Reflections

It is hard for me to believe that our ICW journey is over. The trip was something I have been daydreaming about since college and the experience didn’t disappoint! In a lot of ways the nuts and bolts of the adventure were much different than I anticipated, but my expectations were definitely exceeded.

One of the things that I wasn’t expecting was the relationship that I developed with the water. I have always loved the water but this trip has tuned me into its complexities and power. Being on the water, especially in such a small boat, is a very humbling experience. In everyday life I generally feel very in control. The other day we were driving from Lewes to Bel Air. There was very little doubt that we would make the 120-mile trip. We might get stuck in bad traffic, but barring any tragedy we were going to make it there. In the kayaks we didn’t have that sense of control. All plans were subject to the weather and what the water would let us do. Back in the southern part of our trip the tides dictated our days. As we got more north the winds created such current and chop that our plans were subject to their whims. We learned pretty quickly that plans were just a general idea of what we would like to do, not necessarily what was going to happen. We’d have a plan A and plan B, but frequently had to come up with a plan C when conditions suddenly changed. This type of uncertainty and lack of control makes you feel very small – it’s definitely not all about you. The water is powerful and any arrogance or ignorance can result in death or an embarrassing coast guard rescue call. In today’s “me centered” world I think it is good to be reminded of how small we really are.

The water can be tyrannical but it is also fascinating and beautiful. The water has a draw that attracts all kinds. From surly old fisherman to preppy sailors the water creates a common thread and interest. Nick mentioned it in his trip reflection, but we were both surprised by the kindness and generosity that we were generally greeted with. Maybe it was living in the DC area, but I was completely astonished by how nice people were. I think that some of this kindness can be attributed to the bond between mariners. Marina people understood the unpredictable nature of our “plans” and were so nice when we arrived soaking wet and exhausted. On and off the water people were extremely kind – not to be too cheesy but it really has renewed my faith in Americans. The fellow kayakers from Southeast Adventure Outfitters gave us priceless guidance that helped us navigate through the Georgia Coast. In Southport, Emma and Jason really saved the fate of our trip. These kinds of people always appeared when we were feeling low or desperate. In addition to fellow kayakers we had so many random people go out of their way for us and be amazingly kind. A guy in Surf City offered to let us borrow his new car, in Fultcher’s Landing a guy insisted on letting us borrow his golf cart and another guy took us out to breakfast the next morning, up and down the coast strangers offered us rides and help, in Duck the folks at Nor’ Banks let us camp in there yard and made us dinner – I could go on forever – people just were overall incredibly generous and friendly.

Another thing that I became aware of is the importance of striking a balance between living for the moment and saving for the future. We had several older retirees remind us of how lucky we were to be physically healthy enough for this kind of adventure. Physical health is something I tend to take for granted, but the status of our health can change drastically. We also had lots of fellow ICW travelers that were retired tell us that they waited way too long to start having fun. They said that they had basically waited to enjoy life after they retired and regretted not taking advantage of fun opportunities when they were younger. In Southport, NC we talked to a boater in his 40’s who had just come up the Gulf Stream from Key West. He commended us for being able to put our work lives on hold. After talking with him for a while, he said that he and his wife never did anything outside of the box until their youngest daughter tragically died. He said they realized how fragile life was and started to take advantage of every second that they had. Thank goodness we didn’t have to face tragedy before we decided to have an adventure. Often traveling can be expensive and unlike other investments you don’t have material objects to show for it. However, I have found that the experiences I have had traveling and the personal growth that has resulted is totally worth every penny. I think it is important to not neglect the here and now.

Kayaking was such a great way to travel and experience the east coast. The slow pace of a kayak is conducive to allowing you to absorb the scenery and mingle with your fellow travelers and those you meet along the way. I learned so much about the water, navigation, and traveling. Most importantly I think I got a valuable insight into people – the people we met along the way, but also I learned a lot about myself and a lot about Nick. What a great experience!

- Hillary

Pictures!!!

Again sorry it took so long to get these up.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kayaktheicw

Try the link out hopefully it works

Back Home

Hello All,
Sorry for the blogging hiatus. We are back at the farm in Westminster with Hillary's parents. We apologize for the delay on the pictures but we have had to go through about 600 pictures and edit them and resize them and select the few that we want. We had a great time down at the beach with Hillary's parents and had a lot of time to reflect. It has been roughly two weeks off the water now and we are right back into the swing of things on dry land. I would say that I appreciate little things like beds, showers, and good home cooking a lot more than I used to. I have also started to realize how much of our days were taken up doing menial tasks that modern appliances make short work of. The biggest thing that I hope to have learned from my experience is improvisation and patience. It was a truly humbling experience in both. So many days ended with last minute adjustments to plans and last minute cancellations of reservations. I have learned to fear and dread a reservation and schedule even as I am planning out my whole summer. Also the overwhelming generosity of all the people we met along the way has been astounding. So few people told us along the way that we were wasting our time and doing something stupid. Support was a much more common response to telling people of our journey. People offered their cars, cash, their homes and camping on their property so often to the two of us. We had to turn down generosity more than we had to ask for it. I know I will have to be much more generous to others than I ever was before to try to repay some of the kindness we received along the way. We have already started planning a kayak trip around the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay. Nothing to the extent of this trip but another adventure all the same. I am also going to try to get a better blog or website set up than this one. Hopefully I can just upload this to a better service because what we did realize was that there were lots of limitations to this blogger. Hopefully setting up a website will also be helpful to get more people inspired to kayak the east coast. I am going to also set this blog up to be google searchable so the format will change a little. This also means that if you are a follower you will be google searchable as well. Lastly if you did read the blog and did enjoy following along could you send us an email at kayaktheicw@gmail.com letting us know, or if you would like more info or questions answered you could email us that as well. So this is all from me for the time being. Hillary is going to post some of her final thoughts and perhaps I will add some more when the format changes.
Nick

