I have been on the Crystal Coast for almost ten months now. I have been trying hard to capture the spirit of the area in a picture.

I think the one in this post comes pretty close.

As someone once told me, you cannot fully appreciate the Crystal Coast without getting in a boat.

This area is a land of almost horizon to horizon water. Some outside the inlets is very deep. The waters inside the inlets and even in the rivers are often shallow, that shallow water is often a bigger problem than deep ocean water.

Last night I went out our inlet in my kayak. I decided to explore outside the marked channel which we carefully follow with our boat. I soon found my kayak in six inches of water where paddling becomes very hard.

Yet all this shallow water is a nursery for an incredible variety of sea creatures and a very friendly human culture.

The shallower waters in the inlets and the shifting sands often create ad hoc beaches which are reachable only by boat.

I think the gatherings on those beaches really speak to the spirit of friendliness that permeates life on the Crystal Coast.

This is a magical place with opportunities for fun, friendship, and fishing that are hard to find elsewhere.

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Tags: Boats, Beaches