Pictures!

Everyone check out the link to our Picasa album. I'm getting pictures up today (though they are in reverse order...whoops!). Once you go to the main page of our Picasa album, the pictures are in the "Jay and Shannon's Kayak Adventure" sub-album. If you have any questions about how to get there or if you're having issues seeing the pictures, let us know in the comments section of this post. Enjoy!

~Shannon

We Did It!!!

It's Finished

Now that we are finally in Avon I am really lazy and don't want to post. Can you blame me? Anyway, finishing the trip was very awesome. Shannon's back had been bothering her for the last two days but as we closed in on our destination I could tell that her adrenaline was kicking in because we started picking up the pace. As familiar landmarks started popping up I got very excited. This excitement was coupled with a bit of anxiousness because I knew the waves coming into the beach were going to be an issue. We managed to pick a very rough day but we had no choice but to finish. I decided to go first so if I did something really stupid or something crazy happened, at least Shannon would know not to do what I just did. The wave swells off shore do not really give a good idea of how big the wave will be as it crashes so when I went I had no clue what was going to be behind me when I came in. I was lucky to get a small wave but Shannon was not so lucky in her wave choice. I started riding the wave in but ended up turning left across the wave and heading towards the jetti. I tried turning right but it wasn't happening so I bailed. The boat stopped short of the rocks and the lifeguards grabbed it as I walked over to them to grab my boat and pull it up to meet the roaring crowd of family members and random onlookers. Once I was safely ashore I turned to watch Shannon. Oi... Shannon got stuck between two giant waves and bailed before the second crashed. Unfortunately for the Sea Steak, once Shannon was out of the boat there was no weight in the boat and it was completely in the waves mercy (and the wave was not merciful). The boat's end was crunched and the rudder was snapped off as the wave's weight drove the poor Sea Steak into the sand. Shannon made it alright which was great and no one really cared about the Sea Steak until after all the pictures were taken. Hopefully Ron will be able to help Shannon out!

Avon has been so relaxing and today we are headed to Cranford to see our grandparents! Pictures are coming soon on Picasa and a little later on Facebook. It has been kinda interesting trying to accumulate all the pictures from different people but we are almost done! Can't wait to see everyone in Michigan!

-Jay

Avon by the Sea

How to describe the feelings that come at the end of something that has engulfed one's life for five weeks? There is no bittersweetness about this end, for the joy that greeted us upon landing at the Avon by the Sea beach easily trumps any sad feelings about the finishing of our adventure.

After the day of getting to Staten Island, we paddled across Raritan Bay, a body of water which seemed to be trying its hardest to resemble a giant washing machine. We missed some of the buoys marking the restricted area around the Navy pier and had a bit of a scare when a small Navy boat came out and turned at us, its large, mounted gun pointed right at Jay. Thankfully they were understanding of our confusion, for their buoys were so far spaced apart that us, in our small craft low on the water, couldn't even see the buoys marking the far end of the security zone around the pier. Instead of landing on the northern shore of New Jersey as we had planned, we were forced to continue across the bay to Sandy Hook, where we landed and emptied out our boats of water. Afterwards we paddled onwards and met up with Aunt Bev and Dad who were scouting out campsites for us in the area. We never did make it up the Shrewsbury River as planned last night, for my back had tweaked out during the Raritan Bay crossing and the tide was rushing out far too strongly for us to paddle against it. So, we ended up camping on the beach just at the base of Sandy Hook.

Today was the day of finishing. We got up early and paddled up the river towards where we would cross into the ocean. We met up with Aunt Bev and Uncle Mike, Mom, Dad, Kate and Ryan, all of whom helped us portage across the road, up the stairs over the seawall, and to the beach. Jay and I left all of our gear with them in the car, so that we wouldn't have to worry about losing any of it as we came into the beach on the surf. Good thing we did that, or else we would have lost quite a bit of stuff.

