Wando River–Charleston 2016

Helpdesk, HikingGeer and Gusto had grand paddling plans for November 2016.  However, the weather didn’t get the memo.  We had planned two wonderful days of paddling and it turned into a few hours on the Wando.  Our original plan was to paddle the Folly River north east to Morris Island Lighthouse following the outgoing tide, having some lunch and then catching the return tide back to the landing.  However, the wind did not cooperate and we were forced to look for a more sheltered paddling option.  That took us to Paradise Landing and the Wando River.  We have, in the past paddled south on the Wando from this same landing but thought a paddle against the tide to uncharted (well we haven’t charted until now) waters was more interesting.  With the wind and tide against us we were only able to average about 2 miles an hour as we struggled against the elements.  We traveled just over two miles upriver seeing some nice homes and scenery.  It was interesting that once we stopped paddling we began drifting quickly back toward the landing.  No paddling at all and we were moving at just under 2 miles an hour.  Our stats are a bit messed up because we floated for quite a while on the trip back.  But when I did paddle it was well over 5 miles an hour with the wind and current both assisting.  Our plans for day two were totally crushed as rain sat in and we decided not to even attempt our planned trip to Bulls Island.  Next year will be here soon and we will once again made one of our favorite trips of the season.