Day 7 Berkeley Shores to Oyster Creek

One frustration after another.

As the wind was from the SW, we chose this section of Barnegat Bay as this stretch of the ICW is along the mainland and we thought that it would give us some shelter from a westerly wind. That decision was the easiest exercise of the morning and it wasn’t exactly correct.

As I was driving north from Manahawkin along on the Garden State Parkway in a construction zone with no shoulder on either side, the front hatch of John’s kayak came off and was banging against the boat and my car windshield. It was a startling sight and sound. I didn’t want the hatch to catch too much wind and break loose from the line that secures it to the boat so I slowed way down, put on my car’s hazard lights and we pulled over as soon as possible, probably a mile or two later, to fix it.

Then, I drove past the take-out in Oyster Creek where we had to leave John’s car to a half-mile short of the put-in in Berkeley Shores and John followed without protest. So, we had to reverse direction and drive south again to the take-out, adding miles and time to our day. It’s no wonder that in contrast to the premise of the trip — to paddle a continuous route, shuttling only as a backup and therefore it being a 177 mi. eco-trip — I put nearly 600 miles on my car by trip’s end.

Then, after driving back to the put-in, putting down the boats at the water’s edge and starting to pack the gear in the hatches, John realized he forgot his dry suit. He considered paddling without it but when he said he didn’t have a wet suit either I vetoed that idea and drove back to the take-out to retrieve his suit. I stopped for a Coke and some Peanut M&M’s as consolation.

The paddle was windy but there were no waves. We paddled into each cove to minimize the strain of head wind or be ferried by (moved sideways) the wind. At the far side of the first cove I stopped to add some neoprene. There John spotted some of those bioluminescent blobs that light up at night in the wake of a boat. Perhaps a dozen of them were floating near the water’s edge.

We stopped in the cove at the north end of Sunrise Beach to eat an orange while still in our boats and endured the sound of some bad karaoke singing to 70’s tunes coming across the water.

At another cove we stopped for a rest from the wind and just as I commented that there wasn’t much to see on this paddle I spotted a jellyfish right on the water’s edge. I watched as a series of boat waves pushed him right up against the shore and he looked like a goner, like “toast” — well, like scrambled eggs to be precise. John used his paddle to wash him in to deeper water and I made some videos. Video to follow.

At the mouth of Oyster Creek we came across fisherman Paul Murray from FL. He was in town on business, brought his fishing rod and was in waders, waist deep in the water next to the pilings of an old pier, working to hook some bluefish. While photographing him, a 10 lb. fish took his line and Paul said that I brought him luck as that was his first bite. I switched from still photos to video and caught the moment when nearly in his hand, the fish jumped the hook and got away. Of course, video to follow.

As it was Friday, my boyfriend was able to meet up with me after the paddle. It was good timing as I was sick and exhausted and needed help. He found us lodging in a cheesy, amusing motel and took me to the Shark Fin Inn for dinner. I was too tied to read the menu and he ordered a plate of fish, a side dish of spinach and another of broccoli. It was the first decent meal all week.