Canoeing & Kayaking on a Tidal River

This past weekend I had the chance to go play on a tidal river in tidewater Virginia and it was great fun!

Canoeing on a tidal river has an advantage over regular rivers.  If you time it right, you are always canoeing with the current.  And so it was on Saturday. We started in the morning going downstream with the regular river current. . .

I was in a solo Old Towne canoe.  We were a group of 4 canoes and 6 kayaks full of experienced and inexperienced paddlers.  We went downstream for a couple of hours and stopped on the banks for a snack and a swim.

About that time, the tide from the ocean had worked its way upriver and was sending us back upstream to where we had begun.  I switched from the solo canoe to a kayak and enjoyed my first kayak trip very much.  We saw a bald eagle and herons, as well as many smaller birds.  We swam again and generally enjoyed being in the sunshine on the river.

I'll go canoeing on a tidal river again anytime!