Bennett's Creek Paddle 7/10/2012

On this Tuesday we had 10 Groupers to show up at Bennett’s Creek Park for a 5 to 6 miles paddle. When Margaret & I drove into the

parking lot, Bill B. was already there getting ready for a day of picture taking and paddling down Bennett’s Creek out to the Nansemond River which empty’s into the James River there close to the M&M Bridge tunnel. We had clouds all around us but no rain at our location. Jean came driving in and she said she drove through rain all the way from Hampton, but came anyway. It takes a lot to stop a Tuesday Grouper. Besides Margaret & I, Bill, and Jean, we had Jim, Mark, Bob M, Bob H, Sandra, and Jea.

Leaving the dock about 10:00 A.M. we headed north towards the Hwy. 17 Bridge, where we saw a sail boat about 25 ft. long standing up on it’s end, still tied to the boat dock. We thought this was a very strange way to tie up a boat, but we paddled on. We also saw Egrets, Osprey, Otters and little fishes that like to jump into your boat. Margaret had one jump across her boat and Sandra had one to jump into her boat. ( not big enough for eating) By this time we had already paddled about 2 miles and thru 3 or 4 rain showers, but it was warm so we paddled on.

Reaching the Nansemond River the winds had picked up some and we could see white caps out in the bay. Starting east towards our lunch area we hugged the shore line and made it to the sandy beach around 11:45. Across the bay at Newport News Ship Building we could see a big dark black cloud coming our way. This did not stop anyone from sitting down and eating their lunch, as we sat there we could see the clouds getting closer and closer but with the good luck of the Tuesday Group, the hard rain stayed out in the middle of the river and headed straight up the Nansemond river.

On the way back, with enough water in the small canal with the tide coming in, we took the easer route back along the tree line. This was smooth and we had the tide with us. Getting back to the put-in around 1:45 we loaded our boats and headed to the Dairy Queen for ice cream. Another good paddle with good friends and a beautiful day top off with ice cream for the Tuesday Group. Bruce

View (and comment upon) Bill's photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/TuesdayJuly102012BennettsCreekRAIN?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6guKOctr_VDg&feat=email