Coinjock, Final Day On Water

75°56'51"W
36°21'5"N
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We landed at the Midway Motel and Marina yesterday morning around 9:30 after a fairly peaceful paddle into the ICW at Coinjock. We booked a room there to meet up with Hillary's parents. That was it. We are now officially off the water until our next adventure. We spent the day laying around the pool and sorting out some odds and ends with the boats. Hillary's parents took us out to dinner at Crabbies restraunt next door to the motel. It was so good to see them and start sharing our trip details with them. Hillary's parents bicycled across the country twice (for all of you who don't know) so it was good to share with them some similar experiences of traveling. We are currently sitting in a coffee shop in Kitty Hawk waiting for the beach house to be ready. It is nice to be heading to the beach for the week but Hillary and I both feel real odd not getting back on the water today. There is a sense of accomplishment in what we did but it certainly feels odd arriving in a car to a coffee shop. I will post some more reflections when we get down to the beach house and hopefully more pics. I am pretty sure the pictures will not fit on the blog so we will probably post them on a seperate web page. Nick

Coinjock

75°55'44"W
36°25'34"N
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We are camping at a campground right up river from our final destination. We saw a rough forecast for tomorrow and decided that it would be better to camp here and have a real short paddle tomorrow instead of staying two nights in Virginia. Todays paddle was eight miles of bliss. Only problem is that it was a twelve mile paddle. During our six mile crossing a wind kicked and in the course of about twenty minutes it went from a calm glass bay to four foot rollers and a twenty mile an hour wind. We had the worst seas of the trip so far for that last little stretch. The wind was blowing right at the ramp we were pulling up onto which meant waves breaking on the ramp. We made it in safely but it was quite an experience. No one saw this coming and they are still reporting mild winds on the weather sites while we are hoping our tent doesnt break under these winds tonight. Tomorrow is only a six mile paddle so we should be able to make it in before any bad weather gets us. If not we will end our trip here and get driven to the motel we are staying at tomorrow. I think things will look a little better in the morning.
Nick

VIRGINIA

76°0'41"W
36°33'30"N
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We have made it to our northern most destination. We crossed the state line today around 6pm. I am not sure exactly what town this is but they claim it is virginia beach. I guess that is right but seems awfully far from the beach. We are going to paddle back into NC tomorrow to Coinjock to a campground and then paddle back up the intracoastal on friday for a few miles to a hotel there to meet Hillarys parents. We were treated to another gorgeous sunset when we pulled in. It has been a pretty amazing journey. I know that we set out for Lewes and we took a short cut in South Carolina but it still feels like quite an accomplishment to have made it this far. We completed the North Carolina and Georgia coast on this trip. My best guess is that we skipped about 5 days in South Carolina of hard paddling or 7 of easy paddling. As we were crossing the border today we were discussing what trip we wanted to do next.

Nick

Corolla

75°49'42"W
36°21'51"N
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No we didnt make it to Coinjock yesterday. We got pounded by wind all day long. Even with an early start we got only 14 miles when we decided to check out the Inn at Corolla light and see if we could stay the night there. Today we are headed out into another day of strong north winds and our destination is undetermined at the moment. Coinjock is only 8 miles away while the campground in Virginia is about 20. We still have two days to get there so the North Carolina border is within our sights. The Inn at Corolla Light is definetly the nicest hotel we have stayed at so far. Lois Jane's in southport was nicer but it was a bed and breakfast so I guess the two aren't in the same class. We went out to get takeout last night so that we could spend more time in the hotel room. We are going to paddle by the Corolla Lighthouse this morning. That completes all the North Carolina Lighthouses. We saw bald head and oak island only from the distance but all the others we got good pictures of from fairly close. We are already making arrangements to pick up the boats and get them on the cars. Hillary is already deciding where she wants to go kayaking on vacation in Nags Head. I don't know if I really want to do any more kayaking for a while but maybe we can find some other fun watersports to do to change things up a little. We have certainly met enough watersports people along the way to steer us in the right direction.
Nick

Duck

75°45'36"W
36°11'13"N
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We paddled into duck early today. We are storing the boats and camping at Nor Banks Sailing Center. The people here couldnt be nicer. The owner has our tent right near his back lawn. The staff at the sailing center live across the street and they invited us over to use their outdoor shower and they also cooked us dinner. What nice and generous people we have run into on this trip. Tomorrow we are going to battle strong winds to Coinjock. We are closing in on the last few days before we meet up with Hillarys parents. While in Nags Head we will put up a few more posts and share our pictures somehow. We have certainly learned first hand on the trip that kindness and generosity are still alive and well. We can each discuss the our reflections and life lessons from the comfort of a beach house next week where there will be power and keyboards to type on though.
Nick

Kill Devil Hills

75°41'5"W
36°0'50"N
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Made it through Nags Head to a camp ground in Kill Devil Hills. We got in before the bad weather set in. Unfortunately there was no laundry at the camp ground so we had to take a cab into town to do laundry. Fortunately the laundromat was near the Outer Banks Brewery. We had a great dinner there. Onto duck tomorrow without a plan as to where to stay. We will have to figure it out when we get there.
Nick

Todays paddle was through the senic OBX sound. We have seen lots of rays darting throughout the shallows. We also saw the Manteo Pirate ship cross over to Jockeys Ridge and back. It was a pretty cool site.
Hill

Oregon Inlet

75°32'42"W
35°47'49"N
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Crossed Oregon Inlet today. Another easy day of paddling with light wind. Oregon Inlet sure got a lot of hype for a real easy crossing. If we went through mid day it would have been even easier. The shoals keep all boat traffic into a small channel that once the traffic dies down it is a very small easy crossing. Ocracoke was a much worse crossing due to its size and shoals creating challenging currents. We found a small creek to hide the boats for the night right next to the campground. Our camp neighbors went out to get supplies and offered to pick us up anything. We asked for some ice to chill our beers from last night. It is 930 now and we are ready to go to bed. Sad that we cant stay up late enough to have some drinks with them but thats the way it is when you paddle all day.

