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

Just keep paddling...

Whew, we've had some long days of paddling since getting on the canal, but it feels good to get as far as we have in such a short amount of time. Our arms don't exactly agree with us on that. It feels to me like every time I lift my arms even the smallest amount that someone is giving me a charlie horse on my deltoids.

A couple of nights ago at lock 30 in Macedon (aka Mastadon) we met a pair of cyclists, Jim and Joybell, who were doing a four day trip on their tandem recumbant bike. After offering us some Oreos, they proceeded to invite us to stay at their house near Baldwinsville when we were in the area. The mileage worked out perfectly, and tonight we're living it up with Jim, Joybell, their sons Justin and Josh, their dogs Sunny and Houdini, and their cat Santana. After an amazing dinner of salad and pasta, as well as hot showers, Jay and I are pretty beat and ready for some sleep. We figure we've gone about 170 miles or so in the past five days and sleeping indoors in a bed is going to be glorious indeed. Meeting awesome people is amazing and one of the best parts of this trip.

Today we had some issues with a strong headwind that slowed us down, but the biggest issue was inconsiderate boaters who buzzed past on their speedboats. In order to avoid being swamped by their wakes, we would have to turn Boldy so the bow was facing into the waves. Otherwise our boats would have been full of water after the third boat or so went past. There were a few people who slowed down enough so that their wakes weren't an issue, but I can count them on one hand. Hopefully once we get back into the weekdays we'll have fewer encounters with crazy boaters.

We've been seeing a lot of ospreys in this section of the canal. We see about five every hour and even saw a nest with adolescent chicks. Yesterday we saw a bald eagle as well. As Jay said to me today, we have seen a lot of birds on this trip.

Tomorrow Joybell is making us pancakes for breakfast, something I have been craving for quite a while now. We're sleeping until we wake up and then seeing where the day takes us. Depending on the weather we may try to get to Lake Oneida (Oh-nie-dah), but we may also stay here and rest a bit. We'll see what the day brings.

~ Shannon

Late Starts Equal Late Nights

We are three weeks into our trip and finally getting some consistency. We have had a few late nights but we are going to try to get up early tomorrow to get more daylight for our long day. We went from Spencerport to Macedon yesterday and then from Macedon to Clyde today. Hoping to get to Baldwinsville tomorrow to meet up with some folks who offered to take us in for the night :-) More info tomorrow when we can keep our eyes open.

-Jay

Medina to Spencerport

Another mostly uneventful day on th Erie canal. We made one stop in Albion to pick up a new camera. As a plus, we saw a bunch of old churches and cool architecture in the town. We paddled a little more than 30 miles today and ended up just east of Spencerport. A storm cut us short from getting to the park we were planning on camping in a couple miles from where we are now, but we lucked out in that we found some more awesome people who are letting us camp in their yard. Not only that, but Bev and Cindy, a mother and daughter, invited us into their beautiful home that was built in 1813, fed us, are letting us use their bathroom, and are going to give us breakfast in the morning! They have some nice cats, a garden and ducks. The ducks are adorable. We met Cindy's nephew, Josh, who is a music major and plays, of all things, the euphonium! It's not every day one meets another euphonium player. He also plays ultimate frisbee, a sport Jay played in college. This has been a pretty good day.

~ Shannon

Lake Erie Tribute

In honor of my... strong feelings towards Lake Erie I decided to write a poem to help channel my not so positive energy. This is the last I will speak of the lake of broken dreams.

Lost the ******* camera when I got up to pee,
Agitated waters bring out the... best in me.
Keep an eye on the wind and prepare for the worst,
Each day stuck on land weighs heavy on the purse.

Everyone we met was helpful and kind,
Receiving a ride was the best treat we could find.
Is it wrong to despise such a beautiful watery mass?
Each to his own, I say **** you Erie, you can kiss my ass.

-Jay

Erie Canal!

