Paddling the environs of Bluffton
by Tom Lawton
Friday, April 30, 2004
May River entrance from Bryan Creek, while flowing, will not go at 3.15 ft.
River level higher than the creek, just beginning to work around the shell bank
blocking the entrance.
What to do on a return trip from Cooper River this afternoon but crack a cold
green one and wait?
Watch an oyster shell drift by. Yes, an old shell drifted off the bar until
swamped by a delicate ripple. Back to the pile. But what a taste of freedom.
Minnows sprinting upstream towards the river as seriously as any Klamath River
salmon run. Through field glasses they looked like miniature permit, all
silver-sided and beautiful.
And the blue crabs are back.
I found myself in a bit of a predicament when I arrived at the shell bank at
Cooper River on Bull Creek today. The tide had just changed and I was facing SE
winds at 15. My dilemma: Head towards Hilton Head Island and scoot up Calibogue
Sound on the flood tide on a return trip to Brighton Beach on May River, or
return on Bull Creek, using the protection provided by the island? Going back
the way one comes is not really sporting, is it? So I decided to split the
difference. I dealt with the wet, quartering whitecaps as I headed towards
Hilton Head and made my turn into the sound. This out-of-shape puppy was glad to
reach the entrance of Bryan Creek, which separates Bull Island and Barataria
Island. (On the chart it appears to be similar to Christmas Creek on Cumberland,
Ed.) The chart showed blue water from the sound to May River, though I had
never, nor had anyone I know, paddled it. I remembered another Cumberland
connection as I entered this broad and protected channel…Steve Cramer’s
description of the shortcut on the Brickhill route. These old charts are
amazingly accurate. The creek narrowed into a canal. Then I reached the much
anticipated scum line, the point where tidal surges from two directions meet and
the current falls to zero. A few hundred yards further the creek opened up to
broad vistas.
Other interesting sights today: A raccoon hunting on the Bull Island shore.
Ospreys nesting on Savage Island. Two pods of shy dolphins in Bull Creek. Sharks
feeding with attendant shorebirds. Handsome white herons. Goofy Uncle Morris
pelicans hunkered down on the Cooper River shell banks. Oystercatchers and
diving ducks.
Late April in the low country is good.