Guide’s Blog

Are Expensive Kayaks Worth It?

These days you can purchase a brand new kayak for nearly the price of a large cheese pizza. So why are some kayaks so much more expensive than others? And are the pricey ones worth it? Comfort, handling, and durability are the key differences between expensive and cheap kayaks. Feeling comfortable in a kayak basically comes down to three things: seats, foot braces, and stability. Kayak handling (for beginner kayaks) is about efficiency and how the boat performs in the wind. It’s difficult to tell how durable a kayak is by just looking at it. The main way to know is by going with a brand that’s been around awhile.  Seats: Many of the cheaper kayaks either don’t come with seats or the seats are an afterthought with little to no back support. The more

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The One Cloud Every Paddler Should Recognize

We depend so much on weather forecasts and apps these days. But in our area, neither are very accurate. Paddlers miss out on some beautiful days on the water because they trust their app exclusively instead of trusting their own eyes. Maybe it’s time to stop looking at our phones for the weather, and just go outside and look up! Before radar and computer models, people watched the sky to help determine what weather was heading their direction. Mariners especially had to divine the meaning of different cloud patterns - their lives depended on it! It takes years of study and observation to accurately predict weather from watching the clouds. But if we, as paddlers, can recognize fair versus changing conditions, we can make good decisions about whether or not it’s a good time to

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Sailing 2024

We’ve made some changes to our 2024 sailing program. We've added a more thorough beginner lesson and we're bringing back our kid's sailing drop-in session. The biggest change to our sailing program is that, at this time, we will not be offering sailboat rentals. Many factors have gone into this decision. We realize this will be very disappointing to some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association, just south of Dewey Beach, offers sailboat rentals with advanced reservations. Here's a brief description of what we've got planned for this summer: Sailing Instruction:  The Basics of Sailing - A private one-hour sailing experience perfect for those curious about learning to sail, but not sure they want to dive in. This is a great fit for that “new” vacation activity and for kids

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25 Years at FISP!

“You’ll never make it.” We heard that over and over back in 1999, our first year at Fenwick Island State Park. We weren’t renting jet skis, and that fact irritated a lot of the customers of the jet-ski-rental business that had been here before us. In fact, eight out of every ten cars that pulled into our lot that first summer had one question only: “Do you guys rent jet skis?” We’d been running guided kayak tours for two years prior to opening the rental concession, so we knew there was demand. But that first summer we had some awfully quiet days when more ducks paddled the waters off our beach than customers. And many days when we worried the “you’ll-never-make-its” might be right. Two factors were in our favor, though. The kayaking industry was

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For the Love of Birds

Get ready—we’re entering prime bird migration season for our area. In fact, here in the US and Canada, we celebrate May 11, 2024 as World Migratory Bird Day. Right now, birds need all the help we can give them. North America’s bird population has declined by nearly three billion (that’s billion with a “B”) since 1970. For shorebirds specifically, many species have lost more than 50% of their population over the last three decades. This news is tragic. There is no way to sugarcoat it. Bird populations are declining at an alarming, unsustainable rate and most assuredly, humans are the cause. While some people don’t care, you do (although everyone should care because of the economic ramifications of species loss). You love the outdoors. You love being on the water. You love wildlife. As Anne

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Are You Guilty of Wishcycling? (Me, too.)

Are you guilty of wishcycling? Me, too. What is wishcycling? It’s when you’re not sure if something is recyclable, but you really want it to be, so you throw it in the recycling bin and cross your fingers. Plastics, all sorts of plastics, top my wishcyclable list. I feel so guilty buying them. I’d like all of them to find new, happy lives over and over again. While in theory many plastics could be recycled, there is simply no market for them. It is cheaper, and easier, to produce new plastic. And with no incentive to use recycled material, corporations opt for the most cost-effective solution. That’s why only 9% of all plastics ever produced have been recycled. The estimated weight of all plastic ever produced is now greater than the weight of all land

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Does Your Love Love Nature? 4 Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for the Nature Lover in Your Life!

The last thing most of us need is more "stuff." Gifts of knowledge and/or experiences are so much better. They don't make your jeans fit tighter, they don't take up space in your closet, and, since they aren't "things" you ever have to get rid of, they won't add to our over-flowing landfills. Cornell Lab Bird Academy From beginner identification courses all the way to advanced bird behavior classes, the vast online course catalog of the Cornell Lab's Bird Academy covers every aspect of birding, even nature journaling, mindfulness, and drawing. Park Entry Passes - National Park, Delaware State Park, Div of Fish & Wildlife Access Pass (for Assawoman Wildlife Area) Having annual passes to the national and state parks makes getting outside even that much easier. Enjoy a sunset or a short hike whenever

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Wild & Scenic Loxahatchee – Trip Report

I’d read that the Loxahatchee River was best suited for intermediate paddlers in nine to fourteen foot kayaks because of the narrow, twisty nature of the river. The reports also said that many people, instead of trying to arrange a shuttle for a one-way trip, did out-and-back trips, meaning they’d be paddling against the current for half of the journey. I consider myself intermediate and, even though my kayak is sixteen feet, I felt pretty confident. Mitch had agreed to drop me off and pick me up. I’d be going with the current. It should be an easy trip. But as I flew downstream with the current, muscling around sharp curves, grabbing onto logs and branches to keep from getting pinned against deadfall or wedged between cypress knees, I thought two things: 1) I am

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Don’t Buy that Ratchet Strap!

You’ve just purchased a kayak or paddle board. Congratulations! Now you need a way to get it on your car to get it home. So you go to Home Depot and buy ratchet straps. It seems like a great idea - a strap with a built-in tightening system. Crank it until you can crank it no more, and your new boat should be secure. But wait! While ratchet straps are much better than using bungee cords or twine for securing a kayak or paddle board to the roof of your vehicle, we still cringe when we see them. They work great for big jobs securing rigid, solid items such as lumber or pallets or a vehicle to a flatbed. But kayaks and paddle boards require a more delicate touch. With a ratchet strap you can

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The Greatest Gift Ever

Indigenous People’s Day is coming up, this year on October 9th, sharing the date with Columbus Day. While we have a bounty of historical artifacts and accounts from the first moment Europeans stepped foot on this newly “discovered” continent, not much remains from the thousands of years Indigenous People populated the same land. They were the embodiment of leave-no-trace ethics. However, one of their inventions has not only survived for centuries, today it is one of the most popular activities in the world. While the original design bears little resemblance to the plastic recreational boats most people paddle today, the kayak has existed for 4,000-5,000 years. Believed to have first appeared in Siberia, the Inuit of Greenland perfected the design along with the paddling skills required to turn this small boat into a deadly hunting

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Coastal Kayak’s 2024 Used Equipment Sale!

Coastal Kayak's 2024 Used Kayak, Paddleboard, & Sailboat Sale! Rules of the Sale: ALL SALES ARE FINAL! PRICES ARE FIRM! *Click on the name of the kayak/board you're interested in and it will take you to the product page on our website where you'll find a description, photos, specs, and where you can also purchase it if you'd like! Purchases should be made online or in person. *Please check our operating hours. We don't do any in-person sales 1 hour prior to closing. *All equipment must be picked up by 10/13/24. Please call to schedule a pick-up time as we are not open 7 days/week in the fall. (And if you don't call ahead to let us know you're coming, your kayak/board may be on the water when you arrive!) *We know you have a

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How to Read the Wind by Mitch Mitchell

For millennia, the outside environment played a vital role in human survival. Whether they were farmers or fishermen or sailors, most people's lives revolved around the weather. Today, however, we go from our climate-controlled house to our air-conditioned car to our climate-controlled office and back again. The weather plays a very small role in our day-to-day existence. And sadly, most of us have lost the ability to read the wind. But for any outdoor activity, from sailing to pickle ball, the weather, especially the wind, is a major factor. Being able to read the wind’s direction and velocity, especially in water sports, can be the difference between an enjoyable, safe adventure, and a disaster. Before the days of wind meters and phone apps, watermen used The Beaufort Scale to communicate wind velocity. Developed in 1805 by

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The Body Builders of Little Assawoman Bay

In our area, oysters get all the glory for cleaning our bays. But they aren’t the only mollusks in the ring. For filtering water and controlling erosion, Atlantic Ribbed Mussels do a lot of heavy lifting. Their name comes from the fact that they have ridges, or ribs, on their shells as opposed to the smooth shells of Blue mussels. Atlantic ribbed mussels can live up to fifteen years. You can determine their age by counting the ribs on their shells. You’ll find thick aggregates of Atlantic ribbed mussels along the muddy banks of the salt marshes in our inland bays. They attached themselves to the roots of the salt marsh grasses (and each other) with strong, silky fibers called byssal threads. Made of collagen, just one of these tiny threads is strong enough to

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World Ocean Day

Years ago, before the internet, smart phones, and GPS, back when we were young and spontaneous, Mitch and I paddled from Chincoteague to Wachapreague, camping for two nights along the wild, lonely Virginia beaches with nothing except a million stars and a surprising number of sun-bleached Whelk shells to keep us company. Easy, relaxing vacations have a way of fading into a foggy-happy-memory corner of my mind. Whereas trips which require a level of discomfort remain fresh. On that trip, because I was too chicken to do a beach landing, we planned a lunch break at the first small inlet past Wallops Island. On the map, it looked to be about six miles from our starting point. We spotted our first gill net shortly after clearing Wallops Island. A gill net is a mesh made

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How to Keep Your June Bugs Out of Trouble!

Sending your recent high school graduate to the beach for Senior Week is stressful. Of course they deserve some time to relax and play. But too much free time can spell disaster. Both kayaking and paddle boarding are great activities to get them out of the condo and away from their phones. These water activities will also help them connect to our coastal environment while making fun memories with their friends. Of course most teens will do the opposite of what their parents tell them to do. So tell them NOT to come to Coastal Kayak for a fun water experience! But if they do come to Coastal Kayak and mention the Senior Week 2023 offer, they'll get 30% off kayak and paddle board rentals during their Senior Week. (Good for on-site rentals only. Must

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Where’s the Meat?!

