Fort Monroe Mill Creek Paddle 9/11/2012

We had fair winds and following seas (sort of) for our Mill Creek Paddle this fine September day. Temperatures were warm but not hot, humidity was not oppressive and spirits were high as 12 Tuesday Group Water Sprites (and 1 Tuesday Groupie) rendezvoused at Fort Monroe for this new paddle. The put-in was a small sandy beach next to the Old Point Comfort Yacht Club clubhouse. We paid our $2 launch fee and assembled for a pre-paddle briefing. Gathered that day were Jane and John, Ned, Margaret P, Ed M, Ken, Bill B, Jim, Dottie, Bob M, Brian and Phyllis. Bill had actually arrived early enough to paddle around the HRBT island! And Kama was there to send us off! Ed nearly had her convinced to take second seat in his canoe but she was without a PFD. We covered some early history of Fort Monroe reminding all that this strategically defensible location reaches back over 400 years! The first Africans in America landed here in the early 17th century. And the fort gained the name “Freedom’s Fortress” when, during the Civil War, any slaves arriving at this Union stronghold were granted freedom as they were considered to be war contraband. We launched from the beach and headed northwest past the Old Point Comfort Marina into Mill Creek. We passed the Wanchese Fishing Fleet and went under the Mellen Street and Mercury Blvd. bridges. Mill Creek is in fact a rather large pond (small lake) and we followed the shore in a clockwise fashion. This is where the “sort of” comes in as we were paddling against a rather strong headwind. This was little more than a fun challenge for the kayakers but Ed had a tough time paddling his solo canoe and opted to head back a little early. The rest of the Tuesday Group bent to our task as we paddled along. We admired modest homes along the shore and viewed the occasional egret and heron as they squawked and flew by. We reached the terminus of the Creek hoping for some small bit of friendly shoreline to climb out and take a break. But there was none so we just rafted up and rested for a bit before our return trip. With the wind and current at our backs, we made good time reaching the opposite end of Mill Creek for our lunch beach. Bill had to head straight back as he had evening plans in Richmond. The rest of us took a nice break to eat and relax before heading back to the put-in. Arriving back at the Marina, we loaded the boats and headed to our next stop, Sebastian’s ice cream parlor! This was quite a treat and we enjoyed cones and Sebatos! Margaret called Ellis on his cell phone and we all sang “Happy Birthday”. He and Marti were aboard Island Dream returning from a week at sea. At that very moment they were just returning to the OPC Marina! Had we been a bit longer at our lunch beach we could have escorted them to their slip! Wonders will never cease with the Tuesday Group!

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