First miracle of the day
The beach is a beautiful, untouched strip of sand, dunes and pine trees running along the edge of each river side. The ocean was a mass of huge churning waves. There were pelicans and seagulls. There were mag rustic old dead trees on the shore. Entirely unexpected.
We spent about an hour walking to the end and back and having lunch, looking at seashells and taking photos. It was an amazing accomplishment to have made it all this way.
Total trip distance 416 miles from Old Fort, NC to the Atlantic via the Catawba river, Wateree river and the Santee river. 24 days.
An image of the route, by popular demand. Sorry about the orientation, just turn your head 90 degrees.
When we left the beach to head back 11 miles to meet Joseph. We set out in strong headwind, the wrong tide direction and river current. We paddled at 100% capacity for 2 hours and traveled little over 1.5 miles. There was a single house the entire length of our paddle today and we marked that location as a possible safe spot. We managed to make it there and were sheltering under the dock hoping the current would shift when two fisherman came right to the same dock to fish (we have only seen 3 boats all day) and have offered to tow our boats back to our rendezvous point with Joseph.
Our second miracle of the day. Jake and Jimmy, my own angles
Joseph reports he enjoyed catching up with Ashley Paul and helping him on a plumbing job. It was remarkable how Ashley took time from his schedule to take care of the whole team and bring it together. He had his own miracle on managing to pick up the uhaul in the face of timing and computer issues.
We are all safely in the truck driving West and headed for a seafood dinner. I'll note it is pouring rain. We are counting our many blessings.
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