DAY 8 Finally Back On The Water

A "good morning", rises me from my tent.   Officer Dawn McDonough greets me this morning, "just thought I would check up on ya, didn't want you to freeze out here."  I ask her if there is a place I can charge stuff, and that I would departing this afternoon with the outgoing tide.  She unlocks this cute little building near my tent that seems to be some kind of ticket office when the ferry is running.  No heat, but it has power!  It is also out of the wind.

While powering up and blogging with very cold hands, try to type sometime with cold hands, not easy.  I am preparing to depart,  Now it takes me quite a bit longer to depart with all this extra stuff.  Checking again for all the gadgets and cords, etc...  I also fill all my water bottles, because I do not when I will get to fresh water again.  I use indoor potty, twice.  I call Sally O'Bryne for the most up to date info on the Pea Patch Island rookery but due to poor service that day I will need to update this blog at a later time.

Departure time is set for 230 pm, actual time of departure was 330 pm.  When I am getting ready to leave a sharpshin flies overhead and there are seven oldsquaw (longtails?) in the cove.  Several flocks of canada geese fly over as well (140 plus total)

I struck out with the idea of keeping the shoreline within a 100 yards, but this wind was now from the NW, and I quickly found that if I used it to my advantage I could actually sail the canoe.  I had it loaded heavy up front, so not to have a high front in the wind, so the back was a little higher and would catch the wind and act like a sail, all I had to do was keep paddling on the opposite side of the push, and then "come about" and paddle the other opposite side.  That meant I tacked my way up the coastline and since my destination was to slightly to the Southwest I left myself go that way more, getting me about 250 yards from shore from time to time.

With the winds there were a few whitecaps and the boat easily cut through and popped over the crests.  There were only a few swells that gave me a drop over feeling!  WHAT A RIDE!!

It was dusk and I received a phone call from my friend Mr. Beltz.  It was good timing because I was just pondering laying up prior to the Nuclear Power Plant, of going for it.  After a quick chat, I decided wind and weather were in my favor and this is the time to make "hay", so to speak.  So, I shored up on this exposed sand bar with low tide to put on my running lights and don my headlamp.  There were numerous gulls using this bar.

My vessel looked really cool with its lights on.  I get a snack and chug some water,  shove off for my destination beyond the power plant.  I head out very wide wanting to miss it completely.  I am actually following a path the moon is illuminating for me, WOW!  It is really a path of light reflecting on the surface, at this point I am a serious distance from shore, I got this moonlit path in front, the lights of this enormous cooling tower vessel to my left, and the occasional tanker far to my right.  Things are going very, very, well!

At some point in the middle I turn on my cell phone to see if I get signal.  I do, so I give Sally a call and interrupt her at a Christmas party.  She was worried about when I would pass the power plant so I wanted to let her know that I am far from it.  At least now?  I also see I have a missed call from Tom Rowan, so I give him a call and tell him where I am.

Now, I am heading around, and I know from my maps that there is some "artificial island' somewhere
out here.  I finally make some land form in the dark to my left, and it is closer than I thought, maybe only 75 yards or so.  I am really cruising along now, with the wind directly at my back it seems that with every stroke I just lurched forward, I have never moved this efficiently in my life!

It is cold, 20's somewhere, I know this because all the spray and splash is freezing onto my PFD and suit.  I am very warm and doing great but wouldn't mind this evenings camp.  The "artificial island" turns into a sea wall for the Nuclear power plant.  I am going so well I figure I am just going to keep on cruising and be in camp in about an hour.  I have an open permit to utilize the Wildlife Management Areas and the first one is Mad Creek which is at the end of the Nuclear power plant property.  It turns out that I was far away from the plant on the approach but now that I turned the corner I am up against it.  I realize I should be farther away but then again I also realize I am not pulling ashore and I am just heading through to my destination, and I have a hot cup of cocoa on my mind, ASAP!

So I am about 40 to 50 yards from their sea wall with my running lights on, it is about 730 pm or so?  I see someone look out to me from an office looking structure, so I wave.  Now when I passed the Sunoco  sea wall coming out from Philadelphia and a worker peered over at me I waved said "Howdy" "Heading to Cape May!"  and he yelled back, "Good Luck!"

