DELAWARE RIVER KAYAKATHON
AND THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES… Last year’s inaugural kayak adventure involved paddling kayaks across the State of New Jersey from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean. It involved reconnaissance, clearing of creeks and streams, access to private lands, and good timing to take advantage of the tides – upstream and downstream. This year’s adventure will be quite different.
This summer we’ll attempt to paddle the entire length (200 miles) of the free flowing freshwater portion of the Delaware River – starting in Hancock, NY (at the junction of the East and West Branches of the Delaware River) and finishing at the tidewater of Trenton, NJ. Obviously, all travel will be downstream.
Research indicates that we can succeed by paddling a total of 8 to 10 days over the course of four summer weekends. The rains and snows of the past winter throughout the Delaware watershed have also cooperated - ensuring we’ll have ideal water levels through August. Speaking of water levels, this year’s adventure will involve a good deal of rapids. Although all rapids are Class II or less (except for one Class III at Skinner’s Falls), they are navigable by anyone with some experience in a kayak. If you’ve ever canoed any portion of the Delaware above the Delaware Gap, you should be able to handle all of the Class II rapids. Boats will require spray skirts to keep the water from sloshing into your cockpit. So if you don’t own a spray skirt, start looking now.
Rapids aren’t your cup of tea? Not to fret. Because the second half of this summer’s Kayakathon will involve no rapids. You can join the expedition once we reach the Water Gap and paddle the 2nd 100 miles to Trenton. Actually, there is no requirement to paddle every stage. You can pick and choose your stages all summer as time and experience allows. You can even just join us for one day if that’s all your summer schedule allows.
Itinerary: Stages 1 and 2 on May 31 and June 1 (Sat & Sun); Stages 3, 4 and 5 on June 27-29 (Fri, Sat & Sun); Stages 6, 7 and 8 on July 18-20 (Fri, Sat & Sun); Stages 9 and 10 on August 23 and 24 (Sat & Sun). We’ll drive up the evening before – leaving after work – and stay in motel rooms the first night to keep things simple. The remaining nights we plan to pitch tents. All campsites will be car accessible so theree will be no need to transport anything in your boats. The logistics of how the entire weekend will evolve so that we end the day at our shoreline campsites as well as car shuttles can get somewhat confusing. But once again – no need to fret. I have it all planned so that the weekend will flow smoothly.
Not a camper you say? No problem. You can skip the camping and sleep in the motel all weekend. Regardless, we don’t plan on cooking at our campsites anyway. Brews and eats at the local pubs will be the plan of choice. Our goal is to spend our valuable time on the river – not packing and unpacking lots of gear, cooking paraphanelia, etc. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t be sipping a few around the campfire at night. Many details will be provided between now and May 31st.
So here’s your chance to be part of Kayakathon 2008. There were 28 paddlers and 2 dogs that participated last year in the Jersey Pinelands Kayakcross. I expect to see many of my co-kayakers again this year. And surely there are some whitewater kayakers who didn’t join us last year who would like to show their stuff. So don’t disappoint me because this trip will launch without you - regardless!
If interested, come to a meeting (eMail me at MikeStavola@aol.com, or call me at home at 609-654-1925.
Progress Map