Blogeteria

Kayaking Graveyard of Ships

2011-09-16T09:11:00.007-04:00

We kayaked the Graveyard of Ships on the Arthur Kill between NJ and NY with Kayak East. We rented gear from Kayak East, and it was a well-run, great trip. This is a trip that should only be taken with a group with a trained leader like John Pagani. The route takes you across an active shipping channel and through tidal water that is only about 1-2' deep in the ship junkyard area.
Here is the flickr.com slideshow.

Kayaking Round Valley Reservoir

2011-06-23T08:56:00.002-04:00

We have taken the kayaks here twice so far this year. If you are not camping, the boat put-in area is at the separate boat ramp entrance which is maintained by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. As such, you must have either a fishing license or boat ramp maintenance permit ($15 on-line) to enter the area. On the weekends they have someone at the entrance checking permits.

When it's not windy, this is a great place to kayak on still water. You're not supposed to swim, but many people pull over to the shore and wade in the crystal clear water. I have been snorkeling here, and there are fish to see in the areas where there is aquatic plant life. The water is so clear here, it is nice to just look down into the rocky bottom. I have never seen a lot of land-based wildlife, other than an interesting duck. There is one nice hiking trail, but this is not really a hiking destination.

You are also allowed to scuba dive here, so we may bring the equipment over one day this summer, although I don't think there is much to see. Access to the snorkel and dive area is through the regular park entrance. Registration with the rangers is required. This park fills up quickly in the summer because there is a small swimming area, concession area and group picnic spots, so get here before 11am to make sure the park isn't closed when you get there.

Kayaking the Delaware at Bull's Island Recreation Area

2011-05-15T09:58:00.002-04:00

We took the kayaks to Bull's Island on Friday (no fee). The recorded river level at Stockton that day was 3.1'. The island is surrounded by the Delaware River on the west and the DR& Feeder Canal on the east. There are 2 river-side boat ramps open to the public; one north of the river wing dam and one south. There is also a gravel boat launch on the northern tip of the island that is open to registered campers only (fee). There is a canoe launch south of the lock on the feeder canal. I was hoping to paddle around the island, but no such luck due to the lock, which is very tall, and the banks are too steep to put in or out north of the lock.

We put in at the canoe launch south of the lock. As of 5/12/11, there is a large felled tree across the feeder canal south of the lock which will impede your travel. We were able to duck under the tree at the west side of the canal bank, but a canoe wouldn't be able to do this. We floated downstream to the overflow dam(?) between the canal and river and portaged across at a low point. This was fairly easy to do, but the water was shallow here, so you will need to wade out a little. I saw a pretty large crayfish here.

We paddled upstream. I don't think I could have paddled in a current much stronger than this one. We hit the southern boat ramp and pulled out, thinking that we couldn't continue up-river and around the wing dam. We left Bull's Island and drove to the D&R Canal Byram boat ramp (no fee). This is normally a concrete ramp, but it's currently covered in muddy silt. There is a port-a-john. We put in and floated along the river for a short while and then east into the feeder canal. At the mouth of the feeder canal the current is fairly strong. We floated south to just north of the lock, where the current picked up b/c water flows under the lock. We managed to paddle back up the feeder canal, and had a hard time paddling back onto the river due to the aforementioned strong current. Not impossible, but you should save some reserve strength for the last stretch into the river.

We pulled out and packed up. Mark had 1.5" of water in the bottom of his kayak. He accidentally pulled out one of his drainage flaps when we put in at the dam in the shallow rocky water when he was trying to shimmy out into the river.

On the feeder canal we saw little wildlife, but possibly beaver or river otter den holes in the side of the muddy stream bank. The feeder canal is a nice float, but not spectacular. Oh, we did see a large fish jump out of the canal to catch a fish. It was so large I thought it was a duck at first. I think I saw a sign saying that the State stocks the area with trout.