What happened next was a very different experience!  Within about 45 seconds of waving I had a bright light in my face from what seemed like the end of some kind of rifle, and a very persuasive shout,"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"  I yelled back that I am drifting and if he wanted me to pull to shore, that I can't just stop.  "YES, STOP AND PULL TO SHORE, NOW!"  I do what I am told, thinking this is just a quick misunderstanding, but as I am getting out of my boat, I realize I am being surrounded by eight heavily armed men with one of them giving me orders to keep my hands up and "DO NOT REACH INTO YOUR BOAT!"  I state that I need to tie it off, he orders me to do so slowly and carefully and do not go near the cockpit of the vessel.  I find a rock to tie off.  I am ordered up on the bank and told to put my hands up and keep them up.  At this time I realize this is not just a simple little misunderstanding to these folks.  HOLY __ __ __ __!  THIS IS VERY REAL, AND GETTING EVEN MORE REAL, FAST!

Several armed dudes (four) take tactical positions, staying elevated to cover me while two approach me and ask me to identify any weapons.  I identify the knife on my PFD (that is mainly for spreading peanut butter and cutting cheese).  One of the armed personnel secures this knife.  Then another person comes down and begins to empty my boat, right on the rocks while tide is coming in.  And not just taking out the bags, but dumping out the bags.  It is cold, it is night, and the items I am depending on for my well being that are carefully organized and stored in these dry bags, are now dumped onto wet rocks with the tide coming in, my sleeping bag, my tent, clothes, maps, etc...all these items dumped loosely what appears to be all over the place! (Within about five minutes or so this security personnel moves my stuff up on the bank away from the tide, I say thank you very much!)

I have had my arms raised for about fifteen minutes and have been patted down.  I am coated with ice.  My buckles of my PFD is coated with ice and does not want to come off, they are thorough, I have a dry suit on, they even have me open my relief zipper to conduct a very thorough "Pat Down."  My arms are tired from paddling all day, but I cooperate to the fullest.  I learned from my own law enforcement days that being uncooperative gets you no where very fast.

One officer requests ID.  I direct him to the bag I have my wallet in, he pulls it out and hands it to me to locate my ID.  They take my camera and phone, they begin to go through them looking for recent calls and what photos I have taken.  Now at this point they are starting to relax and one asks me what I am doing, here is my big chance!  "Have any of you guys ever visited Hawk Mountain Sanctuary?"  One no, and numerous nods no.  "It is the first refuge for birds of prey in the world and I have the privilege to work there and this is a fundraiser I am involved in called Mountain to the Sea!"

They seem puzzled?  At this time local law enforcement shows up.  ID is shown to them.  I am run for outstanding warrants and what else?(thank goodness I paid the speeding fine in New York)  Then one of the officers has a smart phone and I referred to my pelican case several times to produce the Morning Call newspaper article.  But I also keep talking about if they let me get my computer out I can show them our website.  The officer with the smart phone pulls up our website then calls me over, "where is it?"  Luckily!!!!!  There I am, on the home page for them to click on and see my lovely face!   Which is now bearded over and full of ice, but it all seemed to bizarre for them to think I am making all this up.

So, after about 45 minutes, they tell me I can go.  I am shivering from standing there, my stuff is thrown all over the ground, and I am sure I look like I have had it.  Then one of the heavily armed gentlemen ask if I can make it to my destination in my condition.  I tell him thanks for asking and if I can have a few minutes to get a candy bar, a drink, and pack I will be fine.  He says, "Sure, we will wait with you till you are ready to go."  I pack in a hurry but I do find the time to get a candy bar and a drink.  Then since we are all feeling kind of comfortable with each other and they all seem impressed that I got all that way by canoe and I am out on this particular night, I ask them if they would want to make a contribution.  One gentlemen replys, "we made it, your freedom."   Right you are, and thanks for your support!

I did then ask if I could get a group photo!  But as I suspected I was denied.  So there are not photos to document this experience, but I will check with Salem Law enforcement, because maybe there is a police report.

I want to invite those officers, guards? to the spring party also.  They indicated I put them on full alert!  WOW, me in my canoe!  I am very sorry for doing so.  I do want to say that they were thorough with their duties but were never out of line.  They were just doing their jobs, and doing them very well!  I for one will never paddle near a nuclear power plant again, lesson learned!

Found camp about an hour later which is not an easy task in the dark!  I found you look for a silhouette of a tree above the phragmites, this indicates some sort of high ground.

JOIN THE JOURNEY
Todd Bauman