Sunday on the Delaware and Raritan Canal
by Drew Daniels

August 13, 2006

Sunday the 13th turned out to be a beautiful day for a paddle – 5 kayaks and one tandem canoe with a miniature poodle aboard launched from the park in East Millstone into the quiet waters of the canal. Many turtles were sitting on logs along the way taking advantage of the sunny day. The day was so perfect that we decided to continue paddling past our planned stop at the Canal Keeper’s house in Blackwell Mills.

There is a low bridge at Blackwell Mills that some of our paddlers chose to portage over while others dared the spiders and grime under the bridge. This led to the most difficult portion of a trip on the canal – getting back into a kayak from the canal bank. Two of our paddlers took unexpected swims in the warm waters of the canal. (Lessons in falling out and getting in will be available this Sunday at Green Turtle Pond!)

We continued about a mile further and took a break for lunch being extremely cautious to avoid the poison ivy that grows abundantly along the canal banks. On the way back we stopped again at the Canal Keeper’s house for free ice cream and to enjoy the music of a bluegrass band that was playing there. We finished up about 3:00 having had a great time on the water.

Drew