Helpdesk and Gusto made some last minutes changes to a planned Jocassee trip due to impending weather. That change was to head south to the coast and paddle to Morris Island Lighthouse (a trip we have come to really enjoy). The original plan was to paddle to the lighthouse on Sunday October 3rd but rain in the forecast had us rethink that trip and instead just do some walking around camp. We stayed overnight at James Island County Park. Very nice place with everything from primitive camping to cabins on the marsh. Anyway, back to the story at hand. We woke up early and broke camp (I'm sure the RV's around us were glad to see the rig we had move out of the neighborhood) and headed to the Folly River put in and started our paddle toward the lighthouse. The wind was at our backs and the sun felt intense for the first third of the paddle. Once we turned into the inlet and marsh system we started catching some wind from the side and the sun was partially blocked by some high thin clouds. That made things much more enjoyable for the rest of the trip. We arrived as the tide was beginning to go out and we were able to paddle fairly deep into what would soon be a big sandbar.
Once we landed we pulled the kayaks well on shore and took the quick walk to get a better view of the lighthouse.
Gusto has always wanted to paddle around the lighthouse and ended up dragging his boat to the other side of the sandbar and launching in the relatively small surf for a short trip in open waters. Helpdesk decided it was best to not push his beach re-entry skills as he was having flashbacks of returning to the shore in La Jolla that didn't end well at all. La Jolla Trip
After having the flashback of flipping coming ashore on the west coast, Helpdesk decided it was best to keep his feet firmly planted on the sand instead of being face planted on the sand.
But look at Gusto take off.
Here is the GPS track and some stats on the trip.