We’re all hypocrites, aren’t we? The outdoor industry uses A LOT of plastics and synthetics for A LOT of its products. And plastics and synthetics require petroleum. In the entire spectrum of industries, I don’t know where ours stands as far as consumption. Kayaks are not one-time-use products. If cared for properly, the quality ones can last a lifetime. So maybe we’re on the lower end of the pile. Is that wishful thinking? But does the fact that we rely on petroleum mean that we should just remain quiet about the consequences of our addiction? Maybe everyone has to answer that question for herself/himself. However, it seems like for any addiction, the first step is to admit you’ve got a problem; then take a hard, honest look at its costs; and finally, work towards eliminating

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Track Bird Migration with 3 Easy Tools!

The night of April 20, 2023, while most of us slept, 603,700 birds flew right over the top of us here in Sussex County, heading north-northeast at an average speed of about thirty-three mph, flying at about 1,900 feet of altitude. The night before, 858,800 traveled through, and the night before that, there were only 4,400. The migrants were a mixture of species—Dark-eyed juncos, Hermit thrushes, Prothonotory warblers, to name a few. Am I some sort of superhero birder that I can see in the dark, count thousands of small flying beings high above me, and identify them? Very much the opposite—unless a bird lands right in front of me and stays still long enough for me to enter the size, color, habits, etc., into my Merlin app, I’m hopeless. In 1999, a group of

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Sell Your Used Equipment!

Get Rid of Extra Stuff! It is so easy to accumulate stuff! Especially paddling gear. You love your single kayak so you decided to get a two-person for when the grandkids visit or when your spouse wants to go with you. But the grandkids grew up. Your spouse has his/her own hobbies. Or maybe you bought a surfing paddle board, but only use your flatwater board. Bad knees, moved further from the launch, sold the car with the rack - whatever the reason, you've got paddling/sailing equipment you never use. We'll help! Run a classified ad with us. We'll post it in our once monthly newsletter with nearly 10,000 subscribers. This isn't like running an ad in the newspaper where most readers aren't interested in paddling. Or on Craigslist or Marketplace (who knows who'll you'll

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Welcome Back!

Welcome back, Daylight Savings Time! We have missed you! An extra hour after work to do something outside—it’s the best gift ever! Prep the garden. Clean up the yard. Take your dog for a nice, long walk. Go for a hike, a run, a bike ride. Walk on the beach. Watch the birds as they build nests and prepare for their coming brood. Plant a tree. You no longer have to wait for your next day off. Now you have time today!   I know, I know. This gift might not really be a true gift because it comes with a price. Losing an hour of sleep. It stinks. But maybe we can think of it as traveling to a different time zone. To a better time zone. And then staying in that time zone

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The First Thanksgiving (According to Coastal Kayak)

After a treacherous, miserable, 66-day crossing, the Pilgrims reached Plymouth Rock at the beginning of winter 1620. Since they arrived so late, they remained on their ship, the Mayflower, until the weather improved. When, that spring, they finally set foot on solid land, they swore they’d never, ever get on a boat, of any type, for any reason, ever again. Soon after, they were greeted by friendly locals. These people, who’d lived in the Plymouth Rock area for thousands of years, graciously taught the Pilgrims how to survive. They showed them how to plant corn, how to extract sugar from Maple trees, how to identify poisonous plants, and they showed them how to fish from a kayak. “Oh no, no, no,” the Pilgrims said, shaking their heads. “We will fish from the banks. We are

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You Don’t Need to Look Up to See Brilliant Fall Colors!

When wanting to experience fall colors, the first eco-system you think of usually isn’t the salt marsh. However, it is home to one of the most spectacular autumnal transformations in our area. Salicornia, a small succulent herb, grows among the salt marsh grasses all summer long. The different greens of the marsh blend and you have to look closely to pick it out. But by mid-September, Salicornia decides it’s through being a wallflower. The hot pink starts at the tips of its tubular, fleshy leaves dabbed on, like little, dainty fingernails. The color deepens as it spreads through the plant—fuchsia, crimson, ruby. And before dropping off, the “leaf” becomes the color of a fruity merlot. This color display takes place in the fall, but it’s not necessarily because of the decrease in sunlight and cooler

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Is Sailing for You? 4 Ways to Find Out!

For some, sailing may seem intimidating - how in the world do you maneuver a boat with only the wind? Or maybe you're used to a stinkpot (AKA a motorboat) and you're curious about sailing, but you can't imagine not having a key to turn. Maybe you like the idea of sailing - you've read books and watched Youtube videos - but the time never seems right to pursue it. With our four options for sailing, we've got something to satisfy every level of curiosity! Option 1: Sailing Nature Tours Our Sailing Nature Tours are great for those who like the idea of sailing, but don't really have time to learn. With our experienced skipper at the helm, you'll get all the benefits of sailing on a small boat - the feel of the hulls

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The Best Way to Ruin Your Vacation

Broken beer bottles, rusty mattress coils, knife-like shards of Quahog shells, fishing hooks, forks, spiny box fish skeletons, wafer-thin pieces of aluminum cans, barnacle-encrusted soda bottles, corroded spark plugs—we’ve found all of this and more in the shallow water of Little Assawoman Bay. Step on any of these with bare feet and there’ll be no more beach time or water activities for you for the rest of your vacation.  “But I don’t plan on getting off my paddle board,” you say. You can’t get from our beach to your board or kayak or sailboat without walking in the water. All of the aforementioned items were found within three feet of the shoreline.  And not all water entries are planned. Maybe your friend accidentally bumps you from behind, or a boat wake wobbles your board unexpectedly.

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A Guided Tour or a Weekly Kayak/Paddleboard Rental? 5 Factors to Help You Decide

Here at the beach, you’re surrounded by water—the Atlantic on one side and the inland bays on the other. Of course you want to take advantage of it! But how do you decide between a guided kayak tour for your family versus having a kayak on your back deck to take out whenever you feel like it? The following are a few factors to consider that may help you decide: 1) How old are your kids? Grade school and middle school kids love our guided tours. They love to hold Horseshoe Crabs and turtles, learn about Osprey and Oyster Catchers, and see the marsh environment up close. But many teenagers appreciate the freedom of a rental, having their own space and their own time to do whatever it is teens do! 2) Nature Experience versus Water

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Is Bigger Always Better? 4 Reasons Why You Should Learn to Sail on a Small Boat

Over 40 years ago, I learned to sail on a windsurfer—about as small as you can get in the realm of sailboats. Since then, I’ve sailed on nearly every size and style of sailboat up to a 52’ catamaran. Smaller boats are a lot more fun. And by far, they are the best option for learning to sail. Here’s why:   More Responsive: I took an American Sailing Association certification class taught on a 32’ Beneteau. Its unresponsiveness shocked me. On a Hobie, you immediately feel and see the effect of the wind—the boat heels, the sail fills or begins to flap, the sheet line becomes taught, even the rudder gives you feedback as to how the boat is sailing. On larger boats, the skipper frequently glances up. That’s because the only way they can

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How You Can Help Bird Conservation Efforts in Just 15 Minutes this Weekend!

The 26th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is coming soon—February 16-19! Maybe (like me) you’ve thought about doing it in the past but felt a little intimidated: You don’t really consider yourself a birder. Or you don’t have multiple days to commit to birding. Maybe you don’t even have a backyard. It turns out, to participate in this worldwide citizen science project, none of the above concerns are issues. To take part, you: Only need to count birds for a minimum of 15 minutes on one day between February 18-21. Can be anywhere—in a kayak, on a beach in the Caribbean, at a ski lodge in Colorado, at home sipping hot chocolate on your back porch. Don’t have to be a birder. You just have to try to identify the birds. (Bird apps help

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5 Reasons Southern Delaware is Perfect for Your Family Kayaking Adventure!

Maybe we’re a little biased, but we think our corner of Delaware is a spectacular place to paddle. It satisfies the nature-lovers, the birders, photographers, the I-just-need-some-peace-and-quiet-ers. But it is especially perfect for families. Here are five reasons: #1 Engaging Local Characters At first glance, kids back away from the creepy-looking critter. But once they learn that the Horseshoe Crab is older than dinosaurs and is completely harmless, they can’t resist its magnetic pull. Kids of all ages crowd around to touch, hold, and connect with this helmet shaped, dun-colored, nine-eyed, blue-blooded sea creature whose presence ensures the survival of so many other species (ours included!). Diamond-backed terrapins curiously poking their snouts above the water, Ospreys dive-bombing unsuspecting fish, Great Blue Herons scaring the bejesus out of you with prehistoric squawks—our local wildlife puts on

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A Wannabe Naturalist

I never liked science. Dissecting critters—gross. Learning scientific classifications—yawn. Memorizing the periodic table—Thirsty Thursday, anyone? So why would I want to become a naturalist? It probably started with A Sand County Almanac. Followed closely by Desert Solitaire. Most recently, Braiding Sweetgrass. Through words, these naturalist/authors opened my eyes. So although I worried I’d be expected to memorize the scientific names of plants and animals, and identify trees and shrubs at a glance, and tell the difference between a Sanderling and a Sandpiper, I signed up for the class. I wanted the tools to see what my heroes saw. I was excited to be in the inaugural Delaware Master Naturalist program. It started in March 2020—that dreaded Covid spring. We got one class in before the pandemic disrupted everything. In person classes ended, the field trips

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Keep Kids of All Ages Engaged on Your Next Paddle with this Fun Activity!

