Pt. Pleasant Canal

You'd think it would be hard to miss two 3x4' reflective warning signs but we did.

On a training paddle from Gull Island County Park on the Manasquan River to Good Luck Piont on Toms River we entered the Pt. Pleasant Canal. We paddled right past the signs and a man picking up his yard on the east side of the canal waved and shouted out to us. He said the water was turbulent, the police would arrest us and pointed to the signs behind us. So, we turned back, which was an upstream paddle for a minute as we had timed the paddle through the canal to be with the current.

Question: what's the definition of "personal watercraft," which are not allowed? Several boaters as well as my NJ boating safety instructor said it applied to jet skis and all advised against paddling through it. So, it's unsafe and yet not illegal. And yet, John Strauss, who's paddling the true trip with me, called the marine police and they said kayaking the canal wasn't permitted. (Tragically, March 27, 28-year-old Aaron McLoughlin of Long Beach Township, who was attempting to paddle a canoe with 2 friends from Treasure Island in the Manasquan River to Maxson Avenue Beach in Point Pleasant, drowned after the canoe capsized. He wasn't wearing a PFD).