Launching at Holts Landing State Park
On Sunday, June 1, 2014, I paddled across two of Delaware’s 3 inland bays. Although I normally have off on Sundays, I had to go to work in the afternoon. I wanted to make the most of my morning so I decided to get a decent paddle in. The plan was to launch at Holts Landing State Park and have my coworker, Lowell, pick me up at Tower Rd, the north end of Delaware Seashore State Park to take me back to my car.
I expected the stretch across Indian River Bay to be the most difficult as it is open water and typically filled with boat traffic. Luckily, for reasons unknown to me, I only encountered one boat! It was odd because it is pretty much summertime, and the weather was a beautiful day for being out on the water. But I wasn’t complaining because it was quite peaceful without many boats around.
Indian River bridge in the distance
The nice thing about this trip was that I never had to pull out my phone to help me navigate. I have been out on these waters so many times for work that I knew exactly where I was and where I had to go.
Distant view of the Life-Saving Station from Lynch Thicket
It was just about 3 miles to get to Massey’s Ditch. However, instead of going through the ditch, I took a break on an island known as Lynch Thicket before heading east towards Savages Ditch and the marsh islands of Delaware Seashore State Park.
Okay yeah, this post is excruciatingly boring and I apologize. I really didn’t see anything exciting, just the normal sites I see at work everyday. Not that I don’t appreciate working in such a beautiful place, I really do appreciate it everyday, but there just weren’t any fun surprises on this trip. I know where the birds nest, I know where people fish, I know where all the sandy beaches are.
The only somewhat exciting part of this journey was the fact that I finished quickly. I paddled 7 miles in just 2 hours. That is pretty speedy for me, particularly since the wind was coming directly at me the whole time. I finished nearly an hour earlier than expected and since Lowell wasn’t available to pick me up that early, I got a coworker to pick me up and take me to the office. Lowell was able to bring me all the way back to my car a little later. Okay, boring post is over. Here’s my path. Even the path is a boring, almost straight line.
