kayaking Assateague and Chincoteague
and other tidal waters
Kayaking tidal waters is a bit different from paddling a quiet lake.
Kayaking 101 is covered here: kayaking 101 Basically all the stuff you need to carry and the basic skills you need to not end up as a Darwin Award headline. It's easy, it's fun, but water is the most powerful stuff on earth, so respect it and be prepared.
For tidal waters like Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, and parts of the Chespaekae Bay, you need to know some other stuff.
The two "teagues" are my favorite places to paddle. Much of the water where you paddle is shallow, often less than three feet deep. Wildlife is abundant, shorebirds, wading birds, sandpipers, brown pelicans, oystercatchers and skimmers and others. Wild ponies roam and can be seen from some shores. The north end of Chincoteague has a pony farm where the Chincoteague ponies roam, fenceless, down to the water's edge...
Assateague is a long narrow barrier island, a fancy sandbar rolled up out of the sea. In cross section you go from ocean, to dune, to interdune to shrub zone to woods to shrub zone to marsh to shallow bay. The marshes and bays around Assateague are the best paddling: they are shallow, except for some holes and channels (most places you can stand in 3 or 4 feet of water). They are sand, silt, water and marsh grass and wildlife. You can launch a sit-on in the surf, but that's a bit more challenging and will depend on whether a hurricane has just waltzed by. Wild ponies and shorebirds are best seen in the marshes.
Chincoteague lies at the south end of Assateague, like an egg in the protective curve of a dragon's tail. Chincoteague has no ocean side, it is surrounded by very healthy salt marshes and shallow waters, with some deeper channels. These marshes and channels are the best places to kayak. But be aware that anywhere the water narrows, as in a channel between bits of land, the tidal currents will be stronger... they can be just downright fun...
Wallops Island lies to the south. You can see the NASA telescopes and stuff from Assateague's beach or from your kayak. It's worth a visit to the NASA visitor's center, but don't go by kayak... if you're that close to Wallops, you're out the channel and headed to France...
The Virginia Barriers lie south of Assateague. They are a string of similar barrier islands. There are places to launch down there, but I have never paddled that area. be aware of the channels between islands, there would likely be strong currents out to sea. Worth exploring with knowledgeable guides.
To the north are places like Prime Hook and Cape Henlopen. I have launched at Prime Hook, it's a quiet paddle through marshes and guts and narrow tidal creeks. Cape Henlopen has a bay on one side and ocean on the other. It also has an inordinate amount of sand to carry your boat over to get to the water which is why I have never paddled it. It's a nice beach for camping and swimming and wildlife observation. Great nature programs and bike trails.
Finally, the Chesapeake Bay is one of my favorite places to paddle. It is all tidal, though it ranges from tidal freshwater like the Sassafras River to brackish waters like Eastern Neck to salt water. It runs by the same rules: watch the weather, tides, and be prepared, you're on big water now.
Kayaking 101 is covered here: kayaking 101 Basically all the stuff you need to carry and the basic skills you need to not end up as a Darwin Award headline. It's easy, it's fun, but water is the most powerful stuff on earth, so respect it and be prepared.
For tidal waters like Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, and parts of the Chespaekae Bay, you need to know some other stuff.
The two "teagues" are my favorite places to paddle. Much of the water where you paddle is shallow, often less than three feet deep. Wildlife is abundant, shorebirds, wading birds, sandpipers, brown pelicans, oystercatchers and skimmers and others. Wild ponies roam and can be seen from some shores. The north end of Chincoteague has a pony farm where the Chincoteague ponies roam, fenceless, down to the water's edge...
Assateague is a long narrow barrier island, a fancy sandbar rolled up out of the sea. In cross section you go from ocean, to dune, to interdune to shrub zone to woods to shrub zone to marsh to shallow bay. The marshes and bays around Assateague are the best paddling: they are shallow, except for some holes and channels (most places you can stand in 3 or 4 feet of water). They are sand, silt, water and marsh grass and wildlife. You can launch a sit-on in the surf, but that's a bit more challenging and will depend on whether a hurricane has just waltzed by. Wild ponies and shorebirds are best seen in the marshes.
Chincoteague lies at the south end of Assateague, like an egg in the protective curve of a dragon's tail. Chincoteague has no ocean side, it is surrounded by very healthy salt marshes and shallow waters, with some deeper channels. These marshes and channels are the best places to kayak. But be aware that anywhere the water narrows, as in a channel between bits of land, the tidal currents will be stronger... they can be just downright fun...
Wallops Island lies to the south. You can see the NASA telescopes and stuff from Assateague's beach or from your kayak. It's worth a visit to the NASA visitor's center, but don't go by kayak... if you're that close to Wallops, you're out the channel and headed to France...