Rodanthe

Our tent at the campground with the boats tied up behind us

Hatteras

Last minute boat storage

Avon

Our balcony campsite

Frisoc

Looking back at Frisco from Avon

Ocracoke

Our view from our balcony overlooking silver lake

Rodanthe

75°28'8"W
35°35'17"N
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We made it up to Rodanthe today with ease. Sorry for the short blog post this morning but we didn't hit the water till 11. Hillarys friend Stewart was a great host and cooked us dinner and everything. We have had a paddling buddy the last two days that I have forgot to mention till now. As we kayaked into Ocracoke we saw someone on shore with a kayak beached. We waved and kept up the fight against the current into the harbor. When we pulled up at the marina in Hatteras a woman asked us if we just paddled into Ocracoke the day before. We got to talking and realized she was the one we waved to. She said she would love to paddle with us the next day. We were exhausted and assumed she meant that she would like to paddle with us but couldn't. As we were setting out the next morning she was there with her gear ready to paddle. She made the trip up to Avon with us and said she would like to paddle with us the next day as well. While walking to get breakfast this morning someone honked their horn at us and there she was. Angie is her name and she manages the motel next to where we stayed in Hatteras. She kept up with us pretty well the last two days despite paddling a whitewater boat. We think today was our last day paddling with her because I can't imagine her taking that boat across Oregon Inlet, but who knows. We are staying two campsites down from an Airstream trailer. I really wanted to go over and talk to the guy who owns it but Hillary informed me that she saw him wearing nothing but boy shorts doing camp chores when walking back from the bathroom. Maybe one day if we do both become teachers we can spend our summers down here camping waterfront in an airstream, but i don't plan on getting a pair of boy shorts.

Avon

75°30'1"W
35°22'9"N
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We pitched the tent on a porch in Avon. We are camping above a wind surfing and kiteboarding shop. Hillary's friend from college works at the shop and lives above it. He let us throw up our tent on the porch for the night and let us stash the boats down below. We were treated to our first grilled meal of the summer. Avon is another great beach town down on the Outer Banks. Running behing more tonight Nick

Hatteras

75°41'41"W
35°13'7"N
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We made it into Hatteras today. We were shooting for Frisco but fell a bit short. We found the grand slam of marinas. They have a place to store the boats, a place to spend the night, a restraunt, and laundry next door. We are going to try to make Avon tomorrow bright and early. We slept too late this morning and that was one of our problems. Also there was a nasty head wind that made for a very slow paddle. I got a real treat when we got to the room tonight. I am watching my first orioles game of the year. We are looking forward to a grocery store tomorrow and perhaps some good boat storage and a nice campground. Also found out that there is still an oil leaking into the ocean a day or two ago. Sounds weird but we heard of that story when we were in Florida and figured that it was over with a while ago. We decided to do the intracoastal instead of the Mississippi, so we would be in the middle of it right now. Weird how things work out. Hope they fix it.
Nick

Ocracoke

75°58'56"W
35°6'50"N
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We made it into Ocracoke last night around 4. We wanted to see the town so we stayed out late and didn't put up a post last night. We got a hotel with a marina that let us store our boats. Ocracoke was a good time. We got a real good dinner and saw the town. It is another small waterfront town with everything within walking distance. We discovered that laundry mats are forbidden on Ocracoke which is weird but explains why we cant find anywhere with coin operated laundry. We have enough "clean" clothes to make it through the day and there are marinas in hatteras that will let us do laundry hopefully.

Nick

Yesterday's paddle was overall pleasant, but the weather changed several times throughout the day. We woke up early to rainy skies. About mid morning the rain and gray skies cleared; the water turned beautifully flat and calm.

As we approached Portsmith Village the foul weather picked back up. The winds shifted to the west. With the bad weather and high winds picking up we decided to skip Portsmith and head straight across the inlet to Okracoke. I think it was a safe call, but we will definetly have to come back and see Portsmith.

Okracoke is a really cool little town and all the people have been really friendly. It sure did feel good to sleep in a bed!

Hillary

North Core Banks

76°15'25"W
34°53'53"N
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We made it another 15 miles today. Not as good as we hoped for but it started to rain and thunderstorms were in the forcast so we headed in for the fish camp. We are camping on the beach with the kayaks pulled up on the sound. I will give a good description of these camps when i have electricity. They are unique places thats for sure. We are hoping for Ocracoke tomorrow. We will have to see what the weather holds for us. It is going to be our longest day since we went around camp lejune. We are going to bed early.

Nick

Core Banks

76°24'37"W
34°45'37"N
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We have set up camp among beach dunes. Pretty cool campsite again tonight. This place has a bath house and everything. So we have showered and have ice on the beach all for free (ice was 3 bucks). Not much to put on the ice but our water and gatorade mix and rum are all cold. I have invented a gatorade and rum cocktail tonight. Probably should have done so sooner considering they are the only two liquids besides water we have. We will be staying an extra day out here now because we havent made it far enough to get to portsmith tomorrow. This place is just too much fun to not stay another day and the price is right. I caught my first fish of the trip today. Two small croaker but probably the first time I have fished for more than an hour since the trip started. I was trolling for a while when i had the old boat but with no fishing rod holders it makes holding a fishing rod while paddling hard. Saw some hard core kayak fisherman pull up here though which made me anxious to get back and trick out my new boat. They had every gadget imaginable on their kayaks. They also had some serious tackle for the ocean. Hillary spotted another sea turtle today while paddling through the sound. The water here is crystal clear and not very deep so it makes underwater viewing easy. Cant say enough good things about the cape lookout national seashore. But i think that is enough for one night.

Cape lookout

Windy but beautiful

Cape Lookout

76°31'34"W
34°37'21"N
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We made it to the Cape Lookout lighthouse today despite the howling winds. My best guess is they were blowing 25 to 30. We are sizing up the rest of the uninhabited outer banks and Ocracoke. It is real nice camping here and with the high winds there arent any bugs. We got a delicious dinner of lipton packets and some sort of backpackers pantry desert. Both were delicious compared to most of the camp food we eat. There is a boy scout troop down the beach from us that came in via kayak as well.

Shackleford Banks

76°38'51"W
34°41'10"N
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We have made it to the outer banks. We are in cape lookout national seashore. Shackleford banks is a island inhabited by wild horses. Pretty cool camping here. They even have outhouses. It is weird but this place like all places we have been opens facilities seasonally. The weird part is now it is in season. When we started all seasonal stuff was closed. Two weeks out from memorial day i guess everything is starting to open. We have come to somewhat of a decision as to a stopping point. We are going to get as far north as False Cape state park in virginia. We are going to end the trip and meet up with Hillarys parents in Coinjock, NC and load up the boats. They rented a house in Nags Head for the week after we meet them so we will take a vacation to unwind from our vacation. Pretty sweet how everything has worked out. But like everything else along the way we will still remain flexible.
Nick

New Bern

Happy 50th anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Norton. We are in New Bern visiting the Nortons. We leave for Shackleford Banks in the morning.

