Planning Begins for 2018 + the Fishhugger is Christened

As cold weather sets in and fishing and camping give way to Fall and Winter, I usually start planning adventures for the next warm season.

Looking ahead, the 2018 segment of Journey of the Fishhugger will take me from the Chesapeake Bay near mouth of the Potomac to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.  If all goes well, I should cross into North Carolina waters in 2018.

An initial sketch of the first 100+ miles of my planned route for 2018 is shown here.

Based on my initial research, the stretch from Newport News all the way to the entrance to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal looks very problematic for camping.  It is heavily developed, highly populated, and there are no obvious campgrounds or natural areas I would be able to stop for the night.

I will continue my research, but for now, my plan is to put out a call to all of my readers and Facebook contacts for anyone who lives in that area for ideas, tips, or offers to put me up for a night!

In other news, the Fishhugger has been officially christened (with rye whiskey) and now proudly bears her name!  Many thanks to Chris for helping me christen her and snapping the picture below to commemorate the event!

@5Gyres 
#5GyresAmbassador 

2017 - Day 8

Day 8: I rounded Smith Point into the Chesapeake and was greeted with 2-3 foot seas and 10-15 mph headwinds. I tried to pedal through but it was more than I could handle. I beached the boat and was picked up by Aaron Daley.  I was lucky he happened to be in the area and is such a generous and helpful friend.

Aaron Daley tracked me down on night 7 and brought me a cold beverage or three.  He also used the GPS tracker to come pick me up on Day 8 after I was forced off of the water by high winds.  Thanks Aaron!  Glad you happened to be in the area!

The Fishhugger secured in Aaron Daley's truck bed after he rescued me.

 Not how I hoped to end the trip but glad to make 95 of the 101 miles I had planned for this leg of the journey.

The Fishhugger's last landing of the 2017 leg of the journey.  We made it to the Chesapeake Bay!

It was great to see Chris and the kids this afternoon. I could not have done this trip without her love, support, and encouragement. Lucky to have her in my life.




I collected what plastic I could along the way, a symbolic gesture to help draw attention to the issue.  I'm not against plastic, I am against stupid plastic.  Items we make from oil, use once and throw away. Grocery bags, straws, cup lids, water bottles, etc.  I'm working to reduce my own use of these items.

2017 - Day 7

Day 7 -- Yeocomico River to the mouth of the Little Wicomoco River (and the edge of the Chesapeake Bay):

I got up extra early and broke camp before first light. It was still windy but it felt like it had dropped and I was itching to make up for lost time. Skipped cofveve and loaded the boat. First light showed no whitecaps so off I went.

Crossing the Yeocomico was rough going, but once I got close to the other side, it sheltered me from the wind. That was true most of the day except when I had to cross other river mouths or inlets. Every time, there was a wind blast from the South and rough going on the water.

While in the shelter of the shore, I fished. A lot. Today was easily the best fishing day of the trip. I caught 40+ striped bass and finally got a speckled trout -- my personal best at 22".
I pedaled and paddled hard and was able to cover about 21 miles. I am now at the site I had planned to camp on the last night -- near the mouth of the Little Wicomoco and the transition from Potomac to Chesapeake. I hope weather let's me finish out the last 8 miles tomorrow.

Everything feels more salty today. The stripers are thicker, the speckled trout showed up, jellyfish were so thick in some places that they changed the water color, I saw two sharks and puffer fish. I can no longer see the Maryland side of the river. It's all Chesapeake Bay over there now.

Will camp here and perhaps get a visit from Aaron D Daley who happens to be in the area tonight.

2017 - Day 6 - had to stay put due to wind

Day 6 officially called due to weather. The wind was relentless and if anything, strengthened over the course of the day. Unloaded the boat and will camp in the same spot as last night.

We knew this was a possibility-- kayak touring is highly weather dependent. I have about 29 miles to go. That should be doable in two days -- if I can paddle. NOAA calls for more of the same tomorrow and has extended the small craft advisory through tomorrow evening.

I plan to get up early, prepare the boat and. E ready to go if there is a break in the wind.
In other news, I never thought blisters on the feet would be a thing. But pedaling the better part of 70 miles takes its toll. Left foot has had the worst of it. Pic below.

Saw lots of dolphins today and had a great lunch. Not a bad way to spend the day, and all part of the adventure.

2017 - Day 6 - afternoon, still pinned down by wind

I'm still pinned down by wind at the mouth of the Yeocomoco River. Hmm. What to do...maybe a little fishing? Boom. Six striped bass off of the rock jetties around this point. A couple pics below.

About my kayak: Some folks have asked what I mean when I say "pedaling" the kayak. My boat is a 16 foot 2011 Hobie Revolution. It has a Hobie "mirage drive" (pictured below) which is a pair of fins connected to a pedal drive system. It goes right through the hull and locks in and you pedal with your feet to propel the boat.

I got this boat used several months ago and it has exceeded my expectations. I paddle it some too, but I have had three shoulder surgeries so most of my miles come from pedaling it. You do have to unlock them and pull them up before landing the boat, but they are worth the trouble. Could not have done this trip without the pedaling option.