The Virginia Barriers lie south of Assateague. They are a string of similar barrier islands. There are places to launch down there, but I have never paddled that area. be aware of the channels between islands, there would likely be strong currents out to sea. Worth exploring with knowledgeable guides.
To the north are places like Prime Hook and Cape Henlopen. I have launched at Prime Hook, it's a quiet paddle through marshes and guts and narrow tidal creeks. Cape Henlopen has a bay on one side and ocean on the other. It also has an inordinate amount of sand to carry your boat over to get to the water which is why I have never paddled it. It's a nice beach for camping and swimming and wildlife observation. Great nature programs and bike trails.
Finally, the Chesapeake Bay is one of my favorite places to paddle. It is all tidal, though it ranges from tidal freshwater like the Sassafras River to brackish waters like Eastern Neck to salt water. It runs by the same rules: watch the weather, tides, and be prepared, you're on big water now.
landing your boat, wild ponies, and other wildlife
(nope, you can't land here, because of reasons)
I grew up on ponies and horses, and have trained a few, including a couple wild mustangs. Most tourists who visit the islands are fascinated by the ponies, and most are not horsemen. Here's what you need to know to enjoy them safely... safely for you and the ponies.
Chincoteague and Assateague are famous for their wild ponies. They arrived with the first colonists who avoided various taxes and fencing laws by grazing livestock of all sorts on the "open range" of the barrier island, rounding them up as needed. (There's also a legend about a Spanish shipwreck, and there ARE lots of shipwrecks and some are certainly Spanish and some certainly contained horses). The cattle were removed in either the American Revolution or the War of 1812 to avoid inadvertently feeding the British Navy. The last Sheep Roundup was sometime in the late 1800s. The ponies remained, and became a tourist attraction in a big way after marguerite Henry's book Misty of Chincoteague was published in the 1940s. Pony Penning is an echo of the traditional roundups, done every last week of July.
They are not pets, they are not trained.
Do not feed, do not approach, and everyone will be safer...
A Chincoteague pony fan posted a pic of some kayakers pulled up on a beach, boats surrounded by curious ponies. She posted it as a teaching moment. While the pic is lovely, and who wouldn't like to picnic on a remote beach surrounded by pretty ponies...
...there are many reasons you do not approach them, feed them, or leave your boat near them.
Chincoteague and Assateague are famous for their wild ponies. They arrived with the first colonists who avoided various taxes and fencing laws by grazing livestock of all sorts on the "open range" of the barrier island, rounding them up as needed. (There's also a legend about a Spanish shipwreck, and there ARE lots of shipwrecks and some are certainly Spanish and some certainly contained horses). The cattle were removed in either the American Revolution or the War of 1812 to avoid inadvertently feeding the British Navy. The last Sheep Roundup was sometime in the late 1800s. The ponies remained, and became a tourist attraction in a big way after marguerite Henry's book Misty of Chincoteague was published in the 1940s. Pony Penning is an echo of the traditional roundups, done every last week of July.
They are not pets, they are not trained.
Do not feed, do not approach, and everyone will be safer...
A Chincoteague pony fan posted a pic of some kayakers pulled up on a beach, boats surrounded by curious ponies. She posted it as a teaching moment. While the pic is lovely, and who wouldn't like to picnic on a remote beach surrounded by pretty ponies...
...there are many reasons you do not approach them, feed them, or leave your boat near them.
- There are signs saying DO NOT LAND HERE. Look for signs, and check the visitor's centers for info on where you can paddle, where you can land, and where you can't.
- Off limits areas are there for a reason. To protect endangered species like piping plovers and fox squirrels, to keep certain environments from being trampled by tourists, and to allow ponies to be unbothered by the clueless.
- The ponies on the north/Maryland end of Assateague are wildlife. They are quite accustomed to humans and will walk right past you ignoring you. Or they'll crash your party, your tent, your picnic table. Secure all food in your car, horses have weird digestive systems that can process poison ivy but not your dingdongs or plastic. That can kill them. You are also teaching them bad habits like biting tourists' hands off or staging pirate raids on cars... which gets them hit and killed. The point is they are living life their way, they are not trained pets. They appear placid, and generally move around ignoring humans, and swishing flies. But horses speak to each other with body language that includes bared teeth, biting, kicking, shoving and striking. They can run 35 mph, kick you into next week, pick you up in their teeth and fling you as needed. They are unimpressed by your shouting and waving (and the lady who swatted one on the butt with a plastic sand shovel and got kicked) they know they own the island, so be prepared to move your beach blanket and don't bring snacks onto the beach. Stay back a bus length or so. Patting them on the butt will get you some youtube notoriety but also ruin your life.
