Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Why would I leave beautiful spring weather in Florida to paddle the cold and blustery Barnegat Bay, New Jersey in mid-April?   There’s only one reason.  Well, maybe two reasons: First, I’ve never paddled Barnegat Bay, a large estuary on the Inter Coastal Waterway.  The bay and its paddling opportunities were a complete mystery to me, especially since I held that stereotypical image of New Jersey as a totally industrialized and polluted state.  So this was a chance to find out what Barnegat Bay and New Jersey were all about.  But more importantly, I got a chance to paddle with my buddies Bruce and Alan again, to reacquaint myself with some old paddling friends and make a few new friends as well. 

So, on April 15th I found myself in my car with my boat on top and my cold weather paddling gear packed inside, headed twelve hundred miles north to the shore house generously loaned to Alan by his daughter.  I like to drive and usually do better driving on a long trip by myself.  Alone, I can drive as many hours as I want, I can play the radio loud and sing without disturbing my passengers, and I don’t have to accommodate another person’s bathroom and eating schedules.  All of this means that I can make good time, covering a lot of miles. 

I arrived at the shore house mid-afternoon on April 16th after a daunting drive around Washington and through Delaware (I know why Joe Biden takes the train home to Delaware.  You can’t drive there from D.C.!). Most of the others had already arrived.  There was Alan of course, and Bruce.  Bruce had driven up with Ruth, who is from Vermont.  And I met Warren and Belinda for the first time, both from Pennsylvania; paddling friends of Alan.  John and Ron from the Hudson Valley in New York would join us later in the week.  John and I had paddled together on several adventures, including the 2007 Hudson River Ramble when we discovered a man’s body washed up on the river’s bank.  Eventually there would be eight paddlers in our group. 

 

Sunday, April 17th - Paddling the Mullica River:  Bruce has the ability to look at maps and visualize what they might actually mean on the ground.  He has an innate sense of direction and seldom gets lost.  And he likes to plan our trips.  We have all come to rely on him for direction in this regard.  Today he chose the Mullica River, which flows into the bay.  I’m not sure why as I wasn’t part of the planning discussion, but it turned out to be interesting. 

It was mid-morning before we got underway.  We caravanned to the launch point.  The put-in was a bit rough and seemed remote.  The Mullaca was very high and flowing with some force.  We launched onto the river over what would normally have been

dry land.  Water flowed back into the woods sometimes making it tough to determine just where the main channel of the narrow, winding river was.  This was not a good place for my seventeen-foot sea kayak.  It was tough to maneuver it in the fast current, among the falls and snags.   Paddling up stream was easier than paddling down stream as I had more control of the boat. 

Paddling downstream, I was frequently out of control.  At one point I got sideways waiting for my turn to pass by a snag and was pinned broadside against a fallen log.  It was only luck and determination that freed me from that snag, still upright and dry!  We only paddled about five miles but it was interesting, challenging and great to be out on the water.

 

Monday, April 18th – To Barnegat Bay Lighthouse:  Alan chose the paddling itinerary today.  We were to paddle from his daughter’s shore house to the Barnegat Bay Lighthouse about

ten miles away.  John and Ron had joined us last evening making eight boats on the water that morning.  Air temperatures were in the fifties with water temps about the same, so we were all bundled up with all but Belinda in wet or dry suits.  Even so, the sun was shining and the wind was light; it felt warm and pleasant. 

As we headed southwest, following the shoreline a cold headwind wind began to build, the clouds rolled in and we began to feel cold.  We made a couple of stops along the shore to examine a abandoned boat and relieve ourselves.  Still, it took us more than three hours to

cover less than six miles.  We stopped for lunch at a collapsed observation dock, part of Island Beach State Park.  After some food and time to explore, five of us decided to head back.  It was another four miles to the lighthouse, and then ten back to the shore house.  We didn’t want to play any longer in those unpleasant conditions.  Alan, John and Ron decided to press on.  With the wind behind us, we got quickly back home where we headed for hot showers and consumed warm drinks. 