It was definitely a yellow flag day today on the ocean. Big waves rolled beneath us as we paddled the home stretch. The hours went by slowly, not helped by the fact that the water was rough and we knew we were almost there. All told, we paddled about ten miles down the coast. We passed our first marker - the apartment tower in Asbury Park - and knew we were nearly there. Only tow and a half miles to go. Then we were seeing landmarks in Avon, and we couldn't paddle fast enough to get there. Tired though we were, we knew we were almost there. Then came the landing on the beach.

Jay went first, and I'll let him give more details about what was going through his head as he came in. Then came my turn. I saw my Dad waving me in from where he stood on the lifeguard stand. I looked behind me. Big waves. I hoped that they would pass me before I got in to where they were crashing. I missed the first one. It crashed right in front of me. I was being careful to stay away from the jeti on my left, but also aware that there was a pipe going out into the water somewhere on my right. The water was too high and rough for me to tell exactly where it was, but I knew its general location. Another wave came. This time I was going to get caught in it. I tried to paddle fast enough to keep up, but it was moving quickly. Then I got that feeling that I knew all too well from boogie boarding. I was far past the point of no return, but I wasn't in the sweet spot that is necessary to catch such a big wave. I was in the crapshoot and was about to get pummeled if I stayed with the boat. Because the boat was already tipping in the wave, I quickened the process and bailed, not thinking about much of anything but avoiding being smashed. I caught a brief glimpse of the boat turning over in the wave, but then it was gone and I was holding onto my paddle and swimming as hard I could into the shore. Trouble was, the rip tide wanted to pull me back out. Thankfully two lifeguards came out and helped pull against the rip, and the three of us together managed to get in to where we could touch and walk back in (after getting hit by quite a few big waves, of course).

There was a massive welcoming crew on the beach: family, friends, random interested bystanders. Poor Sea Steak is definitely the worse for wear from the waves, but hopefully the damage can be fixed. Not that something like that would ruin the joy of the moment. As so many of have said this evening, "Best that it happened now at the end of the trip." After the welcoming on the beach and the sheer awesomeness of being at our destination, it was time for pizza and beer. Federico's pizza has never tasted so good. Being with family and friends has never been so amazing. Through journeys and hardships we learn what the joys of life really are, and just how precious every moment of happiness can be.

~Shannon

New York City

Shannon and I did our first paddle in the dark on Friday the thirteenth. We had a very long day ahead of us so we got on the river around 4am to leave Yonkers and head down to the mouth of the Hudson. The sun started coming up just after passing under the George Washington Bridge. Watching New York change from night to day one the river was quite the experience. We made very good time as we rode the tide down the river. The time for low tide came and went and we still had an amazingly strong current just ripping us past Manhattan. We only had to make one pit stop and it was almost Shannon's last. The dilemma was that Shannon had to pee and we had nowhere to stop. We found what appeared to be a decent place on the Jersey side of the river. Shannon paddled towards the shore and got out in the shallows to pull her boat up to take care of business. As she stepped out she sank up to her thighs in thick tidal mud that smelled like sewage. I was patiently waiting further out until I heard her yelling. As I came closer it became clear that she was having trouble getting back in her boat. By the time I got there she had one of her legs out but couldn't get the other one to budge. We finally used one of our spare paddles for her to step on and pull her leg out without sinking back in with the other leg. This stuff smelled so bad and Shannon was covered in it and had to paddle the rest of the day but she took it well and pictures will be coming soon!

We did not start feeling the tide coming towards us until after we passed the Statue of Liberty. The only problem was at that point there was nowhere to stop until we passed the shipyards on Staten Island. It was a long haul through the harbor. We did our best navigating the channels and dodging all the barges and tankers. A harsh wind whipped up as we were closing in on the Verrazano Bridge and we finally found an old dock to hang onto for a few hours while the tide surged into the harbor through the narrows. A little further up the island there was a little beach that we pulled onto to stretch our legs. We met a very friendly boy named Mike who gave us advice on our trip and even offered to tow our kayaks behind his boat! We declined but were very appreciative of his offer.

