Daily stats
Start: 7:15 AM- Tybee Island, GA
Finish: 5:15 PM - Otter Island, SC
Time: 10:00
Daily dist: 43 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: WINDY from the west at 15-20 mph - clear to cloudy and back to clear
Notes: Probably the roughest day so far. Spent an hour and a half dealing with very steep waves while crossing St. Helena sound.
Start: 7:15 AM- Tybee Island, GA
Finish: 5:15 PM - Otter Island, SC
Time: 10:00
Daily dist: 43 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: WINDY from the west at 15-20 mph - clear to cloudy and back to clear
Notes: Probably the roughest day so far. Spent an hour and a half dealing with very steep waves while crossing St. Helena sound.
john from SKGA helped me get my gear to the water and saw me off this morning
My introduction to paddling the coast in South Carolina proved to be an exciting one. A strong west wind and a heading of northeast or east for most of the day meant a tail wind which allowed me to make very good progress toward Charleston. Navigation today was a fairly simple affair where most of what I needed to do was keep land on my left and paddle until I saw a potential camp spot away from houses or buildings. In route three sounds (river mouths) created gaps in the shore line allowing the wind an unhindered blast over the water. Crossing the sounds proved to be a bit challenging due to more and larger waves as well as breaking waves created by off shore sand shoals. The Savanna River and Port Royal sounds passed by without much more than a splash through waves over a shoal. St. Helena Sound however, proved to be some of the most challenging conditions I’ve dealt with so far.
The wind blew hard out of the west all day and the marine weather was saying that it was going to blow from the NW at 25 to 30 mph this evening and 10-15 mph from the NW tomorrow. The northwest wind will be a bit of a head wind tomorrow and a strong blow tonight will get the seas riled up well before dawn. Bucking against a head wind in choppy water would not be a pleasant experience so I decided that rather than camp on the West end of St. Helena sound tonight I’d take advantage of a tail wind and put in a couple extra hours to get the six mile crossing done today.
Omnious bare tree near camp
Unlike the other two crossings, the run across St. Helena sound put me on a track heading mostly north. From the mouth of the sound it opens up into a wide and deep bay orientated roughly east to west. The wind had been building all day to well over 20mph sustained. Because St. Helena sound is so wide and deep it allowed that strong wind to whip the surface of the ocean into quite a frenzy. It was out there in 3 to 5 foot whitecapping waves that I paddled for an hour and a half to make it across the sound. It started out quiet enough but as the first mile passed behind me I came into some of the roughest water I’ve had to deal with on the trip so far. The conditions didn’t allow time to stop paddling for a break instead it was continuous paddling to move forward toward more sheltered water miles away combined with frequent bracing to remain upright.
Out of the wind at last
When I finally did make it to shore I was very tired but happy to have the crossing over with. I really didn’t want to run the risk of doing the crossing with head winds into equally sloppy conditions tomorrow. In order to get a little relief from the wind I set up camp in a cozy spot amongst thick low palm trees. It is a relief to not be getting blown around any more.
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