Friday, November 19, 2010

Folly to Hunting Island: Day 1

So. This morning, promptly at 10 a.m., five boats with six paddlers — William Seabrook, Scott Szczepaniak, Mary Ross McQuage, Joe Salmonowicz, Paul Shaw and Paul Bryan — set off from the Folly boat landing. This is day one of a three day trip which will take them some 46 nautical miles south to Hunting Island:

See the trip plan at Google maps.
Seeing the group off were friends and family — Will Hewett (who launched his own kayak and escorted them down the river,) Sue Kershaw, Susan Sanders, Steve Bleezarde, Kerri _______, Joe’s wife Kim and daughter Hanna, and Paul Bryan’s daughter.

Anyone interested can track the group’s progress thanks to the wonders of the internet, GPS, and a handy service at findmespot.com. Paul Shaw’s GPS is reporting the group’s location in real time:


Scott phoned in some notes after the group landed at their campsite about 4 p.m.: He reports that the trip down the Folly River was uneventful, but followed by the group breaking through 2-3 foot breaking waves along the sandbars as they rounded Bird Key Island. Fair winds and following seas sped the group to the sands of Beachwalker Park where they put in for a break. Mary Ross was reportedly disappointed to find that the restrooms are locked during the off-season. The winds were picking-up as they launched after snacks, again through 2-3 foot breaking waves, and “flew” down to the mouth of the North Edisto and across the inlet to set-up their "undisclosed, high-end, private campsite.

More technological marvels, Scott was able to email a few Day One photos:

William: the fearless leader.
Kayaks are bigger than backpacks.
Shiny, happy people.
Wish them a warm night! More details tomorrow.

-Steve

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great News, comments, photos, etc., etc.! The wonders of technology. Thanks...and looking forward to additional updates.

Anonymous said...

I think (in light of the GPS track) it is god to reiterate that your camp site is private.
I did that leg of your trip last November and ended up being unable to find a mythical island some one told us we could camp on (cough).
Come nightfall we had to set up a last ditch overnight on that same private landmass.
The caretaker was very nice and appreciated our low impact site and our predicament, however he also explained the situation of the property owners and as penance we promised to let people know that it was not a public camping spot.

On our voyage bladders and the need to readjust caused us to stupidly paddle into shore much earlier on Kiawah for that comfort/stretch break (deep into the crescent...Duh!). We had a long unnecessary slog in and back out so later we just hopped out of our boats in deep water for rest breaks. It felt great to float on our backs and stretch out and relax and play around, (good luck cowboy reentering a Nordkapp LV, but it sure is fun to watch). Also a few rolls were always good to loosen up tight muscles or break the occasional monotonous bits. As an added bonus the water was just cool enough to feel great on our sore muscles without being uncomfortable.

Hope you guys have a great rest of your trip and enjoy the weather.
Bob