Coastal Georgia

 In my last entry, we had arrived in Georgia. We were just a few miles from Savannah in the Herb River. We were being blessed with some very settled weather. We had almost no wind and the temperatures were very mild. We had totally missed Georgia in our trip north this past May/June. We had sailed on the outside from St. Augustine, Florida to Hilton Head, SC. We had heard both good and bad about this part of the ICW. It is about 40 miles further to stay on the ICW because it is very curvy as it winds and twists through the rivers along the coast. It is also very beautiful with lots of natural scenery and wildlife. We are all about new adventures, so we wanted to do it. 

Our plan was to do less than 30 miles each day by leaving later than normal and arriving early and enjoying our surroundings. For a while as we left the large city of Savannah we saw some homes along the waterway, but soon it turned into marsh lands as far as you could see.

One of the beautiful home in Isle of Hope, a small community just outside of Savannah.

Our next stop was Kilkenny Creek. We were the first boat to arrive at this nice spot. You would never know that Richmond Hill, the home town of our friends Bob and Shiela, was just a mile or so away. Later three other boats joined us, but there would have been room for about 30 boats in this wide creek. 

This was our view for much of that day. Glass smooth water and lots of marsh land.

We had some cloud cover that evening, but it was still fairly calm and we had a restuful night.

I was up early the following morning to catch this beautiful sunrise over the calm water.

Kim raising the anchor as we leave Kilkenny Creek.

We had another very easy day and we cruised along in the calm weather. Our next stop was the Duplin River. It is a cut just off of the inlet at Doboy sound, behind Sapelo Island. There is a ferry landing there, so we went up the creek, just beyond the landing. There were two other boats there when we arrived. They were traveling about the same speed and distances as we were. We only talked on the radio, but never met. That is the way it is along the ICW, this time of year. 

Our anchorage in the Duplin River. We ended up having 4 boats in there for the night.

We had a nice sunset, so I have to get a picture. 

Another one with the dishy up on the foredeck.

OK, just one more.

We had traveled 31.3 nm the previous day to get to Duplin River. We had been given a very gracious offer for the following night. Bob and Shiela that I mentioned earlier, have a slip that is in a marina that was about 27 miles in front of us on St. Simons Island. They had offered to let us stay in their slip for a night or two. We meet such amazing people in this lifestyle. We headed out on that morning, expecting to make that our next stop. I had talked to Bob, the previous night and he warned me about some very strong currents at the marina. We had to go in on an incoming tide. We had great current behind us as we continued out trip south. I had looked at the tide tables and knew that the right tide would not happen until about 3:30 pm. We were making such good time, that we were going to arrive at around noon. We looked at all of our options and decided to keep going. We had another very calm day and we really wanted to get across the notorious Saint Andrew sound in this settled weather, so we decided to pass on the free slip and pressed on to the north side of Cumberland Island. 

We had an interesting ground fog as left Duplin River 

We saw this very nice house out on this island all by itself. The only access had to be by boat.

We passed by the bridge at the Brunswick, GA inlet. All of the very tall masted sailboats can get under this one.

This is the north end of Cumberland Island. There is a small tower by the cliffs of sand.

We dropped the hook in Brickhill River, which goes up into Cumberland Island. Wow, what a great spot!

Check out how calm it was. This is the view out the front.

This is the view astern at the trees on the island. There was a controlled hunt going on the day we arrived. 

That evening we were treated to a beautiful sunset out the front...

And a beautiful moonrise out the back. What an awesome day!

We ended up traveling 42 nm that day, but now we were in a place that we were really looking forward to exploring. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore. It is run by the National Park Service. We have been to many other National Seashores and have never been disappointed. In my next entry, I will write about our time at Cumberland Island. 

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

 We arrived at HHISC on December 1st. After the big storm that hit us in Charleston Bay, the weather had been very nice. We had been enjoying light wind and warmer temperatures. The only problem was that we were tired. We had been pushing for the last 4 days. We had motored 166.8 nm in 31.1 hours. That is the same as driving a car from Salt Lake City, Utah to New York City. Now do you understand how slow we move?

As soon as we arrived at Palmetto Bay Marina, I called my friend Mark and planned to get together the next morning to get the Starlink package that my son Mark had shipped to him. He arrived and I went to put the package in the boat and then Mark took us to the store. He even came back and picked us up and took us and our large amount of provisions back to the boat. Thanks, Mark! That was so awesome. It was also great catching up with you and good luck on your new adventures. 

