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Saturday, May 18, 2013 - Eco Discovery Park - Jamestown

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia OR It Always Rains When Sue Goes Kayaking

There's a neat place that we discovered to go kayaking right next to Historic Jamestown.  It's a former boat basin/marina that is in the process of being transformed into an eco/environmental education park. 

It's called "Eco Discovery Park".  http://www.ecodiscoverypark.org/  Their goals are "to promote adventure and recreation that appreciates our natural world, to encourage eco-tourism in our region, to create a environmental learning center for residents and visitors, to demonstrate alternative technologies and sustainable living practices, to engage community members in environmental planning and programs." 

Right now it's still pretty much just a marina but they also rent kayaks.  It's right on Powhatan Creek or Po HAT Tan as some might say and also connects to the James River for the truly adventurous.

It was raining in the morning when we woke up.  So much so that my street was half flooded.  And they were predicting rain later in the afternoon.  But there was a narrow window from 12 - 3 where it looked like it would be clear.  So we headed out.  We decided to take the scenic route through Smithfield (oink-oink) and take the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry.  Sue had never been on the ferry before so it was a treat in and of itself.

We got to the park around 12 and Jeff (in the marina store) helped us pick out some kayaks.  They have a variety of kayaks to choose from and the kayaks are all relatively new.  Kate and I each chose the Perception Carolina 12.0 and Sue chose the Ride 115.

They have a floating kayak launch but it is pretty low below the edge of the marina, so Jeff carried the kayaks to the concrete boat ramp.  Part of the new plan is to build a kayak/canoe launch in a separate part of the park.  But we didn't have any trouble launching.

There were tons of birds out.  We saw hawks, red-winged blackbirds, osprey, great blue herons, ducks, geese (with baby geese), various shorebirds, and others.  In particular, you will notice in the pictures that the Great Blue Heron followed us.  Well, rather it kept flying in front of us.

We also saw a bunch of duck blinds.   Most of them appeared to be constructed by the "po white" tribe rather than by any Native American tribe.  ;)

Since the creek connects to the James River, there were a lot of boat house structures at the houses that are along the creek. 

We also came upon a Nutria monitoring station.  Nutria are an invasive species and can result in damage to the marsh and loss of habitat for native species. Hopefully, we didn't end up on the monitoring camera. :) http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/vaisc/

We continued all the way up to Jamestown Road and went under the road.  There's a little park there (Powhatan Creek Park - James City County Parks & Rec) with a kayak ramp and some "necessary facilities" so to speak. 

Then we went back under the road and headed back. 

Right on the way back, I stopped to take a picture of a 400 year old Bald Cypress tree growing in the middle of the creek.  You can see it in the to fifth picture from the end.  Huge!

And then, since Sue was kayaking, it began to rain.  Just lightly, but persistent.  It wasn't too bad the whole way back until we got to the mouth of the creek leading to the marina.  Then it rained pretty hard.  But we were at the end so it was fine.

Oh and there might have been a few instances of "bumper boats" that occurred on the the creek.  But I'll never tell ....

 Three hours and 15 minutes on the water.  6.5 miles on the GPS.  Scroll below the pictures to see the track maps.

First kayaking trip of the season equals sore arms.  But well worth it.

Great day!!