I am a grandmother paddling alone over 2,500 miles from Maine to Guatemala. Along the way I will be:
- telling the story of the children who live in the Guatemala City garbage dump community
- honoring their entrepreneurial mothers
- talking about the success of the Safe Passage model school and
- raising funds for additional grades for the school.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Paddle Day 10: Relaxing through the Salt Marshes

Getting salt from spartina
Great day of relaxed paddling.  Then fun time with friends.

Nice to find out that the wind is more problematic than the currents in these waters.  So relaxing to just casually paddle at a rate that I could keep up all day.

On Bull's Island I learned about how the spartina survives living in salt water.  It absorbs the water, but then has salt glands that secret the salt.  After sweating will paddling, it's great to float past the Spartina and run your fingers up a stem, to get a tasty hit of salt.

Isle of Hope
Around a particularly tight bend I came to Isle of Hope, which was home to the yachting venue in the Olympics held in Atlanta.
Runaway Negro Creek
I found a small short cut I could have taken.  The name of the creek reminds all of the plantation history along this coast: Runaway Negro Creek.  The locals say the name has recently been changed from a more racist version.  Slow progress.
Enjoying the Greenland paddle
When it is so pleasant, my mind in not so engaged and can drift back to Guatemala and think about the children and the families.  I saw a book in Hilton Head about education and success.  It argued that grit and determination were the most critical traits for success in education and life.  That is certainly what the children and parents have in spades at Safe Passage.  

Gratitude List:
  1. Yellow butterfly hovering over my bow
  2. Wind at my back pushing me along
  3. The gift of salt from the Spatina
  4. Warm October sun
  5. Good friends who know your worst and are still good friends
Date: October 15, 2015                                                    Restart Paddle Day: 10
Start location: Savannah,  Georgia                                    Launch time: 10:30 am
End location:  Skidaway Island                                          Land time: 3:30 pm
Average speed: 3.4 mph                                                   Max Speed: 5.7 mph
Miles: 9
Total expedition miles with kayak: 1692                           Motor-portage miles: 330
Kayak Storage: Moon River Kayak
Hosts: Kathy and Joe Ginette
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