Experiencing the James

By
Marty Cash

Over the last 40 years I have had the pleasure of experiencing the James River on many occasions. Still an avid kayaker, and having been a canoe and kayak instructor through the ACA and also having been a raft guide, the James River is still my favorite river where I can play and relax.

Over those years I have done almost every section of the James River. The only sections I had not done were from Iron Gate to the Maury River and from Jamestown to the Chesapeake Bay. Completing these two sections would mean I had now done all of the James River. Just completing these two sections was not enough. I wanted to experience all of the James at one time.

At 61 years old I felt it was now or never. So, when my friend Russ Starke suggested paddling the entire James River, I jumped at the chance. Now that I have completed this trip I am glad I did all of the James River at one time.

Our trip began the last week of May in 2010. Three of us started the trip, but our friend Buck had to leave the trip at Maidens because of family needs. We could not have asked for better weather or water. The week before our trip it rained most of the week. When we put in on the river, the river was about a foot above normal level. The first few days we ran in and out of rain showers and the rest of the trip was blue skies, sunshine and warm weather. We only had one or two days that we thought were very hot days.

The James River is a river that seems to travel through different setting almost like moving through different countries. It starts out a small river barely 100 yards wide. The river is peaceful and appears to be remote. It meanders through forest and farm country where you can hear and see the occasional train that follows the river. As the river meanders, excitement is felt as to what lies around the next bend. Will it be a beautiful vista or a rapid, a flock of geese or an eagle perched majestically in a tree?

 After Lynchburg, the river begins to leave the mountains and the river begins to get a little wider with longer straight stretches through farm country. Still beautiful, but at a more relaxed pace. Excitement is still there with the occasional sections of rapids, like Scottsville to Bremo Bluff, which is always interesting in a 14’ touring kayak. As we approached Richmond, the flat water created by Bosher’s Dam was just a warm up of what was to come.

The biggest change in the river, for me as a paddler, was from Richmond to the Chesapeake Bay. We now had several other factors that influenced how and when we paddled. We were now paddling tidal water and the river was going to get a whole lot wider with a different kind of boat traffic.

Not far out of Richmond we encountered our first barge being pushed by a tug boat up the James. We had about 25 yards of water between us and the barge as we paddled the shore line. As the day moved on we experimented with paddling against the tide with a head wind. On the river before Richmond we were averaging between 4 and 5 mph.  When we paddled against the tide with a head wind we only hit a top speed of 1.3 mph. If we stopped paddling the wind blew us up stream and the wind wasn’t that strong either. By the way, for all the years I have been paddling, why does the wind always blow up stream? As you may guess, this was a short lived experiment of paddling against the tide. From here on we watched the tide chart and ran with the tide.

Even running with the tide was still challenging at some points. The tide is strongest in the main channel and when you are paddling the shoreline the tide draws you out toward the channel. As the river got wider it also got choppier. The roughest paddle we had was crossing the mouth of the Chickahominy River and near the shipyards at Newport News. The Chickahominy River, as I understand it, has about six influential currents at the mouth. I think I felt all six.

The day we crossed the mouth of the Chickahominy River the water was very choppy with some white caps. Being mostly a whitewater paddler, I was not frightened by the big water even though some small waves were breaking on my shoulder, but unlike whitewater, where you can rest after a rapid, there was nowhere to rest in this mile and a half crossing. Needless to say, we took a long break after that crossing to let our arms and shoulders recover.

Our last day was from the marina at the Rt. 17 bridge to the Bay. The weather was overcast and the water was very choppy with a strong headwind. As we passed the shipbuilding yard a Northrop Grumman patrol boat came along side to check us out. Being in choppy water with the wind blowing past my ears and me focused on my paddling, I did not notice the patrol boat just 30 feet to my left. When I did notice the boat, the boat driver slid his side window open and spoke to me. The first words out of this mouth were “Are you nuts?” He said he had to be out in this rough water, but didn’t understand why we were doing it for fun. He suggested we get off the river, so we did for a short time.

 After we checked weather conditions we decided to continue on. Once we passed the I-664 tunnel we had, for the first time in our 12-day trip, a tail wind. The sun came out and we had blue skies. What a way to end our trip. I would paddle the James River again from Iron Gate to Richmond if given the chance, but from Richmond on I think my boat will have to have a motor.

 

Bill Street, JRA Exective Director, presents Marty Cash and Russ Starke with the Full James River Rundown Certificate

 

 

 

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