We are finally on the beautiful calm Erie Canal. Not much to report today which is ok with me. We paddled from North Tonawanda to a little past Madina on this beautiful sunny day. We racked up around 35 miles and loved it. It has been a while since we were able to just paddle all day. Tomorrow we will hopefully keep the pace going until later when some weather is supposed to move in. We met some fellow paddlers at our camp site who are paddlling the canal and then down to Albany. Its always nice to have company :-)

-Jay

Fun Times in Port Bruce

Shannon has seen my bad side on Lake Erie. My real bad side. I spouted just a few four letter words in reference to the great Lake Erie on our trip and a few choice words to God as well. I know my little sister did not appreciate it and she let me know. during out stop in Port Bruce I witnessed a side of Shannon many of you may not have seen yet, the HUNGRY side. This is a true story.

We had had two nights in a row where we had not gotten much sleep. We had stayed up late in Erieau trying figure out our wireless internet, to no avail and then hitching a ride with Jim to Port Stanley was also a very late night. We had two days of paddling under our belt and maybe 9 hours of sleep when we made it to Port Bruce. We set up camp quickly and took a nap as soon as we could. The trouble started soon after we awoke. The land we had chosen was the property of the only grumpy old man in Canada and we had to get off which sucked because we had to repack out boats for a 100 foot trip across catfish creek to the trailer camp site which costs 30 dollars a night! Once we had our site we decided to forget the cooking and grab something to eat at The Sandcastle. It seemed like a nice place but it turned out to be a portal to Hell and I am pretty sure a demon came out and possessed my sister for a short time.

Here is the dilemma that started us down a dark and hungry road. The Sandcastle did not take credit cards but it did take debit. Our debit cards did not work. We had enough cash on us for either the camp site or dinner and we wanted both. There was also no ATM in Port Bruce. This situation led us to hitch hike into the nearest town to search for an ATM which was very successful thanks to a couple of gentlemen who had just left the police academy. They drove us from Port Bruce to Aylmer and back but by the time we got back to The Sandcastle it was 8:45 and they closed at 9:00 which meant they had turned everything off and they were not going to serve us! At this point we had been trying to give this place our money for a good 3 hours and they knew we were trying to find an ATM but we were not going to get any food that night. Shannon had been steadily working herself downill ever since the nap earlier in the day and she told me that she was ready to kill puppies. I was laughing at this point because the situation could not have gotten any better and Shannon flicked me off for being so... giddy. Shannon wanted to kill the girl who worked at The Sandcastle and burn the place to the ground. I would have been ok with that as long as I was able to cook something to eat over the flames. We walked back to our site and Shannon just laid on the ground in despair. I seriously thought she might just die. It had been... maybe 6 hours since she had eaten and I was laughing, which didn't help. Anything I said was wrong and I thought I was going to be stuck cooking becuase my sister was completely incapacitated

Luckily for us Canadians are awesome. Some random guy asked how things were going and instead of giving the standard one word answer I was completely honest. I could tell by his face that he wasn't expecting an answer like that. He left but then about five minutes later he showed up with a giant plate of spaghetti! The demon in Shannon was completely exercised in a single instant and we had a very pleasant dinner filled with smiles and laughs. Next time I am just going to spend the camp site money first.

New friends and new waters to paddle

(Sorry if I misspell anyone's names!)

Wow, what a trip across the lake. After Erieau we had one calm day where the calm lasted for the entire day, but otherwise we were fighting waves by one in the afternoon or sitting the day out on shore...or getting a lift from some amazing people. When people say Canadians are friendly, that is an understatement. We met some of the most helpful, generous and hospitable people I have ever known, and we owe all of them more than we can give.

