A sunset paddle on Skull Creek

We had been wanting to get back out on the waters for a while but busy schedules and poor weather provided many excuses to do other things. This was a day when we were both free from any encumbrances and started it off with a leisure bike ride from my house, down to the gate at Palmetto Bluff. It was sunny and the temps were hovering in the mid 70's - perfect for doing things outside. After the ride and some lunch, I checked the tide chart and found it would be high tide around 6 PM and the weather showed no storms or wind. It was immediately decided that this was the day to get back on the water.

We arrived at the Hudson Seafood Restaurant docks around 5 PM and conditions couldn't have been much better. I pulled a 14' Wilderness Systems Pungo off the rack for DL and selected an older 15' Wilderness Systems Cape Horn for myself. The Pungo is more of a recreational boat but at 14', it is very stable and tracks nicely. The Cape Horn is a light touring boat that can be a bit tippy for an inexperienced paddler but I'd been out in it a dozen times and knew the feel of it well. I launched DL off the floating dock and let her use my Werner paddle to help compensate for our different paddling skill levels. Soon, we were gliding through the glassy waters out into the main channel of the IntraCoastal Waterway (Skull Creek). There was very little boat traffic that time of day and it wasn't long before we edged into the spartina grass on the Pinkney Island side. Conditions were perfect with the sun starting to slowly drop toward the horizon, sending reflected beams of reds and yellows along the mirrored waters. It might have been nice to have a little breeze because the NoSeeUms were out in force with nothing to blow them away. I've seldom experienced them out in the midde of the creek but there was nothing discouraging them this day except for our constant paddling and moving.

We were able to observe a couple of dolphin out for an evening feed but they showed zero interest in us and moved along in their own world, oblivious to the two excited paddlers above them. Since it was high tide, there weren't many birds around and many that were had found the tops of pilings to roost for the night (mostly pelicans). We paddled quite a way North in the creek toward the Port Royal Sound but the sun was setting soon and we headed around a far shell bank to return to the marina. It was quiet as a church during prayers out there on the water, which is unusual with the fast paced activities of the Hilton Head resort island. The only sounds we heard were the dipping of our paddles and the gurgle of the water as the boats glided along. Suddenly, we heard the screeching call of the one bird we'd been looking for but hadn't seen, the Oyster Catcher. As we cleared the end of a grass island, there they were on a tiny shell bank just barely above the water line. It was a pair of adult birds and they were not happy to have us anywhere near, plus my attempts to get even closer for a picture were greeted with more shrill warning cries. I was able to use the zoom on the camera to capture the moment before we headed back in. As we neared the docks, the colors in the sky and on the waters were fantastic and enjoying the sunset from the tranquil waters more than made up for the multitude of gnat bites on our arms, legs and hands.

It was a glorious end to a wonderful day, made all the more special by the company of beautiful paddling companion that I think likes being on the water almost as much as me. :-)

sunset photos