The wind continued all afternoon as we rounded Staten Island. Great Kills National Park turned out to be our final destination and yet again there was someone there who really toook care of us. Jimmy is the head life guard at the park and when I first met him I knew things were going to work out. When I asked about camping or hotels he said there weren't any accomidations near by. He kept going over the options and trying to figure out the best thing for us to do but he was never satisfied until he finally decided that we should just sleep in the life guard hut! Jimmy was excited to hear about our adventures so he drove us to a chinese resturant and even bought us ice cream. We grabbed some beer on the way back to the park and before saying goodbye, Jimmy gave us some crunchy Snyder's pretzels to go with our beer. It was a truly fantastic evening!

People are amazing.

-Jay

Tappan Zee and Yonkers

We paddled across the Tappan Zee Bay and down to Yonkers today. It was a nice easy day in preparation for a long day passed Mahattan tomorrow. As we approached the Tappan Zee Bridge I kept imagining "Tappan Zee" as part of a sentence like a German guy yelling, "HURRY! TAPPAN ZEE KEG!". I don't know why but I kept trying to come up with phrases that could use "Tappan Zee". As I paddled by The Tappan Zee Bridge I decided to "Tappan Zee" bridge with my paddle. I heard the shady character in the night club mutter under his breath, "I want to "Tappan Zee" ass". It was a fun pass time and I encourage you to come up with your own sentence and post it in the comment section!

Once in Yonkers we spent some time in the Beczak Science Center next to the paddle club. After hanging out there with Clif for a while our contact from the paddle club (Jack Gilman) came by to help us get comfortable. Jack provided us with some beer and a quick walk through Yonkers to get some dinner. We had a fun time shopping for bagels and cookies in the grocery store that was playing Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo. I thought that was pretty funny and worth mentioning. After some food we hung out at the paddle club and talked until the sun went down while listening to jazz and enjoying the view of the Palisades across the river. It has been another great stop with another great host. I am really excited to paddle past NYC tomorrow!

Ok, it is time to stop "Tappan Zee" keyboard...

-Jay

"Is that two kayaks...with a sail?"

Got on the water just before sunrise today after a night of being woken up several times by trains blaring their whistles fifteen feet from where we were sleeping. We met up with a friend I got to know in planning this trip, Bill Quick. He was pivotal in planning the Erie Canal and Hudson river portions of this trip, as he is experienced in paddling both waterways and gave us a lot of good advice during the planning process. We passed a really neat old castle as well as some beautiful mountains that rose directly up from the riverbanks. It felt like we had our own personal tour guide as we paddled from Newburgh to Cold Spring with Bill. He pointed out all of the features of the area, giving us detailed history and other interesting background information. He's even writing a guide-style book on the Hudson that sounds like it will be pretty awesome when it's finished.

After lunch at Cold Spring, Jay and I decided to take advantage of the steady wind at our backs, so we attached the boats and put up the sail. We even had an audience as we did so. Some day trip kayakers were very interested in Boldy and watched the whole process involved in getting the boats hooked up and underway. We bid farewell to Bill and then let the wind do the work for a bit. A couple of guys on jetskis provided us with the title of this post. They were staring at us for a while, probably trying to figure out what we were as we sailed towards them just before we passed West Point.

The wind died down just as we got to the bridge at Bear Mountain, so we unhooked the boats and paddled the rest of the way to our campsite for the night at Croton Point. It's a beautiful evening looking out over Haverstraw Bay, and if we look south we can see the Tappan Zee bridge in the distance. We'll be paddling under it tomorrow on our way to Yonkers, our next destination.