We got a ride in a boat owned by an awesome guy named Jim Paterson (who we were introduced to by two young ladies at the Port Glasgow marina, Tanya and Courtney). He took us on a late night boat ride, saving us a day of paddling on the next day that was sure to be a rough one. We got into the port very late and couldn't find anyplace to stay, so the four of us (counting Jim's dog) bunked in his nice, classic boat for the night. Another helpful couple a ways down the coast, several days after Port Glasgow, also gave us a lift, which saved us from being hit by a big storm. Their names were Rick and Deb and they were most definitely in the right place at the right time in order to help us out. That night we stayed at a marine park in St. Williams, camped out in our tent in the yard of an older couple, Margy and Bill aka " Willy". They fed us banana bread and cookies and milk, and the four of us sat on their patio looking out over Long Point Bay in the beautiful evening light. The next day was the fateful day of losing the camera on our way to Selkirk. I'll let Jay give the gory details if he so pleases in his post. As usual, the lake blew up and we were forced to make for shore before our destination and ended up at Haldimand Conservation Area, a most fortunate place to have ended up it turned out.

We had a nice campsite near to showers and bathrooms. Only a mile or so down the road was Peacock Point, which became our hangout for the time we spent in the area. We met the local crowd at the variety store and ate some amazing food cooked up by Ed. We played softball in the park with kids from the town and played bingo one evening. Our stay was rather extended due to weather, but we had a good time for most of the days we were there. Being far behind schedule and most definitely not going to get to New Jersey in time, we found an great guy in the campsite named Bruce who gave us a ride to Fort Erie, saving us a few days paddle time and just about getting us back on track.

Then came the crossing back into the US. I am rather surprised border patrol didn't nab us as we struggled across the Niagara river just as a wicked wind blew up (Lake Erie's last farewell). We were forced to abandon our hopes of getting into the Black Rock Canal at it's proper entrance, and so ended up carrying our boats and all of our gear over the canal wall, a feat that was not as difficult as it sounds. Nonetheless, we were sure border patrol was going to have something to say about our desperate struggle over the wall and into the canal, but we had no issues of that sort and were able to check in at the designated marina just fine.

We went through our first lock today at the north side of the Black Rock Canal, and then paddled our way up the Niagara River to the Erie Canal. We're now a mile or so in on the canal in the yard of another awesome couple, Nick and Renee. They also have an adorable dog named Eve, who was a welcome site to us two dog deprived Raus.

We're happy to be out of the lake. After Erie, 338 miles of calm canal waters sounds glorious indeed.

Still Alive and Almost to New York

Just wanted to get a quick post in to let you know we are ok. Lake Erie has not been kind but we will be done with it tomorrow. More posts to catch you up will be coming once we are state side. Lake Erie swallowed my camera :-(

-Jay

Goodbye Erieau

It has been a little rough out on Erie the last few days. Some of you have talked with me on the phone or chatted online and heard our struggles. Shannon and I had a very sobering experience on Saturday and learned to respect Lake Erie a lot more. Being one of the shallowest great lakes means that it can whip into a frenzy very fast. We witnessed this first hand coming into Erieau and having to struggle through 6 foot waves for 2 hours. Only a few times did I really think that we might be capsized or sunk and lose everything but that was more than enough to make me realize how careful we have to be.

We spent today toying with the idea of skipping out on part of Lake Erie and getting a ride of some sort further up the coast. Everyone that I called for advice thought we should stick it out seeing as how we have been able to make it a third of the way across the lake on only three half days of traveling. The most frustrating part for me is knowing how far we could be without all the weather issues. We knew there would be some issues going into this trip but from what we had heard from other kayakers we never expected Erie to be so brutal. Today was a good day to regroup and rethink some of our initial ideas. We are going to be starting earlier in the day to take advantage of the calmer morning weather and pulling off the lake sooner in the afternoon. We are also going to be listening to the NOAA weather reports a lot more thoroughly and finding a safe spot as soon a things get remotely uncomfortable. I know it sounds like some obvious stuff but its more like taking our alertness up a notch to code red.

