Saturday, August 24 and/or Sunday, August 25, 2019.
An Historic Paddle on the Delaware River.
Fireworks
Boat parade
This year timed to coincide with Burlington City’s popular “Festival of Lights” — a lighted boat parade followed by fireworks.
In 1677, the Quakers bought from the Lenape the land between Assunpink Creek (Trenton) and Rancocas Creek on the tidal section of the Delaware. This paddle is nearly that entire distance. Paddle either or both days. Stay overnight or not. Lenape Chief Ockanickon, a friend to the Quakers, is interred in the property’s burial ground.
Cick here for a map: http://bit.ly/2019PennPaddFull
(Boat parade photo – 2016 Newport Beach Boat Parade 9 by D Ramey Logan from Wikimedia Commons)
Pennsbury Manor
Saturday, August 24
- See Requirements to Paddle below
- Paddle Bordentown to Burlington (10 miles) launching from Bordentown Beach https://goo.gl/maps/MqpjayvxDBT2 at the Delaware River end of W. Park St. You do not need a launch permit. Bordentown knows we’re coming. There are porta-potties. Unload, check-in and gear up by 9:00 a.m. This trip is panned with the tides. Please don’t be late. Following a briefing, launch at 9:15 a.m.
- Visit Pennsbury Manor, the reconstructed home of William Penn on the Delaware. Watch a movie, tour the exhibit in the visitors’ center and wander the grounds. Admission included. There are bathrooms.
- Take out at Burlington Boat Ramp. There are porta-potties.
- Move your boat to a warehouse across the street from the take-out. Storage at N/C. We LOVE Lester Trucking!
- Take the RiverLINE light rail train back to your car. A green shuttle! We’ll walk you there. Tickets included. Bring some water and snacks for the trip.
- Drive back to Burlington. If you are coming with a friend and can put two boats on your car, we highly recommend you carpool as Burlington will be hopping.
- Not paddling on Sunday? Pick up your boat from the warehouse. Staying overnight at the Burlington Center for Conference (see below)? Leave your boat in the warehouse. Storage at N/C. Did I mention that we LOVE Lester Trucking?!
- Have a hot shower at the Burlington Center for Conference. Included with Saturday’s paddle, even if not staying overnight.
- Enjoy Burlington City’s Festival of Lights**:
- 3:00 – 9:00 PM – Food & Vendors on the Promenade
- 5:00 – 7:00 PM – Live Band
- (7:15 – 9:45 PM – DJ on the Bandstand)
- 8:00 PM – Decorated/Lighted Boat Parade on the River
- 9:15 PM – Fireworks**
(Pennsbury Manor photo by Shuvaev on Wikimedia Commons)
Parking in town
There are 230 spaces in a free public lot accessible by the driveway across High St. from the Burlington Center for Conference https://goo.gl/maps/dZhsiLwVVrqDW5mp7 If you are coming into town on High St. headed toward the river, once you cross Broad St. take the fist driveway on the right between Olde City Quilts shop on your left and Taste of Soul restaurant. See map at right.
Stay Overnight
- Store your boat in a warehouse across from the 24th take-out/the 25th’s put-in.
- Enjoy the pubs, restaurants, ice cream parlor and promenade in Burlington City.
- Enjoy Burlington City’s Festival of Lights**:
- 3:00 – 9:00 PM – Food & Vendors on the Promenade
- 5:00 – 7:00 PM – Live Band
- (7:15 – 9:45 PM – DJ on the Bandstand)
- 8:00 PM – Decorated/Lighted Boat Parade on the River
- 9:15 PM – Fireworks**
- Stay overnight at the Burlington Center for Conference with 88 beds, hot showers, air conditioning.
- Men and women on separate floors
- BYO bedding, toiletries. More details below
- Curfew at 11:00 p.m.
- BYO non-perishable breakfast. We will supply coffee and hot water
- Sleep in. We need to kill some time before the tide is right to depart on Sunday
Entrance
Only if you need wheelchair access should you drive down the driveway on the left-hand side of the building. On the same side at the top of the ramp, you will find the entrance.
