Clubfoot Creek

Have seen only one tandem kayak. Where are they?

No wind

Off Oriental, NC.

Boats line up on the beach

Off Oriental

At NCC Captains Meeting

SPOT instruction by Chief.

The Tribe is gathering on the beach.

I have checked in. Going for a little shake down cruise before the captains meeting.

NCC 5

In the back end of Harlowe Canal. Current is against us.

NCC 4

Entering Harlowe Canal.

NCC 3

Wind blowing down Clubfoot Creek. Tough 4 miles. Almost to the canal.

NCC 2

Had to make a stop at Cedar point. Pulling in ran over submerged log. Bent the Mirage drive. Fixed now. Way behind CleanSlate. Great Neck point ahead.

NCC Practice 1

The original plan was to travel with North Carolina kayak club. There is a major cold front coming. 20 knot winds all night. 2" of rain. They decided to drive to Beaufort and do just the ICW and Harlowe. CleanSlate and I are doing the original route.

Watertribe NCC Practice Time

22 days until the start of the Watertribe North Carolina Challenge. This weekend I will do a practice run with several North Carolina Kayakers. Starting in Oriental we will cross the Neuse River and enter the Harlowe Canal. I am not sure what way we will continue but the final destination is Shackleford Island. Total distance only 30 miles. You can follow my progress on my SPOT or the Watertribe Mapper Page. 

Bucket List: West Neck Creek

As I approach the Double Nickel (55) this year I think about all the things that I always wanted to do and have never done.
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When a fellow Watertriber Eric, e-mailed me about doing at least a part of his round Norfolk/VA Beach loop with him I declined due to work. Approaching lunch time I checked on his progress. Work was slower than expected. Meetings got canceled due to the three day weekend coming up. "What am I doing here that can't be done later". I decided on the spot to take off and meet Eric as he would pass the Princess Anne Boat Ramp. The West Neck Creek to the Lynnhaven River has been on my to do list for years now. It has been traversed only by a few people. This one a chance that I could not pass up.

One hour to get home, load a kayak and get to the ramp. From past experience I knew that the West Neck Creek had a lot of submerged logs and weeds. A Hobie AI would tear up a Mirage Drive in these conditions. I took my wife's kayak because it was the easiest to grab and go.

I arrived at the ramp at 12:30. No Eric? The SPOT page does not pull up well on my i-Phone. You can not zoom in. I did not know if he had past or still not arrived. Looking at the green leaf matter floating on the Creek I determined that it had not been disturbed by any passing boats. I decided to  back track down the creek.

The creek was relatively clear for the first half mile from the bridge. The current was running up stream against me. I came up to a patch of clogged creek. The weeds started overtaking the area due to a number of logs that had dammed up the section. It took some energy to get through about quarter mile of weeds, logs and downed trees. Most of the smaller logs you can run over. I had to use a lot of hip motion to move the boat forward. When I got past the obstruction I still could not see any signs of Eric. I pulled over to the shore, or what could be considered a shore in the middle of a marsh.

While playing with my i-Phone, trying to figure out where Erick is, he suddenly came out of nowhere coming up the creek. He was glad to see me. Apparently the reason for his delay was that he came up on to the same obstruction earlier and thought that he was in the wrong channel. He had turned around only to find no other passage.

Together we crossed the barrier heading back up stream toward the Lynnhaven River...