Canoe, kayak paddle to be held on floating meadows

MIDDLETOWN » The Jonah Center invites kayakers and canoeists to a “paddle with a purpose” next month in the city’s floating meadows – a 1,000-acre freshwater tidal marshland.

Paddlers will launch from the city of Middletown’s Phil Salafia Canoe and Kayak Launch at 181 Johnson St., travel down the Coginchaug River for a short distance to the Mattabesset River and from there, paddle upstream on the slow-moving Mattabesset.

The total paddling time will be approximately two hours.

The area offers abundant scenery and wildlife sightings, according to a Jonah Center press release.

Participants will likely see osprey, tree swallows, egrets, herons, turtles and perhaps the bald eagles that occupy a large nest visible along the route.

The main group activity will be searching for, and removing, invasive water chestnut plants that choked the waterway last season, the release continues.

In recent years, the growing water chestnut infestation in southern New England has posed an increasingly serious threat to the health of local ponds and coves along the Connecticut River, according to the Jonah Center.

In 2016, volunteers removed 48 canoes full of plants from the floating meadows due to the efforts of six work parties.

Beyond this outing on June 10, the Jonah Center has scheduled two additional events June 24 and July 8, both Saturdays, starting at the same location. All run from 1 to 3 p.m.

Paddlers need to provide their own boats and life jackets as well as water and snacks (if desired). Preregistration is not required, but participants will be asked to sign a liability waiver and photo use permission slip.

There is no fee but the center welcomes donations of $10 per person to help cover the costs of insurance, supplies and planning. For information, contact John Hall at 860-398-3771.

FILE PHOTO Paddlers of canoes and kayaks can help this year’s effort to remove invasive water chestnut plants from the floating meadows with the Jonah Center of Middletown.