The 16 miles from Collins Landing to Delaware City had felt daunting to me for some time now. I know the tides in the Delaware Bay can be pretty strong and I’ve always been a little unclear on how the flow of the Delaware River affected the upper bay. And then there’s the C&D canal that probably makes the currents even more confusing.

But on September 20, I surprised myself and conquered it all! With the help of my dad 🙂

I recruited my dad to help me with some shuttles this week. My original plan for Wednesday was to paddle from Collins Landing to Augustine Beach, about 9.5 miles. Paddling all the way to Delaware City is more like 16 miles and that felt like a long, scary distance to do alone (plus crossing the mouth of the C&D canal alone sounded scary).

We got a pretty early start and drove the hour and 45 minutes to Collins Landing, which is within Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area. I chose this day to paddle because winds were minimal, and I was able to time the trip with the incoming tide.

As I was launching, some watermen were coming into the boat ramp and jokingly commented on how my vessel must not be bad on gas. I agreed and then my dad chimed in proudly, “she’s paddling around the whole Delmarva peninsula!” I don’t remember their exact reaction because I was already starting to paddle away, but it was a mix of surprise, awe, and well… confusion. Yes, some people think I’m crazy for doing this!

As soon as I rounded the corner of the marsh and into the bay, I had a lovely view of the power plant in New Jersey. It’s literally the only thing you can see on the NJ side of the bay for this entire stretch of bay. I remember seeing it when I completed the stretch from Port Mahon to Collins back in July, and thinking it was such an eyesore, but honestly, it grew on me as I paddled throughout the day. It was always in sight because it’s massive, and the steam just silently flowed gracefully out of it all day. Is it weird to say it was even calming?

On the Delaware side of the bay there was almost nothing to look at except rugged shoreline and phragmites grass and the occasional eagle. I did pass a strange… monument? It looked like a mini Washington monument on top of an old ferry piling, and it did have some words engraved on it, but I couldn’t get close enough to read it. I was told later by a friend that it marks the line between the Delaware River and the Delaware Bay. I also passed a LARGE electric line that appeared to start on the shoreline (or probably ran under water from the power plant?) and headed far inland.

I had a great cell signal for the whole trip. I was able to update my dad on my whereabouts with screenshots of my GPS location and he was able to time his arrival at the end point accordingly. But I still can’t believe how FAST I paddled! I averaged 4.3 mph which is like record speed for me! That incoming tidal current really was strong and I rode it all the way to Augustine Beach. It was honestly the easiest 9 miles I’ve ever paddled!

When I arrived, my dad was chilling on the beach with his chair and umbrella. I was on such a high from such an enjoyable paddle that I told him I was considering paddling the remaining 6 miles up to Delaware City. We drove so far to get here, the wind was so calm, and the tide wasn’t supposed to change for a few more hours, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to just get it done!

After a quick snack and hydration, and a quick call to Brian to see if he was available to pick Patrick up from the bus stop in the afternoon, I set out again and continued north. As I was launching from the beach, I saw a large ship heading up the bay from the south. I checked my Marine Traffic app to see what it was. It was the Shimanami Star, a bulk carrier from the Bahamas. As I write this three days later, it is now up the Delaware river near Trenton.

The next 3.5 miles flew by effortlessly. The tide continued to carry me up the bay. At times I felt like I didn’t even need to paddle.

And then came the mouth of the C&D canal. The spot I was anxious about. I turned my radio on to channel 16 so I could listen in on any communication happening between nearby boats. I also checked my marine traffic app again to see if any ships were headed up the canal or looking to turn into the canal. As I approached the southside jetty, I waited for a small recreational boat to come out of the canal. After that, it appeared that the coast was clear for me to cross the 0.3-mile canal. There definitely were some squirrely currents, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just had to remind myself – “loose hips!” – something I learned from women’s paddling weekend back in June.

Then, out of nowhere, another boat was heading into the canal from the south. This guy must have been CRUISING because I had watched downstream and all around to see if any other boats might be approaching the canal before I crossed and I don’t think this one was anywhere in sight. I was over halfway across so I paddled like hell to continue on and get out of his way. He showed no signs of slowing down and I doubt he ever saw me at all. The wake that boat put out was massive too. I saw the giant wake heading toward me, and having never taken a wave from behind that large, I whipped around 180 degrees so I could take it head on. That wake was probably the largest wave I’ve ever dealt with to be honest. While I never felt like I was going to lose control, it still got my adrenaline pumping big time. Once the wake settled down, I spun back around and finished the canal crossing. I got safely north of the northside jetty and thought to myself, “damn, glad that’s over, I don’t need to do that again!”

I then gathered my composure and pressed on toward Delaware City. Before I got into town though, a spotted lanternfly landed on my kayak. We still aren’t seeing these down in Berlin, so I took a picture, and then promptly squashed it – kind of satisfying!

Having worked for Delaware State Parks for many years, I was somewhat familiar with the town and the smaller canal into town, since I had been out to Fort Delaware State Park several times. In fact, as I entered the little canal, a DNREC boat was leaving for the island. I waved excitedly as I saw two people in Delaware State Parks uniforms on the boat. I snapped a photo as I waved – they were probably wondering who this random girl was that looked so excited to see them!

A few minutes later, I was approaching the boat ramp and there was my dad, on the floating dock taking pictures. I felt SO accomplished! I had no intention of paddling 16 miles, and I could now say the upper Delaware Bay was complete! After I loaded up my kayak and changed into dry clothes, we enjoyed a nice seafood lunch at Crabby Dick’s in town.

Here’s my epic, solo journey on the map. If you zoom in far enough on the canal crossing, you can see the little zig-zag from where I dealt with that boat’s wake!