Kayaking Spruce Run Recreation Area

2011-05-11T16:27:00.001-04:00

May 7, 2011. We headed to Spruce Run in the afternoon. This Recreation Area is located in the Clinton Twp. area and is owned by the State of NJ. It is a reservoir I suppose. There is a fee during the season to enter the area. We went to the large boater's area where there is a gravel parking lot and restrooms. There is a sand and gravel beach for car-top launches which is separate from the trailer launch area. We spent a little time touring the shoreline where we saw various turkey vulture nesting areas (on the ground) and an adorable Belted Kingfisher.
The water clarity is not good, but this could be due to heavy spring rains.
A squall hit so we had to cut the trip short. I would have liked to have combined this trip with hiking the nearby Ken Lockwood Gorge, but we weren't able to pull it off.

Kayaking Merrill Creek

2011-05-11T16:21:00.001-04:00

April 23, 2011 was our second outing on the kayaks. We went to Merrill Creek reservoir in Harmony, NJ. Directions to the site are on their website. The reservoir and surrounding land are privately owned by the water company, but they open the facility to the public for free for boating and hiking. We went hiking first and saw some nice indigo buntings in the field birdhouses; I have seen them here before in addition to the nesting mated pair of eagles that live closer to the reservoir. We also saw male and female cardinals, and I have seen chickadees. Some of the trails are nice and wind through ruins of old stone houses, and there is a mix of deciduous forest and field hiking.

We put in at the main boat ramp. There is a smaller boat ramp elsewhere along the reservoir. There is no fee, and there is a nice rest facility at the main visitors center. You have to register your name and boat description with the man at the booth in the boat launch area. Off load at the yellow curb and carry your boats to the water's edge. There is lots of parking. There is a dock or cement or gravel shoreline. It gets very windy on this reservoir, and there is little aquatic life to be seen, although people do catch fish here. The water clarity is not as good as Round Valley, but better than Spruce Run.
We went for a little tour along the shoreline and turned around and came back.

Kayaking Millstone River

2011-05-11T16:16:00.001-04:00

April 17, 2011 or thereabouts.
This was the maiden voyage on our new Sevylor Pointer 1-person inflatable kayaks. We parked in the D&R Canal parking area at the Griggstown Causeway and put in near the bridge. We paddled upstream a little way, and then turned around and came out. The current was fairly strong in some spots, but not impossible to get through.

It's really muddy along the shore line, and our kayaks got muddy inside. Not sure that I would return to this area, there is not much to see. It was good to test out the kayaks, and they did well. We also used our new Werner paddles we bought from Campmor in Paramus. I have the Skagit small shaft and Mark has the Tybee model. Nice and lightweight.

Horseshoe Crabs

2009-06-06T17:23:00.010-04:00

Heislerville horseshoe crabs mating season, including accidental movie of one with a clam on his back.

Credit Crisis Video

2009-02-27T08:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a cute/informative 10-minute video about how the credit crisis began by Jonathan Jarvis (damn you Alan Greenspan!)

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Buyer Beware: Do Not Use Sears, Roebuck & Co. for HVAC

2008-08-29T09:29:00.007-04:00

I know it's a while after the fact, but I can't say enough bad things about Sears' HVAC department in its New Brunswick, NJ store. I had a furnace installed in December 2005, and the contractor they used never pulled a permit from the municipal Building Department, which is illegal here.

I was too naive to ask for proof of the permit before the work was started, however when I asked the contractor and the guys at Sears in the New Brunswick office to pull the permit ex post facto, they never returned by phone calls or responded to Certified mail. Sears Corporate in Hoffman Estates, Illinois never responded to phone calls or Certified mail.

I finally filed a complaint with the NJ Department of Community Affairs, which referred the matter to the Middlesex County Consumer Affairs Office. The woman who was assigned my case quickly got the contractor to pull the permit, but when the town came to inspect the unit, it failed fire safety inspection. A woman from Sears in their Florida office with whom Middlesex County was dealing, lied to my case manager and told her that the unit passed. I had to write another letter to my case manager telling her the unit never passed, etc. The case manager had to send the contractor out again to fix the problem, more time off of work for me, and the furnace finally passed inspection in late 2006, a year after it was installed.

In order for me to sell my unit in the future, the furnace needs to pass inspection to get a Continuing CO. A CCO is a necessary thing for a buyer. If Sears never fixed the problem, I would be responsible for fixing it until it passed. So a very bad experience with Sears HVAC, and a good experience with Middlesex County.