Intro to the Trip

Nine Days on the River April 18 – 26, 2008

Two years before departing on this adventure I bought a 10 foot plastic recreational kayak with the goal of splashing around on the lake where we live and perhaps floating down the local river, the Rivanna. Once I started paddling though, I knew I had found something that I loved and that opened the whole world for me.

Six months after buying that first boat, I was driving back from Virginia Beach and crossed a river (the story would be better if it was the James, but alas it was not – probably the Chickahominy instead) – it dawned on me, I could paddle all the way from home to the ocean. While in theory I had always understood this could be done, it suddenly seemed within the realm of possibility for me. I have always been fascinated by the connectedness of water. I remember standing on Virginia Beach as a kid, looking out to sea and thinking, “Africa is just right over there.” I suddenly wanted to connect my little home river with the rest of the world.

The trip also became a framework for my learning – paddle skills, boating knowledge, seamanship, knots, navigation, camping experience, interest in trees , wildlife and geology. As a fairly inactive office worker with very little boating and even less camping experience, my skills were woefully inadequate. I set an 18 month timeline to acquire the knowledge, skills and gear that would allow me to safely complete the trip.

The trip was projected to take nine days and cover the approximately 185 river miles between my home in Central Virginia and the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach. The first 23 miles would be on the Rivanna River, a shallow, rocky river that varies from 30 to 100 feet wide. The Rivanna is a tributary of the James River which, as it had for countless travelers for thousands of years before me, would serve as my super highway for most of the trip.

I would join the James at Columbia where it is a relatively broad piedmont river with occasional riffles and Class 1 rapids. The James is a river of change, moving from the piedmont through the Fall Line in Richmond where piedmont meets tidewater and results in a 105 foot drop over approximately seven miles. This 105 drop is most visible in the Class 2 to Class 4 whitewater that courses through downtown Richmond. As abruptly as the whitewater starts, it gives way to a gradually broadening river affected significantly by both tidal action and wind. Nearer the mouth, the James takes on more characteristics of an ocean bay – reaching widths of four miles. The final portion of my trip would have me leaving the James for the Chesapeake Bay and ultimately rounding Cape Henry and paddling in the Atlantic Ocean.

The trip was to be solo and unsupported, meaning that I would pack with me all of the supplies that were needed and would traverse the various obstacles along the way without planned help. It was important to me to put myself in a situation where I had to take the lead, make the decisions and figure out how to recover from mistakes. The trip ended up being everything I hoped for and more. I hope you enjoy the following narrative and photos from the journey.

Jamie Beadle
Lake Monticello, VA
May 2008