A scavenger hunt?? Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt?? We're now offering a fun activity to get everyone involved in your next paddling adventure. Did you paddle to Daisy Marsh? Spot a Great Blue Heron? See a Diamondback Terrapin peek up at you from below the water? Local landmarks, our feathered friends, the much maligned jellyfish - check off at least six different Little Assawoman Bay residents (bonus points for picking up trash!) and win a coveted CK sticker! But wait! There’s more! Post a photo of your CK Scavenger Hunt with #CKscavengerhunt to Instagram or Facebook and be entered in a weekly drawing for wearable CK swag or gift certificates to local businesses! A fun competition for kids of all ages and a great way to discover more nooks and crannies of our beautiful

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4 Questions to Ask Your Realtor/Host When Considering Weekly Kayak/SUP Rentals

If you’re staying on the water for your beach vacation, the best way to take full advantage of it is by renting a kayak or paddle board to keep at your house. Go for a peaceful sunrise paddle to witness the bay waking up; or end the day by watching the sun set over the bow of your kayak; send the kids out to work off some energy; or slip away for some me-time whenever the mood strikes. But not all water-access rental properties are the same. Before you make a reservation for your kayak or paddle board, you’ll want to double check a few details with your realtor or host. Here are some things to consider: Will you be launching from a dock, a ramp, a shoreline, or a bulkhead? Dock: Is it floating

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Love Bugs

We love to save the majestic ones—bald eagles, elephants, tigers; and the adorable ones—pandas, terrapins, monkeys; and the mysterious ones—sea turtles, owls, whales. But one of the biggest (and tiniest) heroes of our natural world is also, for most people, one of the hardest things to love—bugs. And that’s unfortunate, because right now bugs desperately need help. Yes, some insects sting and bite. But the vast majority just go about their business day in, day out, trying to ignore homo sapiens. And their “business” is essential to life on earth. Insects pollinate 87.5% of flowering plants. These plants become food for thousands of species of animals, including humans. According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Department, “… scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like

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4 Reasons to Plan Your Summer Beach Vacation Now!

While late winter may not be the best time to plan your summer wardrobe (remember all those mid-morning hot cocos and those cocktail hours that started early and ended late?), it is the perfect time to plan your summer vacation. Planning your summer vacation now gives you something to look forward to. Although the end of winter is near, and soon we’ll see tiny leaves greening branches and Osprey flying low, carrying twigs and pine needles to rebuild nests. But you know it’s not over. Inevitably, we’ll have many damp, grey, windy, cool days ahead of us. When those nasty days hit, if you plan your vacation now, instead of giving in to the dreariness of the weather, you’ll be able to picture yourself at the beach, in your kayak or paddle board, floating on

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Paddling POTUSs

Anyone who paddles knows the restorative value of being on the water. It turns out several presidents are among this group of wise human beings! Most Recent: The most recently recorded paddling pres is President Obama. In Hawaii, he was photographed on a paddle board and with Michelle paddling a tandem kayak (we hope their marriage can survive a tandem!). In another photo he is kayaking by himself in Massachusetts. (PFDs are missing in all photos. But I guess if you’re a president, the Secret Service is your Personal Floatation Device!). https://twitter.com/DailyMail/status/1341880075445268482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1341880075445268482%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelandleisure.com%2Ftravel-tips%2Fcelebrity-travel%2Fobama-hawaii-christmas-vacation-kailua Most Romantic: The most romantic paddling president has to be President Reagan. For his and Nancy’s 25th wedding anniversary, he bought her a canoe called Tru Luv. Awww… Most Traumatic: The most traumatic presidential paddling story belongs to President Theodore Roosevelt. After losing

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Sympathy for Phil

Well, Phil let us down today. But, really, who can blame him? If you’d been asleep for five months and someone rudely yanked the covers off, wouldn’t you look for any reason to dive back under, too? About this time of year, early February, male Groundhogs start coming out of hibernation. When a Groundhog goes into hibernation, it shuts down nearly all its systems. It breathes once every five to six minutes, its heartbeat slows from 100 beats per minute to 15, and its body temperature drops from 95 degrees to around 45 degrees. All of this causes its metabolism rate to plummet so that, even though it hasn’t eaten for about 150 days, it will have lost no more than a quarter of its body weight. While Punxutawney Phil (in Pennsylvania) is our closest

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Avoid These 5 Grip Mistakes to Make Your Next Kayaking Adventure More Enjoyable!

The essence of kayaking is simple: Just grab a paddle and go. But how you grab that paddle can be the difference between a journey that feels effortless, and one that ends in blisters, sore joints, and aching muscles. Here are the five most common grip mistakes I see and simple ways to fix them. Problem 1: Death Grip White knuckling the paddle causes several problems: 1) Your forearms tire quickly. Try grabbing a broom handle and squeezing it in one hand for 5 minutes. I guarantee your arm will get tired! 2) Using your weaker forearm and hand muscles prohibits you from using your larger, stronger core muscles that are essential for efficient paddling. 3) Blisters! Whenever someone says they are getting a blister, my first response is to tell them to relax their

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Where is Everybody?

According to Mitch, back in the 1980s when he first moved to the area, the Tuesday after Labor Day you could roll a bowling ball right down the middle of Rt. 1. While the nesting and migratory habits of homo sapiens have changed radically in recent years, for most species, life cycle changes are measured in decades, centuries, and eons. Which means that, even though nowadays weekend beach traffic is thick no matter the season, you still won’t see a Horseshoe crab in Little Assawoman Bay in January. But where do our feathered, gilled, and web-footed friends go in the winter? Bird-watchers and scientists have always known that Osprey, easily recognizable by their high-pitched call, daring plunges, and platform nests guarding over our bays, leave the Mid-Atlantic for southern climes around the same time kids

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Winter Kayak Maintenance

In our household exists two opposite maintenance ideologies: Mitch believes in it and I don’t. That’s not exactly true. I think regular maintenance is great as long as someone else (Mitch) does it. The wonderful thing about kayaks, especially plastic ones, is that for most of the year they require little to no maintenance. No engines to flush, oil to change, wiper fluid to fill, or batteries to replace. However, it’s a good idea to pamper your kayak a little before tucking it in for its long winter nap, so it is happy and perky when it comes out of hibernation, ready for a summer of exploration. Drain and dry your kayak: Although our winters here in the mid-Atlantic are mild, inevitably we will have some sub-freezing nights and days. Any water left inside the

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This Summer Brought to You By…

Memorial Day Weekend 2020: We’d been allowed to open. Yippee!! But now what? How to open safely? We brainstormed, made plans, changed plans, built new doors and dividers, moved counters, painted directional signs, bought plexiglass, a portable sink, hand sanitizer, wash tubs, bleach, more bleach, soap, more soap, bleach sprayers. We changed the flow of customers, implemented new safety measures for guests and employees, and trained staff in our new cleaning protocol. But would it make a difference? Would we be allowed to stay open? Would the beach towns allow visitors? And, most importantly, would anyone come? People trickled in over Memorial Day weekend. The following week, the trickle dried up. Light traffic volume on Route 1 rivaled the mid-week, off-season days before the current new construction explosion. Raucous Laughing Gull calls easily outnumbered phone

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Mitch’s Coast Day Zoom Presentation

Watch Mitch's information-packed Coast Day 2020 presentation about the pros and cons of different types of kayaks and the equipment you need to stay safe on the water!

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Game Plan

You may notice a few changes to Coastal Kayak. But behind the masks and the plexiglass, we’re still excited to see you! Here is what you can expect when you come to rent a kayak, paddleboard, or sailboat this season: 1) We ask that only one person in your group approach our front door (with a sign that says “Start Here”) wearing a mask. We will give that person the release forms for everyone to fill out. (We also have digital release forms available on our website if you'd prefer to take care of this step without contact.) 2) Everyone in your group will need to sign the forms. You can either take them back to your vehicle to fill out or we will have tables available. If using the tables, please do not go

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6 Essentials for EVERY Paddle Outing

One of the most appealing things about kayaking is how low tech it is. You don’t need much to have a great time on the water. But there are a few bare essentials (in addition to a boat and a paddle) that every kayaker should take on every trip, even if it’s only a five minute spin in in the pond you know like the back of your hand. PFD (personal floatation device) No matter where, no matter how long, no matter ANYTHING, you should always, always, always take/wear a PFD. The heart-breaking loss this spring of the mother and son who jumped in a canoe to go after an errant ball reminds all of us how quickly, how unexpectedly things can go bad. Charged Cell Phone in a Dry Bag Good or bad, very

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The Test Before the Lesson “Learning Experiences”—Long-Shore Currents by Mitch Mitchell

Long-shore currents form when the surf hits the beach at an angle, causing the water to move faster and faster along the shore. They aren’t a big deal if you’re aware of them. But it took two experiences—one financially painful, and the other physically exhausting—for me to learn this lesson. My financially painful experience was during my wind-surfing days in the mid-80s. I got into windsurfing early in the sport’s trajectory, at least on the East Coast. I learned in South Carolina, on Lake Hartwell first, and then in the ocean off Folly Beach with a guy who had one of the first one hundred “Windsurfers” ever made. (The term “Windsurfer” was actually the brand name of a sailboard manufacturer.) Being able to jump and surf waves on a sailboard was a blast. When I moved to

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Jeepers Creepers Listen to those Peepers!

