Assateague Island Kayak Camping trip
April 24-26, 2004
(Author: Cyndi J.)

At long last the first camping trip of the year had arrived. The past few months flew by in a flurry of weddings (other peoples’), relocations (our own) and just general chaos, so Dave and I were really looking forward to this trip. Seven people signed up for the trip and, since we knew most of them, we also knew that it was a pretty self-sufficient group. Perfect!

Dave and I headed out of DC around 3:00 pm to avoid the Friday night rush and bridge back-up and arrived in Assateague by 6pm. We found the campsite just in time to see Ron, Nelson, and Barry having a laugh at Yvonne's expense. Turns out that after they offered to help Yvonne set up her tent, they discovered that her ground cloth was actually a cute little fishie shower curtain! Yvonne always has such style.

After setting up our tents in the National Park campground, we walked down to the beach. As soon as we got a toe in the water to test the temperature it started to rain. By the time we got back at our tents was pouring! It drove us to our tents but the tents were dry and everyone got a good night’s sleep.

I awoke the next morning to hear voices outside. Evidently Barry has a body clock that goes off at 6 am no matter what! So must Greg and Steve who had opted to meet up with us Saturday morning. They just arrived to join the group and it wasn’t even 7 am yet.

We took a look at the maps and decided to get a backcountry permit for the Green Run campsite about 10 miles south of the put-in. We planned to use it as a base camp and do a day paddle on Sunday rather than move camp each day.

After securing our camping permit, everyone took their gear down to the launch at Old Ferry Landing and the packing began. We were an impressive sight. Nine kayaks and a few tons of gear lined up on the beach. The onlookers got a kick out of us and someone asked if we’re going out for a week. Perhaps we brought a little too much gear! Greg instantly becomes our navigator, complete with all the charts, topos and pre-programmed GPS locations. Something made me think he had done this before.

Once every last piece of gear was stowed, we headed out – into about six inches of water! With just about a foot of tidal variation, Chincoteague Bay is more influenced by wind than tide and the wind had been blowing the water out of the bay for the past three days. Rather than hug the shore we aimed for deeper waters. Less ideal for wildlife viewing but much preferable to pulling our boats through ankle deep water for 10 miles! Fortunately the famous ponies were the wildlife I most wanted to see and they could be seen on all the points. Growing up in California “Misty of Chincoteague” was one of my favorite books and I didn’t even know where Chincoteague was!

We did the distance in a little over 3 hours with a slight tail wind helping us along. Just before we landed, Dave got a chance to play Jeff Corwin by spotting a Diamond Back Terrapin swimming along the bottom of then foot deep bay. After catching her, he gave us a turtle anatomy lesson, let us check her out, and then released her back into her home.

Once ashore everyone began the process of unpacking the gear and setting up the tents. After pitching camp, a few of us crossed the island to the Atlantic side and walked along the beach. We saw toads hopping along in the sand behind the dunes. We also saw tracks from deer and raccoon, but no other animals, although there are lots of gulls, sandpipers, red-winged black birds, and brilliantly white egrets. Around the fire we heard but never saw a whippoorwill.

Meals are the highlight of any camping trip and this one was no different. Yvonne continued to amuse everyone by making a three-quart one-pot-wonder fit into a one-quart pot! Dave broke out the new Outback Oven and whipped up a spinach, red onion, mushroom pizza. Al ran around from pot to pot taking notes in his little yellow notebook so that he would remember all the good gear and tasty treats everyone had when he got home. After dinner Barry, A.K.A. the firemaster, showed us his skill, and he certainly lived up to his name!

Sunday morning dawned another bright, sunny day. So it was off for a day paddle. We planned to go further south to the Pope’s Creek campsite and maybe beyond. We all hit the water around 9 am.

The paddle got off to an inauspicious start when Barry and I beached everyone on a shallow. We were too busy chatting to notice that Greg veered off from our group and was now happily paddling away through the deeper channel.

Off the beach and out of the bay the wind seemed much stronger than before – probably 15 to 20 knots and it was forecast to increase as the day progressed. Rather than paddle on with a tail wind and have to fight our way back we all decided to head back to shore. It was not exactly a long paddle but at least we got a little time on the water.

The forced shore time was fabulous and everyone found a way to entertain themselves. Barry and Al went mussel hunting and managed to come up with enough to sauté in a little garlic and butter for an appetizer to dinner. Others read, took walks on the beach and napped. Dave and I paddled back up to the point again because I wanted to see more ponies!

Now that we were all a little worried about the prospect of a 10-mile return against a 20 knot wind the weather radios came out. The forecast was for changing weather. Winds to shift from North-easterlies to Southerlies and blow at 20 knots with a small craft weather advisory. At least it would be a tailwind! Rain was also forecast for overnight. After dinner we battened down the hatches and prepared for a midnight thunderstorm.

We awoke to a dry morning. The rain was nice enough to hold off all night. Over a quick breakfast, we all gathered around the radios. Fortunately, the forecast had improved slightly with winds expected to reach 15 knots rather than 20. A 15-knot tailwind in 1 foot of water didn’t sound too scary to any of us so we launched. We quickly realized we didn’t even have to paddle. Steve clocked our drift at almost 3 knots. When paddling we were doing close to 5 knots.

The change in wind direction also brought more water into the Bay, so rather than heading straight back we ducked into Tingles Narrows, where we could not have reached with low water. Ponies everywhere. They seemed so used to paddlers that we could be just feet (or hooves) away from them while the munched the grass.

Still not wanting to go in, we paddled to Great Egging Beach and took out for a mid-morning snack. Paddling the 200 yards back upwind to the cars was a workout and made us all very grateful that we hadn’t had to fight that all day!

It was a great trip. I can only hope that the rest of this season’s camping trips contain equally delightful companions and tailwinds!

Trip participates included: Ron Barnett, Al Hassabo, Nelson Labbe, Barry Marsh, Steve Sanford, Yvonne Thayer, Greg Welker, David Biss and Cyndi Janetzko. The trip pictures can be seen at www.chesapeakekayakco.com/cpa-assateague.