Exciting news
(exciting for me anyway):
Dates for the 2018 leg of the Journey of the Fishhugger have
been set! June 16 – June 26ish! The Summer Solstice is June 21, so I will be
paddling during the longest days of 2018.
Quick recap for folks who are just tuning in:
2018 will be the third year of a
journey from Alexandria, VA to Key West, made in chunks as big as I can each
year. The first two years covered about
200 miles, entirely in the Potomac River, ending just inside the Chesapeake Bay
in Reedville, VA last year. Each year I
put my boat (the Fishhugger) back in the water in the same spot I ended the
previous years’ journey. In addition to testing my limits and
having an amazing adventure, this journey has another purpose: to raise
awareness about the problem of plastic pollution in our waterways and oceans. I am a 5 Gyres Ambassador and part of
my commitment to that role is using this trip to raise awareness about plastic
pollution.
2018
Plans:
Unless Aeolus or Poseidon intervene, I will push off on Saturday, June 16 and
start pedaling and paddling down the Chesapeake Bay.
 |
| Reedville, VA to Elizabeth City, NC. About 152 miles. |
I planned 8 days of paddling to get me to Elizabeth City,
NC. However, past experience has shown
that wind and weather will cause me to stay put for all or parts of some days. So it may take me 10 days or more to complete
8 days of actual travel.
Luckily, my wife, Chris and the kids (Hannah and Julian)
will be vacationing in Nags Head, NC the week I hope to end the trip. So we have flexibility in pick-up location
and date!
Meeting up along the
way:
Some friends have expressed interest in meeting up along
the way. I welcome it! But you are on your own as far as
logistics. I have a hard enough time
planning this for myself! If you are interested, send me an email or a PM on Facebook. We can try to figure out whatmight make sense.
In a future
post, I will include a link to my GPS device which will show where I am in real
time. I’d love to see some familiar
faces on the water. Especially some of
you local fishing gurus (Wayne Tu, Kevin Whitley, Rob Choi, William Ragulsky)!
Highlights and Scary
Bits:
I’m excited to paddle a good long stretch of the Chesapeake
Bay. I’ve been on the Bay in a powerboat
but never in a kayak – the experience is very different.
Another highlight for 2018 will be the Great Dismal Swamp Canal,
believed to be the oldest existing excavated waterway in America. It
runs generally north and south for 22 miles between Deep Creek, Va., and South
Mills, N.C. The canal connects the Elizabeth and Pasquotank Rivers, thereby connecting
the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound. More about the Great Dismal Swamp in a future
Post.
Scary bits include a bunch of open water crossings --
Scary bits include a bunch of open water crossings --
- Ingram Bay – 1.9 miles
- Rappahannock River -- 3.75 miles
- Piankatank River – 2.27 miles
- Mobjack Bay – 5.5 miles
- York River – 2.30 miles
- Poquoson River – 1.5 miles
- James River/Hampton Roads – 3.00 miles
None of these are too daunting (although Mobjack Bay is a looong one), but it means I will need the weather to cooperate a little if I am to complete the route.
The other scary bit is other humans in power boats. This is true every year, but I will be traveling through Hampton Roads which sees a lot of commercial, recreational and U.S. Naval marine traffic. I got a big airhorn and will do my best to steer clear of our powered friends.