The Osprey are back. The Bluebirds have built their nests. The adorable, chubby fox kits roll and chase each other around their den. A Carpenter Bee stared me in the eye yesterday as I walked out my door. (He said, “You know, there’s not much left here. I think it’s time you built a new house. Wood, please. No concrete blocks.”)   While I love seeing these seasonal residents return, my favorite sign of spring isn’t a sight. It’s a sound. Spring peepers are about the length of a paper clip but have the range of Kelly Clarkson. They are the rock stars of the spring. These prolific little frogs live in wet areas (our backyard pond is their Merriweather Post Pavilion) but their brownish-tannish-olive coloring allows them to blend so completely with their surroundings that they

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How We Know What We Know: Tidal Changes

Weather forecast, water temperature, air temperature, average tidal change—these are probably four of the most important factors when planning a kayak camping trip in an unfamiliar environment, especially for a trip off the coast of Maine in late September. For our first kayak camping trip (circa 1995) we carefully considered 3 of the 4 factors.  We’d launched late in the day (see previous post) and didn’t have a route in mind. But we didn’t need to. Islands spread across the chart like freckles on the cheeks of a redhead. Our plan was to paddle until we found a hospitable-looking island, pull up, and camp.  Unusually warm daytime temps mixed with seasonally cool waters had resulted in a light fog settling over us and the bay. A lobster boat, engine droning yet invisible in the fog,

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The Hard Way: How we know what we know. Part 1—Dry bags

Circa 1995: We unloaded Mitch’s Sea Lion and my Scimitar from Mitch’s teal Ford Ranger, carried them close enough to the water that it was lapping at their bows, and set them down on the gently sloping, rock-strewn beach with sand the color of brown sugar. Next we unloaded all of our gear into mountainous piles on the pavement beside the pickup. Then we took our brand new roll of garbage bags (we’d sprung for the heavy-duty ones) and began bagging up our gear. In our excitement for our first kayak camping trip, two nights of island hopping off the Maine coast, we’d brought a ton of gear. We filled up bags, shoved them into bows and sterns, pulled them out, burped air bubbles, and jammed them back. More than an hour later, our hatches

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Not Your Normal Summer Tourists

This past summer we greeted a lot of friendly faces - families from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, New York; young professionals from D.C, Philadelphia, Manhattan; retirees from Lewes, Selbyville, Millville. But some of our most surprising visitors this year didn’t drive into our parking lot. They flew and swam into our bay. Pelicans: We saw more Brown Pelicans in Little Assawoman Bay than ever before. On the ocean side, pelicans are not a rare sighting. But sometimes years will pass between sightings on our bay. However, this summer, at one point, we counted over thirty pelicans at one time circling or floating on the water near Point of Cedars Island. Pelicans are more fascinating to watch than the Weather Channel during hurricane season - the way they fold their awkward beaks sleekly into their bodies while

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Congrats to Ms. B! Delaware STEM Teacher of the Year!

When Sarah Betlejewski isn’t guiding CK customers through the Delaware and Maryland salt marshes and cypress swamps, she is teaching science to 7th graders at Millsboro Middle School. Recently Sarah (known to her students as Ms. B) won the Delaware Middle School STEM Teacher of the Year Award. She received her award at the Delaware STEM Symposium on Oct. 8th. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. According to Sarah, “STEM focuses on problem-based learning where you take a current, community-based problem and try to create solutions with technology or engineering.” Not resting with just one award, Sarah’s students are also state finalists for the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow award. Open to public middle and high schools nationwide, the goal for the contest is to integrate the student’s learning with community leader’s feedback to

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Neil Baker

The Coastal Kayak family lost a treasured member yesterday. Neil Baker passed away in his home after his nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. I find it so hard to write these words because it was not Neil’s time yet. Neil and his wife, Patty, moved to Ocean City once Neil retired from Ohio State University as a Professor of Microbiology. He started guiding for Coastal Kayak in 2010 doing 5-9 tours per week, always willing to work doubles and pick up shifts when asked. His deep-seated instinct to teach and his eagerness to introduce participants to the natural world made his tours favorites with customers. He bought small, boxed-shaped microscopes to take with him on tours so that kids could get a close-up view of even the tiniest critters in the salt marsh. His

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Toughing it Out

Somehow they know it’s time. Towards the end of summer, the small changes in daylight signal rituals of preparation. They flock together, watching and waiting. One morning the marsh is full of birds hunting and preening, and the next morning, usually after a strong north wind, they’re gone, those same tidal ponds eerily empty. Yet, thankfully, not all birds desert our beaches and inland bays. Throughout the winter, besides the short-lived migrations of northern birds passing through, we have hardy, year-round residents. Instead of following food sources south, they’ve figured out ways to hunt, forage, and survive in the worst of weather. One of our largest avian year-round residents is the wild turkey. They roam in flocks and when you see them run across the road or a field, it is impossible not to smile and

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Falling Marsh

"I think the salt marsh turned brown last night," Mitch said as we were driving to Assateague yesterday. This year, with the summer-like fall we've been experiencing, the inevitable seasonal changes in the area flora took us by surprise. But no matter what the thermometer is saying, the days are getting shorter. And that means that the salt marsh has to prepare for winter. The most prevalent grass in our marshes is smooth cordgrass (Spartina Alterniflora). While it flowers July through September, in mid to late August it goes to seed. When that happens it grows fast. "In 2-3 days it doubles in height," says Mitch. "It grows from about one and a half feet to three feet virtually overnight." This can be problematic for Coastal Kayak guides. "We look at the amount of grass

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Which is More Stable: A Sit-on-Top or a Sit-Inside Kayak?

If all other dimensions are equal, a sit-inside (open-cockpit) kayak is more stable than a sit-on-top kayak. In an open-cockpit kayak you're sitting lower in the boat. Your center of gravity (aka rear-end) is at or near the level of the water. For example, when you're sitting on the floor, unless you've had one too many margaritas, it's hard to get knocked-over. But if you're standing, anything unexpected can make you lose your balance. That's because your center of gravity is higher. Many times kayak manufacturers will mitigate the higher center of gravity of a sit-on-top kayak by making it wider or by changing the bottom shape. However, both of these changes will affect the performance of the kayak. A wider kayak will be slower. And changing the bottom shape will make a larger surface

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Sailing Excursions on Little Assawoman Bay

Sometimes you want to move and sometimes you want to be moved. But just because you're in a chillaxed state of being doesn't mean that you can't get up close and personal with the bay and it's feathered and finned residents. Join us for a small boat sailing excursion on Little Assawoman Bay where the wind and your skipper will do the work. Without the drone of a motor you will be able to truly enjoy the sights and sounds of our coastal environment. In a world full of constant ringing, buzzing, dinging, roaring, and honking, the pure sound of water zipping past rudders and birds settling into nests refreshes the soul. When we say "small boat," we mean SMALL boat! We do our tours on small catamarans or day sailors with a maximum of

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The Race is On

The score of our “PTW” competition fills the lower right corner of our scheduling board. To customers, it looks like a confusing jumble of names and numbers. But staff members know what it means. It means serious business. PTW stands for Pedal/Paddle to Work. The rules are simple. The person who uses human power to get to work the most wins. You get one point for each round trip (a half point means the person got a ride home). At this point, the distance doesn’t matter. What the winner wins, other than the title, is still up for discussion.  The contenders: Danielle - 6 Danielle is the defending champion. She’s slacking off at Coastal Kayak this year because of her less important job as a mail carrier. Still, she’s not giving up on the competition. 

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Where to Launch at the Beach

When we first started Coastal Kayak in the mid-90s, recreational kayaking was in its infancy. Kayak manufacturers were just realizing that the more comfortable and stable the kayak was, the more people would be willing to try it. Back then, 95% of our customers had never been in a kayak before. These days, not only have most people tried kayaking, many people love it so much that they've bought their own kayaks. Things have definitely changed for the better! Of course, once you buy your own kayak and/or paddleboard, you understandably want to get it in the water. One question we get more and more often these days is, "Can I launch from your site?" or "Can we launch our own equipment if we are also renting?" The answer is - sometimes yes, sometimes no,

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How to Interpret Your Weather App at the Beach

You’ve finally arrived at the beach. Now it’s time to plan out your week. You open your weather app and… major disappointment! Every single day shows a cloud and a lightening bolt. Do not despair! Our forecast for the weather forecast here at the beach shows a 99% chance of inaccurate forecasting. Many temperatures and masses live side by side in this area. The ocean is cool. The land is hot. The bay is in between. We have sea breezes and land breezes. The wind speed and direction differs on the different area bays. Weather forecasters have a tough job here! At Coastal Kayak, when we see a forecast with anything less than 80% chance of rain, we don’t pay it much attention. 90-100% chance - we’ll take note. But even then it is definitely

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A Home with a View

Hello! Thanks for calling ReNest. This is Robin. How can I help you? Ozzy: Yes, we’re newly weds searching for the perfect place to build our home. We need something fast. Do you have anything available? Robin: Of course! Describe your perfect spot. Ozzy: Well, we need to live near the water, shallow water preferably. We’d like an expansive view. And we don’t like neighbors.  Robin: I’ve got a platform in mind that will be perfect for you!   Paddling on the bays this time of the year, you’re sure to see Osprey couples guarding their nests. And if you get too close, you’re sure to hear their sharp, distinctive warnings. At this point in the season most of their eggs have hatched. So we’re now seeing the fuzzy heads of Osprey chicks peering from the nest.

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5 Great Spring Paddles!

The sky in the spring seems bluer than other times of the year. The new green leaves seem to be a green you just don’t see otherwise. The water is at its clearest. So naturally, you want to get out in your kayak to experience it. But the water is still cold. And that other thing that accompanies spring-blue skies, the wind, is the bane of early season paddling. But as long as you dress properly and pick an appropriate destination, you can get out in your kayak to enjoy this fresh time of year. In the spring, when the wind blows over the cool water, it turn a beautifully comfortable afternoon paddle into a freezing slog. Because of this, it is best to avoid open areas. Pick a spot surrounded by trees so that

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What If?

What if the things that made our lives easier—plastic wrap, Ziploc bags, disposable forks and diapers, milk jugs, shampoo bottles—simply vanished once they were no longer needed? What if when someone tossed an empty McDonald’s bag or Powerade bottle out of their car window it became a beautiful flower instead of a dingy eyesore? What if concrete, asphalt, strip malls, and big box stores absorbed carbon dioxide and emitted clean, daisy-fresh air? If these things happened, we wouldn’t need Earth Day.  We all know one day is not enough to make up for 364 of abuse. But it is a start. And it is an important start. And if you make the effort, we want to award you. Post a photo to our Facebook page or Instagram account of you participating in a clean up

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We Love Teachers!

