Jay Cherrix has been leading this tour for over a decade, and his family has lived on Chincoteague for 300 years. He's the first and only native professional sea-kayak guide. Our trip left at 6:30am, but there's another trip that leaves at 6pm. You need to call ahead, because the times may vary depending on the weather and sunrise/sunset times. We paddled the flatwater and marshlands between Chincoteague and Assateague islands. We saw many varieties of shellfish and birds. We even saw a bald eagle fly right over us with a fish in her mouth to her nest. Finally, we saw a group of wild ponies in Assateague frolicking in the sand at the edge of the water.
Jay was very knowledgeable about the parks, the environment, the marshland critters, and politics. Jay is a member of Citizens for the Preservation of Assateague (CPA), which was founded in December, 2002. See www.saveassateague.org. CPA was formed to fight the National Park Service to keep development and private enterprise off Assateague Island. According to Jay, the NPS is trying to give the federal lands to developers to build high-end condos. Jay has mortgaged his home to help pay for his fight with the government.