One great thing that came about because our weather mishaps is that we came upon Bayside Camp in Erieau. We spent an hour or so paddling in Rondeau Bay looking for a place to rest after getting our clocks cleaned. We just so happened to wash up at the right place at the right time. All the friendly folks at the camp site had dinner cooking and invited us to join them for hamburgers, ribs, and beer! We rented a cabin and made ourselves at home, which wasn't hard due to the great hospitality. Later that night we were invited to join a big party at the local bar where a band was playing. Shannon stayed back to catch up on some sleep but I decided to take advantage of the great situation. I had a blast with my new Canadian friends. They really showed me a great time and I truly appreciate it. I met the band between sets and told them about our trip and they were so impressed that they announced it during the next set and had the bar chanting my name! It was really funny and something that I never expect will happen again but it was great.

It will be sad to leave Erieau early tomorrow morning but the weekend is over and we need to move. At some point I would love to come back when I have more time to stay. Thanks again to everyone at Bayside Camp for turning around a lousy situation and making it a great
experience that I will not forget!

-Jay

Windy, wavy Lake Erie

The title says it all. Lake Erie has been pretty rough on us so far. With strong south and southwest winds, big waves have been whipping up every afternoon, forcing us in to shore before we can get a full day in. We've talked to some locals, and they've all said the weather has been odd lately, what with thunderstorms passing through every day and big, choppy waves forming rapidly in the afternoons. It doesn't help that the shoreline has been mostly cliffs ever since passing Wheatley.

After leaving Leamington, we came around Point Pelee in some rough water. Thankfully, once getting to the other side, we had a couple hours of calm water but strong wind that pushed Boldy the Beluga Whale very quickly eastward. By two in the afternoon, though, we were in whitecaps and not comfortable with how the waves were building, so we headed for the cliffed shoreline, hoping to find a beach where we could land. We found one and landed, then climbed up a wooden staircase leading upwards on the cliff face. Thankfully we found some more kind souls, Dolores and Steve, who allowed us to camp in their yard. The next day we were up early and headed to Rondeau Bay. We made it to the bay, but had some of the roughest water either of us have ever seen. The wind came from nowhere, and the waves, swells two meters or greater, soon followed. There was no place for us to go but to the bay, for the shoreline was all rocks or metal sea wall. We were praying to God the whole time. It was only by His grace that we made it into the bay unscathed, though it was certainly close. We survived, though, and are thankful for that. Our respect for this lake has increased tenfold.

Once we got into the bay and made land, we emptied our boats of water (there was quite a bit of it in both of them) and set out in search of someplace to stay the night. We were led to an awesome little campground with cabins and loads of friendly people who gave us free food and beer. We're something of celebrities here, as some of the people at the site saw us out on the water in our little makeshift sailboat in the huge waves. After telling them about our trip, they thought us even more amazingly crazy. Thinking about what we were sailing in, maybe they're right about the crazy part. We're in the town of Erieau, taking a break for the day (we were whooped after the hard, nerve wracking few days on the waves) and trying to determine our next move. Big waves and strong wind continue to be in the forecast, and the coastline continues to be unfavorable for making land in a pinch. We'll figure something out, though.

~ Shannon

Stuck in Leamington

The waves were pretty big today but we decided to get ready anyway. After everything was packed up and the boats were ready to be latched together I tried to take our catamaran cross bars apart and they were stuck! Some wet sand had gotten between the small the large poles and I could not get them to slide apart... We decided to stay in Leamington for the day and it has been a beautiful day off. I walked into town to find help to get the cross bars separated and eventually the auto mechanic at Walmart was able to separate them. I am now in a cafe using the internet because our international 3G card is not working the way I expected. I actually need to find someone with the latest version of iTunes to hook my iPad to in order to set up the international account. Another lame thing I found out about the iPad is that I cannot upload pictures onto the picassa site. Everyone is just going to have to wait until we get back to see the pictures unfortunately. Sorry! I am going to head back to the beach for the afternoon so hopefully we can find some more wifi spots along our route to keep you folks updated. Once we are back in the states we should be better at keeping this thing current.

