Blog & Newsletter

Eco-Therapy

We recently had the pleasure of working with two talented counselors for the first Eco-Therapy Camps.

“Eco-therapy is a way of taking advantage of what nature has to offer to teach kids skills that will help them control anger and increase positive mood,” said Jayme Mahoney.  Campers learned to ride a wave, paddle a standup paddleboard, practice yoga on the beach, and explore the natural wonders of the lower Eastern Shore.  Every day featured an adventure. Two groups visited us at the Pocomoke River Canoe Company to learn the basics of paddling a canoe.  The kids were aged 6 to 17, few of which had any paddling experience at all.  All did very well, paddling more than a mile on Corkers Creek.

If you know a camp or school program where young people might enjoy the challenge of learning a new skill – canoeing or kayaking – think about bringing them to the Pocomoke River Canoe Company.  Our skilled staff can turn any first-time paddler into a smiling paddler.

JESSE’S PADDLE IS BACK FOR 2021!

Saturday, September 18, 2021
Pocomoke River Canoe Company
2 River Street, Snow Hill MD

5:00 -7:00 pm

Mark your calendars and join us on Saturday, September 18th for the 13th annual Jesse’s Paddle.  The Paddle features live music, free hot dogs, a great silent auction, a swag bag for every donor, and Jesse’s Poker Paddle.  Prizes for the top Poker Paddle winners.

You can reserve a free canoe, a solo kayak or a 2-person kayak for Jesse’s Poker Paddle by calling the Pocomoke River Canoe Company at 410-632-3971.  We request a minimum of $30 in donations for a free boat – our ability to sustain and grow our suicide prevention and grant missions depend on pledges and donations from Jesse’s Paddle.

Better yet, why not set up your own Jesse’s Paddle pledge team and ask everyone you know to support you and the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund?  It’s easy – go to our Donor Page and click on “Create my own Fundraising Page.”  Then share it on social media or everywhere else to pass the word to everyone you know.  Donations are cleared through a secure credit card site. Alternatively, pledge collectors can download and print a Pledge Form, and bring the form and donations to the Paddle.

For more information about how you can join us for fun and fellowship, you can call 443-982-2716 or send a message to weremember@jessespaddle.org. Continue to watch this page for new details as we provide them, including our Silent Auction items and how you can bid on them.

SEE YOU AT JESSE’S PADDLE!

We Are Open! (Update)

We are now going back to normal hours starting today!
Monday-Friday: 9AM-5PM
Saturday: 8AM-6PM
Sunday: 9AM-5PM

Pocomoke River Canoe Company Covid-19 Requirements:

All employees will be wearing face masks
.
For the protection of our patrons and employees, patrons must wear face masks at all times when around others, employees, and when entering and exiting boats. Patrons must always have masks on in building. Face masks will not be provided

We will be cleaning counter, boats, paddles, PFDs, after each use. Contact points in vans after each trip. So, please give us time to do so.

We will be asking for patrons to book or call in advance to ensure we have your boat ready.

Due to limited quantities, we ask that patrons bring their own hand sanitizer and wipes. Will have one bottle in each van and one in the shop.

We ask that you use restroom in advance. Restrooms will need to be cleaned after each use. With groups and families, this process might take a while.

We will be implementing an online waiver form that you can do right on your phone.

We ask that you practice a 6ft social distancing parameter. No more than 10 customers, or one group will be allowed in shop at a time.

We are currently doing shuttles to all locations. Vans are sanitized after each shuttle.

Our location at Pocomoke River State Park: Shad Landing is currently closed. We are located in Snow Hill 4 miles away. We can deliver to your campsite if you would like a boat for the day (or weekend). Must be made in advance. $5 off if you present your camping pass for any rental.

Enjoy and have fun!

To contact us:
Email: canoe@pocomokeriverpaddle.com
Phone: (410)-632-3971
Facebook Messenger: @PocomokeRiverCanoeCo

Covid-19 Update (WE ARE OPEN!)

Due to the COVID-19 Outbreak, we are currently operating under restricted hours:
Monday: 9AM-4PM
Tuesday: 9AM-4PM
Wednesday: 9AM-4PM
Thursday: 9AM-4PM
Friday: 9AM-5PM
Saturday: 9AM-5PM
Sunday: 9AM-5PM
Pocomoke River Canoe Company Covid-19 Requirements:|

All employees will be wearing face masks.For the protection of our patrons and employees, patrons must wear face masks at all times when around others, employees, and when entering and exiting boats. Patrons must always have masks on in building. Face masks will not be provided

We will be cleaning counter, boats, paddles, PFDs, after each use. Contact points in vans after each trip. So, please give us time to do so.

We will be asking for patrons to book or call in advance to ensure we have your boat ready.

Due to limited quantities, we ask that patrons bring their own hand sanitizer and wipes. Will have one bottle in each van and one in the shop.

We ask that you use restroom in advance. Restrooms will need to be cleaned after each use. With groups and families, this process might take a while.

We will be implementing an online waiver form that you can do right on your phone.

