More Pictures and Some Commentary

Well, my paddling partner has returned home to the Great White North and has left me here to build a boat and dream of saltwater. I wish Paul Pilon all the best and hopes he has safe paddling as soon as the lakes and inlets thaw out. In the mean time I will wait to see if he makes it back down for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival in April in Charleston. It looks like it should be a good time with lots of other paddlers, demonstrations, and test paddles in the latest boats. This is one of those festivals I always read about in my Sea Kayaker Magazine but never thought I'd get to attend. Here are a few more pictures of our trip to Charleston Harbour, along with a little more commentary. A close up of the two Canucks. We were the only kayakers out that day. I think the Coast Guard patrol we say near Fort Sumter thought we were nuts. This picture is for my Dad. This is how they keep their boats clean from barnacles and seaweed down here. Each pier had one or two boat elevators at the end of it. Most of them were electric but a few were manual. I suppose they also keep your boat from getting bashed around in the waves. This is a view from beach where we stopped for lunch. The houses and cottages were lovely. I bet this place is pretty popular in summer. While we were there we only saw a few locals fishing and walking. The old double did a great job of getting us around the harbour. It's times like this when I'm glad a bought it. The two of us really had it moving along a few times when we were crossing the shipping channels. It was a very busy harbour. We saw two container ships leave and one arrive while we were on the water. A relatively big cruise ship also slipped out to sea while we were eating our supper at the bar (bar as in pub, not bar as in sand). This is the USS Yorktown. It is moored at Patriots Point at the Naval and Maritime Museum, just below the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (an impressive sight on its own). The ship was unmistakable as we drove past it on the way in. It was quite the sight from the water (this picture doesn't do it justice). The flight deck was covered in helicopters and military aircraft. As I found out later the Yorktown is just one of the many ships on display. I hope I get to go back and have a closer look someday. After I posted a shot of a Great Egret on a recent blog entry my paddling partner commented on it and said (and I quote!): "not bad but you need more bird and less boat." Well here is the cropped version of the same picture. It certainly brings out the bird's features even though it is a little fuzzy. If the focus had been right on this could have been a great picture. Finally here is a picture of Paul. It seemed like every picture I have of him in the boat he's doing exactly what I am doing...taking pictures. In the end we had a great time and I look forward to doing it again, whether its here in South Carolina or back in Nova Scotia.