Salter Path

76°53'13"W
34°41'25"N
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We didnt make it to moorehead city today. When we woke up there was a east wind blowing and with that and the current we were traveling a little under 2mph. (We usually can average around 3). With that and the fact that we were chilled out on the water we decided to call a marina closer to us than moorehead city. We pulled over around 4 and finished 16 miles for the day and still fell about ten short of the dock we were shooting for. We will be in the area visiting the Nortons tomorrow so we will put up some more info tomorrow.

Bear Island

77°7'40"W
34°38'13"N
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This morning we departed Fultur's Landing. Our new friends Lendy and Camren helped us transport our camp gear down to the kayaks in their golf carts and then took us out to breakfast. The people around here are so nice. Last night Lendy let us borrow his golf cart to drive to dinner (arround here a golf cart is unofficially deemed an acceptable mode of transportation on local roads). Back in Surf City a guy offered to let us borrow his new truck to do errands!

Camren wasn't joking about the firing range over the icw. Luckily they weren't scheduled to shoot today but we kept the vhf close at hand just in case there was a change of plans. It was kind of creepy paddling past old tankers covered in bullet holes, but we made it through in one piece.

The people at Hammock Beach State Park didn't extend the same Carolina welcome we have been receiving else where. The park staff are like the show Parks and Rec, minus the nice overachieving Amy Polarher character. We had to paddle 5 miles out of the way to get read park rules and a safety lecture. The park is a beauricratic nightmare. At hammock beach: there is no public nudity, get medical treatment if you are attacked by racoons, and if you get near or mess with a sea turtle there is a $100,000 fine.

Once we got our camping permit and made it over to bear island things turned arround. This hands down the prettiest campsite we have pitched our tent. Beautiful untouched beaches and dunes! We are sleeping tonight to the sound of the ocean!

-Hillary

Fulchers Landing

77°23'9"W
34°33'42"N
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At fulchers landing campground. We went a little ways out of the way to get here today but we needed somewhere to stay to get around camp lejune. We had our first hard day of paddling in quite a while. The current and wind were against us most of the day. We got into camp about four hours later than expected. The people here were nice and let us use a golf cart to ride to dinner. The people at the restraunt werent as nice because we got in about 20 minutes before they closed. We got food and it was really good. We got some attitude from the waitress though. Tomorrow we are going to bear island to stay at hammock beach state park. Down here they call little spits of sand hammocks so i am guessing thats where it got its name. We were told that there might be artilery fire over the intracoastal but i am pretty sure that is just someone messing with us. I am going to check on it though so i guess they got me.

Nick

Nick

Nick

New boat

Surf City Night 2

We enjoyed our stay in surf city. Everything again within walking distance. We took care of lots of planning today while we waited out a thunderstorm that never hit. We had really high winds all day though. We now can make our way around Camp Lejeune legitimately and get to Beaufort in time to meet up with friends of my Grandparents, the Nortons. Today we swung into Swingbridge Beer and Wine for some refreshments. The guy running the counter was a kayaker and gave us some good advice on attractions in the area and good paddling spots. They had a great beer selection too. We are headed to Sneads Ferry tomorrow. It's a few miles out of the way but gives a good launch point to get around Camp Lejeune. We have decided to add a 30 mile day in after we get around Camp Lejeune in an effort to make it to Beaufort and because we cant find a stopping point between Bear island and there. Still no pics up of the new boat. It got dark out and I didnt want to take a picture of the boat in the dark with my cell phone. We still cannot upload pics from the camera to a website or facebook or this blog. Hopefully after Beaufort that will change. If not, while on vacation in Nags Head we will be able to put up all the pictures for everyone to see. We are past the halfway point of the trip time wise. We think we can end somewhere in Maryland but Lewes might be out of reach we will have to see. There is power and internet tomorrow night as well. Congratulations to Ben and Amanda as well. We got the news via facebook that little ben is in the world. Also happy mothers day to our mothers. They deserve a good mothers day for putting up with us and this crazy trip.
Nick

Surf City

77°32'53"W
34°25'53"N
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Wow what a difference a better kayak makes. The new boat did excellently. It is faster and lighter than the old one. We left wrightsville beach at 2 and made it here to Blackbeards (yarr) in surf city before dark. We had a good day on the water. We saw a lot of huge rays today. One bumped into my boat. Hillary also saw a turtle. We might stay an extra night here because they are calling for storms tomorrow and there is a hardees within walking distance. More tomorrow from a computer!

Wrightsville Beach

77°48'57"W
34°16'42"N
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We are leaving Wrightsville Beach after an unexpected stop over. Unfortunately the rudder repair didn't hold on my boat so yesterday was ten miles of paddling with no rudder and with the wind blowing the boat around the short paddle to Wrightsville Beach was extremely difficult. So Jason (who repaired my boat) met up with us and sold us one of his kayaks and gave us a real good deal on it. He also took my blue kayak with him as part of the deal. My new boat is a hurricane phoenix which is a much nicer boat than i was paddling. Thanks goes out to Jason again. We are going to shoot for surf city today we will see how that goes.
Nick

Pic

Sun setting on carolina beach from inside the tent away from the bugs

Carolina Beach

77°53'2"W
34°4'27"N
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Going to not use the automated title as much anymore. We are back to "gurella camping" as they call it in georgia or "boondocking" as they call it in south carolina. I am not sure what they call it in north carolina but most people use the term squatting. We found a nice piece of sand on the buggy side of this inlet. They are dredging the inlet or we would have camped on the other side. Felt good to hit the water again today although we are really going to miss southport. We were there for three days and met so many nice people that it felt like we were there for a whole summer. Chris, Emma, Jason thanks so much for all your hospitality and friendlieness. We will definetly be returning to southport. Tomorrow holds wrightsville beach and onward. We are going to be in Norfolf by memorial day with time to spare at this rate.

Nick

We had a nice paddle today. The big boat traffic was heavy, but we were able to keep far enough away to not be bothered to much by the wake.

I saw another big sea turtle! We also saw a couple big rays. On our paddle past fort fisher we went by several bird nesting islands - there were hundred of pelicans and eggrets hanging out.

-Hillary

Departing Southport

Nick's kayak is fixed!  The people here in Southport have been amazing.  Yesterday Emma, from the Adventure Company (http://www.theadventurecompany.net/), hooked us up with Jason.  Jason turned out to be an incredibly crafty guy - he got the boat fixed and reinforced the area with extra plastic.  You can't even tell it had broken and the area is probably more stable than out of the factory!  Southport has been such a great little town.  We couldn't have picked a better place to wait out the bad weather or get the boat fixed.  Everyone here has been so helpful and nice. 