At Coastal Kayak we know our world's future will soon be in the hands of today's kids. And with the issues we are facing today, those kids need a strong education - no matter where they live or how much money they have. Good teachers are the key. We all have stories of pivotal teachers who changed our lives, and, unfortunately, most of us have memories of teachers who we all knew were simply serving their time until they could retire. We want pivotal teachers!! Good teachers are asked to do so much with so little. And they rarely get the recognition that so many other service professions do. Yet they are tasked with protecting and preparing the most valuable asset our world has - our children. So let's show them some love! At Coastal Kayak

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Don’t Let This Monster Ruin Your Vacation

If you're reading this blog you're probably an adventurous person. You love the beach. You love the water. You love being outside. But even those of us who consider ourselves 'adventurous' can succomb to the monster that preys on so many adults - Routine. Yes, Routine is the worst type of monster because, at times, it is necessary. With Routine we can get more accomplished, go on auto-pilot, sometimes it allows us to relax. Routine can be a comfort. But it becomes evil when it steals time. When it turns our days, weeks, months, even years into a blur. Since we have a routine and don't have to constantly make decisions, we don't think about what we are doing. Do you remember what you had for dinner two nights ago? Do you remember what you

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A New Captain in Town!

Congratulations to Mitch Mitchell! After a long, frustrating winter spent studying charts, books, flash cards, and videos, memorizing terminology, and working through hours of navigational problems Mitch breezed through his Coast Guard Captain's License test. Why did he put himself through this? Coastal Kayak is expanding its sailing program offering Sailing Nature Cruises and more in-depth Adult Sailing Mini-Camps. Eventually we hope to incorporate a larger sailboat with an auxiliary motor into our fleet. Anyone carrying passengers on a boat with a motor for a fee is required to be a Coast Guard certified captain. We think the Maryland and Delaware beaches are The Perfect Place to Sail - miles of shorelines to explore, plenty of wind, and bays where you can both cruise to a nice, waterfront restaurant for lunch or find a quiet

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Come Sail Away…with a Coastal Kayak Mini-Camp!

We know you’ve been dreaming about sailing. Maybe you’ve pictured yourself island hopping through the Caribbean, or exploring the miles of shorelines in our own inland bays. Or maybe you just want to feel the wind on your face without hearing the drone of the motor or smelling the stink of gas. However you’re not quite sure how to get started. Our adult sailing mini-camps are your answer! During the 2019 season we’ll be offering both weekend and weekday adult sailing camps taught by an instructor with over 20 years of experience teaching sailing. The weekend camp consists of three sessions—Saturday morning from 9-12:30; Saturday afternoon from 4-7; and Sunday morning from 10-1. The weekday camp will be four 1.5 hour sessions, mornings from 10-11:30. (Please see below for dates.) In the camp you’ll learn

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A Personalized Watercraft

The word ‘kayak’ originates from the Greenlandic word ‘qayaq’ and means ‘man’s boat’ or ‘hunter’s boat.’ A personal watercraft in every sense of the term, each man built his own boat frame made of either whale bone or drift wood to his specific size requirements and his wife sewed together the seal skin to fit over it. He made the cockpit two fists larger than his waist, the length was three of his arm spans, and the depth was his fist with an outstretched thumb. Yikes, talk about a tight fit! These days procuring a kayak is as easy as clicking the keys on your computer. But some folks still want that personal connection. Coastal Kayak guide, Neil Baker, is one of those folks. Appearance, according to Neil, was the main reason he wanted to

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Celebrate like the Ancients!

Friday, December 21st is the winter solstice. It is the shortest day of the year (and the longest night) meaning it is going to get better from here on out! Every religion seems to celebrate something during this time which makes it really busy. But if possible, try to celebrate the solstice like the ancients - eat, drink, and tell stories around a fire! The following is taken from MentalFloss and BBC: Ancient people spent most of their time outdoors, so the seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this they had a great reverence for, and even worshiped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for wheel, houl, that the word 'yule' is

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A Paddler’s Christmas List

If you’re a paddler, all you want for Christmas is to be on the water. But since that might not be a possibility, a stocking full of paddling accessories is the next best thing. We’ve made a list for you to tactfully pass on to your loved-ones to avoid the Christmas-morning-fake-smile-and-the-“Oh, I’ve always wanted a tie-dyed potholder”-lie: For those who love you A LOT: Carbon-fiber Werner paddle (Your arms, wrists, and shoulders are worth it!) Dry Suit (This is the best way to extend your paddling season.) A comfortable PFD (Don't skimp on a life jacket. It might one day save your life!) For those who like you: A mobile solar-charger kit (Who cares if you ever need it; it’s just cool to have!) A kayak cart  (This will save money in the long run

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Winter Paddling Wardrobe by Mitch Mitchell

As we head into late fall the paddling opportunities improve at about the same rate that the weather deteriorates. The fall colors can make for very picturesque paddles, the surf gets better, and the inlets have much less boat traffic and more current (if you like that sort of thing). The question is what to wear? We have posted many articles about hypothermia, cold shock, etc., but I've never talked about what I personally wear and when I wear it. In early fall I usually wear wet suits. I start with a shorty or “spring suit” but, as the water gets colder, I will move to a full wetsuit. The colder the water the thicker the suit. The downside to wet suits is that for them to work properly you have to get wet. As

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Our Favorite Holiday…

One of our favorite holidays is just around the corner. Not Thanksgiving, definitely not Christmas. It’s #OptOutside! Technically it’s not a holiday; it’s a movement - literally and figuratively! In case you’ve never heard of #OptOutside, in 2015 the outdoor gear store, REI, made the decision to close on Black Friday (that nightmarish quasi-holiday that turns people into paycheck-blowing, spending-frenzied, zombie-beasts) so that their employees could have the day to play - outside. A pretty gutsy move for a retail store. “The best data we have says that, in any given year, 150 million Americans don’t spend any time outside. That’s half the country. Day in, day out, we’re looking down instead of up, looking at our phones instead of the world around us,’” says REI CEO Jerry Stritzke. “We’re asking people this year to

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A Channel to Avoid

     In this age of cable, Netflix, and Hulu, with 100s of channels to choose from there is one channel you want to avoid - the boat channel! This time of year there are lots of boaters on the water. We are lucky at Coastal Kayak because Little Assawoman Bay is much shallower and smaller than both Assawoman Bay (behind Ocean City) and Rehoboth Bay. This means a lot less boat traffic. The shallow water also means one other thing, and that is that most motor boaters in our bay will stay in the boat channel. The channel is a narrow lane through the bay that typically has deeper water. The important thing for us as paddlers is that we want to avoid the channels when possible. But if we have to cross them, we

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New T-shirt Design!

You know that feeling you get when you’re paddling in the calm water along the marsh grasses? You’re being so quiet, trying not to disturb the other creatures involved in their daily routines. You become so focused on observing this other world, that soon, you feel like you’re part of it. Us too! We tried to capture that feeling in our new design – another original by Madison Bacon. We call it the “Osprey design” because the “Paddling Along the Marsh Grasses Becoming One with the Wildlife design” is a little too long. Come down and check it out, or buy online!

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Introducing Coastal Kayak’s Five Newest ACA Certified Kayak Instructors!

The Level 1-2 ACA Kayak Instructor Certification Workshop is not like taking a CPR course - the certification cards are not pre-printed, attendance does not guarantee passing. Candidates have to work hard to pass. These five instructor candidates did four full days of paddling drills, wet exits, self and assisted rescues, towing, bracing, edging, tidal current work, teaching scenarios, presentations, and tests. Now Madison, Justin, Lydia, Jeff, and Tony are ready to guide you and your family through the marshes and cypress trees, show you the wild horses of Assateague, and to teach you the basics of kayaking. Many companies and park systems spend, at most, a couple of hours in one afternoon training their guides. So why do we require so much more? Because your precious vacation time is as important to us as

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Waaaaater Anyone?

Like everyone else these days we are trying to break our addiction to plastic. We now use 100% recycled paper bags for our merchandise instead of plastic bags. We only sell sodas in cans. We provide filtered water to refill your water bottles. But our biggest dilemma in the battle against plastic has always been single-use bottled water. On hot summer days people need to drink water. Staying hydrated is extremely important. We have to have bottled water available. Finally, we found a great alternative! Bottled water in resealable, aluminum cans!! The company is called Green Sheep Water. Why is aluminum so much better than plastic? Aluminum is completely and infinitely recyclable. Aluminum is recycled worldwide – in many places it is actually incentivized. And it has a much higher rate of being recycled than

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A Straw for a Sailing Lesson?

We've all seen the photos—in the middle of pristine, blue oceans a Delaware-sized island of floating garbage, sea turtles munching on plastic bags, dead marine mammals with stomachs full of plastic. It breaks your heart. We all use plastics—it's almost impossible not to. So we are all guilty of the crime. But we CAN do better! Like everything that's worthwhile, it is not easy to give up plastics. You have to haul your reusable grocery and produce bags to the supermarket and then deal with the stink-eye from the bagger. Or, even though you're already late you have to dig around your cabinet for your reusable water bottle, never finding the correct lid. Then you run out during the day so you have to refill it from the faucet with chlorine-flavored water. And the worst—your

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Wanted: Volunteers!

