Video of our trip

Here's a video that Jay recently put together. It's a compilation of pictures and video clips that we took during the trip.

mi2nj - kayaking from michigan to new jersey

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