the remains of the old menhaden plant on Phillips Island

which is the huge chimney only.

Here is a map of our paddle today.

This open boat seems to be permanently left here now.

A pretty view from our put-in. That is Lawton Point on the left and Oyster Point across the river.

Here we are preparing to take off.

Ed sporting his new teeth! He is proud of them. They are on his boat!

Here comes Bill Murray. Ed's van in the background looks like it is carrying Elmer's
little canoe.

Jim is really relaxing. Does he let Connie do the paddling?

Some nice homes along the shore at the other Crab Point.

That's a pretty good sized fishing boat a long ways up a deep channel through the marsh
grass into the woods at the end of a long lake.

Trash in here too.

A concrete dock side in here. One never knows what we will find exploring
these little waterways. We imagine tons of fish, crabs, oysters and clams
were unloaded here.

Back on the big water again!

Newport Marshes.

Our lunch spot on an island facing Morehead City. This shoreline was badly trashed.

Lunch is over and the shore line is clean for others to enjoy with out having eat surrounded
by ugly man-made litter and trash.

Lunch on our private sandy beach!

A view of the high rise bridge over the Inland Waterway from our lunch stop

Marsh at our lunch spot and a little lake, probably only at high tide, but very pretty.

Elmer and Jim trashing at the lunch stop.

Here comes Connie with her collection

Zooming in on Dale high on the dune

Jim Dunn getting ready to shove off.

Jim Niedermeyer bailing the canoe loaded with trash.

We had to cross the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) and these two boaters gave us a double whammy wake. One has to be careful when in the ICW. Large boats such as barges etc, cannot slow down. A barge, while it moves very slow, has a large wake that can be a little thrill to ride over.

These boaters were very rude, and definitely violating the rules. A canoe with a heavy load can be more unstable. Remember to point your bow directly into the wake to avoid getting swamped and tipped over.

If anyone can read that number we would like to report him. We were lucky no one capsized.

Elmer and Jim preparing to weather the wake. You can see the larger waves coming on the right.

We have the chimney of the menhaden plant in view. Jim Dunn and Dale Weston in their loaded canoe.

When the water is less than 6 inches it is necessary to walk and tow

The best place to land is the northwest beach of the island

Landing of the Fleet

We have returned

And look what we found. Trash, trash, trash!

The chimney and Dale.

Bill Murray on his way to the chimney

Here we are in the chimney.This structure is only two bricks thick and is slightly bowed. It had endured many a storm and hurricane, but it is just hanging on, so don't plan to hang out too long.

You are now inside the chimney looking up. Some kind folks left two bags of trash in here.
We were so loaded be this time we could not pick them up. We hope some one else can.
This is a horrible thing for our tourists coming from all over to see this historic spot.

The original opening is boarded up.

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Who is he talking about? Me, or the chimney?

Jim Morris and Elmer departing the chimney.

Old machinery remains and not rusted. Must be the menhaden oil au la Rustoleum.

L/R Jim and Connie Morris from Morehead City with Dale Weston from Jacksonville between them, Bill Murray from Pine Knoll Shores, Jim Dunn from Maplehirst, Jim Niedermeyer from Hubert, Elmer Eddy form Swansboro and Ed Gruca from Emerald Isle and Richmond.

Thanks to Ed, Elmer, and Jim Dunn for these pictures and getting them ready for the website.

Leaving the chimney and headed to our takeout at the high rise bridge.

mrpaint, that's Ed, shows his starboard side.

Now he is coming at you.

Red cedar killed by hurricanes.

The phosphate plant as seen from the water.

A little closer view.

Looking west between the new dock and the bridge.

All of us with our haul of trash for the day. Sixteen bags of trash plus a lot of other stuff. We had great weather and excellent water conditions.

We caught the Coast Guard plane coming South on the ICW while we were crossing the bridge to Morehead City and going back to the dump to retrieve our cars.

A fun day. A lovely day to be on the water and explore our waterways. To finish our paddle of
the entire Newport River shore lines we still have to do the Western shoreline from Route 70 up to the
Harlowe Canal.

The public must stop throwing trash out of automobiles and letting it blow out of open pick up trucks and letting it blow out of open boats or being deliberately discarded over board. Otherwise we will have to live with it forever along our highways and our waterways.

Our leaders could enforce our anti litter laws. Isn't that why our legislators enacted them? A few fines for littering widely published would help a hole lot!

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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 19:05 0 Comments Links to this post

2008-05-21 Crab Pt to Morehead City

Come and take a trip with us our The Lovely Newport River.

We continued our paddle on the Newport River to the park on at the

Northeast end of the high rise bridge from Morehead City to Beaufort.

