Day 134-135

Daily stats
Start: 5:30 PM- Saint Marys, GA
Finish: 6:30 PM - 4 miles from Saint Marys, GA
Time: 1:00
Daily dist: 4 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: Windy and partly cloudy
Notes: Dropped off by Russell and Nigel camp on FL side because it’s not allowed on south end of Cumberland Island

In a huge dose of irony, after finally reaching Georgia last Wednesday then taking a week off to visit the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival in Charleston, on my first night back on the water I’m camped once again on the Florida side of the St. Marys river.

My friends Russell and Nigel seeing me off at the boat landing in St. Marys

Things are very tide dependant around here which will be the case for the next few weeks. With a relatively high tide range the channels behind the islands that make up the coast of Georgia can experience strong tidal flow from the rising and falling tides washing in and out to sea. My window of opportunity to make it to the north end of Cumberland Island came and went with the incoming tide in the morning today. I knew we’d never get out of Charleston and back to St. Marys in time to catch the flood so I planned on riding the outgoing (ebb) tide to an island across from Cumberland then ride the incoming tide north in the morning. It would have been nice to simply camp on the south end of Cumberland but it’s a national park and camping is only allowed in designated camp sites. Instead my tent is perched precariously atop a very narrow (not much wider than the tent itself) strip of high ground. According to the line of debris left by the last tide there will only be about six feet of sand separating me from the ocean at high tide tonight. With that in mind I took an early nap so I could wake up later and keep an eye on the incoming water at high tide just to be sure it doesn’t flood me out while I sleep.

A spot of high ground just big enough for my tent.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to paddle far today we had lots of time to play on our way south from Charleston. After a great breakfast prepared by Michael Grey in the cabin next to ours we got on the road by about 10 AM. Along the way we avoided the interstate and drove the secondary highway so we could get a taste of the real Georgia. In so doing we stumbled upon the smallest church in the United States. Russell once again stopped on the side of the highway so Nigel and I could get out and take a few pictures. Thankfully this time we managed to get our snapshots before the police were alerted to our presence.

The smallest church in America

Yesterday started early for me as I got up at 5:00 AM to join my friends Vic and Tracy, along with a group of paddlers from the festival, for a sunrise paddle in downtown Charleston. Vic and Tracy are good friends of mine whom I met and used to paddle with in Fort Lauderdale. They’re now living in Virginia and were down for the weekend. Twenty five people were signed up to attend but only eleven hearty souls braved the wind and chilly early morning air. It was a nice paddle and afterward we stuffed ourselves on a big breakfast. The rest of the day was spent helping out in the Sweetwater tent. After the last lessons of the day were done, it was time to start tearing down the tent and loading trailers for the long drive home.

Sunrise Paddle in Charleston