SUP Cleanup, February 2010

Photos and Article by Tyler Hustrulid.

The weather turned out wonderful and so did the number of paddlers on Saturday the 20th for our February cleanup. Beautifully clear Carolina skies had everyone smiling, happy to be outside, and ready to get on the water.

After stoking up on coffee and muffins provided by our friends at the local Starbucks, we left the slips at Dockside Restaurant and paddled back to the same spoil island we visited last month. With the sun high and the water clear, we could easily see to the channel’s milky bottom below us and paused to take a closer look at the oyster beds along the way.

Armed with rakes and many more hands to help, we felt that we were finally able to start making progress clearing all the trash left behind on the interior of the island from previous fireworks displays. Very soon after starting, bags were being filled with foil, cardboard caps and tubes, paper wrappers, and metal detonation wires. The enormity of the waste reminded us all how sometimes it can be easy to get so caught-up in the excitement of a moment that we can often forget about the impact we are leaving to be dealt with later.

While we were very pleased to have picked-up a sizeable amount of trash off the island there is still more to be collected there for future SUP Cleanup outings.

If you would like to join us, our next scheduled SUP Cleanup is Saturday, March 20 at 9AM.  We will be meeting at Blockade Runner Beach Resort.  Visit the newly launched SUPCleanup.com for complete details.