We want to reward you for doing good! If you volunteer during the month of April doing something good for the environment (picking up trash, planting trees, planting beach grass, letter to the editor, raising awareness, etc.) come in after 1:00 pm on any day through July 22, 2018, show us proof of you volunteering (can be a photo, article, etc.), and we'll give you 50% off any on-site kayak or paddleboard rental. (Not good with any other offer. Offer expires 7/22/2018. Only good on rentals starting after 1:00 pm. Only good on kayaks and paddleboards rented on-site.) Looking for volunteering opportunities in our area? Here are a few places to start: Fenwick Earth Day Cleanup - 4/21/18 9:00 AM The Town of Fenwick Island Environmental Committee is sponsoring the 3rd Annual Earth Day Clean-up

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Weather…Or Not

Knowing the weather is key to enjoying your time out on the water. Whether you are sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding, or just going to the beach, having an accurate forecast is always important. I would say that an “accurate forecast” in our area is an oxymoron. But you still want to get the most accurate report possible. First of all, if you are going to be on the water, you want to make sure you check out the marine forecast for nearshore or inshore waters. Because of the openness on the water the wind speed can be quite different than wind speeds that are only a mile inland. Many times we have people tell us that the forecast said this or that only to find out that they were listening to a Baltimore or Philadelphia

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September Sailing Clinic

Ever want to learn to sail? Imagine skimming across the water hearing only the hum of the water passing beneath you. No loud motors, no gasoline fumes. You are truly the captain of the vessel! Learn how rewarding sailing can be in this three-session, hands-on workshop. Your instructor has over 20 years of experience teaching sailing and showing people the fun of being on the water with only mother nature. The goal of this workshop is FUN! The first session will be in the classroom learning boat basics and sailing theory. And the other two sessions will be on-water, learning to read the wind, plan your course, and practicing your tacking techniques. The course will be taught on a comfortable, shallow-draft 17 foot daysailor. Perfect for the waters of our inland bays! Specifics: Reservations required.

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Building a Boat by Capn’ Bob

This Guide’s Blog entry has nothing to do with guiding eco-tours or guiding newbies through the basics of sailing, kayaking and paddle boarding at Coastal Kayak. It does, though, have to do with guiding boats. I missed several days of my regular duties at CK in early August and, despite the fact that it is a really busy time of year, Jen and Mitch didn’t mind. As a volunteer with the Lewes Historical Society’s Wooden Boat Program, I was part of the crew who spent a week with nearly two dozen 7th- and 8th-graders from Boys and Girls Clubs of Georgetown, Dagsboro and Seaford guiding them through the process of building Bevin’s Skiffs (12-foot rowboats) from scratch. In collaboration with a Wilmington-based educational non-profit the Wooden Boat Program introduced them to proper measuring, pre-drilling, nailing,

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All Originals at Coastal Kayak!

Our staff is amazingly talented! Kayakers, paddleboarders, surfers, sailors, teachers, scientists, videographers, boat-builders, fish-whisperers, and...incredible artists. This year we had two art students and a graphic design professional on staff and luckily, they were willing to put their creative powers to work for us! Belle recently graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor's in Fine Art. This fall she is returning to campus to work in the Old College Gallery where she'll be curating and organizing new art shows for the gallery. Ultimately, she'd love to work for a museum in DC. Last year Belle designed the concept for our "Adventure Awaits" tee. The tank tops are super-popular and this year we also put the design on a ladies performance long-sleeve tee. Madison is starting her last year as a Fine Arts major

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Frequently Asked Questions for the Coastal Kayak Used Equipment Sale

Frequently Asked Questions Q. Why do you sell the kayaks after only a couple of seasons? A. We try to keep a new inventory of top of the line kayaks. We have learned that if we sell the used ones after two seasons they are still in great shape and that allows us to replace them with the newest boats. Q. How can I purchase one of the used kayaks/paddleboards? A. You can purchase the used equipment in person or online. If you have any questions about the equipment, please feel free to give us a call. But we'd prefer not to take your payment over the phone. If you are purchasing your kayak/paddleboard in person, please check our hours and make sure to come at least one hour prior to closing. Keep in mind

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Neverland… by Meghan Hanebutt

I went back to work at Coastal Kayak for the second time in 2015. That year, I had decided that I wasn’t ever going to grow up. When you work at Coastal Kayak, you don’t have to. The first time I worked there, I was 15 years old. The company was young, the owners were young, and I, at my ripe age of 15, had it made. I could sit by the bay and stare out over the water for hours at a time. I was one of two employees, so on busy days I did it all- I got customers to fill out paperwork, and helped them get started out on kayaks, sailboats, and windsurfers. On slow days, I read my book and on rainy days, I went home. During my shifts, I drug

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Tough Way to Catch a Meal!

One of the birds we have been seeing more this summer than in the past is the Black Skimmer. The skimmer is in the tern family and has some very unique traits. First of all it is the only bird in North America to have a larger lower mandible than upper mandible. The skimmer uses this trait to catch fish by skimming the surface of the water while dragging it's lower mandible in the water. If it senses a fish it will snap shut it's upper bill catching the prey. The skimmer's lower mandible grows much faster than the upper to make up for the constant friction placed on it while skimming. The lower mandible is also hinged so that if hits something solid it can bend back without causing any harm. Skimmers, like many

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You’re never too old to try something new…. by Mary Eash

As far as summer jobs go, I have the best. My name is Mary and Coastal Kayak is one of my happy places. It is an adventure on the water that I want to share with others. Right now my 10th summer at Coastal Kayak is in full swing and I have come to recognize that my greatest pleasure is to encourage older and younger alike first timers to experience the thrill of accomplishing something new. There is something special about kayaking and paddle boarding for the first time. The peacefulness of the open water and viewing land from that prospective opens up the door to imagination. Wildlife and their sounds with cool breezes and a new found control over your destination equates to pure pleasure. I’m so elated when first time kayakers and paddler

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Want to Rent a Sailboat From Coastal Kayak? You’ll Need to Know This Important Skill!

If you'd like to rent a sailboat at Coastal Kayak you’ll need to have some sailing experience and be able to answer some basic sailing questions. One of those questions is: ”What’s the safest way to turn the sailboat?" You can turn a sailboat either towards where the wind is coming from or away from the wind. Turning the boat away from the wind, or downwind, is called jibing and can be risky for both you and the boat. When turning downwind you bring the stern through the wind. This will cause the sail to swing across the boat at high speed and failing to duck at the right time can result in getting hit by the boom. They call it a "boom" for a good reason! Most of our boats do not have a

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Sunscreen: A Hazard to Horseshoe Crabs

You might want to think twice about lathering up with just any old SPF sunscreen when you head to the beach this year. According to an article written  in The News Journal by Molly Murray back in March, common sunscreens that contain a chemical called oxybenzone may be responsible for lowered numbers of horseshoe crabs in the Delmarva region. Murray interviewed Danielle Dixson, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and the Environment, who has been studying the effects of oxybenzone on horseshoe crab eggs and larvae, and the results were obvious. According to Murray's article, the larvae that were exposed to a seawater-sunscreen solution "became sluggish and barely moved while the crabs in regular sea water were much more active." Dixson reported that during trials, the sunscreen had a

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How to Launch a Sit-On-Top Kayak from the Beach in Shore Break by Mitch Mitchell

Fishing, paddling with the dolphins, enjoying the serenity, getting a workout - there are many reasons that you might want to paddle in the ocean. Regardless of the reason though, the one thing that everyone must do in order to paddle in the ocean is launch from the beach - which means making it through the surf zone. In this short instructional tip I'm going to explain how to launch and land through the surf if you are paddling a sit-on-top kayak. First of all you need to recognize what the surf is doing in the area where you want to launch. If the surf is breaking on the beach (we call that shore break) our strategy will be different than if the waves are breaking out a ways. Due to beach replenishment it seems

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2016 in the Slipstream

Was it just a couple of months ago now that the days were long and warm and we were all wearing shorts and sandals?? As the days get shorter and darker, here are a few photos to help you through the worst of it. We'll see you on the other side!    

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Stay the Course! Using A Range to Determine Position by Mitch Mitchell

In the past two articles we talked about wind - both the effects of fetch, as well as what effect wind has on our kayak. This time we are going to talk about how to tell what the wind or current is doing to our kayak (or paddle board). A lot of times, especially on stand up paddle boards, our renters go out and even thought they are pointed into the wind and paddling forwards, they are actually losing ground and going backwards. Another common scenario is that they are heading out to Point of Cedars Island and even though they think they are going straight towards it they are actually being pushed well to the side making their paddle much longer than expected. So how can you tell, once on the water, exactly what

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A New Champion For the Annual CK Staff Regatta!

The four captains strategically chose their teams in secret. Team #1: Capt. Josh, Belle, Lexi AKA The Party Boat Team #2: Capt. Meghan, Hannah, August AKA The Kid's Boat Team #3: Capt. Mary, Michelle, John AKA The Hair Boat Team #4: Capt. Mitch, Sylvia, Bob AKA The AARP Boat Conditions: 8-10 knots out of the southeast, mid 80s, clear blue sky. The Course : Circle osprey island, around Point of Cedars, and back to the beach - all tacks, of course. The start was hectic with The Party Boat taking the early lead thanks to Capt. Josh's running start. The Kid's Boat looked to be in trouble as Capt. Meghan's rudders weren't down when the gun went off. Soon, though, the seasoned defending champion, Capt. Mitch, took the lead with the AARP Boat. The AARP

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Exploring Assateague with Bob Collins

Assateague Island National Seashore offers many great watersport opportunities, but the paddling on the bayside, heading south from the Old Ferry Landing, on the Maryland end, is truly unique. On a pleasant August morning, it offered a great opportunity to leave the hustle and bustle of the ocean resorts behind. I started heading WSW, toward the southern tip Great Egging Island. Breeze was light as I stretched my arms and got into a routine, I then turned south, paddling toward the “spoils area” (as it is referred to on the USGS Topo). From there, I turned slightly SSE, to the marshy island known as Outward Trump. From there, a little further south and I was just west of Tingles Narrows. There are two aspects of the paddle that always amaze me about paddling in this

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Wind Versus Your Kayak

In the first part of our wind article we talked about the effect fetch has on the wind and more importantly the water's surface. In this article we are going to talk about how the wind effects our kayak. I think it is easiest to look at what effect the wind has based on the direction (with regard to the wind) that our kayak is traveling. If we are paddling with the wind coming from our beam (90 degrees) most of the time the wind is going to cause our boat to turn. The question is which way? To understand we have to look at some simple boat dynamics. When a boat, any boat, be it a kayak or ship, is moving through the water the bow is knifing through the water and actually pushing

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Rise Above Plastic!