This paddle was 6.6 miles and took us from Lawton Pt to Philips Island,

where we visited the remains of the old menhaden plant on Philips Island

which is the huge chimney only.

Here is a map of our paddle today.

This open boat seems to be permanently left here now.

A pretty view from our put-in. That is Lawton Point on the left and Oyster Point across the river.

Ed sporting his new teeth! He is proud of them. They are on his boat!

Here comes Bill Murray. Ed's van in the background looks like it is carrying Elmer's
little canoe.

Jim is really relaxing. Does he let Connie do the paddling?

Some nice homes along the shore at the other Crab Point.

That's a pretty good sized fishing boat a long ways up a deep channel through the marsh
grass into the woods at the end of a long lake.

Trash in here too.

A concrete dock side in here. One never knows what we will find exploring
these little waterways. We imagine tons of fish, crabs, oysters and clams
were unloaded here.

Back on the big water again!

Newport Marshes.

Our lunch spot on an island facing Morehead City. This shoreline was badly trashed.

Lunch is over and the shore line is clean for others to enjoy with out having eat surrounded
by ugly man-made litter and trash.

Marsh at our lunch spot and a little lake, probably only at high tide, but very pretty.

Elmer and Jim trashing at the lunch spot

Here comes Connie with her collection

Zooming in on Dale high on the dune

Jim Dunn getting ready to shove off.

Jim Niedermeyer bailing the canoe loaded with trash.

We had to cross the ICW(Intra Coastal Waterway) and these two boaters gave us a double whammy wake. One has to be careful when in the ICW. Large boats such as barges etc, cannot slow down. A barge, while it moves very slow, has a large wake that can be a little thrill to ride over.

These boaters were very rude, and definitely violating the rules. A canoe with a heavy load can be more unstable. Remember to point your bow directly into the wake to avoid getting swamped and tipped over.

If anyone can read that number we would like to report him. We were lucky no one capsized.

Elmer and Jim preparing to weather the wake. You can see the larger waves coming on the right.

We have the chimney of the menhaden plant in view. Jim Dunn and Dale Weston in their loaded canoe.

When the water is less than 6 inches it is necessary to walk and tow

The best place to land is the northwest beach of the island

Bill Murray on his way to the chimney

Here we are in the chimney.This structure is only two bricks thick and is slightly bowed. It had endured many a storm and hurricane,but it is just hanging on, so don't plan to hang out too long.

You are now inside the chimney looking up. Some kind folks left two bags of trash in here.
We were so loaded be this time we could not pick them up. We hope some one else can.
This is a horrible thing for our tourists coming from all over to see.

Old machinery remains and not rusted. Must be the menhaden oil ala Rustoleum.

L/R Jim and Connie Morris from Morehead City with Dale Weston from Jacksonville between them, Bill Murray from Pine Knoll Shores, Jim Dunn from Maplehirst, Jim Niedermeyer from Hubert, Elmer Eddy form Swansboro and Ed Gruca from Emerald Isle and Richmond.

Thanks to Ed for these pictures and getting them ready for the website.

Leaving the chimney and headed to our takeout at the high rise bridge.

mrpaint, that's Ed, shows his starboard side.

Now he is coming at you.

Red cedar killed by hurricanes.

The phosphate plant as seen from the water.

Looking west between the new dock and the bridge.

All of us with our haul for the day. Sixteen bags of trash plus a lot of other stuff. We had great weather and excellent water conditions.

We caught the Coast Guard plane crossing while on the bridge to Morehead City.

A fun day. A lovely day to be on the water and explore our waterways. To finish our paddle of
the entire Newport River shore lines we still have to do the Western shoreline from Route 70 up to the
Harlowe Canal.

The public must stop throwing trash out of automobiles and letting it blow out of open pick up trucks and letting it blow our of open boats or being deliberately discarded over board.

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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 11:48 0 Comments Links to this post

2008-05-14 Newport River, Newport to Lawton Pt/Crab Point Village

We recently paddled both prongs of the Newport River upstream and left
them clean of all litter.

Wednesday, May 14, we met at the Wildlife Ramp in Newport. We paddled downstream to our take-out off of Crab Point Loop Road behind the cemetery, just off of Country Club Road north of Morehead City.

This is a 10 mile paddle. On this trip we had the river flow, an outgoing tide and a west wind.

Stated high tide for the Newport River in Gallants Channel was 11:30AM.

These combined forces resulted in a 1.3 mph assist. We were able to sustain a 3.5 mph

speed with ease. After only 2.5 hours we were at the 7 mile mark.

We had difficulty finding a lunch spot in the marshes. This led us to the north shore where

the marsh grass was low. We had planned to cruise along the south shore around the bay.

