Kayaking Hobcaw Barony 7 '09

Today we signed up for a group kayak tour of Hobcaw Barony's tidal creeks

 Our group met at the visitor center  near Highway 17.  From there, one of the guides drove us in a van to clam bank landing, 

 and received some basic instruction from the other guide on how to handle a kayak in tidal current.

Then we were off.  It was leisurely  paddle as the  mid tide was high and was flowing  gently toward the Ocean.  It carried us along without much effort.  All we had to do was steer clear of the cord-grass &;  mudflats

( Above my coworker Sue and her sister Pat coming ashore. Below: Sue) 

 We kayaked until we came to the leeward side of the last sandbar between  the Atlantic Ocean and Winyah Bay

Everyone beached their kayaks  and dragged them firmly up onto the beach behind the dunes so they couldn't float away.

 Above: Bruce and guide on beach

Below:  Pat and Sue on the beach

   We were  on a private island which  is off limits to anyone who does not have permission from Hobcaw Barony.  We took a long stroll on the beach facing the Atlantic Ocean. I have grown accustomed to how empty of people South Carolina's beaches can be during the off season, but this was different .  Not only were we the only people, it was completely devoid of all evidence of humanity.  On the barrier island, where you can see for miles, and there is not one man made element in the entire viewshed. I love that about this place. I could watch the play of light on the water, feel the texture of the sand, and know that those things would have been experienced in exactly the same way by colonists who lived here in the 1660s. it was an  odd feeling and even a little lonely.

After an hour of lunch and rest, it was time to kayak back to the landing.Unfortunately the return trip was not nearly so easy as the paddle out.  The tide had  fully turned, and had I not had Bruce to paddling with me, I don't know if I would have been strong enough to overcome the swift current working against us.