Kayak Virginia Beach Information Net

Weather today was not good for kayaking, so my daughter and I went out exploring, and visited 3 new launch sites, and those have been added to KayakVB.

General Vaughan Bridge

The ramps at the General Vaughan Bridge Launch

This is on the Nottoway River, just a few miles from the North Carolina Border.

Murfreesboro Boating Access

The ramp at the Murfreesboro Boating Access facility

A nice launch site provided by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Merchants Millpond

The Merchants Millpond Ramp

A great place, that I have been trying to get to since June.

Just a note to let everyone know that I added a few more launches to the primary site.

The new sites are…

Huntington Park  In Newport News

Gloucester Point on the York River in Gloucester

Mill Creek On the Rappahanock 

and Parrotts Creek just off the Rappahanock 

I found that I have a few more, that I forgot to add when checked them out over the winter, as soon as I get them straightened out I’ll add them…

Okay everyone in Norfolk, I heard you…
My self imposed boycott of Norfolk, because of their boat permit is over….
I had reason to be in Norfolk on Saturday, and took advantage to visit most of launches available in the city of Norfolk.

I added 3 Saltwater launches on the Lafayette River, and 3 Freshwater launches.

In the Saltwater category, I added Haven Creek Boat Ramp (By far the nicest of the 3), Lafayette Park (in desperate need of a makeover), and 45th Street Boat Ramp/Marina (in desperate need of parking)

In the freshwater category I also added 3 locations in Norfolk, well ok 2 are technically in Virginia Beach, but are on Norfolk’s water. They are Lake Smith, Little Creek Reservoir, and Lake Whitehurst. All three appear to be nice urban lakes with some potential…

Just a confirmation that Horn Point Kayak and Canoe launch is now open for the season, and there is a caretaker on site. I had a little chat with Danny (the Caretaker) today, and he seems like a real nice and helpful guy.

The other thing to take not of is that the sandbar has pretty much moved to the other side of the channel, the deepest part was only about 6 inches or so. It was a bit of a nuisance, having to step up and over the wood bulkhead.

So enjoy…

I have really started in earnest working on the re-write of the launch site portion of kayakvb.com, and at a minimum I will be switching from Yahoo Maps to google maps. The other things that are on my short list of things to add are directions to and from a specific location, downloadable GPS waypoints. 

I have been considering adding some sort of user feedback or comments capability for each launch, as I do not have the time to visit every location on a regular basis, and it would be a good way to keep others informed of the status or condition of launch sites.

If you have any requests, comments, or feedback, feel free to leave them here or email me at PAUL AT KAYAKVB.COM and don’t be shy.

As soon as I have a somewhat working preview, I’ll post a link here, somewhere here…
Thank You