The westerly wind was blowing the water out of this section of the Newport River. This made low tide

come earlier than expected. We arrived at Crab Point access 1 and 1/2 hours ahead of scheduled 3:00 PM.

We plan to paddle the next leg to the ICW and Radio Island or reverse depending on wind and tide

as soon as wind and tide conditions are favorable.

Ed following behind in his alligator kayak.

Jim and his wife Connie, in his home built double canoe.

Sorry, I lost Jim's picture.

Julia passing them up. She is always out in front.

The wild iris don't mind getting their feet wet. They were in abundance
for the first two miles where they are very happy. Plants are very
particular as to their tolerance for salt water and have specific zones
where they can be found.

Jim and Elmer found this fellow. It looks like a cottonmouth. They swim
on top of the water with their heads up! This one did not gape and show his mouth.

Connie Morris and her first piece of trash! The trash was very light on this trip.
That is another reason for us to make such good time.

Hilda Pope and her first piece of trash! She is now officially a Steward!

This egg was examined at the Morris Advanced Institute for Avian and Reptilian Studies
and found to contain a yolk! No baby alligator!

Hilda and Dale looking for a lunch spot.

Dale finds a large drum that must have been some kind of live well for bait, crabs, or fish! We had lunch here.

It is or was a home made floating live bait keeping device.

It fit in our canoe, Elmer and Jim.

Ed found this. We believe it was left by Brian Leavy last March when we paddled the Newport.

Probably used by the duck hunters

Sadly, our beautiful paddle was ended with the sight of all the trash at Crab Point!

L/R: Jim and Connie Morris of Morehead City, Dale Weston of Jacksonville,
Elmer Eddy of Swansboro,Hilda Pope of New Bern, Julia Miner of Arapahoe,
Jim Niedermeyer of Hubert and Ed Gruca of Emerald Isle with the trash we
picked as we paddled down the river. Jim Morris took it to the convenience center.

This dump has been here forever. We have tried to get the authorities
to get rid of it to no avail. The public has used it as an access to the
Newport River Some others use is as their personal trash disposal area.

This could be an excellent access point for canoes and kayaks and small
motor boats. If the dump was cleared up it would make a nice parking area.

We are forwarding this to Tom Steepy of the Access Committee and asking
him to see if this land can be leased and used as an access point. It is sorely
needed for a public access on this shore of the Newport River.

Our thanks to Jim Morris for taking the trash away and thanks to Ed Gruca for
the great pictures and some of the reporting of the trip.

It was a most enjoyable paddle spoiled only by the ugly dump!

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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 10:23 0 Comments Links to this post

2008-05-07 Queens Creek, Onslow County, NC.

Boats waiting to be launched. (I lost the picture.)

A view of the launching area from the water. That is the ferry boat in the back left.

This is Queens Creek Bridge, State Road # 1509. This is about 2 miles upstream and can be seen as you enter Queens Creek from the Inland Waterway.

We split into two groups. Half went up the western shore and half went up the eastern shore. We all
picked up at trash and litter as we paddled along the shore line. This is Jim Niedermeyer and Elmer
approaching the bridge. Notice we have picked up a ghost crab pot.

This is Hugh Passingham. He had to get out of is boat and climbed up in the rip rap along the causeway to the bridge to get trash thrown out of vehicles as they speed along the bridge!

This causeway is loaded with litter thrown from vehicles. 80% of the trash we picked up came from
both sides of this causeway. Motorists are trashing Queens Creek and destroying its beauty and polluting it!
Please NCDOT erect your $1,000 fine, "Do Not Litter", signs, on either end of the causeway and enforce the law
here to stop this travesty.

+

Joanne picking up trash right under the bridge.

Julia under the bridge

Ed way up high on the rip rap getting the illegally discarded trash! Please Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous Public
stop this evil practice. Please Do Not Litter!

Here is our collected trash which we got from the water side. The shoulders of the road are also loaded with trash!
We hope our collection here with be added to Clean Sweep and Adopt-Highway and Big Sweep. We hope some local group will clean up the roadside.

Lunch time north of the bridge at the home of Erick Nordeen who graciously invited us to use his property.

We were joined by Eric and his son Sawyer.

We put his floating dock to good use.

Here we area at the take out on Route 24. This is all the access canoes and kayaks need.

Julia approaching the take-out.

Connie and Jim Morris taking their turn to exit.

Hugh Passingham chose a different way to exit.

Elmer is still in his canoe. The other are pulling him ashore.

All are out safe and sound after a most enjoyable paddle on this lovely Queens Creek. It is an excellent Canoe Trail and a great place for our visiting tourists to enjoy. A sign here, Canoe Trail to Hammock Beach, would help.
There are also access possibilities at either end to the causeway. We hope the access committee is looking at them.