- The ponies on the southern/VA end are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company and grazed on a permit. They have inhabited the island for centuries. Pony Penning is an old tradition based in locals rounding up livestock as needed. These ponies are handled occasionally by humans and are used to humans, BUT THEY ARE NOT TRAINED. They are free roaming, living in natural bands led by a mare and guarded by a stallion, or in "boy bands" or yearling bands. The same rule of staying out of their way and back a few kayak lengths holds here. Especially DO NOT FEED and SECURE ALL FOOD. They are clever pirates... two, Anne Bonny and Mary Read are named after pirates. These will only be found in certain parts of the wildlife refuge, off Beach Road, in the marshes, off trails, and not on Assateague Beach.
- Your boat is a horse hazard. if you are not a horseman, you won't know that horses are high flight animals who freak out if their feet are trapped by anything. So landing on a beach and letting ponies come up and investigate is dangerous for you and the ponies. I have trained my horses to tolerate weird things around their feet, like tarps and tires and crunchy weird things and pool noodles and... yeah, the random wire my mustang picked up around one foot, but she was trained to the point where she just let me fix it...
- If a pony steps into or onto a boat, or paws it curiously, they could get a foot stuck on the many lines and bungees, go through the plastic, and these ponies are not trained. Herd dynamics often involve one pony moving or chasing another out of the way, the chasee might not have time to get out of the way of you or your boat. If a pony gets a foot stuck in a boat, the likelihood is that the pony would freak, leap, run, break your boat and itself. Then the entire island of Chincoteague, the Fire Co, the World Famous Saltwater Cowboys, and every pony lover watching online would be coming for your sorry butt.
so pay attention where you land, and who's already there
enjoy the ponies from a safe distance
under the sea...
Off the west shore of Chincoteague is a shallow bay full of eelgrass beds. When the conditions are right, you can get enough visibility to snorkel here. I've spotted pufferfish, pipefish and seahorses, rays, diamondbacked terrapin and triggerfish blown in from the sea. I've followed dolphins up the channel, and watched skimmers unzipping the water.
If you get out to mermaid, snorkel or swim, be sure to have a boat anchor. Anchoring wisdom says 8x the water depth for your anchor line length. The average depth of the back bay is like 3 feet... with some 8 or ten foot holes. You do not need 80 feet of line, thank you. About double the length of your boat is good: 20 feet or so. A five pound barbell works to secure a 17 foot sea kayak. A five pound dive weight works too. Or a canoe anchor.
The clear water bubble, according to Captain Dan who has plied these waters for lo these many years, varies as to where it is and how far it goes out into the bay. The "bubble" is an area in the back bay which has great visibility, enough to drop out of the boat and go snorkeling. I've done it, it's fun, easy, safe (problem? you just stand up, because you're in three or four feet of water). You might see pipefish, seahorses, rays, pufferfish, random visitors from the sea like the spotted butterfly fish or grey triggerfish, diamondback terrapins (marsh turtles)(I was out-swum by one once and I was wearing fins), sea bass, lizardfish. There are eelgrass beds here that harbor all sorts of life. If you walk, do the stingray shuffle (slide your feet, don't stomp). They are utterly non aggressive, but don't step on one.
If you get out to mermaid, snorkel or swim, be sure to have a boat anchor. Anchoring wisdom says 8x the water depth for your anchor line length. The average depth of the back bay is like 3 feet... with some 8 or ten foot holes. You do not need 80 feet of line, thank you. About double the length of your boat is good: 20 feet or so. A five pound barbell works to secure a 17 foot sea kayak. A five pound dive weight works too. Or a canoe anchor.
The clear water bubble, according to Captain Dan who has plied these waters for lo these many years, varies as to where it is and how far it goes out into the bay. The "bubble" is an area in the back bay which has great visibility, enough to drop out of the boat and go snorkeling. I've done it, it's fun, easy, safe (problem? you just stand up, because you're in three or four feet of water). You might see pipefish, seahorses, rays, pufferfish, random visitors from the sea like the spotted butterfly fish or grey triggerfish, diamondback terrapins (marsh turtles)(I was out-swum by one once and I was wearing fins), sea bass, lizardfish. There are eelgrass beds here that harbor all sorts of life. If you walk, do the stingray shuffle (slide your feet, don't stomp). They are utterly non aggressive, but don't step on one.
stuff to know
- have tides and weather written down, have a watch.
- The current can be strong in some places, and it will probably change direction just as you are paddling back. There are also plenty of fairly quiet backwaters that are newbie friendly.