 

After getting the boat situation taken care of we had some extra time to explore Southport in the rain.  We visited Emma's shop.  It had a lot of stuff we needed.  It is crazy how few actual kayak shops we have run across.  Many town's have a "kayak shop" that rents a few boats, sells overpriced clothing, and is staffed by people that have never been in a boat.  We were able to replace some of our wore through gear and talk with Emma about paddling in North Carolina - it was the perfect thing to do on a rainy day. 

 

With yesterdays down time I  found my self reflecting a lot on our trip.  We are about half way through!  The time has really flown by, but at the same time I amazed at how far we have come.  This type of physical and mental challenge really stimulates personal growth.  It tests your limits.  You are constantly stretching out of your comfort zone.  

 

One of the hardest things that we have faced has been finding places to camp.  Neither Nick or I realized how uncomfortable we would be with the idea of camping without permission.  So we have gone to greater lengths to try to find legitimate places to sleep.  This has definitely come with its own set of challenges.  Explaining over the phone to someone that you are arriving to there marina/campground/hotel via kayak tends to result in confusion.  Not to mention perplexed reactions to our questions.  Normally when I call a place I start with "Hi, I'm coming up the Intracoastal Water Way".  Nick has found that it's better to mention later in the conversation that you are arriving in a kayak.  The next part of the conversation usually goes something like this:  "Do you allow kayaks to dock at your marina?  Do we have to pay to store our boats by the foot or do you have a dingy storage fee?  Can I sleep on the marina docks or in the parking lot - I have a tent??".  Most people in campgrounds or hotels are incapable of giving boating directions to their facilities, even if they are on the water.  This makes sense I guess - if they have never done it they wouldn't know what to look for.  Another vital question when communicating with a campground is finding out if they allow tents.  It is so weird, but we have come across many self labeled "campgrounds" that do not allow you to sleep in a tent - RV only!  The majority of the people we have called have been pretty nice, but in Myrtle Beach I had two people in a row hang up on me. So far in NC most places will let you through up a tent, but several still charge you the same as if you had an RV.  For all the head ache arriving in a kayak can be, I don't think we would have met so many interesting people if we arrived via traditional transportation.  Our kayaks certainly do spark a good conversation!

 

Another dilemma that Nick and I have had is that our wardrobes are uncomfortably similar.  When we first left St. Augustine we noticed that we had packed a few of the same pieces of clothing.  There are just some brands that make really good paddling gear, so I figured that it was somewhat normal for us to have similar things.  At this point, it has gotten a lot worse.  We have been given a few free t-shirts along the way - so now we actually have some identical outfits.  Two days in a row I have gotten dressed only to realize that Nick was wearing the same thing : (  Granted we have spent the last three weeks joined at the hip - but I just can't be that couple that wears matching outfits.  I guess I need to wear more skirts and halter tops... 

 

Our visit to Southport has been a great place to mark the halfway point of our trip.  Today we are headed back on the water.  After two days of rain the skies dramatically cleared last night with a gorgeous arching double rainbow.  We are all sunny skies today and ready to paddle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fixed

Nick

Still in southport

We are trying to get the kayak fixed still.  With thunderstorms looming we will ride out the bad weather in the rugged accomidations of the bed and breakfast in southport.  They rented us a room at a discount and we are the only people here so we have the place to ourselves.  We are going to solve the kayak dilemma tomorrow.  If there is something here to fix it we will do that otherwise I might be finding a new ride before the trip is over.  We love southport though so we are enjoying some down time.  All should make sense in the morning. 

Nick

Broken boat

This is the crack in my boat.  The two screw holes are where the rudder attaches to the boat.  Any suggestions?  I am thinking of putting some marine epoxy over the whole thing and putting a piece of plexiglass or something like that over it if this guy can't melt the plastic back together. 

Nick

May 3, 2010 11:17:06 AM

78°1'10"W
33°55'1"N
WhereBlogger!

Still in southport. We have gotten in touch with someone who might be able to repair my kayak. She is going to meet up with us today and we will see what she says about fixing it. We have moved from the motel to the bed and breakfast across the street. The kayaks didnt have to move though which is important. It is funny how some people understand what you are doing and some dont. The motel people were very accomidating to us but told us that we could land the kayaks at the motel. There is a rock breakwall that we had to climb the kayaks over to get them anywhere off the beach. We called the kayak shop in town and she said she would be down to take a look at the situation. She instantly understood that there was no way we were getting these boats anywhere without lots of help. Hopefully everything goes well and the bad weather rolls through today as well and tomorrow it is camping on a nice sunny beach. We will keep you up to date with todays developments. For the record a restored victorian bed and breakfast is waaayy to nice of a place to be housing us. We hid our laundry that we are hanging up to dry behind the door so we wouldnt appear trashy.

Nick

May 2, 2010 9:18:58 PM

78°1'10"W
33°55'0"N
WhereBlogger!

In southport for the night. We ate at provision company tonight and it was great. We are going to try to fix my broken rudder tomorrow if we get the chance. There is supposed to be a marine supply store within walking distance. There is a crack in the back of my boat where the rudder attaches to the boat. I dont think my boat was made to put up with the abuse it has put up with on this trip. More tomorrow

Nick

Hillary

May 2, 2010 9:01:05 AM

78°17'48"W
33°54'39"N
WhereBlogger!

In holden beach. This is the campground we stayed in right next to the fishing pier. It was cool to camp beachfront with ammenities but they did not allow alcohol on the premises so i would not reccomend the place. On our way to southport today.
Nick

other kayakers

i keep forgetting to mention that we ran into a kayaker in tybee island named jake.  he is kayaking the same route we are for the next few months.  he is going a great distance further though.  google portage to portage to check out his web site.  I will put up a link when we get better internet access.  he has already traveled down the mississippi and across the gulf coast and up the intracoastal to tybee island when we met up with him.  he is finishing the icw and going back to portage minnisetoa on the st lawrence seaway.  best of luck to you jake.  we might run into him again real soon he does fourty miles a day and even with skipping south carolina he will be on our tails soon.  also got in touch with kayak kevin via email recently.  he is one of the main reasons for our preparedness on the trip.  thanks again kevin we wouldnt have been so successful without you.  he is a world class kayak fisherman and has done the intracoastal many times.  check out his site www.kayakkevin.com

Apr 30, 2010 8:01:36 PM

78°23'29"W
33°54'18"N
WhereBlogger!