Here is the Starlink system in a box. I couldn't wait to get it set up.

This is a rare site. SHIFT had not been tied to a dock with power since we were in Edenton, NC about 4 weeks prior. The currents were very strong in this area with a 8 foot tidal range. 

After putting all of the groceries away, I unboxed the dishy and went through the installation process. The instructions are three icons and no words. It took me all of about 15 minutes and we were up and running. The system worked perfectly and it is super fast. I am very impressed!

Here is my temporary spot for the dishy. I have plans for a permanent installation back on the arch, but I need some hardware to make that happen. For now, we will just bring it out when we are at anchor. 

We only stayed at Palmetto Bay Marina on HHI for 2 nights. The rates were not that bad, but we would much rather be at anchor. On December 3rd we headed out. The current made it rough to get off the dock and then into the fuel dock, but we got it done and then were on our way. 

Our beautiful weather continued as we left HHI. Here is a shot the the iconic Harbor Town lighthouse. They have PGA golf tournament there each year. 

We had an easy cruise as we motored along the ICW. Before long we crossed the Savannah river, which is the sea access to the city of Savannah, GA. It was at that point we crossed into Georgia. That is our 4th state on this trip. We decided to make it a short day and only traveled 22.9 nm and anchored in Herb River. It was a beautiful spot and it was a "no wake" zone. We liked it so much we decided to stay two days and get some rest.

We had some very calm days while we were in Herb River. The houses are set way back off of the river due to the tidal change, so I did not feel like they could see us at all.

The other side of us was just marsh land. 

The second night we were at Herb river we were treated to this amazing sunset. I took a bunch of pictures, but I think this one is the best.

 You may ask, what do you do for two days on the boat? Well, just like most folks it was a Saturday and Sunday in the fall, so I watched football and Kim reads books. It was a perfect place to get rested up for the journey across Georgia. This is the first time we have been on this part of the ICW and many people don't like it. In my next entry, I will write about our time in Georgia. I will tell you now, it was special.

OH, No! We are on a Schedule!

 We left Enterprise Creek on Monday, November 28th. After spending 5 days in our secluded little oxbow, it felt great to get moving again. We decided to get an early start and left right at sunrise. It was a beautiful cruise down the Waccamaw river to Georgetown.

This picture does not show much other than my view from the helm. We had some current and wind against us and we were only going 5.3 knots over ground.

As soon as we got to Georgetown, we stopped at the Harborwalk Marina and got Diesel, water and a pump out. We then headed down by the Steel plant and got anchored. Then we got the dinghy down and I went to shore. As I said in my previous entry, Georgetown is notorious for poor holding and it was blowing about 15 to 20 knots. We had pretty decent protection, but we decided to leave Kim with the boat, while I went to shore to do a minor provision run. We were out of a couple of things that I wanted to get and I really needed some exercise. After a 3 mile round trip walk to the Piggly Wiggly, I made it back to the boat and unloaded. We decided to go out to dinner in town. We went to Aunny's. It is a soul food/southern cooking place that was very interesting. We really enjoyed our night out. 

Here is a shot of the waterfront in Georgetown. You can see the wind died off after sundown. It was a very nice and productive visit. 

We were up again the next morning at first light to pull the anchor and get underway. We had those dreaded reservations on Thursday night in Hilton Head. That was still about 140 miles away. I have been wanting to install Starlink on the boat for the last year. I have read all there is to know and when they we offering a free month of service for the RV version between now and the end of the year, I ordered it. Actually Kim, told me to do it. I think she was tired of hearing about it. The problem was how to get it to me. I decided to have it shipped to my son Mark's house. Then I called my friend, who is also named Mark, that lives in Hilton Head and asked if he would mind helping me out. He said, "No Problem". So I had Mark ship it to Mark. That is why we made reservations at Palmetto Bay Marina in Hilton Head. 

This is what it looks like to be underway before sunrise. We were just leaving Georgetown.

There is the famous dock in Buck Hall, SC where this whole sailboat dream started. We passed the same dock on the way north last June. I told the whole story in that entry.

We anchored for the night after a 43.1 nm day, just to the north of Charleston in Whiteside Creek. 

We had a beautiful calm evening.

