Day 8 Holgate to Rte. 72

It was to be a northbound trip, paddling up with the tide from the Beach Haven Inlet with the wind to our backs. The wind was in our face the entire time but it wasn’t too strong, the wind was shining and we had company.

Chuck and Patrick from the Jersey Shore Sea Kayak Association joined us for the paddle. We met just north of the public ramp just south of the Rte. 72 bridge in Ship Bottom. There Chuck put in and paddled south to meet up with us. We put John’s boat on Patrick’s car and then Patrick and I drove down to the put-in in Holgate. It seemed to take forever to drive to the south end of Long Beach Island. People were driving 30 in a 45 and it wasn’t even Sunday. There’s public parking and beach access at the end of S. Bay Ave., but only for the Atlantic side. Our put-in was a bayside beach left by a low tide beyond the bulkhead at the end of W. MacKinley Ave.

Just after we put in Chuck radioed that he was as far as Beach Haven and asked where we were. Neither Patrick, John, nor I could read the nearest marker and I replied with our guess that it was 108. Then just as we passed 109 (1 south of 108) Chuck radioed again that he should be able to see us and I apologized for our mistake. Already at 108, Chuck had paddled nearly the entire stretch in the time it took us to shuttle and put in! And, he was going to paddle back with us, paddling nearly twice our distance for the day.

We passed 2 couples headed out on paddleboards. Several of them were in bare feet. None had PFD’s. One said he used to race surf skis, which are really long, very narrow, extremely fast kayaks.

We stopped for a snack and stretch our legs on some marsh west of R88. Well, three of us did. Chuck didn’t bother to snack or stretch. John ate a Tasty cake (his usual), Patrick some ChexMix and I a tangerine. Not exactly protein bars and Gatorade! There seemed to be a newly constructed, yet unused osprey stand erected on the marsh. I noted the pole was wrapped 1/2 way up with a sheet of something with a smooth surface. The guys said it was too keep 4-legged creatures from getting to the nest.

Back in the boats, we soon paddled through the narrowest part of the ICW, between R82 and G83 and between R84 and the shore at Beach Haven Crest. I asked the guys to arrange themselves end-to-end to illustrate. The passable area is not 3 kayaks wide.

In the nest cove, at G79, we came across a sole windsurfer, the first one we’d seen on the trip.

Both Chuck and Patrick were using Greeland paddles. After I asked a dozen questions of Patrick about his he suggested I try it. I did. I found it short, light, skinny and that it wobbled when the blade entered the water. I had to take more strokes to travel at the same speed, but as Patrick said, it had far less strain on my shoulders and back.

We finished early, about 3 o’clock and I was tempted to paddle another 4 miles. I knew with 1 day remaining I’d be short 8 miles either from Barnegat Light to Rte. 72 bridge or from the Metedeconk River to Ocean County Park Head Quarters. But, the guys convinced me that after doing another shuttle it would just be too late. Probably a good thing they talked me out of it as I was still sick.