SOUTH MILLS — More than 300 boaters from as far away as Washington, D.C., turned out at the Dismal Swamp State Park Saturday morning for the 7th annual Paddle for the Border, according to Dismal Swamp Welcome Center Director Penny Leary-Smith, easily beating last year’s total of 239.

“We have 315. It takes a little over 100 volunteers to put it on,” she said.

Boaters park their vehicles in Chesapeake and take a bus back to the welcome center, or have someone else drive their vehicles, then paddle their kayaks and canoes the 7.5 miles to Ballahack Road in Chesapeake. Next year boaters begin in Virginia and paddle toward North Carolina, Leary Smith said.

Leary-Smith said volunteers come from the Coast Guard base, North Carolina State Parks, CenturyLink and Friends of the Dismal Swamp State Park.

For law enforcement, she said the Dismal Swamp gets help from the Camden County Sheriff’s Department and on the Virginia border, the Chesapeake Fire Department and the Chesapeake Police Department, she said. The South Mills Fire Department and EMS were also on standby, she said.

Camden County Manager Randell Woodruff, who was at the event, said there could easily be 500 participants if more parking was available. The limit is set at 230, according to the Paddle for the Border Web site.

“You don’t want to bring in too many people and have everything all confused and not well organized, so that’s why we try to keep it under control,” he said.

Leary-Smith said that in the near future, the welcome center and the state park will have additional parking available.

“When (Camden County) gets the sewage system up here and we can do away with our private pump houses, we will have all that for parking,” she said. “We’re going to enlarge the south end parking lot also, so when we do that we’ll be able to open (the event) up for more people.”

The weather seemed to be cooperating, as well, with temperatures between 75 and 80 degrees in the morning under sunny skies and a breeze blowing from the southwest, in the direction of the Virginia border.

Leary-Smith said the paddle begins each year with the Colonel from the Corps of Engineers in the lead boat. “This year it’s Colonel (Andrew) Backus,” she said.

The theme for Paddle for the Border is to raise awareness of the Dismal Swamp Canal, Leary-Smith said. “It’s for the promotion of eco-tourism and the awareness of the value of this historic canal,” she said.

Virginia Beach resident Barbara Miller, who was there with her husband Jim, said this was their first year at Paddle for the Border. “We belong to the Mobile Ski Club and we ski, we kayak, go camping, so we’re an all-around club,” she said. “Our club has been doing this for quite a few years.”

James Gregory of Chesapeake, who was there with his friend Ken Wiley, said he participated in Paddle for the Border 20 years ago, before it was actually organized. “We did the entire 18-mile round trip,” he said. “We put in at the Ballahack slip, paddled down to the North Carolina rest stop, had a picnic, got back in and paddled back. It took us about five hours.”

Ryan Regan, representing U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., was invited to participate for the first time, he said. “I’m excited — I’ve heard good things about (Paddle for the Border),” he said.

Commissioner Michael McLain and his wife, Lynne, were also at the event, where he was helping hand out breakfast to hungry boaters. “We’re riding up to Chesapeake (in a motor boat) with Senator Hagan’s staff,” he said. “We’ve been out here the last three years supporting Penny — it’s a big Camden tourist event.”

Local chef Andy Montero, who catered breakfast for Paddle for the Border last year, provided breakfast sandwiches and muffins for hungry boaters.

Park Superintendent Joy Greenwood said this year’s event has been the smoothest one yet. “We launched promptly ay 8 a.m. we haven’t backed vehicles up at all — it’s really amazing how smooth it’s going this year,” she said.

Contact Toby Tate at ttate@dailyadvance.com