Marine report for the day does not look condusive to be solo kayaking on the water safely. 20-25 mph gust to 30, 5-8 ft seas rain possible thunderstorms.
Sitting put. If your near beach haven or hobolt stop in the Sea Spray motel room 102 say hi.
Top oceanside bottom bayside
Actually found a park with 2 boat ramps. It also had a soda machine. Next to the machine was a power panel with 10 outlets that worked so I powered my phone and the back up battery.
This morning i emailed local reporter to see if he wanted a story haven’t heard back yet.
Made reservations at hotel in Beach Haven for tonight hot shower and bed. Hopefully there is a near by laundry mat or facilities at hotel i can use.
Spoke with Dave at DAKs kayaks in Ocean City, NJ about fundraiser its a go. We are going to coordinate a tour to come out and paddle with me.
Sent word to Brian Thompson, I so hope he can make. Heard back from Brian we will be out of his territory. I hope he can give me a contact.
Another fun night of sleeping on the beach in a nature area. Biolite stove I do a lousey job charging Samsung S8s.
Woke up to rain the dense fog again.
Had to use propane stove to cook breakfast.
Packed and on my way again.
stopped at Barnegat Light talked with one of the harbormasters and Navy vet. He suggested Mustache Bills Diner for lunch. Good suggestion. I talked with Jim the customer next to me. Then talked with Ken the owner or manager about Mission22. When it came time to pay the tab Ken said it was on the diner.
I set off down the coast and realized I was low on water. Hard to find beaches and ramps as they love seawalls here. I ran across a large group of woman and pulled up to their seawall and asked about a ramp and convenient store. Luckily they were close to each other but i had to backtrack a short distance. Picked up 2 six packs of Poland Springs, a bottle of Bai Blueberry and a small box of fig newtons.
Had a conversation with a couple going out in their boat about Mission22. I then ran across Amy from the store who just got off work and we talked kayaking, ptsd, and life.
Was trying to make it down the coast to get a good hotel deal but not enough daylight for the run.
Found a park with double boat ramp i am estatic, and pulled in. There is a soda machine but better there are numerous electrical outlets. Phone charge heaven.
Still trying to get answer from DAK kayak on fund raiser for June 9th.
Will try again tomorrow. Will also call local paper before launching about a story.
broke camp 6 am had oatmeal and hot chocolate for breakfast. got underway.
talked with 3 guys on thee water 2 in race kayaks 1 on a surfbord. 1 said if he had known i was coming he would have joined me for a few days. i talked to a guy taking video on his phone he said he would share it. 2 more guys showed up. They donated to my gofundme account.
Thanks tbd.
pulled into a park to get rid of trash and asked the local cop about convient stores or cheap restaurants. He directed me to jersey mikes deli. Then he said he would watch my kayak for me. I struck up a conversation with Mike the counter man who gave me a free lunch. I got back to kayak where the officer said he was waitimng for the sargent for a photo op, him me and the yak.
Well interesting morning, wake up to fog, in coming tide, and 3 foot swells.
Left shark river fighting a 3 knot current and was glad to get past jetty and turn. Visibility was 3-400 ft. enough to keep me 50 ft off end of jetties and still make out shore in the fog. But made good time even paddling slow.
Having breakfast in the park then i have to find the channel to head further south.
Getting ready to check out and portage the kayak 3 miles to 7 Presidents Ocean park. Paddle 13 nm to Mansquan and cut in for inside route to Atlantic City. We will see how far i get.
A special thanks to Brian S for all his help with contacts last night and today.
a special thanks to new friends Eric and Darina who helped drag the yak across the soft sand.
well only made it to shark river by nightfall.
thinking of setting up camp at memorial park will set alarm to be up early n gone
oh saw this place going in and out of shark river
Left Old Bridge NJ heading for Brick we sill see if i make it. Going inside route at Sandy Hook as wind is in wrong direction n boat traffic getting heavy.
Well got past Seabright and thats as far as i got. Ocean day tomorrow.
Thanka to Rick of Long Branch Ice Boat and Ya club for all the help today. Thank you for a wonderful dinner and great conversation.
On beach in NJ. thunderstorms, winds n rain, can you say hunker down. Good day to sleep.
wind has blown so hard it blew water right thru fly material. i have a puddle in one corner and the upwind side is bowed in.
chatting with my son on messenger he informed me he had a friend in Brick, NJ. Looking at a map it looks like i could make Brick late tomorrow afternoon if things work out with his friend.
When you are trying to save money on hotels you can’t be choosey about the rooms you get.
This was last nights room. Hey it was a hot shower and lights out.
Heading for Sandy Hook and further today there is talk of thunderstorms this afternoon. I am low on cash until the first of the month when i get paid again.
As i was paddling i saw 3 people out kayak fishing. On shore where a number of people and a couple of popups. I thought it was a contest so I paddled to the closest one. It turns out it was a group of people who grew up together having their annual Memorial weekend get together.
Steve the kayaker invited me onshore for food and drink. I wish I was better at names but i only remember Don, Marylin, and Bob. All the people were very nice and feed me well. We talked about the trip, Mission22 and ptsd.
I stayed so late i ended up camping on the beach. A big thank you to a great bunch of people for their food, drink and hospitality. I enjoyed it.
woke up to a windy day with small chop on the water.
Plan A was to go for it and paddle the 7-8 miles straight to Sandy Hook
Plan B was to head inland along Staten Island to Perth Amboy and cross at narrowest opening
Plan B wins today…going to be a long day.
Charging phone then break camp eats breakfast and launch.
well i stopped at Coney Island to taked pictures. See at end.
The crossing to Staten Island was not fun I had to time the crossing between high speed ferries who don’t care about anybody. Then while crossing I had to stop for a Corp of Engineer boat follow by a power boat neither of which responded to my airhorn.
Then while resting on a Staten Island beach a young lady on her quad in uniform told me no boats on the beach. I explained what I was doing and she said okay. No wonder these people are uptight they aren’t allowed to do anything.
I stopped on the other side of the island to figure a place to stay. The shoreline was covered in horseshoe crabs mating. Not on Staten Island. I found a place in South Amboy NJ but day light was running out. I made a mad dash for Jersey. I ended up doing a night crossing with my headlamp and my strobe going.
I made the hotel after midnight thanks to 2 young men i recruited to help me get kayak off the beach to the road then 2 mile portage to hotel.
Not a bad day Brooklyn to South Amboy.
acske2017 