Here is the trash collected above the bridge.

Next week, Wednesday, the 14th, looks like a good weather day. As soon as we know the wind and tides for our chosen place to paddle we will get it out to all. If you want to be on our e-mail list to receive notices of all our paddles please e-mail us.

Today was a super day on the water enjoyed by all. In 2003 we declared the White Oak River cleared of all trash and litter. As a result of this trip today we feel we can declare Queens Creek so cleared too. We were not able however to go into the tributaries.

The participants today were Bill Murray from Pine Knoll Shores, Connie and Jim Morris from Morehead City, Julia Miner from Araphoe, Joanne Somerday from River Bend, Jim Dunn from Maplehirst, Dale Weston from Jacksonville, Hugh Passingham from Maplehirst, Jim Niedermeyer and Doug Toltzman from Hubert and Elmer Eddy from Swansboro. Thanks to all and a special thanks to Jim Dunn and Doug Toltzman for the pictures. Doug has more pictures we will post later he paddled down Queens Creek early in the morning in less that 2 hours!

And thanks to Ed Gruca who is still in Richmond but prepared he pics for the website. 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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 11:03 0 Comments Links to this post

2008-04-30 Northeast Creek Rt 17 to Northeast Creek Park,

Jaksonville, NC

Northeast Creek originates in Hofmann Forest, Onslow County, NC. The first 1/2 mile is canoe-able

and is kept cleared by Hofmann Forest Forest personnel. The cleared section stops at the Hofmann

Forest border.This lovely creek is not navigable by canoes and kayaks after you leave Hofmann Forest

until you get down to Route 17.

We hope current Grant Funds obtained by Onslow County will be used to clear this river of all

blown down trees in this upper portion.

We learned it had been cleared from Route 17 on down. You will see from the following pictures that

it is not cleared. We had great difficulty getting over, under,around or through many obstacles left in or

across the stream. We cannot understand how this can be.

Certainly the Grant Fund money would not leave a creek in this condition. This cannot be called a

Canoe Trail in this condition.

One additional and disturbing feature is the hanging vines and branches and brush extending over this

creek. They are constantly in our face. This does not make for good paddling. In fast running water a

grape vine will pull you right out of your boat if it is wrapped around you.

When JR Bachelor cleared our streams he removed these overhanging obstacles too. Present Grants do

not seem to mention them.

When we paddled the water level was quite low. At higher levels of one to two feet, which would be more

Waiting under the bridge for everyone to get in the water.

Beautiful palmettos downstream.

Another example.

And still another.

Elmer in a narrow stretch.

Ever happy Dale Weston.

Coming up on a tight spot.

Example of the vines in our faces. That's Hugh Passingham.

Jim Niedermeyer retrieving a five gallon bucket. We find a lot of these!

Drain pipes for water being pumped out of sand mining pits nearby.

The waste water outfall at Regalwood Subdivision above Piney Green
Road. There was no odor.

This was our lunch stop at the Piney Green Bridge. This is where we want the City
of Jacksonville to get together with NCDOT and give us, the public, a permanent
access for launching canoes and kayaks for a Canoe Trail to connect with Northeast
Creek Park. When we looked it up in February 2006 it was owned by Willie Hall,
being parcel #439709272383. Because of the 4 lane construction plans for Piney
Green Road, we suspect it is now owned by NCDOT.

We understand that NCDDOT will make an access for canoes and kayaks here at this
bridge if the City will maintain it. It is in the City's ETJ. We will help the City to
maintain it. We picked up trash here today as we always do.

Another obstruction!

And another!

We are now in the wider open portion of Northeast Creek where we usually see an
alligator sunning. None today. But some of us heard one he splashed into the water
to get away from us. We also saw a large deer upstream.

But we did see this cormorant. Earlier he came up out of the water very close
to my canoe. He had a fish in his mouth. He gulped it down and took off.

Disembarking at the ramp in Northeast Creek Park the end of today's journey. .

These political signs are a new item added to our trash collections.

L/R Bill Murray from Pine Knoll Shores, Hugh Passingham from Maple Hill,
Dale Weston from Jacksonville, Jim Dunn from Jacksonville, and Jim Niedermeyer
from Hubert.

Most of the pictures are by Jim Dunn. Tanks Jim and thank to Ed Gruca who is in
Richmond but prepared the pictures for posting on our web site.

It was a great day and very enjoyable in spite of the difficulties encountered.
Northeast Creek could and should be one of our very best Canoe Trails beginning
in Hofmann Forest at the junction of Troublesome Road, Old Jack Daniel Road
and Northeast Ditch Road.

We hope this will come to pass some day soon.

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!”

# posted by Elmer @ 10:49 0 Comments Links to this post