Thursday, August 28, 2014

A Paddle to Wassaw Island

That's me and I can't seem to get upright...
It’s going to be a hot day, temperatures nearing triple digits and high humidity making the heat index of around 110.  Just to be on the safe side, I pack four water bottles, a full gallon of water along with a sunscreen, insect repellant, lunch, a towel, and a beach tarp in which to retreat during the searing midday sun.  A few minutes after nine, I arrived at the Delegal Marina where I met eight other kayakers for the trip to Wassaw Island.  Although we were supposed to start at 9:30, most of the others already had their boats in the water when I arrived a few minutes after nine.  I stuffed everything in my boat and joined them and soon we were paddling east, out of the marina and toward the mouth of Delegal Creek.   It’s not a long trip, five miles one way, but one that has to be carefully planned with the tides and involves some open water much of the Ossabaw Sound is open to the ocean.  We paddled out on the falling tide.  Leaving the safety of Delegal Creek, we merged with the Vernon River which opened to Green Island Sound, passing Raccoon Key to the south.  It was an enjoyable paddle on calm waters.  We passed the mouth of Adam’s Creek, then Curtis Creek and Pine Island.  You could see a clump of trees in the distance, our destination, but straight ahead was the wide open Atlantic.  As I didn’t know any of the paddlers before this morning, I first spent time paddling next to Rudy, who moved to Savannah from New York but is originally from Belgium.   We paddle a ways out from land in order to avoid sandbars, but even here in places, the water is shallow enough that I hit bottom with my paddle.  In other places it is very deep.  As we paddle I get to meet many of the other paddlers:  Bob, Dave, Ruth, John and three other guys whose names I forgotten.
Arriving on Wassaw

The dunes by the ocean
another "portrait" photo that blogger won't let me turn...
the forest of Wassaw
A calm day by the Atlantic Ocean

We arrive on Wassaw around 10:30 AM, beaching our boats on the safety of the sound side, at a site tucked away behind the inlet.  After pulling our boats out of the water, we hike north, along the sound, to a trail that cuts across the island.  The interior is heavily wooded, mostly pines with palms and other bushes growing underneath.  The soil is sandy.  We hike out to the beach.  It is two hours from low tide, but the water is already calm.  There are only small waves. Most of us swim and cool off, even though the water is warm.  Afterwards, we hike on the beach around the inlet and back to our boats.  Umbrellas open and I pop up my sun shade and we all retreat from the intense rays as we eat lunch.  I make a few notes in my journal and the close my eyes and nap.  I don’t sleep very long as soon others are packing up.  Rudi suggests we wait till 1:30, to catch the incoming tide, but by 1 PM, we’re on the water, paddling back. 
Preparing to leave Wassaw
Curtis Creek
On the way back, the wind is still off the land and is in our faces making the paddling more difficult.  When the tide turns and begins to push against the wind, choppy waves form and occasionally break over the bow of my kayak.  I am glad I have a spray skirt to shed the water.  After forty-five minutes of paddling, we stop near the mouth of Curtis Creek and to rest and explore inland a bit, before paddling back to the marina.  Although it is hot, the wind and water keeps us cool.  We arrive back at Delegal at 3 PM.  




17 comments:

  1. nice...sounds like a fun trip...and exploring the island would be pretty cool...even still you can burn up pretty quick out there on the water....

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  2. Sounds like a good day of it, though that heat would be just overwhelming for me.

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  3. Sounds like an amazing trip sir!! You inspire me to want to do this!

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  4. Although I've done a fair amount of kayaking with a sea kayak, I've yet to do so in an actual sea. Someday I'll have to fix that. A trip like yours sounds ideal!

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  5. Lovely photos of a lovely day. I've' looked at the inlet from the Google maps. It looks like a great place to sail if the wind isn't high.

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  6. This is an amazing post of a great day spent getting in cardio. It definitely sounds challenging. Glad you got back okay!

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  7. Looks like a great day but too much exercise and too much heat for me - love the photos.

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  8. Fun! Makes me wish I had a kayak. I'd love to do that!

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  9. Looks like a wonderful way to spend your time. I am hoping to get a kayak for next summer.. though it would only be to take me around the lake here.

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  10. What a beautiful place you have moved to! Kayaking looks so fun and peaceful - I saw some go by on the Hiwassee River this weekend.

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  11. What fun seeing you make use of the water around there, and dunes, like my old home state of Michigan! I knew you'd be quick to meet new friends too, what a great time, other than the extreme heat you must be having. As far as I'm concerned, Minnesota never really ever got extremely hot this year. Although there are some who would argue that!

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  12. Kayaking with a bunch of strangers sounds like something I would do. Did you join a Meetup group? Glad to see you are enjoying your new home and making new friends.

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    1. No meet up group, but the community on the island has lots of things for people to do so I have found myself sailing and kayaking with "new friends."

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  13. Hey, I love that red kayak. Makes me want to borrow one, hoist it onto the Ru and head to New Hampshire for an evening paddle! What beautiful scenery. Hope it took the sting out of humidity and heat!

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  14. That really sounds like it was a great day. Nice photos also.
    We have an old kayak that I don't like much. Maybe if we replace it, we'll start going out more.

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  15. This looks like so much fun! Your photos are wonderful!

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  16. Welcome back to the South, Sage! Get used to those near-triple digit temps. Well, they may be over for this year. Actually, we had a somewhat cooler, wet summer where I am.

    Love the crab!

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