August 25th 2016
Wildwood, NJ
The day started off like every other, I woke up, but I’d never slept like this before. OK, let me clarify. I’ve camped alone and with people. I’ve camped with my good friend Ben who snored so loud; I’d have to wear my motorcycle earplugs. So when Rich told me last night that he snores, I thought nothing of it. That was, until he fell asleep. In all fairness, he did warn me. Well, unlike camping with Ben, I wasn’t riding a motorcycle so I didn’t have earplugs, or did I. I had to think fast. I tried rolling up paper and shoving it in my ears – no luck. I tried covering my head with the PFD – no luck. Then I thought some more. I do have earplugs, well kind of. I have ear buds and I have a smart phone. I wonder. A quick search on my phone and sure enough, I found an app for white noise called Relax Melodies. I went through a bunch of sounds trying to find one to mask the snoring and then found a combination that worked. Crashing Waves on a beach and some instrumental music. BINGO! I tucked the smart phone in my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep listening to the water.
Once up, we made breakfast and had just finished when a teacher showed up to give a class on sailing. I really love these Yacht clubs and their tiny tots sailing schools. We packed up, loaded up our kayaks and I wished Rich well as I paddled off. Rich was going to wait a little longer. He had the tide and the wind with him today. He also had a kayak sail to deploy. I, on the other hand, had none of that. No sail, the wind was on my nose at 15 to 25 knots all day and the tide. The only tide I had was the one running in the opposite direction – all day!
Shortly after I departed, I was trying to stay out of the boat channel, as it looked narrow. Suddenly, my paddle was touching bottom. I shortened my stroke, but the ground was coming up fast, due to low tide. I was trying to get back to deeper water but the wind had other ideas for me. Then it happened. I ran aground…in a kayak! That happens to boaters; Motor Boats, Sailboats, Personal Watercraft, but a kayak? I draft less than six inches and I am aground. Unlike those other boats, I could just step off the kayak and pull her to deeper water, so I did just that. There I was in the middle of a huge body of water and I’m walking on it pulling my kayak along the edge of the channel. It was so funny; I posted a Facebook Live video of it. I was actually making more progress walking that I had paddling. Perhaps I should walk to Key West.
It was only 1pm, but I was exhausted and needed a rest and to refuel with real food. I stopped in Stone Harbor, NJ for a break. For a minute, I thought about trying to just call it a day there, but I wanted to hit Cape May today and it was only another 7 miles away. What’s another 7 miles? I’d been battling the tide all day anyway. Boy was I wrong. What lay ahead for me was a test of endurance and mental stamina.
Shortly after leaving Stone Harbor, the wind had grown from a steady 10 knots to 15 knots with gusts up to 25 knots. The current was running against me at a much quicker pace. Even the tide change did not change in my favor. New Jersey was going to be as cruel to me on my last day here as she was on my arrival. I pushed on holding 2 knots over the fast moving water under me and into the wind. I could not look anywhere but forward for seeing just how slow my progress was, was very hard on me emotionally. I couldn’t even pay attention to the boats in the channel. I could not stop paddling for a second without loosing my momentum. The bridges were the worst. They funnel the water and the wind and I had to battle my way through each one.
It was during this time I was thinking about the other people who had done this paddle. Rather, who had gone from the north to the south; on days like this, some didn’t paddle. Others portaged their kayaks and others had RV support, boat support or both. Why the hell was I out here? Oh yeah… I’m trying to find myself. Trying to find my happy place. More on that tomorrow, but for now I needed to push on.
Five o’clock arrived and I was fighting an epic battle that kept increasing in intensity each minute I was out here. If any boater had asked me if I wanted a tow, I would have kissed them and said YES. Of course, that would have been IF they had asked. Most just waved as they flew by me feet off my port or starboard side. Some just gave me a thumbs up. I couldn’t even stop to check the direction of the channel markers to see if I could cut off a corner or two. I couldn’t stop to drink water. I couldn’t stop to rest my arm. I had a pain growing in my shoulder since yesterday due to the constant fighting of the wind and current due to the tides. Those that tell me to wait for my tide don’t understand that I’m paddling all day. The tide changes four times a day and it takes 6 hours to go from high to low. Waiting for “my tide” means I’d have to paddle in the middle of the night. You wait for your tide when making a tough crossing or when you are out for a few hours, but when you are traveling by boat, you take whatever tide you are given and paddle through it.
I crossed another bridge and up ahead I saw marinas and houses. At the marina on my right were two women floating in one of those floating pool lounges for four people that had been tide up behind a boat. I pulled up and chatted with them for a bit trying to get permission to camp there at the marina. They were just guests of someone so they sent me to another boat. I walked around the entire marina and no one was around to give me permission, though the restaurant, lounge and members only sections looked like no one was using it, I wanted permission so I moved onto another marina across the way. This marina looked cleaner than the last, but like the last, no one was there to give me permission. It was 6;30 pm. I was out of options, time and energy to paddle the remaining 4.5 miles to Cape May. I found an empty slip, tide up and then headed to the clubhouse to grab a shower. Tonight I’ll either be sleeping on a dock in an emergency shelter sack or I’ll set my tent up on the lawn of the club house, but I really don’t want to be so visible without having had permission to do so.
Tomorrow I will either be in jail or I’ll hit Cape May around lunch which should be perfect timing as Arlene will also arrive in Cape May around the same time, if traffic is nice to her. I’ll be pulling the kayak out for a break and we’ll be heading to my Uncle Stan’s house in Delaware. Tomorrow I will finally be done with New Jersey.
Day 55 Done
