Fireworks Paddle on the Raritan
by Monica Orso
August 31, 2023
After being postponed twice, the weather finally cooperated for the Fourth of July fireworks display at Donaldson Park in Highland Park. So what if it's the last day in August?
We had the good fortune of a full moon, clear skies, low winds and tides in our favor. Launching at Edison Boat Basin were 7 kayaks and 3 canoes. The plan was to paddle about 2 miles to Donaldson Park, take a short break to view the festivities there, maybe get some food and use the facilities. We got a somewhat late launch start due to nasty traffic conditions for some folks. But launch we did, riding the incoming tide.
We passed under the Turnpike bridge heading towards the Raritan River Boat Club and Rt 1 Bridge, both homes to a couple of scenes in the Sopranos. Since we had some Sopranos fans paddling, I figured there are others out there so I included a photo and video clip from the series in my pics. I actually accidentally was driving on the Rt 1 bridge when they were filming the famous Sopranos suicide scene, not knowing at the time what was going on. The bridge by the way, is locally known for "jumpers".
Paddling directly into the setting sun was challenging, but we made it just fine with minimal power boat traffic. We saw multiple osprey, some herons, and I think one eagle. Some fishies were jumping about as well. At the park we took our break and set up as many lights on our boats as we could. The festivities consisted of lots of food trucks, activities for kids, and some local bands. I had my eyes on a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, but alas the line was too long and we needed to get back on the water!
Lighting was creative on our boats and power boats could surely see us...they may not have known what they were seeing, but they could at least see us. We rafted up for the fireworks, but started drifting a little bit too close to some power boats anchored near the bank, so we broke the raft and managed independently. Being close to slack tide, movement was minimal from then on. Thank you river, no need to set up an anchor!
The fireworks were grand, and very loud as the sound echoed off of both natural shale cliffs and human-made raised highway by the Rutgers Crew Boat House in New Brunswick. I took a lot of pics and some video. Reviewing the pics later, every pic is always a surprise. Cropping some of them turns them from fireworks to paintings. Good fun.
After the Grand Finale, we turned back to face a beautiful full moon. The tide had just peaked and as we passed the boat ramp we noticed the entire parking lot by the ramp was now under water. I knew it was going to be high tide, but the addition of the super full moon made it about a foot higher than normal. This of course prompted concerns as to how our cars would fare at the put-in lot!
Riding back on a mostly slack tide, for the most part the water was flat and inky, only disturbed by an occasional slow moving power boat heading back. The extreme tide brought a lot of river debris that normally would be sitting on shore, but now we were seeing stuff that probably originated as far away as Raritan Bay. There was the usual bad human junk like plastic bottles, but a whole lot of organic debris like tree parts. Every once in a while you would hit a log or something...hopefully not something akin to the above aforementioned Sopranos scene! The tide was so high that a small power boat ran partially aground...you just couldn't tell where the banks were.
Arriving back at the launch and our cars, indeed the tide had risen considerably as there was no more access to the docks. The paddler parked closest to shore had all four tires in the water but fortunately it was a high vehicle. Next to that was Peter's Mini...if the cars would have been reversed, it could have been a questionable outcome for the Mini. Peter just paddled right up to his car. Hey, less distance to carry the boat right?
A big thanks to all who braved the night. We returned with the same headcount as when we started...ergo as our club trip leaders often say, no one died.
Monica