Earth Day Paddle In Trash Out Event

It's a beautiful afternoon for our sunset Earth Day Paddle In Trash Out Event at West Neck Creek in Virginia Beach. We are all set up and so excited for the turnout of volunteers arriving shortly. With all of the boats we loaned out for free, a family of five with two canoes, and a couple with their own kayaks, we should be able to pull a lot of litter from the creek today.

Our first group, a father daughter team, are all geared up and eager to launch.

And they are off! This is their first time kayaking and they are extremely excited to help out while experiencing a kayaking trip on West Neck Creek.

Our second group is all ready to go! This father son team is also on their first kayak trip and excited to lend a helping hand with our clean up.

This couple just moved to the area and were happy to help out. We were sad to hear that one of their boats was damaged in storage, but happy to loan them one of ours so they could both make it out with us.

This family of five from Maine came equipped with two canoes and a lot of enthusiasm!

Right from the start they were taking advantage of the low water from the recent North East winds and were collecting litter from the banks.

Our last volunteer is on her way. We are excited to see how much litter this group can collect!

My son Logan thought it was the perfect time to try out dad's kayak for the first time :)

 The thunderstorms were approaching from the West but good thing we were in the clear until the event was over. The storm clouds created some picturesque views in the sky and everyone was off working hard on the creek.

We ran into one of our happy volunteers on her way back to drop off a load of litter at the launch site so she could head out and get some more.

 How do some of these things get here? An entire tire and rim was pulled from the mud and loaded up on the kayak.

Everyone one has returned and we are all amazed how much debris we have pulled from the creek in a hour and a half. From cellphones, to tires, to a front door and bags of bottles and broken glass, this Earth Day event was a huge success! We are extremely pleased with the turnout and the amazing effort everyone put forth in helping to leave our waterways a little cleaner than we found them! Taking on the world (and litter) with a paddle! Adventure Kayak Tours!

Paddle In Trash Out Event (Smith Creek)

We arrived at Baum Road boat launch in Chesapeake, Virginia eager to get started cleaning on of our favorite waterways this beautiful February Sunday afternoon.

We got to work right away on the shoreline and surrounding area near the launch. There was much to do immediately and we haven't even got on the water yet.

We filled bags and bags of trash. Spark plug wires, cans, Styrofoam cups, broken glass, pens, screws, bolts, and when your real lucky MONEY! :)

After a relaxing lunch, we loaded up and we are ready to hit the water for the paddle portion of this event.

Right away ,once again, we were hard at work collecting debris from the surrounding waterway. You never really know what your going to find on, or in, the water.

We are loading these boats up! Everything from hard hats to old socks! We always hope that we don't find all these things but find them we did! Which makes this effort so worthwhile!

We even had an audience as the turtles came out to see what was going on.

It's time to head back now. Our work here is done, I'm proud of this little girl and a paddle high five is certainly in order. The paddle back was a reminder of all the hard work we accomplished. A much cleaner Smith Creek than the one we paddled down just an hour ago.

We are back at the launch site. We were certainly blessed with a beautiful February afternoon for our cleanup.

Another day here at Adventure Kayak Tours exploring our world, and taking on pollution, with a paddle and a smile. Hope to see you all at the next cleanup!

Eastern Shore Trip in late September. Promise delivered!

With our decision to step into the blog world, I decided to write about our recent trip to Smith Island on the Eastern Shore. After weeks of rescheduling because of Northeast winds in the Magothy Channel and Bay, the stars finally aligned for an outing that we had promised an old friend of mine. Taking a day off from client tours we dedicated this day to relaxation and some serious shelling. The wind forecast for the day was calling for 2 mph SSE in the morning, increasing to 8mph SSE by the late afternoon. In all the excitement to get going early as we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel it suddenly dawned on me, we forgot ice! After a brief pit stop at the bridge pier for ice, we were crossing Fisherman's Island. We had finally arrived at the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge entrance. Pulling into the Wise boat ramp we were greeted by the friendly park ranger with a big wave hello. After a brief hello and discussing how perfect the weather was we were eager to get onto the water. We immediately unloaded our three boats, PDFs, cooler, filled my camel back,snack bags and we were ready to go! After a brief paddle demonstration/ instructional lesson for our friend who is brand new to kayaking, we were ready to hit the water. The water was crystal clear, and mirror calm as we launched out.

With high tide at its peak, we headed south to the shortcut through the Southern end of Raccoon Island. Entering the salt marsh we were all smiles, surrounded by periwinkles, fiddler crabs and cord grass, we were finally on our way!








The water remained calm and serene as we got closer to the end of the shortcut through the island.

The approaching tree line hosting a huge eagles nest let us know we were closing in on the Magothy Bay/Channel.

We have finally all made it to the open waters of Magothy Bay. Ahead of us is a 30 minute paddle across the channel and we couldn't  have asked for better conditions with the winds light from the SSE.

Across the bay we see our destination, Smith Island. Cape Charles Lighthouse and the three World War II watchtowers line the coastline and we will be on the beach in no time.

Thirty minutes later we have all three arrived on the beach of Smith Island safe and sound.

After some breakfast we are excited to head out on foot to explore the Atlantic Coast of Smith Island.

The recent weeks of NE winds had pushed the shells up on the beach and they were literally stacked a foot high. It was absolutely amazing to see this amount of shells beneath our feet.

We walked the beach for hours. Collecting whelks along the way in a crab basket, we were on a search for the ever elusive sand dollar. 

We came along two men surf fishing the deserted island for Red Drum and we wished them well and decided to turn around. Just then the sand dollars started to make their appearance as high tide began to retreat.

Making it back to our boats we sat down and ate lunch. We had a very nice day and none of us wanted it to end but sadly we had to hit the water and head back to the launch area. We grabbed a hold of our bow lines and walked our boats until we found deep enough water to paddle back.

Finding deeper water in the channel we were off. Choosing to take the path of paddling around the southern tip of Raccoon Island and then up North to the launch. We were tired but satisfied to say the least. Yet another beautiful day spent wasting away on Smith Island. We wouldn't have it any other way.