Newmarket Creek Paddle 11/27/12

Even taking into consideration today's weather forecast called for showers and cooler temps it did not stop a "Magnificent Seven" of Tuesday Groupers from donning wet-weather gear and launching their kayaks into Newmarket Creek from Hampton's Air Power Park. And, even before the launch, the weather did not stop three other "Groupies" from driving to the Air Power Park and joining the others for a wonderfully informative and interesting tour of the Park's museum. It was here, before we even started to paddle, that the weather forecast had the only negative impact of the day. We needed more time than the originally scheduled 30-minutes to complete the museum tour but we needed to launch and paddle before any rains came. The museum's docents all were experienced pilots and/or air power historians who happily shared their knowledge with the help of unique exhibits. The next time, and there will be a next time, we launch from the Air Power Park, an hour, at the very least, will be put aside for a tour prior to the paddle.

That said, we then launched and headed out under a gray sky against the outgoing current on a paddle route new to all but me....altho it had been years since I last paddled Newmarket Creek.

The "Magnificent Seven" kayakers were Don R., Bruce J., Dottie, Debbie, Bill B., Sandy R., and your's truly, Sandra C. The support group waving from shore were Bill R., Sandy B., and Katrina and Socks (her adorable little poodle-mix). Katrina even jumped in her car and, braving Mercury Blvd traffic, managed to get to the Armistead Ave bridge in time to cheer us on as we literally passed under her feet!!

The sights along the paddle included marsh and wetland areas, some newly built townhouses not there on my last Newmarket Creek paddle, The Home Depot, I-64 and flyovers from I-64 to and from I-664, several Great Blue Heron, construction of more townhouses, The Hampton Coliseum, Hampton Coliseum's lake, and Blue Bird Gap Farm where we lunched. Some remained in their boats for lunch while others braved exiting along the muddy bank as by then the tide was very low. It was only when a few of us walked over to see some of the animals on the farm that we had the first of maybe two brief sprinkles of light rain that fell during the paddle.

Later, when we had paddled a little further and had passed under another bridge, The Queen Street Bridge, heading toward the Briarfield Ave Bridge, Bruce and I experienced a "mutiny' of sorts by the rest of the crew. They decided to turn back. Granted, they had good reason. We were in a wide flat open part of the creek, causing the low tide to be even lower, and with the boats starting to slide across mud in most places. Bruce and I, however, decided to chance it anyway and try to reach the Briarfield Ave Bridge, which we did but only because the water again got deeper once the water narrowed back into a channel. I did feel guilty that I did not stay with the group but we caught up with them just as they reached the ramp for the 2:30 pm take-out, so I felt better.

Actually, as a Hampton resident, I am kind of glad everyone did not see the mess Bruce and I saw during the extra mile we traveled. The banks of the channel in that part of the creek were horrible looking with plastic bags or pieces of same caught in almost even bush on both sides. It was ugly and not something to be proud of for your city.

Mother Nature, who had been so wonderfully kind considering the forecast throughout our 7.34 mile paddle (8.34 for some!), remained kind until all kayaks had been loaded on the cars. Her rains only began to fall freely when everyone decided to forego an ice cream stop in order to get through the tunnel.....perhaps she was telling us something!!

My thanks and appreciation to all who joined in or waved us off on what Bruce dubbed, while trying to talk when we were paddling under the heavily traveled I-664 overpasses, the noisiest Tuesday Group paddle ever!!

Sandra Canepa, Trip Sponsor

View Dottie's pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/105914828772447442006/121127NewMarketCreekPaddle?feat=email

View Bill's pictures (and make comments!): https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/TuesdayNovember272012NewmarketCreekHampton?authkey=Gv1sRgCMv7vraE4d-8Bg&feat=email#