The weekend morning following Thanksgiving was dazzling, the creek’s brilliance a function of the reign of high pressure. The waterway is currently known as Andersonville or Anderson, but on a chart from the 18th century was labeled “Sewee”. The above normal high tide pushed rafts of Spartina
We effortlessly cruised on our watery path through the bottomland swamp flanking the Santee Delta. The forested sides of the waterway were colored by the newly-emerging spring foliage, reflecting on the creek’s surface:
Mysteries of the swamp Read More »
History holds court at Hampton Plantation, one of the many outposts of the Rice Kingdom. A colonial era Big House with tours, fine grounds and gardens, historic visits by famous Americans (George Washington, Francis Marion), famous residents Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Archibald Rutledge (the first SC poet laureate) – all these elements and more
Beneath the surface Read More »
Venturing into the Santee Delta, I would neither be on Kingfisher or solo. I would again borrow a canoe, a Nova 17. from my friend Chris Crolley. After several years discussion, joining me on the trip was Ian Sanchez, a man of many talents
We went cruising in a borrowed Nova – a Mohawk Nova 17 canoe. Before the cruise some challenges arose, including a brief turnaround to pick up a map from home. While shuffling through my keys as I walked around the car I missed the canoe stern protruding past the car’s rear
Circling Hampton Island Read More »
This trip would be only the second launch of Kingfisher on the North Santee River at the Poleyard Landing, situated adjacent to the Highway 17 North bridge. The first was a long imagined sail – from the North Santee through the Inland Passage to Charleston Harbor and Remley’s Point Landing (see final chapter of Tracing
7 AM at the South Island Ferry, and what a surprise – the landing was jammed pack with holiday boaters, getting a jump on the July 4th weekend. I had only seen this landing during the week in the past, and it was always a quiet place
Looking for the flow Read More »
I’ve been on the move: not on Kingfisher, and not on the water but many miles on the road. These travels have taken me from the coast to the piedmont and the mountains. Though the movement has been for a meeting, a conference, and several weddings, I have taken the opportunity on these trips to
I had passed this way many times, heading to points north on Highway 17. It has only been a handful of times when I have stopped on the two and a half mile distance across the Santee Delta between the North and South Santee Rivers. Once I came with Dennis Forsythe, who led a group
