Ragged Island WMA to First Landing State Park, 30 miles
The day dawned early with a beautiful sunrise across the river, framing the lights and cranes of the Newport News Shipyard. I was in a bit of a quandary about when to get on the water. If I left first thing, the tide would be set against me for the long 7 ½ mile open crossing from Pig Point to Willoughby Spit but if I waited there would be no way to make it all the way to First Landing State Park that evening.
Until the night before, I had not considered making it to First Landing because it was so close to Cape Henry and my final destination but studying the maps it appeared achievable. Camping at First Landing on Friday night would leave me with a short paddle around Cape Henry and down to the north end of Virginia Beach the next morning. With that goal in mind, I decided to go ahead and make my way to Pig Point, adjacent to the I-664 bridge and see what the conditions dictated when I got there.
The sun came out bright, then the skies began to haze up. Water was calm, gentle rollers of a foot or less. As I got to the eastern end of Ragged Island I realized that in my desire to get paddling, I had failed to eat any breakfast. I would certainly need the energy for the day of paddling before me so I stopped on a small strip of sand below the muddy banks of Ragged Island. I made three PB&H sandwiches, one of which I ate immediately along with some granola.
The first open water crossing of the day was the mouth of Batten Bay which stretches from Ragged Island to Pig Point. The crossing went well, but I was working hard to keep a sharp 360 degree watch. With the quiet water and no wind, I also used my hearing to keep track of other traffic. I have been much more conscious this trip of the importance of listening than I normally am on day paddles: Is that a power boat, a helicopter, a plane, a backhoe far away on shore? That duck’s call reminds me of a loon, Momma Osprey has a special call to alert her mate of potential danger – look up and here he comes back to protect the nest.
I stopped at the Tidewater Community College campus on Pig Point at a narrow beach tucked 15’ or more below bank level. While stretching and weighing the decision of whether to do the big crossing yet or wait for the tide I found some clam shells with shiny mother of pearl insides. I also found some sea glass for Kate. I suppose technically it is river glass – probably broken beer bottles from fishermen or students on that point that have been tumbled over and over by the wave action of the river. I also saw my first Blue Crab of the trip – the Chesapeake Bay’s unofficial symbol.
After resting for a bit and despite the incoming tide, I decided there was no time like the present to set off for Willoughby.
The first stretch of the crossing from Pig Point to the top of the Corps of Engineers levee was well away for the shipping channel. Other than keeping an eye on a couple of commercial fishing boats, I had the water to myself. Once I cleared the levee though, I had to pay careful attention. The Naval Base Norfolk was straight ahead and running down the Elizabeth River to my right. Lots of big war ships, plus several other large ships anchored off the last of the Naval piers.
One of the pre-trip planning items that I never fully resolved was where exactly it was okay to paddle in this section. How close could a private paddle craft get to the naval facilities and vessels? Since I had quite some distance to cover before I could be in any objectionable positions, I continued paddling and by watching where the fishing boats and eventually a couple of pleasure craft were going, I was able to determine what areas were okay to traverse. I paddled out near the main shipping channel and then cut back toward the point of the Naval base.
My VHF radio had been on all morning and as I neared the docks and mouth of the Elizabeth River, Warship 7 made a Securite announcement that they would be leaving Pier 10. I had no idea where Pier 10 was, and saw no activity so was not too concerned. A few minutes later they repeated the announcement and included that they were near Buoy 3 of the Elizabeth River. Paying closer attention I spotted the radar towers rotating on the large war ship closest to me. Luckily, I could tell that they still had the pollution barriers spread across behind the ship so departure did not appear imminent. Indeed, I was well past the point and part of the way across Willoughby Bay before they headed to sea. I also got to see a submarine leave port as I was first approaching the base.
Once I was clear of the point where the Naval base piers end, I could either follow shore past the rest of the base and into Willoughby Spit or paddle across the mouth of Willoughby Bay to the eastern terminus of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel at the tip of Willoughby Spit. Deciding to shorten my overall mileage by crossing the mouth, I made a Securite announcement over the radio. A Securite announcement informs other vessels in the area of a potential hazard. My call was something like: “Securite, Securite, Securite . . . this is solo sea kayak beginning a crossing at the mouth of Willoughby Bay from the Naval Station Norfolk to the bridge.” I decided to make the call because there was a lot of traffic, not all of which was restricted to the channels and also because the haze and glare that morning made it more difficult to see a small boat.