Rise Above Plastics We're following in the footsteps of the Surfrider Foundation in its efforts to Rise Above Plastics! Our 26 oz. stainless steel reusable water bottles just arrived along with a gravity filter to provide you with filtered water to cut down on plastic waste. Purchase a water bottle from us or bring your own reusable bottle to refill and help us and the Surfrider Foundation save our oceans and the planet! The problem: Plastics don't biodegrade, they photodegrade meaning that they never go away. The pieces just get smaller and smaller. When these small pieces end up in the ocean, marine life often mistake them for food, many times with fatal results. More RAP facts: (taken from surfrider.org) The amount of plastic produced from 2000 - 2010 exceeds the amount produced during the

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If You’re A Paddler, You Should Know About Fetch (Hint – It Doesn’t Have Anything To Do With Rover!)

Of all of nature’s elements wind is probably the one that most often effects us as paddlers. Living in a coastal environment means lots of interaction between land, air, and water. The dramatic differences between the temperatures of the ocean, bay, and land leads to one constant - wind! On sunny days in the summer the land heats up much more quickly than the water. As that hot air rises, the cooler air over the ocean is sucked into the void left by the rising hot air. This is called a sea breeze, and in our area the predominant direction is from the south. This sea breeze can easily reach speeds of 25 - 30 mph over open areas of water on the bays. One of the most important elements with wind that effects us

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What Kayak Should I Buy?

What kayak should I buy? I get asked that question literally thousands of times over the course of the summer. Unfortunately there is no “one” perfect kayak. If there was, everyone would have one and this article would be about choosing the perfect color. What most people should be asking themselves is – what will I primarily be using my kayak for and where will I be using it? All kayak designs are a combination of tradeoffs. For example, a kayak that is stable and easy to maneuver (short and wide) is going to be shaped quite differently than one that is really fast (long and narrow). So maybe you want a kayak that is kinda stable and kinda fast. You have to determine your own set of compromises. Over the years I’ve heard of

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Spring Has (Finally) Sprung! by Cap’n Bob

It’s early in the kayaking season at Coastal Kayak, but with the weather finally getting comfortable, it’s time for tours. Guides, like me, are getting their sea legs back. Wildlife is primping and prepping for this year’s round of visitors. On a warm, sunny tour Little Assawoman Back Bay Tour today (4/21), four women from New England and I saw more than our share of wildlife doing its Spring thing. Bald eagles were stretching their wings; osprey were fishing; great blue herons, little green herons and great white egrets were standing like sentinels in the salt marsh; terns were being their normally raucous selves … and Canada geese were sitting on their nests awaiting the arrival of five or six goslings. Maybe the next time I go out, the fluffy babies will be there. If

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How to Launch a Sea Kayak through the Surf Zone Video

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bqFjEK3mnE Coastal Kayak's lead instructor, Mitch Mitchell, has made a number of kayak and stand up paddleboard instructional videos over the years but this one on launching a kayak through the surf remains the most popular! Before attempting this, you will want to have a very solid base of kayaking skills under your belt. You should have killer bracing and edging skills. You should be very comfortable with wet exits and self-rescues. A roll is, of course, even better. And you should have spent a good amount of time standing on the beach, studying waves and sets and beach styles. In other words, this is not for beginners! You can check out more of his videos, some instructional and some purely for entertainment, on his YouTube channel!

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How to Dress for Paddling this Spring

It’s that time of year again, finally! The days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger, the water is winking at you, beckoning you to come on out. But wait! What exactly are you wearing?? Believe it or not, immersion in water as warm as 50-60 degrees can cause what is called “Cold Water Shock”. If you capsize in waters at these temperatures or below, your body’s first reaction is to gasp for air, followed by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and disorientation. In only a few minutes, your body can become incapacitated. Hypothermia is more well known and happens when the body can’t reheat itself or maintain its core temperature. Cold water shock can easily lead to hypothermia and both can be fatal. These preventable tragedies happen frequently in the

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7 Reasons to Take a Kayak or Paddleboard Lesson

The great thing about kayaking and paddleboarding is how beginner-friendly these activities are. Manufacturers have made equipment that is so stable and comfortable that nearly anyone can grab a paddle and a lifejacket and hit the water with no previous experience. In fact, for people completely new to the sport, we recommend doing an hour rental first just to make sure they are comfortable and enjoy it prior to taking a lesson. And who doesn’t fall in love with paddling immediately?! But once a person decides that paddling is a sport that they want to pursue, we strongly recommend taking a lesson. Lessons are beneficial for a number of reasons: 1) A short cut to proper technique: Instruction will teach you the correct way to paddle and more importantly, will prevent you from picking up

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Paddling with the Crab Wrangler

Leading a tour through the salt marsh at Burton’s Island this time of year is a little more challenging. It’s well beyond the prime breeding season for horseshoe crabs and, like the paddlers who go to Assateague Island in hopes of kayaking close to the ponies, paddlers to Burton’s Island hope to see limulus polyphemus up close. In late May, June and early July, it isn’t difficult to accommodate them. In early September, it’s an almost inch-by-inch quest of the island. But, if the “horseshoe crab wrangler” is among the paddling group, it’s a no-brainer. Almost as soon as we landed for some beachcombing, young Ethan from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, zeroed in on every shell he saw. “Is that one?” he asked, pointing to a female. “Yes,” I said, “but that one’s dead and they’re

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Jim’s Late August Cypress Tour

Feels like fall is in the air, which makes it a great time to go paddling. On our tour to the Cypress swamp this week, we had excellent conditions on the pond. The air was cool, the water like glass, and the crowds have thinned down. Nothing like paddling the trail with sunbeams shinning through the trees and the cypress reflecting on the water. The folks on the tour were super quiet so all we heard were the paddles in the water, the boat cutting ripples into the surface, and the wings and squawk of the great blue heron as he took off through the trees. As one paddler said, "it's feels like something from a movie", and I agree. The fall is just starting and as the leaves start to change and the cypress start to

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Burton’s Island Wildlife Tour with Sarah

Yesterday was a great tour.  Getting out early provided us with crystal clear water.  As we paddled, everyone could see plenty of blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, fish and terrapins.  With a very interested group of paddlers, we feed horseshoe crabs and ate some sea lettuce! - Sarah B

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Perfect Sunset/Moonrise!

Could not have asked for better conditions for the Moonrise Tour on July 31st! Light winds to start died out to glassy, calm waters as the sun began to set. The egrets and herons on Point of Cedars Island were silhouetted by the gorgeous sunset. We relaxed listening to the birds getting settled in for the night as the beautiful orange Blue Moon rose above the horizon and then enjoyed a peaceful paddle back to Coastal Kayak's beach. I'd like to order another one exactly the same for next month! - Neil Baker

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Assateague Kayak Tour with Cap’n Bob

Assateague may be a barrier island, but it’s not a barrier to kayaking fun! Katie and I lead a full tour of fun-loving paddlers on a day that could not have been better. Sun, comfortable temperatures in the 70s, and every Assateague kayaker’s dream: bands of wild ponies grazing on the marsh. There was a strong north wind, but most of the time it was behind us. The few times when we had to turn into it, Katie did a great job of guiding us through channels that gave great protection from the brunt of it. We saw our first band of ponies within minutes of launching and headed right for it. The second band appeared about half way through the tour. Overseeing them was an American bald eagle, perched in a tree. Unfortunately, the

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Trip Report – Topock Gorge, Arizona

In early February I had the opportunity to paddle through Topock Gorge on the Colorado River just north of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The Colorado in this area is crystal clear Caribbean blue, deep, and cold. It still seems wild at this point, although all of the pipelines and gauges and pumps at the launch site near I-40 told me a different story. Soon though, all of the highway noises vanished and the heavy silence of the desert was all I could hear. The thing about paddling in the desert that I don't think I'll ever get over is the shock of that much liquid flowing through the heart of so much arid land. The color of the cliffs and rocks is amazing and changes as abruptly as the weather in Delaware. Some of the

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The Perfect PFD

The Perfect PFD So you got some money for Christmas and you want to put it towards your paddling habit. How best to spend it? Of course your best option is to use it on professional paddling instruction from Coastal Kayak's ACA certified kayak and SUP instructors. The second best option is to invest in a comfortable PFD (personal flotation device, AKA lifejacket) that you will actually wear. Sad Fact: Drowning is the single biggest cause of death in recreational boating accidents. Over 80% of drowning victims were NOT wearing life jackets when found. Lame Excuses for NOT Wearing a Lifejacket: "This water is so shallow. I could walk across this bay." (But if you are lying unconscious in the water, it only needs to be 6 inches deep to be over your nose!) "I

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CK’s First Intern!

