5.9.08

So I got back going on the water at about 10am yesterday, leaving Hilton Head. It was hard to get back in the water and leave but I realized it was just mental and I knew just the first day would be hard. I left from Broad Creek, repeated a section I had done the other day which was about an hours worth of paddling. I cruised up Calibogue Sound, along Skull Creek where I saw my buddy Scott who was out on the water with some of his customers. It was nice to see a familiar face as I paddled out of Hilton Head. I am kind of rusty I guess and it was kind of stupid for me not to put my skirt on as I was crossing Port Royal sound, it wasn’t terribly rough but it was choppy and the tide was moving out of the sound fast. I got pretty wet and was wet the rest of the day. My shoulder was initially hurting very bad and I was getting worried but fortunately it loosed up a bit. For some reason once I got in the rhythm of my strokes, my shoulder started to hurt less but it hurts doing just about everything else. Despite my best efforts, I missed the Beaufort river entrance but I paddled back and got to see Paris Island and the marine recruiting station where I heard something going on above the marsh grass, some hooting and hollering, some sort of training exercise I guess. Apparently they used to tell the Marines that the river was filled with alligators and sharks so they wouldn’t be tempted to try to swim away because their boot camp (apparently) is the worst 8 weeks you could have in life. I passed Paris Island and came up to the town of Beaufort which is awesome. They filmed a lot of Forrest Gump and the Big Chill here, it’s the second oldest city in South Carolina, I really wanted to stop and stay in Beaufort as it’s such a beautiful place. I have been there plenty of times though when I lived in Hilton Head plus it was after hours and the city marina seemed to be full. I kept going past my original idea for a campsite in Beaufort and campsite and it was getting late, didn’t know if I had enough sun light to get to the campsite I had intended to stay at which was still 12 miles away. When I rounded the corner, there was a new boat ramp that wasn’t marked on my chart; I talked to some guys who were fishing. I decided to pull over and try to make a new plan for camping that night. One of the guys suggested that I walk up to the row of houses that lined the creek and ask someone to let me tie up my kayak to one of their docks. Luckily I met a really, really nice newlywed couple Scott and Tiffany who just returned from their honeymoon and were spending the night in their new house for the first time. They fed me, took me in They were very kind to let me crash at their place.
Click here to see where I stayed last night

Thank you for your help: Scott, Tiffany, Rob, Patrick, MJ, Abby and Charlie!