Jay

Into Canada and some great hosts part 2

We slept in until about 7 and when we woke up Isabel had come out to the backyard to invite us to breakfast and she had brought out a 3 year old basset hound name Gibson. She was dog sitting for a friend. Shannon sat in the front seat of the car next to Isabel and I sat in the back with Harold and Gibson and we drove a few miles down the coast to Colchester. We had the most amazing breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast! I think I even saw Shannon eating bacon! Harold and Isabel's friends showed up and we had a full table of 7 elderly Canadians and two strange traveling Americans. After breakfast Shannon and I needed to check into Canada at the Colchester marina. The man I spoke with was not happy that we had spent the night without checking in. Oops... I tried to explain the situation with the storm and not having the means to reach the marina to check in but he was still grumpy. Eventually everything was worked out and we went back to the backyard to get packed up. Harold gave us four beers and we set sail for Leamington! We decided to drink the beer on the way and it was a very fun trip! After leaving at 12:30 we managed to travel about 18 miles to Leamington without having to paddle much at all. We got in late and Shannon bought a tent from Walmart because there were not many trees to tie our hammocks to on the beach. We got some good beach food at a beachside restaurant and called it a night. Wow we still have a long way to go!

Jay

Into Canada and some great hosts part 1

Greetings from Canada, eh...

Day four started in Oakwood metropark on the Huron River. We intended to finish the river and spend the night at Lake Erie Metropark. Everything changed when we reached the park at 1pm and could see Canada just across the lake. The decision was made to go for it so we connected our kayaks and started paddling. There were no large ships when we crossed and everything was going smoothly. We planned on getting to Colchester that night and checking in with the Canadian border patrol. There was a storm developing behind us so we kept paddling as long as we could to try to reach our goal. Unfortuately, the storm reached us before we reached Colchester and we had to pull our boats up onto the beach in someones back yard. We could not have asked for a better house! (more on that in day five) I sent Shannon to do the talking and soon we were set up in Harold and Isabel's (a cute elderly couple) backyard. The storm eventually blew over with only a few drops of rain falling and Shannon and I were left wishing we had just made it to Colchester. We didn't see much of Harold and Isabel the first night so we just cooked our food and passed out after a long day. So glad to be done with portages!

Jay

Uno, dos, tres!

A quick recap of the past three days. Friday was pretty nuts getting all our stuff together, but we managed to get everything packed up and ready to go by the afternoon. We had a great lunch at Zukey Lake Tavern with family and friends before heading out to Hudson Mills. We met up with friends Kaitlin and Eric who paddled with us a few hours to the campsite. That evening we were graced with the presence of a wonderful group of folks from Knox church in Ann Arbor. They were a retreat group of fathers and their kids. They fed us dinner and prayed for us. It was really encouraging to spend time with them and we were both very thankful to have met them.

Day two was an epic day of portages. We paddled twelve hours from Hudson Mills to what we now dub "Drunk Island" in the middle of Ford Lake. Supposedly that's a big party island, but we were ignorant of the fact upon setting up camp. Now Jay and I both have Eminem songs stuck in our head and have been singing them ever since those crazy people were blasting it for who knows how long from their boat. We also weathered our first storm of the trip the second night out. It was quick but powerful, rolling in very quickly just after we got in our hammocks. The funniest thing about the storm was the clueless drunk people who were completely oblivious to the impending tempest. One lady asked "Do you think it'll storm?" as the thunder ripped through the sky right above us. Three minutes later, a wall of wind hit the island. I heard the party-goers screaming and yelling in surprise, and I was freaking out a bit to as I attempted to zip up the outer zipper of my hammock while the wind whipped in the trees above. Ten minutes later, the storm had passed and all was calm, gentle rain pattering upon the rainflies of our hammocks. Eminem even returned to serenade us to sleep.

Day three wasn't as hard as two, but it definitely had the worst portage I have ever encountered. It does not even deserve description other than the fact that it was horrendous and most certainly not "safe" despite the sign at the portage claiming that it was. However, after getting past the dam, it was a beautiful paddle for the rest of the day. We were out of the lakes and once again in a winding section of the river. We met up with our Mom and Ron Sell at Willow Metropark. Ron brought the long-awaited sail rig for our boats, which will hopefully make the Lake Erie section of our trip far quicker. Our lovely mother even took us out to dinner, saving us some time this evening so we didn't need to cook. We paddled a little further down the river in search of someplace to camp, but we eventually chose to poach the Oakwood Metropark. Tomorrow we'll have a short, easy day to the mouth of the river.