- Know your weather. The good news is the place is entirely flat, so you can see the thunderheads building up over the mainland miles away. Also know where the darn duck blinds are, they were useful in one thunderstorm emergency... you can find this online before you go, and at the visitor's centers.
- A trip will shift shape radically as the tide goes in or out. Guts that may have been accessible three hours ago are now mudflats... a "gut" is a narrow creek that runs into the marsh. Donald Leonard Park on the west side of Chincoteague does not have terribly radical tide shifts and is easily accessible.
- A watch not only lets you know the tide is falling/rising, but how long you've paddled on this direction and should you maybe turn around now before you're exhausted because the wind just changed to in front of you again...
- start out INTO the wind or current, and come back with it behind you... of course this would happen in an ideal world... probably wind/current will just shift to be in front of you again...
- if the weather report says "25mph winds" it will either be a one way trip, or you will just go hit the nature trails on foot... (been there, done that). There are trails you can hike, bike, drive and great programs at the visitor's centers.
- HAVE A COMPASS...and maps...eh...charts (on the water it's called a chart): or at least some idea of the lay of the land. Marsh tends to all look like One Ginormous Line of Grass and Water or a crazed puzzle. Finding your put-in is easy if you're just going up the west side of Chincoteague...you just go back along the shoreline. Other areas break into mad jigsaw puzzles of marsh and water. If conditions change (rain, fog) you'll need a compass to not head for France. PS: there is also a functional lighthouse... I've used it as a navigational aid. You can get nautical charts from NOAA Navigational Charts. There are simple maps in the visitor's centers.
- STAY WITH YOUR BOAT: when (not if) you do manage to fall out of your boat, grab it and hang on. You are now a much larger object for the Coast Guard (or preferably, your buddies) to find, and you have extra flotation. Also you will not have to replace your boat and all the stuff in it. Know how to get back in it. Stay close to your buddies so they can help. Swimming while towing a kayak is not that hard. Keep a pair of fins handy, they make your silly tiny human feet better at towing the boat to shore, or kicking yourself up onto the boat. Have a boat leash or perimeter line.
- file a float plan: tell your friends, leave a text, leave a note on the seat of your van (that's what I did) telling your basic route and what you and your boats look like.
- permits: if you have a PA state sticker (from the state parks, $10/year, $18/2 yrs), MD and VA are fine with that, last time I looked. Town Dock requires a launch permit, but it's easier to launch at Donald Leonard Park across from the high school... and free. And you don't get in the way of boats with trailers. Or have to battle the currents between the islands there.
- where to launch:
- Donald Leonard has grassy parking, a picnic table and easy launch into the shallows of the bay. You won't have to fight strong currents here and can paddle right up the west side of Chincoteague.
- Memorial Park no longer allows kayakers to use the boat ramp (it gets in the way of people who NEED ramps) but they are putting in a kayak launch area because so many kayakers use that spot.
- Tom's Cove: launch right off the backside of the beach parking lot into Tom's Cove. Be aware of the tides because you may have to drag your boat over a hundred feet of mudflat that wasn't there when you started out.
- East Side Landing: From US 13, East on Route 175, 10.2 Miles. Left on Main Street, 0.1 Miles. Right on Church Street into East Side Road, 1.5 Miles. Left into parking lot. Ramp is straight ahead. GPS: +37.9179 / -75.3718
- Fir Landing: From US 13, East on Route 175, 10.2 Miles.Left on Main Street, 0.4 Miles.Right on Maddox Boulevard 0.3 Miles.Left on Deep Hole Road, 0.8 Miles.Right on Fir Landing Road, 01 Miles.Boat Ramp is at the end of the road.
- Into the surf. You can drag your boat out of the parking lot, across a minor bit of beach and into the sea. I've done this with a traditional sea kayak (cockpit) and a sit-on. Sit-ons are easier because they don't swamp. I won't mention the ex-boyfriend who tried to do this with a canoe... just...no. The surf can vary wildly, be aware of the conditions. I do not do fancy seal launches or rolls, so my theory was shove boat through surf, get into calmish area, climb into boat. Bail. Actually the sea kayak rode over the waves and did not swamp. Sit-ons (ocean kayaks) are self bailing. On one off shore paddle, we landed on the beach... I did not surf in because of potential of pitch-poling... this is where the waves catch your boat and throw it end over end... not good for you. I put the boat on a long rope, and let it float ahead of me to the beach. This was a stupid idea... because it was rather like having a wild mustang on a lunge line dragging you. I let go and the boat floated in. I will not do beach landings with a sea kayak again. Anytime I went offshore in a kayak I did not go far. There can still be rip currents and wind that might blow you offshore. Have signaling devices (disaster flag, flares, air horn, whistle), water, snacks. Or stay ridiculously close to shore.
