Pellegrino to Appear at Harbor Fest

CAPE MAY — This year’s “Paddle for a Purpose Kayak Regatta,” part of Cape May’s Harbor Fest celebration on June 19, will have a celebrity paddler leading off the event. Ocean Activist Margo Pellegrino, who has logged over 9,000 sea miles in canoes and kayaks to raise awareness of the importance of clean oceans, will make a special guest appearance and paddle with those who register to take part in the fundraising event.
Pellegrino began her ocean activism in 2007, when she paddled over 2,000 miles up the Atlantic seaboard from Miami to Maine to educate people about the problems facing our oceans.
In 2009, she continued her campaign by paddling from Florida’s Atlantic coast around to New Orleans. Later this summer, the mother of three will take on her biggest challenge yet – America’s Pacific coast. She plans to paddle from Seattle to San Diego in an outrigger canoe.
To train for the event, Pellegrino will paddle the coast of New Jersey, and she plans to launch her voyage from the Nature Center of Cape May on May 22.
The “Paddle for a Purpose Kayak Regatta,” is sponsored by the Nature Center of Cape May and Aqua Trails Kayak Tours. This two-hour noncompetitive tour of Cape May Harbor and the surrounding salt marsh is designed to benefit the Nature Center of Cape May’s Good Neighbor Fund for Coast Guard families.
The charity event will launch at 1 p.m. The registration fee with kayak(s) rental is $40 for a single kayak and $70 for a double. The Family rate for two double kayaks is $100. Those planning to bring their own kayak or canoe, the fee is $20 each. The registration fee includes a tee-shirt, water bottle and refreshments. Participants are asked to check in by 12:30 p.m.
An anonymous donor to provide free tuition for summer nature classes to children from the nature center’s neighboring U.S. Coast Guard Base ,established the Good Neighbor Fund several years ago. Last year, the regatta raised $1,200. This year, nature center director Gretchen Ferrante hopes to double that amount.
Festivities will include a street festival, seafood vendors, a beer garden, live music, arts and craft booths, educational exhibits, a harbor water taxi, sailing demonstrations by the Cape May Yacht Club, Coast Guard rescue demonstrations, nature walks and animal talks, children’s activities and the Great Scallop Challenge – a seafood cook off featuring the finest restaurants in Cape May. The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In case of rain, all activities will take place on Sunday, June 20.
The Nature Center of Cape May is located at 1600 Delaware Avenue, in Cape May, right on the shores of scenic and historic Cape May Harbor. For more information about Harbor Fest, visit www.capemay harborfest.com. .