~Shannon

Marlboro Yacht Club

After a short day on Monday we woke up ealy to catch the tide on its way out today. I didnt't even hear the alarm and we ended up getting on the water at 6:30 instead of 5:00. Everything worked out anyway. We paddled for a few hours in the rain and then took a break for some food and a nap. We had one of the greatest camp sites of our entire trip! It was a secluded site with a gazebo to hang our hammpcks under. It was a little sad to have to leave the area after only a few hours. The rest of the day was a lot dryer but very hot. We made it under our first suspension bridge of the river near Poughkeepsie which was pretty cool and then we found ourselves at the Marlboro Yacht Club. All the people here are so friendly. They all came by to say hello and ask about our trip. One man gave us a menu for a great pizza place down the road which was amazing! We even got to shower! We have been extremely fortunate with all the great people we have run into along the way. I know I have said that before but it happens just about every other day. Tomorrow we are meeting up with a man name Bill that Shannon has been in contact with and he is going to kayak with us for a while as well as give us some fruit and toilet paper! Yay! Tonight our hammocks are hung from a jungle gym which is probably our most creative setup yet and worth sharing in my opinion. Another early start tomorrow means it is time to sleep. Good night!

-Jay

Change in Tides/Change in Plans

I'm not convinced that the Hudson River has a current. It seems more like it is a giant inlet to the Atlantic and is completely vulnerable to the changing tides. The river actually flows upstream as the tide comes in. As stupid as it sounds, we were paddling downstream and against the current for the better part of yesterday. Right now the tide starts to roll in during the late morning and finally starts to roll back out mid afternoon. This will change as the days pass but for now we are stuck with paddling against the tide during prime paddling time. Today we decided to sleep in and start later in the day so we can paddle going out with the tide and be well rested for tomorrow's plan. We hope to get up very early and catch the better part of the lowering tide and then pull over and take a nap after lunch and continue down the river once the tide is going out again later in the day. This will hopefully allow us to double dip a little on the falling tide and optimize paddle to distance ratio instead of spending our energy fighting against currents.

-Jay

Troy to Athens

We're in Greece. Booya.

: The Witch's Bwew

Hello Hudson

We made it to the Hudson River! It was sad to pass through the "Flight of Five" (The last five locks of the Erie Canal) but it feels so good to know that we have the current and no more locks. There was a nice island only a few miles down the river so we called it early and are looking forward to a good night sleep and hopefully an early departure tomorrow morning. I love that I am in my hammock and the sun is not down yet! I also love all the texts I get from various friends. You all are great and its really good to hear from you!

-Jay

Who needs to paddle when you can sail?

We never expected to be able to put in a full day of sailing on the canal, but we certainly took advantage of the blustery conditions today. The banks of the canal were a veritable blur as we sped downstream, Boldy the Beluga Whale cutting through the whitecaps as Jay and I sat back and let the sail and wind do most of the work. We caught up to our canoeing friends, too. They were also taking advantage of the wind with their giant umbrella held by John sitting in the prow of the canoe as Doug steered in the back.

Going through the locks was a bit hairy for us. Our sail would be trying to pull us forward as we hung on to the rope on the side of the lock, attempting to keep our boats from running into the forward door of the lock. We nearly lost our boom to the depths of one of the lock chambers. This being the first day we used our sail while going through the locks, we received a lot of compliments on our odd little vessel, and two lockmasters had a dilemma as to how they should classify our boat. Boldy certainly is one of a kind.

Tonight we're camping in another nice backyard just east of Scotia, and tomorrow we'll make it to the Hudson if all goes well. No highway and freight trains nearby to keep us awake tonight, so we ought to be well-rested for a good day of paddling tomorrow.

~ Shannon

Erie Canal Video from Michael Miller

Thanks Uncle Mike!