The entire crossing was between seven and eight miles against the tide with fairly heavy boat traffic. I was mentally and physically exhausted when I pulled ashore just around the point of the Spit. Unfortunately, my chosen landing spot was a fishing area and it smelled horribly of dead fish. I was too tired to hop right back in so ignoring the smell I ate my lunch and called Kate to let her know the crossing was behind me.
As I sat there, a young guy on a battered Sit on Top kayak paddled by and asked if I was headed out. Since he was pointing across the Bay, I thought he was asking if I was paddling over to the Eastern Shore so I said no. He paddled on, but not out into the Bay but instead down the shore in the direction I would be going once rested. Feeling pretty rested, I got back in my kayak and decided to catch up with him. My tired old bones were not close to the task as he had an efficient high angle stroke and seemed to be in good shape.
Once I recognized that I was not going to catch him and how tired I still was, I paddled back to the beach and rested for another 20 minutes. When I started back down the shore, the kayaker was paddling back so we stopped and visited for a few minutes. He is in the Navy and spent several years in Washington State where he sea kayaked some. I told him about the trip and he had some questions as well as shared some stories about a friend of his in Washington that had paddled the east coast of Russia.
We parted ways and I continued my slog down Ocean View staying about ½ mile from shore. Still feeling fatigued, I decided that I needed to hit the beach again before crossing Little Creek Inlet and past the military base there. As I was paddling back to shore another large Naval ship came out of narrow inlet. As I approached shore I could see a 7-Eleven sign across the road from the beach. After landing, I asked a family sitting on the beach to watch my boat and gear while I ran to 7-11 for a Big Gulp Coke, a banana and a Snickers Bar. Ocean View still has some seedy areas, including the area where I had come ashore, but everything was fine when I got back to the beach.
One of the nicer areas of Ocean View Beach
The snack run did the trick and I finally felt my energy level returning to normal. Because visibility of my crossing would be very limited for vessels coming out the inlet, I gave another Securite call before paddling across. There were several huge hovercraft stored onshore the naval base. I believe that they are used as landing craft – really impressive looking vessels. Paddling under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel I set my sights on First Landing Park which was visible ahead. I stayed well out as I passed Lynnhaven Inlet as I cut across an area where the shore falls away before curving back toward Cape Henry.
Looking toward the distant Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
As I paddled past the bridge area I could see the Black and White Cape Henry Lighthouse in the distance. It really hit me that I was going to bring this trip home. I started choking up a little, but all the traffic into and out of Lynnhaven snapped me out of it and back onto the task at hand.
After my last stop in Ocean View, my skeg would not go down. The skeg on the Expedition has been troublesome ever since I messed it up right after buying the boat. While I intended to finally fix the skeg sheath to keep the cable from binding before the trip, I never did. Remarkably, the skeg worked perfectly the entire trip until that point. I did not really care as the wind and waves had picked up a little and, particularly with the Expedition loaded, I prefer no skeg when the water starts to take on texture. I don’t use the skeg much on day trips but with cumulative fatigue from correction strokes in mind, I paddled almost the entire flat water portion of the journey with the skeg deployed. It felt good to feel the kayak moving around like I am accustomed. Having to concentrate on my strokes and use my lower body more kept me focused on the last leg to First Landing State Park.
When I spoke with Kate that morning I asked her to reserve a campsite for me at First Landing since it appeared I would make it that far. Turns out that same day reservations have to be done in person and my mother-in-law was kind enough to drive over , reserve a spot and leave instructions on how to find it on my cell phone. Speaking of my cell phone, in addition to using it for only a few calls each day I also had an I-Go charger which runs off AA batteries that helped to keep the charge up enough to get me through the trip.
The portage to my campsite was across a wide beach, up a boardwalk ramp over the dunes, then a long way through the park. I was exhausted again when I reached the site but the cart had come through again and gotten me to my destination. I was very glad not to have discarded it in Richmond, I’m not sure how I would have gotten by boat and gear to the campsite without it. Kate and I had spoken earlier and agreed to surprise Emma (my daughter) by bringing her to the campground that evening. I set up camp and took a quick shower before they showed up. Emma jumped out of Kate’s truck before it was even done rolling and gave me a huge hug! After many more hugs, we enjoyed a Chick-Fil-A dinner – what a treat! After dinner we walked back to the beach and admired another beautiful sunset.
Kate and Emma headed off, but with only a few miles left in the morning the excitement got the best of me and I had trouble going to sleep. It had been a great trip and in some ways I wanted it to go on, but I was also ready to write the closing chapter - Atlantic Ocean here I come!
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