The Kayak Chronicles ©

by Darren Caffery

____________________________________________________

NIGHT OF THE WHIP-POOR-WILL

Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland

April 17-20, 2008

So I thought I was going to get another good night's sleep. After all, I had a new thicker camp mattress pad which allowed me sleep like a log the first night.  After retiring to my tent a little after 11 pm, I fell quickly into a deep REM sleep and slept great   ..... but only  until about 4:30 am, when a rather loud whip-poor-will began it's call.  Although I usually enjoy the sounds of nature, this whip-poor-will woke me out of a sound sleep, and then continued on and on for about 30 minutes. Being suddenly awakened and a feeling a bit edgy after 30 continuous minutes of the the bird call, I finally yelled out my tent.
 
"Shut the hell up!"

After that, it stopped, and so I then rolled over and tried to get back into my REM sleep.  However as soon as I began to fall asleep it started up again and wouldn't stop, even after yelling out the tent again.  At that point, I pulled my sleeping bag over my head.
 
"Whip-poor-will .... Whip-poor-will  ..... Whip-poor-will"  continued non-stop until the sun came up at about 6:30.

From 6:30 to about 8 am I tried to catch up on some sleep but it just wasn't happening. The forecast was calling for thunderstorms later in the day and our plan was to have breakfast, pack up our camp and get paddling back to the Ferry Landing takeout before the storms rolled in.  At 7 am the sun appeared to be shining bright and there were no signs of any storms in the sky. I awoke and had breakfast with the group, some of whom were grumbling about the whippoorwill keeping them up for most of the night.

After breakfast, we started packing up camp and hauling our gear back down to the kayaks.  The sun crept in and out but the temperature was again in the mid to high 60's already. We shoved off into the Chincoteague Bay at about 10 am and had about 5 miles to paddle back to Ferry Landing.  The sun continued to creep in and out and we had a slight current and tailwind to help us along as we paddled northward.  On the way, Bob and Anna, who were paddling back from Green Run caught up with us and paddled back with us for part of the way.  Having the wind from behind made me feel very warm while I was paddling.  We observed more horses along the way and at one point, we even observed a few horses trudging through a shallow part of the bay, moving from a small marshy island to the main barrier island.  In all my three trips to Assateague, I had never seen horses in the water like that.

At a little before 12 noon, after about 2 hours and 5 miles of paddling, we all arrived safely at Ferry Landing.  It looked like some clouds were starting to roll in but by time that happened, we were already loaded up and ready to depart.  After freshening up a bit, we checked out with the ranger station and headed over to Assateague Island Oasis for some lunch before our trek back to NJ.

All in all, this year's Assateague Adventure was another much needed diversion from my weekly hustle and bustle at work.  This year's weather was also the nicest.  On Friday and Saturday, there were clear skies, with lots of sun, perfect day paddling temps, lots of horses, and just enough wind to keep us from getting too hot.  Night temps were a bit cooler, (perfect for tent camping) and we had lots of moonlight and stars, and the roar of the thundering ocean surf.  On Sunday, the sun played hide and seek, but luckily we got back to the takeout and never saw any of the predicted thunderstorms or rain.  Another awesome trip to Assateague  ... Great company, awesome camp food and great weather for camping and paddling. Thanks to this year's Assateague Island Paddling Posse!

 [PREVIOUS]