# Charleston 6-6-09 Waterspout



## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

Hit the harbor at 6 am with my friend JOrdan to do a little sheep fishing.... well actually to feed fiddlers to sheeps and lose a lot of tackle :redface:, but that's another story.

Great morning at the launch. Weatherman was calling for scattered thunderstorms and a decent chance of showers.










Set up next to a huge row of pilings and proceeded to feed the sheeps. Managed to catch a decent trout on a fiddler. Then ordan got his first ever sheep.









The bite turned off as the tide turned, so we went exploring in the yaks. 
Paddled from above the Ravenel Bridge, down to the Battery. We hopped out of the yaks and had a nice relaxing lunch on the little beach by the Battery.

Feeling fed and refreshed I decded to throw the cast net for some menhaden. Netted a decent number in a couple of casts and set up on a deep channel alongside Chute's Folly / Castle Pinkney.

We hadn't been there long when the wind from the ocean started picking up and a dark line appeared west of us over Daniel Island.











Fished a few more minutes and the wind got a good bit stronger, the harbor turned into 2 foot swells with whitecaps, so it was time to start back across before it got any worse.


















Right about now I saw the first lightning bolt streak across the sky. We were 1 1/2 miles from our put in, the wind was picking up, the waves in the harbor were still building, so we put the hammer down and paddled HARD for the relative safety of the commercial docks. Worst case scenario we could duck inder the concrete docks and get about 100 feet back under the concrete pier.

We noticed a Coast Guard chopper coming from the Daniel Island area low and fast. he passed over us, circled in front of us a bit then made another pass.

This is what we saw behind the Coasties. We still had about 1/2 mile to go.  It's time to paddle a little harder.

















I promised Jordan that I'd make him famous.

















This is as close to a waterspout as I want to get..... especially in a kayak.









Made it off the water safely. There were about a dozen people standing on a private pier with cameras and camcorders getting pics of the spout. 

All in all a great day on the water, a serious upper body workout, and a SOLID pucker factor at the end.


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## hokieboy (Jan 19, 2006)

Awesome pics man!!!


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm pretty happy considering I took them with a blackberry.


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## Jackalopehunter (Mar 17, 2009)

Too Busy said:


> I'm pretty happy considering I took them with a blackberry.


very nice...glad you 2 made out all right, grats on the sheep too!


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

Wow!  Pucker factor is an accurate term!


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## Coffeeguy (May 27, 2006)

Too Busy said:


> Worst case scenario we could duck inder the concrete docks and get about 100 feet back under the concrete pier.


Yeah, that might be the lesser of the two evils...Depending on what the swells were like at the docks, I'd be concerned with getting the crap beat out of me on the pilings. I'll BET that was a good workout...glad y'all made it back in quickly and safely.


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## mud (Sep 23, 2007)

wow never seen anyone taking the seas on in a sit in kayak!! Dont think thats something I want to try anytime soon as it get rough in the bay just as quick as it did there. Nice pictures and nice report. Keep them comming thanks!!


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

mud said:


> wow never seen anyone taking the seas on in a sit in kayak!! Dont think thats something I want to try anytime soon as it get rough in the bay just as quick as it did there. Nice pictures and nice report. Keep them comming thanks!!


Jordan and I do a lot of paddling together. That Pamlico 14 is about the most seaworthy sit in I've ever seen. Watertight rear compartment and pool noodles assure he won't sink, Buddy boat, rescue practice, and pump help with feeling safe(r). Besides, he's a good paddler with a good head on his shoulders.


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

Killer photos of the waterspout, and on a blackberry nonetheless.

If I was your friend, I'd have a print made of this one..


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## Wilber (May 20, 2003)

Awesome shots, awesome report, awesome day. Glad you made it. 1 mile makes a big difference.


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## Tramontane (Jun 6, 2009)

really cool pictures glad you made it back safe


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Great report and pics. Glad you're ok.


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

Where's the witch on the bicycle in that picture?


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## jay b (Dec 1, 2002)

Great report and even better pics !! 

Have you been able to relax and un-pucker enough to pull your yak seat out of your A$$


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

If you notice in the last picture you see bubbles where his kayak was,,,,is that him going submarine on us??


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

jay b said:


> Great report and even better pics !!
> 
> Have you been able to relax and un-pucker enough to pull your yak seat out of your A$$



So that's where the ant hill on my Tarpon came from.:redface:

I got sliced off trolling a menhaden along a deep cut. I thought it was a blue... Been reading other reports from Sat and learned of a few schools of Spanish in the harbor. Hmmmmmmm


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

SpinMeister99 said:


> If you notice in the last picture you see bubbles where his kayak was,,,,is that him going submarine on us??



Nah, just bubble from HARD paddles strokes. You can see his rudder in the lower left corner of the last pic.

He got a couple of great shots too. One of the mist / spray all the way to the clouds as the funnel fell apart. I'll see if I can lay hands on it.


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

uncdub13 said:


> Killer photos of the waterspout, and on a blackberry nonetheless.
> 
> If I was your friend, I'd have a print made of this one..


I got an e-mail yesterday from the editor of Tidelline Magazine. This shot won the photo of the month. It'll appear in the next issue of Tideline. 

They are mailing me a mystery goody bag as the prize. Cant' wait to see what's in it. opcorn:


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## Hannibal (Aug 10, 2007)

Just added that pic as my new desktop background.


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