In ocean isles beach. Found another waterfront campground which is great. Its no captain andys campground but it will do. Captain andy told me today that i would make a great charterboat captain. That is the best compliment i have gotten so far on the trip. We are going to hit holden beach tomorrow and make a day of it there. Resupply on some food and h2o. Erin we will definetly hit up the restraunt you reccomended. Camping on the water is by far the best. Less bugs most nights and you get to go to sleep with the sound of the waves. North Carolina has treated us real well the first two days we have been here. You notice you are paddling against the current but you make some speed instead of standing still. Not nearly as wild as Georiga but still some wildlife. Today we saw a fox Hillary wanted to make her kayaking companion. I think she really misses the dog. We saw lots of puppy drum in the shallows. A few herron and egerets were fishing in the shallows. We also saw lots of small turtles. Captain andy told us of an island full of wild goats but we didnt see any. I fished for the first time today. I should have been doing it earlier but we were paddling our hearts out all day every day until we got up to here. It feels nice to get in early and relax. Didnt catch anything yet but it still felt really good to fish. Hopefully north carolina keeps up the hospatility to us kayaking bums for the rest of our time here.

Nick

Pics

One pic of downtown Beaufort and three of captain Andys Campground

Calabash, NC

78°33'19"W
33°53'19"N
WhereBlogger!

Crossed into North Carolina this afternoon. We have learned some very valuable lessons in the last two days. The most important is dont get off the water. The minute you move the boats from the water life becomes difficult. In the process of moving the boats we learned we might actually have more time than we thought. If it works out and we feel like continuing on we might get to do the chesapeake! We are at captain andys campground tonight which is my favorite campground so far. It doesnt have a moon bounce like the myrtle beach KOA but it does have a boatramp @ 20 ft from our tent. So the kayaks are off the water and safe. Captain andy spent a decent ammount of time in the ellicot city area and has fished the conowingo dam as well. He is a great guy and has treated us well. We might get an early lunch at the Calabash seafood house and catch the late tide to end up near holden beach.
Nick

Apr 28, 2010 9:06:12 PM

78°53'49"W
33°41'2"N
WhereBlogger!

In myrtle beach at the KOA. It has been a nice day all in all. Hectic trying to figure out everything while driving and trying to replace broken gear along the way. We purchased a new cell phone for hillary, a new vhf radio, new dry bags and a new chart case with charts. We are really putting our gear to the test and finding out what really is waterproof. We are getting back on the intracoastal tomorrow or the next day. It is going to depend on how long it takes to repair my boat. I found a crack in my boat when the rudder fell off so with a little marine epoxy and some screws we should be back on the water.
Nick

Apr 27, 2010 6:57:17 PM

80°42'25"W
32°26'21"N
WhereBlogger!

We are in beaufort, sc tonight. Sorry about no post last night when we got into hilton head. We collapsed after battling the wind and current. We stayed in a hotel though which was nice. Ate at the applebees in the parking lot and fell asleep before the caps game was over. We had another rough day today. We kayaked past paris island while a storm kicked up. Not much rain, just lots of wind. My rudder fell off as we were passing the port royal point. We made it into Beaufort though with all pieces still attached to our boats. We have made a big decision regarding the trip. We are going to skip the majority of south carolina and get to myrtle beach tomorrow. We rented a truck and are going to drive the boats up there tomorrow. We have run out of time and really want to get to north carolina. I guess we started a lot later than we originally anticipated and didnt want to miss out on georiga so we though we could make up the miles somewhere along the way. Also we have been paddling from sun up to sun down for two weeks and being able to pace ourselves a little better would be nice. Anyway if all works out we should probably make it to norfolk by our stop day. We are talking of doing the norfolk to lewes stretch after we are done work in the summer. More info to come. Nick

Pics

This is a pic of Hillary's hair, the big waves at the tybee island pier and Hillary climbing a live oak

Apr 26, 2010 12:46:34 PM

80°51'20"W
32°3'46"N
WhereBlogger!

Look where we are! We are not blogging from the middle of the ocean this is a location on a sandbar that came up during our trip from tybee. Crazy water they have down here.

Apr 25, 2010 10:18:47 PM

80°51'6"W
32°1'25"N
WhereBlogger!

Second night on tybee. We have had a blast on the self described red neck riveria. If you are ever down this way check out Huck a Poo's it is great. For all you familiar with southern maryland it is the green door of tybee island. Yesterday we came to the campground in a taxi. If that wasnt odd enough we came in a limo because the cab companys cab was broken down and they also rented limos. Only my second time in a limo and it was to a campground. While doing our laundry we went to the campground pavillion to get away from the bugs and rain. They had a "wellness" seminar going on for quasar lazer products. It was some pitch about light energy curing your ailments. Well after kayaking 200 miles i had plenty of pains and they tried to cure them with light therapy. It is a small electronic device that is supposed to moivate cell rejuvination or something like that. It's just modern day snake oil though. I sat there for ten minutes with the thing turned off before someone pointed out i couldnt be feeling better because it wasnt on. But there were no bugs or rain and we got to charge our electronics throughout the presentation. We explored the island on bikes today while the wind whaled. On tybee island you are allowed to bike or walk with an alcoholic beverave as long as it is in a cup. We enjoyed or bike tour just a little more with this perk.
Nick

Wow! The georgia coast is amazing, beautiful, and remote. We are excited for our paddle into south carolina tomorrow, but we are also sad to leave this amazing and unique state. The wildlife viewing was great. Everyday we saw 10-20 dolfins - some feet and even inches from our boats! Two days in a row we saw hundreds of rays in the shallows around us. A big highlight was spotting two lager head turtles; one was about 3 feet long! In addition, we also saw huge conchs, eagles, wood storks, aligators, wild horses, a weisel, way to many racoons, maybe we heard a wild boar, and had 3 too many shark encounters.

Today we were at a kayak shop and met a guy who is kayaking around the eastern half of the US. It was great talking with him and meeting a fellow long distance paddler.

Our stop in tybee has recharged us for the adventures ahead!

- Hill

PS - GO CAPS!

• Hill

Pics

Apr 24, 2010 7:51:11 PM

80°51'9"W
32°1'20"N
WhereBlogger!