- https://chincoteague-va.gov/citizens/recreation
- Chincoteague Town Office: (757) 336-6519
- survival gear:
- PFD: you do not swim as well as you think you do ...I'm an advanced open water scuba diver and I wear a PFD... my dive instructor was a state cop who pulled way too many bodies out of the water.
- hats, surfer shirt, anything spandex, diveskin, water friendly shoes... use sunscreen sparingly, it wreaks havoc with marine life. Really, there's places in Hawaii where they've banned it.
- cotton is rotten... it gets cold, wet and clammy and never ever dries
- water, snacks, yes, you're burning calories, yeay!!!!
- how cold is it? I first learned that if air + water temps are less than 100 degrees F you should be wearing a wetsuit, drysuit or layers of fleece/wool with a wind layer. "The National Center for Cold Water Safety recommends treating any water below 70 F/21 C with caution. Water temps below 60 F/15 C can be immediately life threatening due to "cold shock”—you lose breathing control, your heart and blood pressure are affected, and your ability to think clearly is impaired." Even on a hot summer day the marsh can feel cold and windy by evening if you are tired and soggy. Carry a wind layer to throw over your PFD. I have used a light (3mm) wetsuit even in summer for swimming and snorkeling.
- lose the sugary stuff...soda etc = sugar bonk and there you are in the middle of nowhere unable to paddle
- spare paddle in case you drop yours
- paddle leash so you don't drop it
- stirrups and fins... I was paddling the shallows west of Chincoteague, snorkeling, and late in the evening went to get back in the boat and couldn't. We had drifted out of four feet of water into six. I was too exhausted to kick myself back up onto the boat. I was in tidal current that led out past Wallops to the sea. I put my fins back on and kicked myself up onto the deck. Now I always carry a pair of fins. You can also rig a tie down strap around your hull and use it like a stirrup. Ideally, you have some buddies who can help you get back in your boat.
- whistles, air horn, cell phone
- bailing device bilge pump, sawed off detergent bottle, sponge
- anchor: here's a place where there's no place to ever tie up your boat, it's a salt marsh, it's full of grass and sand and water and little else. If snorkeling, or swimming, you want to hang onto your boat, or anchor it. Don't tie it to you, like tying yourself to a thousand pound herbivore afraid of blowing paper... this could be dangerous if the wind pushes your boat or you somehow get tangled in the line, (also have a knife handy). The wind will blow it away faster than you can swim, and there is nothing between your boat and France but open water.
- On a beach, you can pull it up... and watch where the tide line is and make sure you know which way the tide is moving because oh hey, there goes your boat...
- I've used a five or ten pound dive weight on a rope. They make canoe anchors too. The rule is 1/8" of rope diameter for every 9 feet of boat length. So 1/4" is good for most kayaks. But then I'd err on the side of paranoia.
- Anchor line length should be 7 to 10 times the depth of the water. You can fudge this a bit with a kayak because you are not setting/hooking an anchor in the bottom, merely dropping a weight. I'd still go with 20' of rope for that 3' deep salt marsh.
- towing package: you can get an official Tow Your Buddy Back belt with towing line, or just carry some extra rope. I have been on paddles where someone got exhausted and needed a tow.
- spray skirts: aren't absolutely necessary. Know the conditions and what you can handle from experience. I rarely use a sprayskirt, and my sea kayak doesn't ship water easily. Perhaps you don't want to be out in conditions that require a sprayskirt. Some nice waves in the backwaters don't need a skirt. The back bay has waves similar to a large lake... the tidal currents and wind are what you need to watch out for.
- other stuff: I carry a camera in a drybox in a deck bag (zippered, dry, strapped to deck). I carry spare layers of clothing, first aid, windbreaker in a drybag in the cockpit. I also carry snacks and water (in mesh bags behind the seat). Strainers and containers are great for exploring the waters around the islands. A simple butterfly net tied off (so it's rather shallow/flat) is great for scooping up small things to look at (put them back). A container to put them in temporarily to take pics is good. I often use a shallow white tray, like a frisbee or plastic dish to contain small critters for photography. Snorkels and fins and a mask are useful... you never know when and where the water will be clear enough to look into. An underwater viewer is easy to build out of a two foot piece of PVC pipe with a bit of Plexiglas glued to one end, and pool noodles attached to the other end (duct tape) to make it float when you drop it. Binoculars are nice too, but best used with your feet on solid ground.
