Fripp Island - May 1-2, 2004
Submitted by Pam Reutebuch on March 8, 2006 - 9:11pm.
By Susan Yates
As some of you think back to May 1-2, 2004, you may remember it was one of the rainiest weekends we've had in a long time. Lots of thunder/lightning storms, but as you'll see in the slide show, several of us couldn't pass up even the chance of paddling off the coast of Beaufort, SC…
Sandy, Steve, Bobby, Susan & Sam arrived on Friday night (to save the early morning drive on Saturday). That evening, we watched the weather channel for as long as we could stand to and it seemed that it would be a miracle if the weather would let us paddle on the Combahee River Saturday morning.
But we enjoyed the beautiful house on Fripp Island and the company and got a great night's sleep, so that Saturday morning, Steve and Sandy could drive to the meeting spot, to see if there were any other paddlers crazy enough to drive all the way to Beaufort, for the remotest possibility of paddling that weekend. We were pleasantly surprised when Pam, Sheila, Tom & Carol arrived, despite thunderstorms and walls of water coming down!
Since we all had kayaks loaded and were on the coast, we decided to wait out the storm for the possibility of a smaller paddling trip in the Fripp Island marsh and had lunch in Beaufort at Luther's. Since it was raining, and we had a little time to kill, we came up with the idea that we should all put $2.00 into a pot and place bets on the Kentucky Derby, which was going to be on TV that evening. We each picked a horse based on the name only - no one was allowed to look at the odds. We wrote down everyone's names and the horse they picked on a piece of paper and tucked it away until the Derby.
Then, miracle of miracles - while having lunch next to a huge window looking out at Port Royal Sound, we saw the sun come out!! (The slide of Sandy Steve & Sheila in front of the bridge is right outside Luther's). So as soon as we'd paid our lunch tab, we were off, hoping the sun would hold out for a few hours.
We headed back to the house on Fripp, unloaded luggage for the weekend and were ready to take off (3rd slide). We found a really unique spot to launch Sam (4th & 5th slide :), who was really happy to be on a kayak on water - and decided to call that our Combahee River trip, or rather the closest we could get to it!! So now it was on to the Fripp Island Marsh (which was originally planned as Sunday's paddling trip).
Sandy & Susan stayed with the boats, while the vehicles were driven back to the take out (Bobby & Sam, Thanks again, for helping with the shuttle!) and we all kept our fingers crossed for continuing sunshine… finally we were all on the water!!
The first stop was a sandbar, just a short paddle from where we put in, where a mob of different types of birds had landed, obviously enjoying the sun as much as we did. It was wonderful winding thru the marsh, enjoying the break in the weather and taking pictures of lots of wild life.
(Several of the pictures in the slide show were also taken later, back at the house on Fripp. The back yard of the house is on a golf course, in front of a pond, where we found lots of deer and a beautiful white bird, with its nest full of eggs - the folks in the club that know more about birds could tell us what kind it was - but it was beautiful!).
Towards the end of the paddling trip, we began hearing thunder again. We could tell it wasn't real close, but it still made us paddle a little harder, to make sure we didn't get caught in it. As we came out of the marsh and onto the main channel going into the Fripp Island Marina (our takeout) we felt a few drops of rain, but could see that the storm was out over the next island and moving away from us. It was really fascinating watching lightning strike miles away while we were on the water - so far away that we didn't have a worry! Especially since we were only a few hundred yards from our takeout.
After we got off the water, we headed back to the house (except for Tom, who had to leave early) for Strawberry/banana daiquiris on the screened in porch (Delicious - Thanks to Steve for buying all the ingredients & to Steve & Bobby for serving them up!). That was followed by the excitement of seeing who had won their bet on the Kentucky Derby! As it turned out, the horse that Tom picked out won!! We all took a vote and realized that Tom was such a super nice guy, that he'd really want us to all enjoy a round of drinks at Johnson's Creek Tavern, where we had dinner later that evening. A follow-up email from Tom confirmed that we made the right decision and again, Thank-you Tom!
Late Saturday night, back at the house some of us enjoyed walking on the beach (the rain had let up again, briefly), some of us played cards and we all enjoyed the satisfaction that we had paddled that day, despite all of our earlier doubts! Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast (Thanks, Sandy!!) on the porch, watched pelicans fly by, took a couple more walks on the beach and some more pictures and finally had to pack up and leave.
So despite the weather's best attempts, we had a super time paddling and sight seeing, off the coast of Beaufort - And I know I speak for everyone when I give Sandy another HUGE THANK-YOU for the accommodations!!