At tybee island campground. It is a nice piece of dry land to be on right now. We paddled through the rain all day on the ocean side of wassaw and tybee island. They were not as nice as ossabaw but still nice. We are going to wait out the weather here. The plan is to get on the water again on monday because they have a tornado watch out for savanntah. Tybee is a neat little island. Very different from Jekyll or St simon. We got a ride from the kayak ramp to the marina today from the manager of the marina and they fixed us coffee and burgers all for free. Of course this means i got two burgers and hillary got some dried fruit from the food bag. She got half of my coffee though. If you are ever in tybee on a boat you should stop by and stay at the marina. I know you will cause it is the only marina on the island. We are dry for the first time in four days. Hillary had a shark make some agressive manuvers towards her today coming in the inlet. Luckily all is well and we are walking into town for dinner. I will post some more pics later today or tomorrow and tell you about the quazar lazer therapy session we attended.
Nick

Apr 23 makeup

81°3'11"W
31°49'4"N
WhereBlogger!

So we got done 25 miles this day. We came up the back side of st cathrines island and went out into the ocean and kayaked the front side of ossabaw island. Ossabaw is georgeous. Live oak and palms on the beach with no developent. We havent seen anyting more than a dock since we left st simon. No houses except this retreat on st cathrines. If you look on the west side of st cathrines and find walburg creek that is where we saw our first gator laying on the shore. We saw two more right up from him. The water was salty as could be i dont understand it. We saw more rays and skates breeding today that is a cool sight when you paddle over and watch 10 or so scatter. We had a rough night of camping though raccoons all over the place and something that growled at us.

Apr 22 makeup

81°12'16"W
31°34'8"N
WhereBlogger!

Sorry for no postings lately but Georiga is an unforgiving mistress with little cell phone coverage. These are approximate camp locations. We had the best night of camping yet here. We pulled in at 4 instead of dark and got to read books, cook a warm meal, reorganize the boats and let things dry. This was a sandy beach camp site. It was gorgeous when we woke up in the morning we saw the sunrise over the ocean. We could see the ocean from our tent. A slight breeze kept the bugs at bay and we were in heaven. The next morning was interesting though. We had to carry the heavy boats all the way down to the water. The tide went out and i estimated it exposed 150 ft of sand that we had to carry the boats down. Tides are nuts in Georiga. The camp site also was isolated by the marsh so we didnt get any visitors to the site. Best night of camping so far.

Apr 21, 2010 8:25:38 PM

81°17'43"W
31°22'25"N
WhereBlogger!

Left st. Simon's today and paddled up to queens island. We saw our first gator today. We only saw the head but he was about 6 foot long. He ducked under the water as soon as he saw us.

The bugs are really bad again tonight. Our head nets are becoming standard evening attire : ) Todays paddle was beautiful - hopefully better luck at tomorrow's campsite with the no-see-ums.

Apr 20, 2010 9:19:38 PM

81°24'8"W
31°10'17"N
WhereBlogger!

On st simon island for the night. We are well prepared now for the rest of Georiga thanks to the great folks at Southeast Adventure Outfitters. They gave us great advice as to where to camp through Georiga. They also got us all the gear we needed that we either broke or forgot to get at the start. And as if that wasnt enough they gave us a ride to the grocery store near our hotel. What a great bunch of folks and we hope they follow along with our blog. If you are ever in st simon look them up. We hit the water tomorrow to start into the great Georgia wilderness. On the ride over today we saw a sea turtle surface and dive. They are huge when you see one up close. We also saw a diamondback terrapin, and rays in the water. I have now figured out how to post some pics to the blog and will try to get more up soon. Hopefully we will put some posts up in Georiga but we will see how the batteries hold up. We will get you an update in Hilton Head or Beaufort for sure.
Nick

Pics

Apr 18, 2010 11:06:31 PM

81°24'46"W
31°2'32"N
WhereBlogger!

We are really enjoying sleeping in beds and eating at restraunts. Jekyll Island has been fun. We rented an electric golf cart car for the day and ran errands with it. After talking to people in town we have a bit of a new found confidence to get through Georgia. A stop in st simon island is going to be necessary too because we need to pick up a few kayaking supplies. Hopefully they can give us some more insight into getting through Georgia. Everyone here has been friendly but I'm worried we are getting too used to comforts. Luckily the rest of Georiga should toughen us up. Sorry for no pics yet i am trying to figure out how to post them from the phone. I will post all of them when i get the chance.
Nick

Apr 17, 2010 8:05:41 PM

81°24'48"W
31°6'23"N
WhereBlogger!

Pretty far inland? We are at a campground on jekyll island Georiga. We will be on Jekyll Island for the next two nights. More info tomorrow phone is dying Nick

Apr 15, 2010 9:51:38 PM

81°28'43"W
30°36'36"N
WhereBlogger!

Great night sleep at little talbot. We had a slow start but definetly needed some time to sort things out, do laundry, take showers,etc. Our procastination leaving the campground turned out to be a good thing. We ended up paddling perfectly insync with the tides. We had strong winds today, around 25 mph, so we wouldn't have made any progress if we had to go against both tides and wind. I know nick has mentioned it before, but the tides here are just so strong. Today NOT PADDLING with the tides and wind at our back we were going 2 mph.

Our paddle today was beautiful. We snaked in and out of small tidal creeks on our way back to the icw. Then we kayaked out along the western shore of an inlet opening. It was really choppy water but the change of scenery was fun. There were actual sandy beaches - not just mud flats and oyster bars.

We rejoined the icw right as the tide changed and started paddling to fernandina beach. I had a dolfin surface about 10 yards from my boat. I also saw a little shark. He was probably only a foot or so long and redish - maybe a dogfish head. We hit stong winds so progress was slowed. We ended up camping on an island just south of fernandina beach. Island looked nice but ends up is covered in the most anoying little bugs. Thanks Bev and Becky for my head net it has been absolutly esential!

- Hill

Ps. I have the worlds worst spelling and this phone app doesn't have spell check. Sorry for all the errors.

Apr 14, 2010 9:39:34 PM

81°25'14"W
30°27'25"N
WhereBlogger!

