Fort Monroe/Mill Creek Paddle 9/6/2016

A beautiful sunny, clear day awaited us as we all arrived at the Old Point Comfort Marina for our paddle of Mill Creek today. Paddlers included Ellis, Marti, Gayle, John, Carolyn, Dave, Buck, Bruce, Charlie, Christine , Jim and me (Phyllis). Unfortunately, Bill could not join us and as a result, nobody paddled under the HRBT! We all launched from the OPCYC beach and headed west past the marina (waving at the boats we sailed last week!), pausing for a picture in front of the big fishing boats. Then we headed under Mercury Blvd and began our paddle of Mill Creek--more of a small lake or large pond than a creek. There was plenty of water (though we weren't quite at high tide) due to recent Hurricane Hermine and this allowed us to explore some of the tiny creeks. We followed the periphery of the lake admiring the marsh and the birds (and trying to ignore the condos). There were some nice houses to look at. We then headed east towards the Stillwell kayak launch hoping to take a break on the beach there--but there was no beach! Too much water. So we headed back out towards the marina. The water was pretty choppy once we were back out on the HRBT side. With wind and current, it was quite a ride back to the marina! Once back at the take-out, we loaded our boats and then headed to the OPCYC clubhouse to eat our lunches. Then we enjoyed some of Gayle's brownies and a make your own sundae bar--but stay away from Ellis' cherry vanilla if you know what's good for you!

Another great day for the Tuesday Group!!

Phyllis

View Jim's photos: https://imagesbyjimarend.smugmug.com/Sports/Kayaking/20160906-Ft-Monroe-paddle