Chincoteague

Jon Yenulonis

Well-known member
Recently, my family and I took our annual East Coast, Chincoteague Island trip between the Holidays this year. While we always have positive expectations, sometimes things just don't work out. This year was extra special as not only did our daughter and son-in-law tag along, but we also took my Wife's 81 year old Mom and Dad with us. They are indeed special people. Great company, always have good stories, and her father has never seen the Ocean. While he hasn't hunted in many years, her father grew up in South Dakota along the Missouri River system, arguably one of the hottest waterfowl destinations in the Central US. He used to walk the banks of the river, and his dog would retrieve birds shot by other hunters. He told stories of guys with dogs of their own, who wouldn't go into the cold water, whereas his would. As I recall, he would even occasionally make a little money while doing so. Good stuff.


Trip started out a little colder than usual with clear skys, but temps in the teens. First issue- stopped about half way for fuel for us and the vehicle. As I was walking around checking on the boat and trailer, I realized the license plate was missing. After further exploration, realized the bracket just broke off. Next issue, to launch on the island you must have a permit. To get a permit, you must have the registration or a plate. I have neither. Not to worry too much, there are other ramps off of the island, I'll just adjust my sales, so to speak.


Since my Mother and Father-in-law are along on this trip, I decided to forgo the first day hunt to spend a little time showing them around with the family. Cold but fun day.


First hunting day, met up with my resident friend of many years. We earlier, via text messaging, decided to hunt off of a creek, off the island. Got out early, set up and went to load our guns. Oh wait, what gun?!?! Seems I left mine back at the truck... to my memory, I've never actually done that before. I know why though. I am a creature of habit. I always put everything in one place, in the back of the truck. On the way out, I put my gun up under the rear truck seat, and in this case- out of site. I left my buddy and trusty canine on shore, fired up the 25 HP Mercury, buttoned up my jacket and flew back the two miles or so back to the truck. Just me in a relatively empty boat, I get around 30 mph. Still, by the time I got back, with the clear, bluebird weather, for all intents and purposes the morning flight was over.

2nd day, we launched at the same ramp but headed North, to a spot we've never hunted before. Seemed like a good spot. Plenty of water to be able to negotiate the falling tide, and we saw a few birds trading back and forth. We had good expectations. To no avail, however. My buddy poked at a lone Black Duck, but about all he accomplished was to confirm his gun functioned normally.

Now, I want to state at this point- we had plenty of chances at Buffleheads, and both Red Breasted and Hooded Mergansers, but chose to refrain. Neither taste very good.

The trip back to the ramp proved quite exciting. As the day progressed, we could see the waves and white caps building. After picking up and batten in everything down, we headed into the teeth of the wind. My boat is a big 17 foot welded V bottom john, and has a removable "deck" all around, similar to a TDB, or the like. I usually feel pretty comfortable even in caps. This day, however, whew! We slipped thru a small area of open water with solid 4 footers. I had to carefully watch and navigate the oncoming waves with caution. Many times, had the bow not been covered over, we would've taken on water. I would like to not have to deal with that again. At the ramp, we were followed by two boats bigger than mine. Both had enough water in them to make things not only scary, but on the verge of being very dangerous.

Next day, after checking the tides, we decided to launch "Bayside", or over on the Chesapeake Bay side. Tides were extremely low this year. High tides this trip were closer to normal low tides. Hard to launch. At low tide the ramps end in about a foot of water. My boat needs at least 2 feet of depth for the hull to float. Because of this, and the fact that neither of us had hunted here before, we launched after daylight. Big mistake. We saw several guys at the ramp, and on the way up the creek. All of them had big bags, and all of them said the birds flew early, but stopped by the time we got out. I managed to harvest, in 15° icy weather, of all things, a hen Bluewing Teal. I couldn't believe a Bluewing would still be around at this time of year, in this weather. We spent some time scouting and picked out our next morning's spot, as well as our toy duck layout. We were all set!

Next morning, we arrived at the ramp bright and early, only to discover the ramp completely iced up. All the while there, the winds,we're howling out of the North to Northwest. While this particular ramp faces East, and is fairly protected, there Some open water to the North. Seems all of the ice was being blown towards the ramp. Some of it was piled close to 2 feet high. No way to launch here, as it was getting pounded. We headed towards the backup ramp, only to discover the sane thing. Back on the home island, we found all of the ramps iced over, with huge sheets of ice floating and building up all around, and fast. We sadly realized we are done for this year. Unfortunately I purchased an annual license, when in reality, a three day tag, at half the cost would've sufficed. No biggie, I consider it a donation to the Department of Game and Fish to one of my favorite places on earth.

