My wife and I are thinking of a Spring trip to Chesapeake Bay area for a paddling vacation. We’re looking at camping in Crisfield, exploring James Island State Park and the area south of that. Or possibly the Blackwater National Wildlife refuge. We’d even consider the 5 mile crossing to Smith Island and spending the night on the island. (I thought I saw there is a B&B there.) But the crossing worries us, would we be crossing a shipping lane?
Is this a good plan or are we missing “better” places?
Oh, I should say what we like. Quiet water, exploring nooks and crannies, casual birding, aquatic vegetation (yeah, we like looking at under water plants), animals etc…
We wound going to Chincoteague, VA. We rented a house that had water access overlooking Assateague (where the ponies roam). Off season? It’s a kayker’s paradise. During summer season I can see that it would be a bit of a nightmare crossing the channel–there are lots and lots of docks for power boats. That constant checking to see where they are takes a lot of the fun out of it for me.
Overall I’d recommend it.
@Marshall said:
Given that you like noodling around nooks and crannies, take the ferry to Smith and do more of the paddling you like rather than chance the crossing.
Sounds like you had a great time! I had stayed at a place a bit south of Wallops Island overlooking Kegotank Bay. It’s on the list to go back to. The inlet for surfing looked like a lot of fun in addition to exploring here and there.
I’m had stayed at an AirBnB on Hopeland Rd. which the community has a small dock on a creek leading to the Bay. I’m not sure the house is listed anymore.
@NotThePainter said:
My wife and I are thinking of a Spring trip to Chesapeake Bay area for a paddling vacation. We’re looking at camping in Crisfield, exploring James Island State Park and the area south of that. Or possibly the Blackwater National Wildlife refuge. We’d even consider the 5 mile crossing to Smith Island and spending the night on the island. (I thought I saw there is a B&B there.) But the crossing worries us, would we be crossing a shipping lane?
Is this a good plan or are we missing “better” places?
Thanks!
Ok, I used to live north and west of your proposed area on the South River. I often paddled the South River and Annapolis area and even made the 20 mile round trip from my dock on Glebe Bay to Kent Island, which included a 5+ mile crossing of the Bay through what most assuredly is the main shipping lane. I am a capable open water paddler and liked to paddle my WTS Tempest at a speed of about 4 mph. That said, I never had a problem with ships. They are easy to spot and they do not make sudden moves and are easily predictable. And, they were not all that numerous when I lived there 12 years ago. Just remember, they ALWAYS have right of way! On my hundreds of paddles, I never had any close calls and, indeed, rarely shared the same 2 mile area with a big boat. Only once in three years did I encounter fog, paddling nearly year round 3-4 times a week. Now, having just told you how relatively safe the crossing is, I advise against it. I have read your comments on your paddling preferences (slow and involving lots of nature studies) and can assure you, that ain’t yer cup o’ tea. Long, boring slog with almost no visible sea life (I never saw a ray, much less a dolphin). The Bay’s water is a boring and off-putting brown. The wind shifts often and is always bearing against you. That shouldn’t be true, but it is! So, paddle and enjoy, just skip the crossing.
We’ve been back for a few weeks. It was a great trip.We stayed on Chicoteague Island and saw ponies ponies ponies. We paddled 2 rivers (Awaswoman and the Pocomoke in Snow Hill, which has great Bald Cypruss) and paddled around a lot in the waters between Chicoteague and Assateague. I recommend it to anyone within a days drive or maybe more.
And speaking of nature watching, we talked with a family fishing for crabs and got to see the catch of blue crabs in their bucket, a million claw waving tiny crabs with their tiny holes, many swimming snakes on the Pocomoke, a record 10 turtles on the same log, about 20 new life birds for me including the Prothonotary Warbler which buzzed Lillyflowers and our best catch, which we had to sneak up on, the ever elusive plastic Mallard decoy!