2017 - Day 6 - Wind strong this morning..

Day 6: wind is still very strong. Too strong to push off for now. I broke down camp and will go if conditions improve. In the meantime, I believe I will make another cup of covfefe.

2017 - Day 5 - Summary

Day 5 summary: Mostly good paddle/pedal conditions today. Until the end of the day when the wind went from nothing to 10 - 15 mph.

John Coleman and I started the day fishing near the marina. We caught a lot of white perch, spot, and he caught a small striped bass. We parted around noon. Thanks for coming for the second year in a row Johnny!

After that, I slow trolled my way along the shore and caught a lot of croaker, white perch and striped bass. Of those, I was only targeting the stripers but all were fun to catch. I even upsized my bait to try to avoid them, but the bigger perch and croakers still managed to gobble it.

I found no plastic trash on the three beaches I stopped on today! Surprising, but true -- and worth noting.

My last mile today into the wind and against the tide was the toughest of the trip. Very choppy water and I had to pedal hard the whole time just to make forward progress. I was very happy to round the point and find a sweet little beach to stop for the night.

NOAA has already issued a small craft advisory for tomorrow through Friday AM:
... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT FRIDAY... * WINDS... 18 TO 33 KNOTS WITHIN THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MEANS WINDS OF 18 TO 33 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. BOATERS OPERATING SMALLER VESSELS SHOULD AVOID NAVIGATING IN THESE CONDITIONS. &&

Will check conditions in the morning and figure out a plan for the day.

CLICK HERE to see a Facebook video\slide show from the day (created automatically by Facebook)

2017 - Day 4 - What towed me around the bay for 25 mins - videos

So here are the videos I took while something towed me around the bay for 20-30 mins.  Excuse the bad videoing and stretches of blank!  Will try to edit these later.

Video 1 - something really big on.... (had to set the phone down a lot in this one, excuse the blanks!)

Video 2 - bent rod, ...towing me across the bay

Video 3 - still fighting...

Video 4 - what i think it is...

Video 5 - ok, what i know it is

Video 6 - wrap up

2017 - Day 5 - Plan

Plan for Day 4: Getting a late start. Coleman and I plan to fish around Cole's Point for the morning before we part ways.

It was nice to enjoy the luxury of the cabin. AC, ice, delicious cocktails, a bed! One downside to not camping right on the river is that you have to haul all of your gear. At least the marina had a dock cart so it could be done in one trip.

When I arrived with my bag of River Trash and asked for the recycling bin, I was directed to the bins below. They are NOT recycling bins. I took a shot of the inside of one. Just about everything visible was plastic. Much of it recyclable. All headed for a landfill. Drill for oil, refine it, make plastic items, use them once, transport them to a landfill, bury them. Good plan.
#5gyresambassador
@5gyres

I have about 44 miles to the planned take-out, so I need to cover about 11 miles each day. Higher winds predicted for tomorrow so I may try to go farther today -- if Coleman and I don't spend too much time fishing! No more campgrounds or Marinas on the route. I will just have to start looking for camp sites in the afternoon/evening each day. I also off-loaded items I no longer need or decided I can do without and replaced that space with additional Gatorade and water.

No recycle bins here.  😩                                            So much plastic headed for the dump. 😭

Pack, unpack, haul gear, repack, repeat.                 Cole Point marina bar and grill.

Cabin #2.

Part of the route for today.

2017 - Day 4 - Morning - looks like rain

Looks like I'm in for some rain soon. Also very windy. Maybe wind will die down some after the storm passes. I just checked the NOAA marine forecast and it says winds 5 knots. It's a steady 15 knot wind now with stronger gusts. I wonder what the wind will be Thursday and Friday when they are predicting 10 to 15?

2017 - Day 4 - morning covfefe

Making the morning covfefe.

2017 - Day 4 - new plan

Rain has passed. Wind died down. Caught one small striped bass. Picked up as much plastic as I can manage. About to push off.

New plan for the day: meet good friend John Coleman at the Coles Point marina and stay in cottage #2!

2017 - Day 4 - Interesting Day..

Interesting day so far. The strong wind died off entirely so I slow trolled down to the bottom end of shark tooth island. Started catching striped bass there and stayed long enough to catch a dozen. None over 15" but a lot of fun on light tackle. Then something really big took my lure. Really big. Towed me around the bay for 20 or 30 minutes. Seriously. I won't spoil the ending. I think I got it in video. Small bit here shows rod bent (video not posted here yet).

After that, I pedaled towards Cole Point tavern (pictures here) and was sad to find it is only open Thursday through Sunday. You do a lot of meticulous planning for a trip like this, but checking their hours was one I never thought about. 😢

Am now at the Coles Point marina grill drinking a cold beer. 😀

Dog is Hank. He was a sweetie.

I don't mind roughing it, but..

2017 - Day 3 - Shark tooth island

Shark tooth island is narrow. I was standing at water line on one side when I took this. You can see the water on the other about 12 get from the tent. A lot of plastic trash on the island. Will collect what i can tomorrow before I push off.