~ Shannon

Ford lake

We are both really tired after 12 hours in the river with 6 portages (going around dams). We are currently camping on an island on ford lake. We thought the island would be secluded but drunk people keep boating out here...it's like 1030 and we have eminem blasting. I am thinking that this is going to be one of the most difficult days of the trip (physically) we are fresh and weak, portages suck, and we aren't used to this yet. Tomorrow we head for the mouth of the river and hopefully have a lot more down time. Details of day one and two coming soon!

-jay

Boat naming contest winners!

We held a boat naming contest on Facebook. Here are the results:

After much deliberation, Jay and I have decided on the names for the boats. We couldn't decide on just two, and so decided to have a name for when the boats "transform" into a catamaran.

Winners:
Sea Steak - Ryan Rau (Shannon's boat)
Moonstoner - David Rau (Jay's boat)
Boldy the Beluga Whale - David Rau (both boats put together as a catamaran)

Honorable Mentions:
Rainbow Peanut - Leah Tait
Testicles (pronounced Tes-ti-clees, similar to Hercules) & Scrotumus - Aaron Wooster
Kon Tiki and Lookfar - Joel Gohdes
Kick Back and Relax - Bernie Bedell

Winners of the contest will receive something "really cool" from our adventures (according to Jay. And David, you only get one thing despite having two winning names!). Honorable mentions will receive something "kinda cool". Thanks to all for the great submissions! We enjoyed reading through all of them.

~Shannon

Shannon's Dream

Shannon shared this dream with me today and I thought it was worthy of a posting...

"I had a crazy dream last night about the trip. It's all become a bit hazy, but what I remember is that we had our kayaks and were paddling upriver, or at least we thought we were going upriver. Somehow we managed to be going downriver and ended up in the same place that we started and we realized to go the direction we wanted to go we had to go upriver but then this huge storm blew in. I remember looking over this hill and seeing like...five tornadoes and so we ran into this building that had a bunch of other people in it, and we were all trying to find places to hide from the storm but then me and you remembered that we had left our boats just chilling in the river so we ran out into the storm to get them however, they were both gone... and for some reason had drifted upriver so we went running along either side of the river, looking for them I thought I found one of them and grabbed it...but then it turned out to be a blue plastic sled and I remembered I was supposed to be looking for a black boat, not a blue one so then I jumped in the water and started swimming. Mind you, the storm was still going on. There were boats and stuff everywhere, all pulled upriver by the storm (which makes no sense). Then I got out of the water just as a tornado whipped by and went across the river directly in front of me. It hit this lady but she was fine. She was standing on the water in the middle of the river somehow. So, I kept running along the bank, looking for our boats. Meanwhile, you were on the phone with Mom, who said that they had ordered six more boats for us and they were on their way. But I was pissed 'cause a bunch of our gear was in the boats that we had lost so, I kept running and looking for them. Then I came up on this town that was all medieval and stuff and they were having this festival. People were singing and dancing and it was really hot. I wasn't sure if it was just like a Renfest or if I had gone back in time. Some guy dressed in a jester's outfit tried to get me to stay, but I told him that I had to find our boats, so I ran off in the other direction, back down the bank the way I came. I met up with you (somehow I managed to jump over to the other side of the river), and we found this huge area where a bunch of boats that had been pushed there by the storm had collected. We found one of our boats, but it was all wrecked and all our gear was gone. I was so distressed that I woke up."

The only thing that I hope comes true is meeting a woman who can walk on water.