Sunday, August 25
- See Requirements to Paddle below
- Stayed overnight? Sleep in. We need to kill some time before the tide is right to depart.
- BEFORE THE PADDLE, arrive prior to 12 noon and listen to a talk about the aids to navigation and rules-of-the-road in the tidal Delaware River at by State Marine Police Sargeant Robert Albano. N/C. Park either at the State Marine Police or near the boat ramp (walkable to the talk). If parking at the Marine Police, enter here https://goo.gl/maps/2RzKcrj8GRw2BQ4AA at 601 E. Pearl St., Burlington, NJ 08016, drive up to, around the left and behind the water works and up to, around to the right, infront of and beyond the Police building.
- Paddle Burlington to Rancocas (9 miles), launching from Burlington Boat Ramp https://goo.gl/maps/TKnLEpqjE9D2 near the intersection of E. Pearl St. and Latham. You do not need a launch permit. Burlington has given us a pass. There are porta-potties. Unload no sooner than 12:30 p.m. (important!) and check in. Please don’t park in the boat trailer spots unless you have a boat trailer. You may also park on the other side of the basketball courts and along E. Pearl St. Following a briefing, launch at 12:50 p.m.
- Listen to a talk by Adam DePaul of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania.
- Take out at Hawk Island Marina on Rancocas Creek. Boat ramp fee included. There are bathrooms.
- Take the RiverLINE light rail train back to your car. A green shuttle! We’ll walk you there. Tickets included. Bring some water and snacks for the trip.
- **Have a hot shower at the Burlington Center for Conference if Burlington City’s Festival of Lights was rescheduled for Sunday. Included with Sunday’s paddle.
Tickets, Package Deals
A ticket is really a donation to the Burlington Meeting House, Inc., a non profit that owns and operates the facility, and the Paddle is something of a fundraiser for it. THANK YOU for your donation.
- Saturday paddling: $25
- Sunday paddling: $20
- 2 days of paddling, NO overnight stay: $40
- 1 day of paddling, YES overnight stay: $45 Saturday, $40 Sunday
- 2 days paddling, YES overnight stay: $60
Early bird special
2 days paddling, overnight stay
Buy on/before August 19, 2019: $50. Save $10!
Requirements to Paddle
- It may not be your first time paddling a kayak. Realize that:
- a 10-mile paddle may take 4 hours of paddling
- there may be boat wake, waves, current in Rancocas Creek and wind
- Kayak 10′ or longer unless we’ve paddled with you before
- Paddle
- Whistle**
- Wear your PFD while on the water. Inflatable life jackets are not acceptable. No exceptions to either**
- Help move your boat and at least one other person’s boat at both put-ins and take-outs
**Required by law
Bring
Paddling
BYO drinks, snacks and lunch, the food being non-perishable if you are paddling both days. If you wear prescription sunglasses and are paddling on Saturday, the 24th, bring regular glasses so you can see while inside Pennsbury Manor. If you want to bring your gear back on the RiverLINE, bring a duffle bag. You can leave your gear with your boats while you shuttle, however. RiverLINE tickets are included.
Overnight
BYO sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, toiletries and perhaps some earplugs. BYO non-perishable breakfast. We will supply coffee, hot water.
Rain, Refunds
We paddle in the rain.
If the rain is heavy, we might have a delayed start.
If there is thunder, we may have a delayed start or long lunch, etc.
There are no refunds.
Run by the Burlington Meeting House, Inc., which owns and operates the Center for Conference
In 1677, the Quakers who sailed from England on the ship Kent and landed in Burlington bought from the Lenape Indians the land between Assunpink Creek (Trenton) and Rancocas Creek along the Delaware River. This paddle is nearly that entire distance. Lenape Chief Ockanickon, a friend of the Quakers, is buried in the property’s grave yard.
Read about our logo and its connection to the Delaware River.