Homeport Farm Park potential kayak storage barn

[Lisa]

Hello all, Homeport Farm Park will be finished this spring. The county has no plans for the old barn near the parking lot. It's in better shape than it looks like because it has a concrete slab foundation and the roof is sound. It would be a great kayak storage building.

I've been talking with the Chesapeake Paddlers Association http://www.cpakayaker.com about the CPA taking on the barn and initially turning it into kayak storage. People who live in apartments and condos need kayak storage space and some people may paddle out of Homeport enough to store their kayaks there.

No decision yet - the CPA is mulling it over. Would any Snaggedline'rs want to talk with the CPA about cooperating on this project? Some of you might find a home for your yaks at Homeport.

There's been a huge old widowmaker tree hanging over the barn for years and I figured it would eventually smash the barn flat. It fell about two feet from the building. So I asked about the county plans for the barn and they have none. The county is open to suggestions. The county sometimes does *really* cheap leases for odd buildings so the county doesn't have to manage them.

The CPA is a 501c3 so could work with the county as a nonprofit. CPA membership is $10 or $15 a year and they do a lot of safety training.

It's early days yet - the county OK'd me asking the CPA about the barn, but no promises and no decision.

If this Homeport project interests you please tell me.

Thanks

Lisa

[Yak Fish]

Neat idea Lisa, thanks for keeping us in the loop. If people fish HP frequently it may be a great option to make getting on and off the water fast and easy.

[Lisa]

You're welcome. If you want to check out the Homeport progress for yourself, I've been parking outside the gate and walking in outside of construction hours without any problem. They paved the Homeport Mudpit, btw.

Lisa

[Lisa]

Hello all, Homeport Farm Park will be finished this spring. The county has no plans for the old barn near the parking lot. It's in better shape than it looks like because it has a concrete slab foundation and the roof is sound. It would be a great kayak storage building. <snip>

Hello all, I am doing a walk through at Homeport tomorrow / Friday 2/2/18 at 8:30 am. Please join me if you're curious about the park in general or or want to look over the barn in particular.

I know I'm not the only one with cabin fever.

Lisa

[moc]

Hello all, I am doing a walk through at Homeport tomorrow / Friday 2/2/18 at 8:30 am. Please join me if you're curious about the park in general or or want to look over the barn in particular.

I know I'm not the only one with cabin fever.

Lisa

I would if I wasn't working......

[dirtyjake237]

Hi Lisa I will meet you there!

[mchottie]

Sitting at work, or would have met you on-site.

If anyone took photos, please post them!

Thx!

[dirtyjake237]

Lisa,

Thanks for the invitation, and please pass my thanks to Chris for the personal guided tour of the renovations.
Lisa has some great photos and I'm sure she will share them as soon as she has time, it was a bit cold this morning and it may take some time to thaw out her fingers so she can post them.
I also met a great guy by the name of Ralph from the Chesapeake paddlers association and he has posted his pics here https://photos.google.com/album/AF1Q...G6QfMwOqRS1ej4
I can say that the renovations are AMAZING!!!! The work looks to be almost completed with the exception of some grass and parking curbs.
They really kept the great feel of the park overall and the enhancements do not diminish from the off the beaten path hidden gem that this park has always been. There are a few areas that seem a bit more open, but it is winter and I'm sure that when the leaves return to the trees this spring the shade and feeling of complete seclusion will be as it was before.
All in all for us kayak fisherman I'll list the following improvements,
1. The road on the to the parking lot is now 2 cars wide and pothole free!
2. The parking area is great with a dedicated loading and unloading no parking zone, so all of us can get the big rigs off the car or truck and not have to fight a kayak off the vehicle while worrying about scratching or denting the vehicle next to us in a parking lot.
3. And this is the biggest improvement for us, the path from the parking lot to the water is level, tree root free, wide enough for any kayak and smooth. The top of the path is now crushed gravel but the steep part of the hill is PAVED!!!! that is correct it is asphalt, so anyone with a big heavy rig on a cart can now get that big heavy fishing kayak back up the hill with a lot less effort. It's still a hill, but less steep and not sloping off to one side... but most importantly no more tree roots!
4. This is the best part in my opinion,the mud bank has been covered in very nice beach sand. So no more shoveling mud out of your rig after getting in or out.

There are still talks on the Big Barn, possible uses, kayak storage etc. Please help support Lisa the Water Access program and Ralph the Chesapeake paddlers and the County on all new initiatives. I just purchased a new house across the road from this launch so it will be my new home launch and I can say that with these improvements I will be able to take my wife and father in law out on the water. Thanks so much for all the hard work and let me know if we need any volunteers, I'd be glad to help in any way I can.

[TomyTek]

This is great news. Thanks for sharing. The link to the photos is not working. He may have moved them or something. It sounds like a big improvements from what it used to be. The path to the water sounds like it is way better. Before, going down was fine, but coming back up was a different story. It was a good workout though . Below is a video of what the path and mud bank used to look like. It starts at 22 seconds. I'll have to go check it out for myself.

[Lisa]

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Here's the top of the path at Homeport.

[TomyTek]

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Here's the top of the path at Homeport.

Wow! That looks great. Thanks for the pic.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Lisa]

Looking up the hill. The dark part of the path is black top, the rest is packed crushed stone.

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New beach on Church Creek

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Heading down the hill

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[TomyTek]

This is a night and day difference. Is it open to public right now? I'd like to check it out. It would be nice to even get my kayak.

[Lisa]

Here's the barn

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Here's the tree that almost smashed the barn flat

P1010271.jpg

Here's the first floor, it's a mess. Neighborhood kids trashed it.

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And here's the second story

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And here's the roof. It's in great shape.

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I'm wondering if those round holes are from woodpeckers or from knots drying out and falling out or some kind of gunshot.

Lisa

[Mark]

Looking up the hill. The dark part of the path is black top, the rest is packed crushed stone.

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New beach on Church Creek

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Heading down the hill

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Those are major upgrades. Once again, the county is doing it right. A special thank you to all who had a hand in facilitating the improvements.