Going to bed somewhat satisified. We are at a camp ground near the border. Maybe two days away from georiga though. We had our first crossing today and a ocean liner came around the corner as soon as we took off from shore. Dinner was not the greatest because we are both too tired. I had beef jerkey and rum with a bit of fanta soda orange to wash it down. Too much paddling and not enough down time. We are battling heavy north winds but people keep on telling me the spring is when the southerly winds prevail. We wheeled our kayaks into camp today and i encountered three types of people almost instantly. The people at the dock when we pulled up seemed interested in what we were doing enough to ask a few questions. A group a little farther down the road gave me a dirty look and then i heard them laugh a minute later. The last two guys i ran into were thrilled about the whole thing and wanted to tell me their stories of adventure. One guy told me a story about taking a cat and a dog in a jon boat down the swanee river. I think his name was charlie and he bet the other guys at his camp site that we would finish. I hope we can win you that bet man.
Nick

Apr 13, 2010 7:58:46 PM

81°25'24"W
30°16'15"N
WhereBlogger!

Hard day of paddling. Found a makeshift campsite. Exhausted and excited for tomorrow. Might make it to a real campground. Saw dolphins twice, bald eagles, and a rainbow.

Apr 12, 2010 8:29:23 PM

81°22'13"W
30°3'38"N
WhereBlogger!

First night and we are exhausted. The weather didn't cooperate at all today. We went through some of the fastest tides ive ever seen. The wind was not much help either. Hopefully tomorrow will go a little better. Found a nice camp spot for the first night which helps. Saw a rosiette spoonbill and a sea turtle. Hopefully we make jacksonville beach tomorrow.

- Nick

No aligtor sightings today! Like nick mentioned we saw some really cool animals! The spoonbill looks like a pink flamingo but with a blue head. This place we found to camp is pretty idea, hopefully our luck finding camping spots continues.

It was a pretty wet day, but all and all a great start to the trip. I'm excited for tomorrow!

-hill

St. Augustine

81°18'18"W
29°53'35"N
WhereBlogger!

Made it to the starting line. I want to take this opportunityh to sincerely thank myh parents for driving us down here. It would have made the trip difficult to get down here in anything smaller than their Yukon. We are staying at the edgewater inn located directly on the bridge of lions. Unfortunately the prettiest bridge on the intracoastal waterway is under construction. We are headed into the historic downtown to get some dinner and perhaps some last minute supplies. More in the morning. Nick

Almost There

81°59'25"W
34°55'22"N
WhereBlogger!

Been in Virginia, Tennesee, North Carolina, and South Carolina today. We head for St Augustine in the morning. Thanks to my cousin Danny for putting me and Hillary up last night and thanks to Aunt Margaret, Amy, Jeff and Angie for coming to see us. We swung into Asheville for the day and also caught some of my cousin Alex's soccer game. Quite the eventful day. We are going to hit the water Monday if all goes well at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. More posts to come with hopefully some pics.

Commenting

If you feel so inclined please feel free to try leaving a comment.  I changed some settings that should allwo comments to be posted

Alls well in Bel Air

76°21'39"W
39°32'22"N
WhereBlogger!

Organizing some gear at my parents after the colossal move. Charlottesville was a good time and should be a great experience for Hillary. Thanks again to David and Meredith for helping us out with storage. My grandafther has been feeling a bit under the weather lately and luckily it seems that all is good. I am at their house now and trying to explain to them how to check this blog and share it with their friends. Also sorry for all the extra postings and short noninformative posts. I am still working out this application on my cell phone. The app is called whereblogger for all who are interested and it works very well if you use it correctly which it appears i am doing now. Closing in on a week away and the excitement is building. I will be keeping everyone up to date with all the details of the next week and hopefully i will figure out how to post some videos and pics within the next week.

Mar 29, 2010 11:04:50 PM

77°2'51"W
38°49'1"N
WhereBlogger!

Moving out today. Going to charlottesville tomorrow.

Gear List

I’m working on putting a gear list together for the trip. Below is what I have so far. I know there are things I’m completely forgetting about and a lot of stuff that made it on the list but we don’t really need. Nick is still working out his clothing list, but it will probably be similar to mine.

Any feedback would be great! Knowing me there is something absolutely essential that has slipped my mind.

- Hillary

Basics Kayaking Gear:

Kayaks – Nick is bringing his Wilderness Systems’ Tarpon 160 sit on top. I’m bringing by 13.5 foot Boreal Design’s Ookpik

Paddles – 1 for Nick, 1 for me, and a spare

Life vests

Rope/tie towns

Chain and combo lock

Giant sponge

Dry bags – a lot

Kayak carts

Deck compass

Compass

Chart book

ICW guide

Binoculars

Flares

Spray skirt

Camping Supplies:

Tent

Sleeping bags

Sleeping pads

Tarp

Camp pillows

Duct tape

Pocketknife

Leatherman

Carabineers

Towel

Toilet paper

Headlamps

Spot beam

Hatchet

Mesh gear bags

Small shovel

Alligator mace (I know they make bear mace, do they make one for alligators?)

Camp Kitchen

Food - A lot!!!!

Coffee

Collapsible cooler

Cloth bags for carrying water and groceries

Stove and Fuel

Water Containers: 2 five-gallon water bladders, 1 five-gallon hard plastic container, 7 three-liter collapsible nalgenes, and a bunch of one-liter nalgenes

Mini table

Water purification tablets (in case of emergency, plan on getting water as we go)

Matches and lighter

Cooking pot

Cooking and eating utensils

Mugs

Plates

Camp suds soap and sponge

Bags for trash

Ziplocks

French press for nalgene

Electronics:

GPS

Droid phone

Walkie-talkies

Crank radio

Solar panel

Waterproof digital camera and extra batteries/memory card

VHF radio

Chargers

Batteries

Toiletries, etc.:

Toothbrush/Paste

Bug spray

Sunscreen

Dr. Brauners Soap

Razor

Washcloths

Chapstick

Needle and thread

First aid kit

Deodorant

Contact lenses and solution

Other:

Books – Having a hard time deciding which ones to bring, any suggestions??

Field guide

Journal

Pen/pencil

Watch

Credit Card

Driver's License

Cash

Fishing gear

Glasses/Sunglasses

Glasses holders that float

Hillary's Clothing:

Raincoat and pants

Fleece zip-up

Long underwear bottoms

Shorts

Long pants

Skirt

Tank tops

Sun shirts

Wool socks

Neoprene socks

Chaco’s

Flip-flops

Underwear

Paddling gloves

Poggies

Sun hat

Bathing suite

Nick’s clothing

????