This is my first summer with CK, and it’s been one of the best.  I’ve been privileged enough to learn the business under Mitch and Jen this summer while doing my Internship for West Virginia University (aka Coastal Kayak’s first intern). I’ve gotten to work alongside some of the best and learn all sides of the job.  I was able to put together a training manual of all the birds, critters, plants and history of all the tours, which is something they have wanted for awhile. Coastal Kayak is definitely a place where you should bring your families when you visit the beach, and even go on one of their tours.  You won’t regret it!   This past Saturday, after the storms rolled through Neil and I had a great family of paddlers, and we

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Catching up with our Guide Heather

Hello my Coastal Kayak friends! It's so great to be back this summer for my fifth year! I'm so happy the weather is finally warm. Winter was long but I did get to enjoy a bit of traveling with Salisbury University, while I took a photography class abroad, exploring London and Paris. While I enjoyed every minute of it some of my favorite memories would include traveling to Wiltshire, an English countryside village home to Lacock Abbey (a country house that looks more like a medieval castle), and also, re-creating the Abbey Road album cover, as I channeled Paul McCartney. While in Paris, I indulged in shopping at Galleries Lafayette, many museums and french cuisine; I love escargot.         June is always a great time for eco tours! The bald eagles are

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Bob’s Weekend Tours

  I’ve got some early season kayak tour pictures from last weekend. Glorious weather both Saturday and Sunday, and small groups we were able to get to see some nice sights. Saturday at Cypress Tour the water was high (good thing) and we were able to get back to Raccoon Pond and watch a doe browsing on wetland plants (arrow arum, I believe). We also saw quite a few large red bellied cooters, and the prothonotary warblers were just-a-singin’-away. Sunday we chased down the new eagle’s nest on our Little Assawoman Back Bay Tour. We saw two adults and one immature, though the nest itself is hard to see. We also saw plenty of osprey soaring and chirping, and a cow-nosed ray, a rare sight in the Little Bay, which is a long way from

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Checking in from Assateague by Bob Collins

Just checking in from Assateague. I did 2 tours down there last weekend. The weather could not have been more pleasant and the water was clear-as-a-bell, despite heavy rains the day before. We saw a big cow-nose ray, seeding eel-grass, some sponges, and little blue crabs scurrying about the shallows near Egging Island. On Sunday, the ponies were right at water’s edge, good for photo-ops!

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SUPing on Saturday by Bob Collins

Growing Degree Days 36.4; ocean temperature, 43 degrees; forsythias, just started blooming; those are plain COLD facts. Worse, Carly got a SUP for Christmas and has not had it in the water, until today!   Despite being pretty stiff, Carly and I headed out onto the Assawoman Canal by Jefferson Bridge Road. This is a good spot early in the year, sheltered and relatively warm. Certainly it’s a good spot to get the cobb-webs off.   We headed south, with the current and took a cut into Jefferson Creek. From there, it winds a little, broadens a lot, and if you’re careful about some shallows (the water is clear now, so on a SUP you can really see bottom well), you come into the heart of what I call Jefferson Bay. We had the wind

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What I Did This Winter by Cap’n Bob

Back in the old days, teachers’ first assignment for their students was to have them write “What I Did Last Summer.”  Summers for me since 2003 have been filled with guiding tours, teaching sailing and kayaking, and being a general beach bum at Coastal Kayak. Now, Jen and Mitch want me to share “What I Did This Winter.”  Being older (and wiser) than fellow guide Tim Bennett, I didn’t launch my kayak in an area that required dodging ice floes and icebergs.  I know what happened to RMS Titanic. Instead, my wife and I loaded kayaks, bicycles, fishing rods, the Harley and other assorted toys into our fifth-wheel toy hauler and headed to snow-free Florida for a couple of months. The highlights:  kayaking with dolphin and alligators, bicycling the 20-mile roundtrip Legacy Trail between Sarasota

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What we do in the winter continued…

I know that it is almost Spring (according to the calendar anyway!) so maybe we'll call these posts "What we do in the off-season". It is an understatement to say that this winter has been a rough one! So our employees that have 'real jobs' and stay at the beach in the winter have had to be creative in their entertainment these last few months. Tim Bennett has worked for Coastal Kayak since 2005. His "real job" is as a Wildlife Conservation Officer for Delaware Fish and Wildlife. So he is outdoors all year long. His favorite part of his job with Fish and Wildlife is being able to watch the wildlife, especially owls, as they nest, have babies, and grow through out the seasons. The cold weather has not kept him indoors, even in

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Dreaming of the Sun??

This winter has been truly awful. And to top it off, that darned ground hog saw his shadow so it looks like we can kiss an early Spring good-bye. A late-winter escape to a warm weather paddling spot has never sounded better! Here are a few of our favorites: The 10,000 Islands and Everglades south of Marco Island The area south of Marco Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida is a maze of mangrove islands that line the coast like a jade necklace. They are uninhabited and some of them have beautiful, white sand beaches that you can have all to yourself - perfect for camping, or a picnic, or shell-hunting, or bird-watching, or napping. Most of the time, the Gulf is pretty flat in this area, although it can get windy. Once in

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What we do in the winter, continued…

Jim Bourke started working for Coastal Kayak in 2007 when he sold his hardware store in Baltimore and moved to the beach. He is a Level 2 ACA Kayak Instructor, a Level 2 ACA Stand Up Paddleboard Instructor, and a fish whisperer. Jim and Debbie had fantastic plans for this winter. They have a travel trailer and were going to spend most of the winter traveling in the sunny warmth of Florida. A couple of their favorite spots are Melbourne Beach, Bahia Honda, and Flamingo in Everglades National Park. But Debbie had a nasty, nasty knee lock-up and they had to make a bee line back to Delaware just in time for the coldest weather in a couple of decades - the Polar Vortex. She got in to the doctor quickly so we hope that

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What do we do in the winter? continued…

Neil's had the magic touch with the fish this fall! Mostly from his kayak but he caught this beautiful redfish off of the beach. Neil has guided for us since 2010. He is a retired microbiology professor from Ohio State University and did a lot of white water paddling before moving back to the beach. This winter he plans to build a kayak, go to Florida for a few days to do some SUP and long board surfing, and get to Jackson Hole for some skiing. And, of course, continue to harass the fish when it's not too freezing!

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What do we do in the winter?

Customers always want to know what our guides do over the winter. So over the next couple of weeks we'll fill you in on our plans and activities - a few exciting adventures planned and a lot of normal everyday stuff, too! Sarah has worked for us as a guide since 2006. She is also a beloved 6th grade science teacher aka Miz B. A few weeks ago she lost her best buddy, Moe. But on Friday, she brought home her new addition - the laid-back, lovely Luna, a rescued pitbull from the Delaware SPCA. Over the winter, Sarah will be teaching, working a couple of shifts at the Cottage Cafe when needed, and getting to know Luna. By spring, she hopes to be able to get Luna on a paddleboard! Sarah is also thinking

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Lots of Water!

Many summers, by the first week in August, the water level is so low at our Cypress Tour that it is nearly impossible to do our tours there. This year that is definitely not the case! We've had plenty of rain which makes it easy to do lots of exploring. The other day our guide, Sarah, reported seeing hundreds of butterflies there. She thought that most of them were male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail but reported seeing some blue ones as well which could have been the female or possibly the Eastern-tailed blue butterfly. Our Burton's Island Wildlife Tour is tidal so the heavy rains don't effect the water level. Although they are getting harder to find, we are still seeing horseshoe crabs on most of our tours. The osprey chicks are getting bigger and will

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From Dolphins to Downpours!

The week started off with an exciting dolphin sighting on our Burton's Island Wildlife Tour! In our 19 years of doing tours in that area we have never seen dolphins there before but Todd spotted them just before landing on the sandbar and decided to follow them for a few hundred yards. On Stefan's Burton's Island Tour a flock of brown pelicans were performing tactical maneuvers over the group of paddlers and he reported that hermit crabs had invaded the sand bar. On Mitch's Woodland Tour the paddlers saw eagles, got a close-up look at a painted turtle, and were treated to a colorful show of flowering plants in the creek. Due to the amount of rain we've had this year, the water level is higher than normal and the aquatic plants and flowers are

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Heather’s Burton’s Island Report

The horseshoe crabs are here! It's the most horseshoe crabs I've ever seen. They were everywhere on the island. The water was incredibly clear so we saw lots of terrapin, also. The osprey were busy adding to their nests and fishing. We also saw oyster catchers, blue herons, snowy egrets, and lots of horseshoe crab eggs!                  

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Nanticoke Exploration

Last week, the day before we went to a 7 day/week schedule, I went for a little paddle on my own. I'd been wanting to paddle the upper portions of the Nanticoke River. It was a windy day here at the beach so it seemed like a perfect day to go inland. I launched at Blades Marina and headed upriver for about 6 miles, just a little past the Old Furnance Road bridge. I got a late start (of course) so I had to turn around way before I wanted to. It was a beautiful paddle though - lots of sweet smelling flowers in bloom. It was populated most of the way up the river with some beautiful waterfront homes. I was amazed at how trash-free the entire trip was - no floating bottles, no

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Happy Earth Day!

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? - Henry David Thoreau We had a very successful (if not chilly) wetland clean-up yesterday in honor of Earth Day! We centered our efforts around the Savage's Ditch kayak launch site but also got onto the water into the salt marshes for some trash collection. David Lam of WMDT came out to do a story on the clean-up for the 6:00 news. We even got him out on the water! We found a lot of the normal stuff - bottles, plastic bags, broken glass, lots and lots of shell casings, etc. We also found a door (I told you not to slam it so hard!), a banquet table, and a bunch of orange construction mesh. Thanks and

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April Assateague Tour

We had a gorgeous day for our Assateague Tour last week. Light winds, comfortable temperatures, blue skies, great paddlers - couldn't have been better! We saw a lone horseshoe crab, cormorants, snowy egrets, brants, buffleheads, and hooded mergansers. The ponies weren't on the bayside, but they rallied for our drive out of the park.    

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A taste of summer finally!

With all of the nice weather the backwaters have warmed up and we have been running off-site rentals as well as  a tour yesterday. A fantastic day to be on the water - we saw at least 100 Diamond Back Terrapins many adults with juveniles. The Osprey are all working on their nests. We saw Blue Herons, hundreds of gulls, egrets, a pair of Oyster Catchers, Terns, Mergansers, Brant and numerous other species. One of the nice things about this time of year is the water where we run our tours is crystal clear affording great viewing of the activity below the water which yesterday included our first Horseshoe Crabs of the season. Here is a short clip of the birds and activity that we encountered in the salt marsh! On a rental on Monday we saw

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Welcome to our new website!

After 13 years of the same website we decided we needed to do some remodeling and updating. We wanted our website to be fun and colorful, functional and user-friendly . So, come on in! Walk around a bit. Sit down and relax. Have a (virtual) margarita. Let us know what's good, bad, needs tweaking, and what you love! We'll see you on the water soon! Jenifer

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