We ask that you practice a 6ft social distancing parameter. No more than 10 customers, or one group will be allowed in shop at a time.

We are currently doing shuttles to Nassawango Creek (Red House Road) and hopefully Porter’s Crossing starting next week!

Enjoy and have fun!


To contact us:
Email: canoe@pocomokeriverpaddle.com
Phone: (410)-632-3971
Facebook Messenger: @PocomokeRiverCanoeCo

COVID-19 Update

Due to the COVID-19 Outbreak, we are currently closed until further notice. However, we can assist you with canoe and kayak sales via internet or phone, along with t-shirt and merchandise orders!

To contact us:
Email: canoe@pocomokeriverpaddle.com
Phone: (410)-632-3971
Facebook Messenger: @PocomokeRiverCanoeCo
Barry’s Cell (Proprietor): (410)-430-2297
Frank’s Cell (Customer Service): (410)-726-2105

We wish you well during this time, and remind you to wash your hands and follow CDC guidelines.

Reflections on the Pocomoke

Reflections along the Nassawango Creek from the Pocomoke River Canoe CompanyOn a perfect morning, when the Pocomoke is flat calm and the sun is angled toward the water, surrounded by white clouds and blue sky, you could take a photo and not know when it was upside down or right side up. That’s how clear, how sharply lined the reflections are. If a blue heron flies over and you looked down into the tea-colored water, you would see the grayish underside of its wings as sharply as if you were lying on your back and looking up.

Saturday morning was such a morning.

From my kayak, I thought about how magical it would be to paddle into those reflections, to see the cypress and the clouds shining in the water all around my boat. Almost as if I were paddling in the upper story of a deep forest. The trees glimmered in the water in front of me, and I paddled cautiously toward the shoreline, for all it would take would be one cypress knee, just beneath the surface, to punch a hole in my skin boat.
It’s impossible to do! I’m probably revealing my abysmal lack of physics (or would it be optics? Or meteorology?) but the reflection recedes as fast as you paddle toward it. The top of the reflected treeline remained precisely the same distance away from the bow of my kayak as I approached the riverbank. By the time I got to the edge it had disappeared into the forest, like a deer that had come to drink and looked up to see me. The mirrored forest fled my kayak just the same as a turtle dropping off a log.

I tried sneaking up, angling the boat into the incoming tide and sliding obliquely into the reflection. I tried paddling from the upstream and downstream sides, but still the watery forest detected my approach and headed for the shoreline.

The bow of my boat boasts an Inuit symbol, perhaps the Indian root of the common theatrical grin/scowl, a smiling face carved into one side of a round cherry disc, the other a black glower. It’s like the maidenhead on a frigate. My friend and carver Doug Fisher presented it to me when I was nearing completion of the boat. As I pulled my kayak back onto the floating dock I couldn’t help but see that smirk, mocking me. “You idiot,” it said wordlessly. “You should have paid more attention in school.”

The River is Good for Your Mental Health

No more than half-a-mile from the canoe shop there’s a tiny “lagoon,” on the town side of the Pocomoke. This summer it is lined with honeysuckle, hundreds of blooms so low to my deck that at high tide some are beneath the tea-colored water. It has become one of my favorite morning spots.
I’m in the habit of paddling that way several mornings a week, not long after dawn, and floating quietly surrounded by the flowers. The drone of traffic on Route 113 finds a way through the cypress, but as I tell everyone who asks me about how to choose a kayak, everything that has to do with small boats is a compromise. Length vs. maneuverability vs. speed. Cost vs. durability. I can paddle another hour north and the traffic din will disappear, but the schedule intrudes. Silence vs. the clock.
In my kayak I can sit cross-legged in the shade, and for half an hour or so, by concentrating on my breathing, I can nearly wipe from my senses anything that isn’t natural. On a paddleboard, like this morning, I have to lie on my back. With my hands crossed on my chest, unmoving except the rise and fall as I breathe, from a distance I must look like a corpse. No one has ever paddled or motored over to check on me.
There is an amazing symbiosis between the practice, meditative breathing, and the natural world. The sum of the two far exceeds its parts. I can do the same at home, sitting on the carpet in the air conditioning, but I cannot hear the seagulls overhead nor can I feel the aroma of the honeysuckle as I breathe in – and it is, believe me, a palpable feeling. I cannot feel the motion of the boat under me; even with your eyes closed you can feel your boat drift. The contact points, knees against the underside of the kayak deck, shoulder blades against the hard plastic paddleboard deck, sharpens my perception of every other incoming sense more than my sit bones on the plush carpet do.
The quiet meditation enriches the absorption of the surrounding nature. Absorption is the correct noun. A walk in the woods does much the same, but without the gentle rolling of the boat and the darkness of eyelids closed much of the rest of the experience is lost, undetected. Paddling my kayak without stopping is a great way to become a part of my surroundings, but without the corpse-like stillness and the concentrated aromas, much of that experience flies by as the bow parts the water.
Green is good for your mental health.

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