We were disturbed that we had been unable to contact the three paddlers by radio.  We had returned at four o’clock.  By six it was beginning to get dark and we were getting worried.  Folks took turns scanning the water with binoculars and trying to raise Alan on the VHF radio.  Finally they appeared, arriving just before seven o’clock.  We never did get them on the radio.

 

Tuesday, April 19th – The Sedge Islands:  The Sedge Islands provided one of the most memorable days of the trip.  We

launched at mid-morning from Island Beach State Park to paddle out to the Sedge Islands.  These Islands reminded me of the flat, treeless, low islands Bruce and I encountered around Assateague Island and again while paddling around Long

Island.  There are many channels between and among the islands, many ending in dead ends.  Navigating through islands like these is a trick.  Bruce was again our guide.  We really only got lost once when a sandbar blocked what should have been a passage. 

The weather was again less than pleasant.  It was cold and windy with occasional rain.  The islands were so low they provided little relief from the wind chilling us.  And currents in the channels between the islands could be very strong because

of the falling tide.  After finding our passage blocked by the sandbar, we worked our way around the outside, stopping on a small beach for lunch.  We made an interesting picture, all bundled up in our wet and dry suits, storm jackets and wool hats.  And I left Florida for this?! 

As soon as we got out of our boats, the men headed in one direction and the women in another to relieve ourselves after several hours on the water.  There was no privacy on this low island, so a different kind of ethic sets in.  Basically, everyone affords the others the privacy they need, looking away and “not seeing”.  While I was looking away by facing the open bay, up popped what looked like a dog’s head.  It popped up, looked

around, then disappeared, only to pop up again a few minutes later.  Soon there were a dozen or more of these dog faced seals checking us out, then diving for food before looking us over once again.  This went on for all the time we were ashore.  It was very cool. 

Back on the water, Bruce headed us back toward our launch point.  It was tough going against a very strong current.  We finally broke free and headed toward the take-out across an open stretch of water.  We found that we couldn’t head directly across as the middle was very shallow.  Most of us found our way around, but not before a couple of boats were stuck hard.  Bruce was in the lead and was the first to get stranded.  He was wearing a dry suit and mukluks, so he just got out of his boat and towed it into deeper water.  Belinda was stuck too, but she didn’t have a dry suit or wetsuit, or mukluks.  She too got out to pull her boat, wading into water above her knees.  She was in the water less than ten minutes, yet her legs and feet were so non-functional that she needed help getting back into her boat and to shore.  Once ashore, it was clear that she was in the early stages of hypothermia.  Everyone raided their extra warm dry clothes supply.  Belinda stripped off her wet clothes right in the parking lot and bundled up in the warm dry ones while Warren went to get a car.  Belinda was put in the car with the heater blasting. 

This was an object lesson for all of us.  Belinda was in the cold water for only ten minutes and only up to her knees, yet she was seriously incapacitated by the cold.  Bruce on the other hand was not.  It points out the importance of dressing for cold water and illustrates just how quickly the cold can incapacitate a person.

 

Wednesday, April 20th – Forge Creek and Pond:  Today Bruce selected Forge Pond and Creek.  But first we needed to detour by the Jersey Paddler’s shop.  Based on yesterday’s

experience, Belinda purchased a wetsuit and mukluks and Warren picked up a set of mukluks too.  They both looked very stylish in their new gear.  Then it was on to Forge Creek and Pond.  This was a sunny, warm and leisurely paddle.  We stopped for lunch at the pond that, even with traffic sounds as a muffled background noise, felt very remote.  On our return to the put-in

all but Alan, Bruce and I loaded up for the trip back to the shore house.  The Three Musketeers (Stooges?) decided to follow the creek out to the bay.  But we gave that up after several miles of pushing into a cold headwind and headed back to the put-in and home. 

 

Thursday, April 21st – No Paddling Today:  John and Ron had headed out for home in the Hudson Valley last night.  The rest of us were to leave this morning.  We all did what we could to put the house back into some kind of order for Alan and his daughter.  But Alan in his usual generous way would only let us do so much.  He expected to spend the day washing sheets and towels and remaking beds.  God Bless you Alan.  You are a generous host and this was a wonderful event for bringing old and new friends together for a good time. 

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