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| Racing By The Ferry |
Day 25, July 19th
We woke up at 6am for a long day of paddling. We were on a bit of a time crunch to make it to a workshop meeting regarding the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail. We broke camp and set off to our destination. About halfway on our journey we neared Jamestown. We dug deep to beat the Williamsburg ferry that was just about to depart at 10am. Just past the Jamestown settlement, and a sweet NOAA buoy, we were met by Bill Street and Joel Dunn to have a quick “meeting” on water preservation and the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail.
We continued on our way to met up with land support so they could transport us to our workshop. At the meeting we met many different people and got an opportunity to answer questions about our trip and how we could improve access to the James to encourage use by our peers. We said goodbye to Rebecca Henderson and Grant Gibson, who were chosen to talk at a meeting regarding the future of Fort Monroe after it is decommissioned. Before getting back on the water we stopped at a gas station to pick up a few treats. Gabe was kind and grabbed some for the teachers, who were waiting back at the canoes, as they were unable to attend the meeting, due to lack of space in the vehicles.
Once back out on the water we prepared to make our longest river crossing of the trip, two miles!! Our good friend Chuck helped us cross the river to get to camp. By the time Chuck left us we had done about fifteen miles, the expected amount for the day, but we were told we still had about four more miles to go. We all paddled hard towards the Ghost Fleet. As they came into view we rafted up and relaxed a little. We reached our camp and were surprised by a pile of dead fish where we docked. This did little to dampen our spirits and quickly set up camp. We ate an early dinner of pesto pasta, prepared by Isaac and Jessica (Frazier). Then we packed up and went straight to bed for an extremely early wake up time of 4:45 am, so we could catch a favorable tide for our last large paddle day! Twenty- two miles, here we come!
Written By: Cara Chiocca (Open High) & Isaiah Ralph (Bethel)
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| Everyone in Front of the John Smith Memorial |
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| Rafting & Relaxing |
Hey Expedition Team!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping into the John Smith Trail workshop yesterday. I have to say that your presence was truly inspiring - for everyone! Your observations about the trip, its effect on you, and what it would take to inspire others to get out on the river were all great. Really set the perfect tone for the meeting that followed. In fact I suspect your really positive presence helped make the rest of the session go extremely well. People kept referring to your experiences and were willing to commit to do things as a result.
Keep up the great work - hope you are surviving today's heat!
Jonathan Doherty
National Park Service