Herkimer

Shannon and I were looking towards the horizon. It was a very long and straight section of the canal and we knew we had a few more miles before meeting Mike and Bev at the next lock. It is never fun to be able to see where you will be in an hour because it is at those times you realize how slow you are going (it is better than seeing where you will be at the end of the day though...Lake Erie...). Suddenly the bridge in front of us that we had forgotten about while gazing past it towards the next turn started yelling at us. Actually, it was Bev yelling! We looked up and Mike and Bev were waving and taking pictures! What a great surprise and the night only got better. They drove us into Herkimer and had a hotel room waiting for us. As soon as we were ready we walked to a great restaurant right on the canal (because we haven't had enough of it yet). Although my father wasn't there with us, the spirit of his wallet made an appearance and proceeded to pay the bill which was simple astounding. Thanks Dad! After dinner we caught a bit of shark week and passed out hard.

Breakfast at Denny's hit the spot and then we had to be on our way. We found a few souvenirs for our boat naming contest winners/runner ups and then it was off to the canal. Rain was pouring as we drove to find a suitable ramp and it didn't stop until we were on the water. Passing storms seem to be the theme around here but this was the first storm that hit us hard. It was very sad to say goodbye to Mike and Bev but we will see them soon! They drove down to our first lock of the day to watch us go through and then they were gone, probably home already and we are only 19 miles further. It will probably we another week or so before we see them at our destination.

Things are starting to be a bit more exciting as we are getting very close to the end of the canal. The mighty Hudson is next and I am excited to see what kind of surprises it has in store for us. I'm especially excited about its current, something we haven't seen since the Huron river. Tonight we are in Canajoharie set up in a little park sandwiched between highway 90 and a freight train line. Should be a good night...

-Jay

Off The Lake and Back in the Canal

The last three quarters of Lake Oneida was long and not very windy unfortunately. We couldn't sail today so our arms had to finish the job. We spent most of the day on the lake and stopped for a late lunch at a cafe in Sylvan Beach. We both ate way to much and finished off the meal with two brownie sundaes. Luckily Shannon couldn't finish her's so I got to help her out. After that we passed out on some grass for a half hour before paddling a few more hours and setting up camp. The good news is that our Aunt Beverly and Uncle Michael have two days off so they are coming up to visit us tomorrow! It will be great to see them eariler than expected!

We just need to keep going and hoping that the weather cooperates. It is looking like we are pretty close to two weeks out!

-Jay

Lake Oneida

We're back on open waters for a day or so. Said goodbye to our wonderful hosts this morning and continued on our way, making it all the way to Lake Oneida. Went through our first up lock today, too. They had a book exchange there, so I traded in the book I bought in Haldimand (and finished several days ago) for one at the exchange. There were about five guys working at the lock, though most of them just seemed to be sitting there and smoking while one guy painted the railings (painting is supposedly a favorite pasttime of lockmasters) and another guy locked the boats through. They were nice enough, though, and let me use the bathroom after I picked out my book. All the lockmasters we've met have been pretty nice and helpful people.

Anyways, we put up the sail upon getting to the lake this afternoon and had a good time sailing for a few hours before looking for someplace to camp. After trying a couple of places - first a yard and then a park, both of which were a no-go for camping - we found a nice yard with hospitable people who let us set up camp. It's been a good day and now we're turning in so that we can start out early to finish crossing along the southern shore of Lake Oneida.

~ Shannon

Great Day Off

Today it was suppose to rain and then there was a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. We knew we were going to have a late start but then when we looked at the weather and Jim and Joybelle invited to stay one more day we decided to take them up on the offer. BEST IDEA EVER! We started the day with some delicious pancakes and then lounged for a bit. Next was the park with the dogs which was a blast. Jim, Shannon, and I went for a little run and my legs were so happy. It was such an amazingly liberating feeling to run as fast as I could. I guess I am a simple person but it really was great. After the run we played with the dogs in the park for a while and then came home and lounged a bit more. The day culminated later that afternoon when we went to a pizza buffet and then went to see Inception.
When we returned Jim got out some recumbent bikes for us to try out. They were a lot of fun but I think Shannon was a little scared of them (especially when I was in the front of the tandem steering us around the neighborhood...). was an amazing break from the paddle fever and we are both very grateful for yet another great stop on our long journey.

-Jay