Kellys Island 8/25 - Trip Report

[Libby Wolf]

There's a rumor I like to paddle distances. It must be true. When Frank Webber and I decided to paddle out to Kellys Island from Mazurek's in Marblehead, he said we could do an out and back, for ten miles, or circumnavigate the island before coming back. 11 miles more? Why not?

We left Mazureks before 8 am. Unfortunately we missed Bill, who had camped nearby, when he made his way to greet us at the put in an hour later.  We paddled over to Kellys, and made our first stretch stop near Carpenter's Point, on the west end of the island.  The water was clean, clear and relatively flat.  We traveled north along the protected land of the state park, which is void of  homes and is, instead, still wild and natural. This was my first time out to the island and, again, I was taken by the beauty of yet another Ohio recreation area. 

We put in at the State Park beach. Checked out the Glacial Grooves and quarries. We looked for Chester, who, we understand has a campsite named after him. This must have been his off weekend.

Next, we circled the island to the other side and had lunch at Dockers, where we watched all the motoring folks hang out with drinks or show off with big noise and big fumes as they waited for their friends to board. After a short walking tour, we finished circling the island in our kayaks then cut back across to Mazureks. Nice paddle, chaotic waves out in the middle as usual. Got back around 3 pm. 

I was in my Solstice and Frank in something much faster, but we kept a 4.5 mph (or better) pace for the entire 21 miles. Boat traffic was not as bad as I anticipated, and it couldn't have been a better paddling day. 

~ Libby Wolf