Oh well, there's always next year, for which I am already making preperations for...
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Great tale, Jon!

Lots of your experience sounded familiar - including the family part.

I was gunning on Long Island earlier this week - but headed north before the wild snow storm - and then the frigid cold. My partners tell me everything is locked up right now. (It was eighteen below hereabouts this morning.)

Just one thought for future years. When ramps are heavily iced but open water beckons beyond, many of us on LI carry a long length of heavy line. We keep the tow vehicle up on the flat and "launch" the vessel by sliding it down on the ice. Obviously, this is more easily done with smaller duckboats. I kept about 100' of half-inch nylon for this task - and usually had a wooden beach roller or 2 along. I could usually haul the boat up the ramp with the truck - then winch the boat onto the trailer.

All the best,

SJS

 
Steve,

I have done that in the past, however, this rig at 17 x 54, with a 125# Merc, and loaded, weighs a little more than I care at my age, to deal with. Getting it up may be doable, launching is a whole different ballgame. And unfortunately, my boat sits quite high on the welded trailer. On the first trip, we did have to load her up fully dry. The bunks were about 8" out of water. No easy chore.

On these trips, the issue was more about the piling up ice. I just didn't want to chance ice that was stacked a couple feet high and building. That, and the creek we intended to hunt was full if ice flows. Sometimes it's just too much work.

I carry plenty of rope, a few chains and a 50# bag of ice melt.

By the way, we heard a scary story at the ramp on the windy trip. A hunter was out in waste deep water tending to ice on the dekes. A large flow, as he described, of about a couple acres in size drifted in to him. He couldn't stop it. It pushed him uncontrollably and he started to get scared. Before he lost it, however, he realized he could sorta roll along the edge towards shore while at the same time busting the 1/2" to 3/4" ice with his elbows. Just goes to show, you must always be prepared.

Jon
 
Jon-I've hunted that area many times over the years. It's a great area for variety of waterfowl and has that remote feel. There is nothing scarier than a sheet of ice coming at you, which is why I don't hunt in my local marsh once ice starts to build. You never know in tidal water what is coming in or going out. I had a similar experience once in Tuckerton, albeit in my AA Wigeon. I was out on the edge of the bay just off a creek, and while the bay had been clear all morning, the wind shifted mid-morning. I start hearing a sound like the tinkling of glass, and can't figure it out. Then I see some ice out on the bay. That's odd, I think, I haven't seen any ice all day, although I know there is ice around, as it had been cold.Then I notice the ice is moving, toward me. Then I notice, it's moving really fast, and I better get out of there before it gets here. Well, I didn't even have enough time to pick up 6 decoys and I was surrounded by it. Fortunately, it was moving in the direction I was going, but I couldn't ride through it, the chunks were just too big, but I could move along with it and steer with my push pole. The good news was I was now in the creek, and worse came to worse, I could have gotten to the edge and pulled up my boat and walked in from there. Finally, I got to a T intersection with another creek, and the current held the ice there, and it was clear from there on back to where I had launched my boat, which was only a couple of hundred yards. But I don't mind telling anyone that scared me pretty good because of the power of the wind and ice, and you weren't breaking through it that day. I did wonder how the people I had seen crossing the big water earlier in the day made out, I know they made it in, but I was glad I wasn't out on the islands I had seen others going to.
 
Have hunted those waters before , waves and wind can sneak up on you quick out there and things can get dicey. Shot plenty of buffys come into decoys and pass by's also.
 
Jon~

Sounds like you "come prepared"!

I was especially interested to see the ice melt. In the winter months - but especially when I'm gunning and driving off the road - I have always brought a shovel and something to provide friction - for those times when snow and ice conspire to put a frictionless environment right beneath my wheels. For many years, I put a bag of sawdust/shavings in the car. In recent years, I "invested" in tube sand from my hardware store. It seemed like an improvement.