-Jay

Almost Ready To Go

I remember feeling like I was at the bottom of a mountain looking towards the peak just a few months ago. I was overwhelmed with the amount of planning this trip was going to take but now that we are only three weeks until our departure I cannot wait to start. Everything is coming together nicely and I can truly say that I am feeling almost prepared for this endeavor. Every new day brings something to my door step from UPS or FedEx and it is pretty amazing. My favorite so far is the fold out solar panel to charge the lithium batter which in turn will charge our phones, camera, and Ipad. I will be running all preliminary tests today to make sure everything is going to work according to plan. July 10th cannot come fast enough

-Jay

Less than a month from departure!

Whew, it's been a while! This spring has been pretty crazy, but as summer rolls in we're getting a lot closer to being ready to go. As such, we went and picked up our boats a few days ago with Ron at Unadilla Boatworks in Dexter! They're beautiful watercraft, and yesterday Jay and I took them out on Winans lake on a blustery day. The lake was pretty choppy, with whitecaps and strong winds, but the boats tracked beautifully in the waves. Even without the rudder down, they were easy to steer and quick to respond. Did I mention that they're extremely light and very fast? For me, who has only paddled with heavy plastic clunkers out on the west coast, it was a treat to paddle something that is light enough for me to carry on my own.

At 15', the boats are somewhat small, which means that we're going to have to pack light, but that's all the better for us so that we don't have to lug a bunch of gear through the portages on the Huron River. Though, that does mean that we'll have to have several drop points to send our food along the way.

Speaking of gear and food, we're definitely keeping REI in business! We bought a lot of our gear on the day that we picked up the boats. While we were in the store, pushing our cart piled high with such essentials as PFDs, sleeping bags, paddles, paddling gloves, a water filter, etc etc, employees were continually asking us if we were members of REI. Of course we are! That yearly dividend certainly came in handy for our purchase.

The only thing left to do for the boats is to attach the mast for the sail, and then they'll be ready to go! We do have pictures, and I'll get those up as soon as I figure out the picture slideshow function on the blog. Thanks for reading!

-Shannon

Musings on the trip from the exile in Oregon

I can't remember exactly when it was that Jay and I first talked about doing this trip. It was sometime during last summer, but the months have gone so quickly since then that it all seems a blur of activity. We started out as a couple of people with an idea for an adventure but without much knowledge as to how to go about both planning and executing our trip. Over the past months of planning, we have come into contact with so many wonderful and helpful people who have fielded our many questions and helped us with the route, equipment, camping logistics and much more. We would be far less prepared if it were not for family, friends and new acquaintances willing to share their knowledge and advice.

Our boats just came in to Ron Sell's shop in Dexter. From what Jay tells me, they are a beautiful pair of Bell Rob Roy 15 watercraft. Ron will be working on customizing them over the next couple of months, putting in foot pedal controlled rudders, making attachments for catamaran poles, and working on a sailing rig for the Lake Erie section of the trip. Because I am still at college in Oregon, I won't be able to see them in person (or paddle mine!) until June when I return to Michigan. Yet another thing to be excited for after graduation.

With our whole route planned out and the general time frame determined, plus having the boats in the shop, I'm realizing that this is really going to happen and am completely stoked (to use a word tossed around all the time here on the West coast). Spring has already hit Oregon, and the warm weather, singing birds, budding trees and blooming daffodils are getting me excited for paddling. I'll just have to alleviate my excitement by filling out customs forms, figuring out where we're going to get some of our equipment, and bugging Jay to send me pictures of the boats as progress is made on their customizations.

Here's a link to a map of our trip. We're leaving July 1st and are planning on about 6 weeks, give or take a few days.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=103050013381666458351.000480d47c15da5fad7fc

Eventually I'll figure out how to put it up as a link on the main page. Rather new to this whole blog thing, so bear with us. This place will eventually look less empty and forlorn... We'll put up some pics of the boats as soon as Jay takes them. Though updates here will be slow at first, hopefully things will get rolling more as spring gets to Michigan and Jay can get out and do some paddling on the Huron to scout out the conditions. We're still trying to figure out a good way to update friends and family online during the trip, so if anyone has any suggestions, we're all ears.

-Shannon