View Photo Album
As some of you think back to May 1-2, 2004, you may remember it was one of the rainiest weekends we've had in a long time. Lots of thunder/lightning storms, but as you'll see in the slide show, several of us couldn't pass up even the chance of paddling off the coast of Beaufort, SC…
Sandy, Steve, Bobby, Susan & Sam arrived on Friday night (to save the early morning drive on Saturday). That evening, we watched the weather channel for as long as we could stand to and it seemed that it would be a miracle if the weather would let us paddle on the Combahee River Saturday morning.
But we enjoyed the beautiful house on Fripp Island and the company and got a great night's sleep, so that Saturday morning, Steve and Sandy could drive to the meeting spot, to see if there were any other paddlers crazy enough to drive all the way to Beaufort, for the remotest possibility of paddling that weekend. We were pleasantly surprised when Pam, Sheila, Tom & Carol arrived, despite thunderstorms and walls of water coming down! Since we all had kayaks loaded and were on the coast, we decided to wait out the storm for the possibility of a smaller paddling trip in the Fripp Island marsh and had lunch in Beaufort at Luther's. Since it was raining, and we had a little time to kill, we came up with the idea that we should all put $2.00 into a pot and place bets on the Kentucky Derby, which was going to be on TV that evening. We each picked a horse based on the name only - no one was allowed to look at the odds. We wrote down everyone's names and the horse they picked on a piece of paper and tucked it away until the Derby.
Then, miracle of miracles - while having lunch next to a huge window looking out at Port Royal Sound, we saw the sun come out!! (The slide of Sandy Steve & Sheila in front of the bridge is right outside Luther's). So as soon as we'd paid our lunch tab, we were off, hoping the sun would hold out for a few hours. We headed back to the house on Fripp, unloaded luggage for the weekend and were ready to take off (3rd slide). We found a really unique spot to launch Sam (4th & 5th slide :), who was really happy to be on a kayak on water - and decided to call that our Combahee River trip, or rather the closest we could get to it!! So now it was on to the Fripp Island Marsh (which was originally planned as Sunday's paddling trip). Sandy & Susan stayed with the boats, while the vehicles were driven back to the take out (Bobby & Sam, Thanks again, for helping with the shuttle!) and we all kept our fingers crossed for continuing sunshine… finally we were all on the water!!
The first stop was a sandbar, just a short paddle from where we put in, where a mob of different types of birds had landed, obviously enjoying the sun as much as we did. It was wonderful winding thru the marsh, enjoying the break in the weather and taking pictures of lots of wild life. (Several of the pictures in the slide show were also taken later, back at the house on Fripp. The back yard of the house is on a golf course, in front of a pond, where we found lots of deer and a beautiful white bird, with its nest full of eggs - the folks in the club that know more about birds could tell us what kind it was - but it was beautiful!).
Towards the end of the paddling trip, we began hearing thunder again. We could tell it wasn't real close, but it still made us paddle a little harder, to make sure we didn't get caught in it. As we came out of the marsh and onto the main channel going into the Fripp Island Marina (our takeout) we felt a few drops of rain, but could see that the storm was out over the next island and moving away from us. It was really fascinating watching lightning strike miles away while we were on the water - so far away that we didn't have a worry! Especially since we were only a few hundred yards from our takeout. After we got off the water, we headed back to the house (except for Tom, who had to leave early) for Strawberry/banana daiquiris on the screened in porch (Delicious - Thanks to Steve for buying all the ingredients & to Steve & Bobby for serving them up!). That was followed by the excitement of seeing who had won their bet on the Kentucky Derby! As it turned out, the horse that Tom picked out won!! We all took a vote and realized that Tom was such a super nice guy, that he'd really want us to all enjoy a round of drinks at Johnson's Creek Tavern, where we had dinner later that evening. A follow-up email from Tom confirmed that we made the right decision and again, Thank-you Tom!
Late Saturday night, back at the house some of us enjoyed walking on the beach (the rain had let up again, briefly), some of us played cards and we all enjoyed the satisfaction that we had paddled that day, despite all of our earlier doubts! Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast (Thanks, Sandy!!) on the porch, watched pelicans fly by, took a couple more walks on the beach and some more pictures and finally had to pack up and leave.
So despite the weather's best attempts, we had a super time paddling and sight seeing, off the coast of Beaufort - And I know I speak for everyone when I give Sandy another HUGE THANK-YOU for the accommodations!!
View Photo Album
