The Edisto River and Edisto Beach

On two consecutive days, we took in 28 miles of the Edisto river, and a couple miles of the Atlantic Ocean at Edisto Beach. Both trips were just great, and stand out in my memory as peak experiences.

On the Edisto, I rolled my then-new kayak pretty early after getting tangled with a strainer. It was pretty lucky that my stupid paddle leash broke the deck rigging on my boat - I was tangled in it underwater. That's the last time I used one of those. Didn't lose anything important. Finally got rid of that dumb camo hat.

The Edisto is quite pristine and beautiful. We smelled honeysuckle, drank in the splendor as this unspoiled blackwater river rolled from inland swamp into sandy-shored coastal terrain.

The ocean the next day was a different kind of thrill. We put in right near the state park on Edisto with the intent of going down to our beach lodging around the corner on the river side of the island. I figured we'd get within a mile of it, walk and come back for the boats.

It was my first time getting out through surf, and beginners luck - with my cousin Murray to give me a push - got me out on the first try. Murray, a comparative veteran at this rolled the boat twice, maybe 3 times, temporarily lost his cooler, etc., but was finally able to get out.

Murray paddles a sit-on-top without knee straps, which made this journey either gutsy, or something he wasn't prepared for, depending upon your take. The rolling swells rattled him a bit, while my decked boat was designed for exactly this and I was loving it.

Without river current, I regularly outpaced him in my longer, faster boat and had to remind myself to wait up. He trooped on, though he was paddling a log for a bunch of the trip.

We decided to come in - again, my first time coming in through surf, and a real adreneline rush. I think I sent Murray in first - I don't know whether I was more worried about him or me! I got it together, paddled furiously for the beach, caught a short wave and beached, jumped out of my boat (don't remember if I got a half-roll (Ow! My back!) or not).

I was thinking full-speed turbo mode, and my cousin John Murray (Murray's son) came up and said "Hi!". I was pretty freaked - what was John Murray doing a mile down the beach?!?? Turns out we'd miscalculated a little and came ashore right in front of our beach house!

BTW, it took me about an hour to calm down after the surf experience!