On New Year's morning, I drove out back here in my Honda Element to photograph 2018's first sunrise. It was about 16 below zero and there was about 7 inches of snow on the ground. I was a bit too adventurous and started slipping on an uphill stretch. I had forgotten that the day of rain just before Christmas created the frozen base beneath the very dry snow.

So, out came the shovel and tube sand. While the shovel did its part, I soon discovered that when the sand is put into its waterproof tube...it ain't necessarily dry. Instead of tossing handfuls of sand behind each tire as planned, the only geological resource at my disposal was a single piece - tube-shaped to be sure - of sandstone. It had all frozen into one large rock. Dropping it - with a bit of gusto - yielded 3 good-sized rocks....

Later that day - with snow chains newly installed on my tractor - I was able to get everything back to the barn.

There's a lot that can go wrong out there !

SJS

 
Great idea as usual, Steve. Would you be so kind as to describe a "beach roller".

I'm guessing it is a cylindrical length of something that is at least as wide as the boat, but I'd really love to learn more details since there are a few ramps hereabouts that the extra rope and the beach rollers would probably help me out a lot.
 
Steve~

Beach rollers were/are often used to launch life saving vessels over the beach. As long as I can remember, my Dad used them to launch duckboats.

They are typically made of wooden slats - a cedar is ideal - fastened to 3 "rounds". They do not have to be fully as wide as a boat, but wide enough to keep it level AND for you to reach the rollers. The outside diameter is 8 or 9 inches - bigger is better on soft sand.

The spaces between the slats should be generous enough to allow water, sand and small pebbles to escape - because they WILL find their way in.

The rope handles are an important convenience feature. 3/8-inch nylon or dacron with 2 figure-8 knots or a square knot inside does the trick.

View attachment Beach Rollers 1 sm.jpg

A single roller can be handy, but, I typically use a pair, leap-frogging them forward as I cross the beach. A set of 3 is best for really heavy boats.

A length of heavy PVC pipe - 4 or 6 inches in diameter - can work in a pinch.

I drew a template for the rounds once. I'll see if I can dig it up and scan it.

All the best,

SJS


 
Thanks, Steve. What a great concept. Really hope to construct a set of those rollers. They look real useful.
 
Good morning, Steve and Dave~

I found my template - from about 1982 - for the "frames".

View attachment Beach Roller frame template ~ 1982 sm.jpg

I would use either inch (3/4") or 5/4 (1") stock - virtually clear White Pine, Cypress, Whitecedar or Redcedar. Notice you can cut this 12-sided shape out of 1x8 lumber.

My rollers are 36 inches long - but can be any length you like. With 3/4-inch-thick slats, outside diameter would be about 8.5 inches.

I would fasten the slats with a single deck screw - pre-drilled through the slats - on each frame and bed them in construction adhesive or caulk.

Note that even a single roller is very helpful if you need to get a boat from the "hard" up onto a trailer. By getting a roller beneath the boat about amidships, you can put the nose up into the air - usually well above the roller on the stern of your trailer. (If needed, I will also unhook the trailer from the car so I can get the tongue up high and the back of the trailer down low. Once you winch the boat halfway onto the trailer - to its balance point - you can level everything and winch it on home to the winch stand.)

If I make another later this year, I'll post a step-by-step.

Hope this helps! (and apologies to Jon for "highjacking this thread!)

SJS

 
I see no problem with "hijacking" my thread since it is related to safety and instructional, for which I take no offense.

Now if you were to change the subject to,,, say,,, clothes laundering...

Jon
 
Jon,


Taken at Assateague Island between the Atlantic Ocean and Tom's Cove day before Christmas. Stayed in Chincoteague. No duck hunting but we had allot more fun than clothes laundering. Took allot of pictures of waterfowl including a mass of snow geese -and mallards at the local gas station. What you see when you don't have a gun:) Saw a Bald Headed Eagle hanging out on the sand spit. Pretty neat. I will see if I can't scare up some pics of the wildfowl. Cheers.View attachment 25550631_10155969407307118_5910577746938564233_n.jpg
 
I scared up a couple more neat pics. We saw a trio of Eiders flying off the beach, but I didn't have my camera handy. They are fairly rare there. I did however, get a decent picture of a young Harbour Seal basking in the howling wind on a rock pie along the causeway. Saw this little guy as we were coming in after a hunt. Took the family back, and luckily, he was still there.



Jon
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