It doesn't get any better than this. We had a neighbor join us just before sunset. 

The following day was one that I was concerned about. We had a very shallow spot that was about 6 miles in front of us. Then we had to open a bridge that had their first opening of the day at 9 am. Then we had to cross the very busy Charleston Bay, then open another bridge in a cut that is notorious for having super fast current. I was a bit stressed. 

We got out of the anchorage a bit later because we had to time the tides for the first shallow spot. We got there at about an hour after low tide and made it through and never saw less that 6 feet. Then it was on to the bridge. I was now a bit early and had to hover for about 45 minutes, but we got through and just as we headed out into the bay we saw a huge storm front on the horizon. The radar looked bad and we had a decision to make. We decided that we would rather be in open water, so we took off out into the bay. We got hit with 25 knot winds and driving rain. We were totally comfortable in our enclosure. Wow, what a game changer. We motored right through the storm and by the time we made it to the far side of the bay, the rain was slowing and the visibility was much better. I shot some video of the whole thing, which I will try to publish later. 

Then the matter of the second bridge. I called the bridge and they were ready to open in about 10 minutes. That was good because the current was ripping in our favor. Right after the bridge we went through a narrow cut and we hit 9.6 knots over ground. That is the fastest this boat has ever gone (other that when we were sailing in the Gulf Stream). From there on out it was pretty easy. We finished the day in an anchorage called Racoon Island. We had made it 50.6 nm.

Sunrise and a stormy sky

Kim took this shot of Fort Sumter in the middle of the storm in Charleston Bay

Kim getting the anchor down at Racoon Island

It was a nice calm evening

I guess just one more shot

 The following day we had 43 miles to go to get to Hilton Head. We had a few shallow cuts to make it through, but we made them all without going aground. We even got to sail a bit. All in all it was a pretty uneventful day. We made it to Palmetto Bay Marina at about 4 pm and got tied up. It was a great feeling to be where we needed to be and to rest comfortably. 

Well that is about it for this entry, I will write about our time in HHISC in my next entry and let you know how the Starlink system is working. 

A Very Unique Thanksgiving

 We left Holden Beach on November 23rd. That is the day before Thanksgiving. We spent that day cruising along the ICW. Right through Myrtle Beach, SC. We opened a bridge along the way and the bridgetender warned us the following bridge was doing maintenance and could not open. We slowed down and crept along for about 5 miles. Then we heard the job had been completed and we could get through. That is just the way it goes when you travel along the ICW in a sailboat. 

The ICW through Myrtle Beach is large homes on one side and untouched wetlands on the other.

There are some very large homes along this stretch. I understand that they get more traffic by their backyard than the front. So, they do their Christmas decorations along the back more than the front. 

After the first 30 miles, the ICW turns inland along the Waccamaw River. What was large homes turns to beautiful large Cypress trees and nature. We love this portion of the ICW. After 45nm, we arrived in Enterprise Creek. This is another place we have stayed before. It is an oxbow in the river that is protected on all sides. The forecast called for some wind, but we did not feel any of it. 

We have the anchor down and it is very quiet.

More of the same out the other side.

There was no place to go to land, but the serenity was awesome. 

One of the biggest downsides of our crazy lifestyle is the time we spend away from our family. That downside seems to multiply when we spend the holidays away from the ones we love the most. This year, we have no plans to be with family during the holidays, so Kim and I will make due together, all by ourselves. In this beautiful place surrounded by birds, turtles and the old cypress trees. 

We had a dinner of a pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes and I had just barely good enough TV reception to watch some football games.  It was a pretty good Thanksgiving weekend.

I took a bunch of pictures in this beautiful place. What else was I going to do?

We did have a few boats stop and spend a night or two, but we only greeted them when they came in to give them advice on anchoring.

If you look closely you can see the large cypress tree just left of center has a number of large burls on it. I wonder how old it is.

We were watching the weather closely. There was a pretty big blow coming in on Saturday. We were about 30 miles inland and the wind was mainly along the coast. Our next stop was Georgetown, which was about 26 miles away. The problem with going there is that I expected to have a number of other boats in the harbor that is notorious for having poor holding. In a blow you would have boats running into one another. We decided to just stay in our little slice of heaven...for 5 days! By the end of it, I was getting a bit stir crazy and I was ready to move on. 

While I was in Enterprise Creek, I ordered my Christmas present. It is something I have wanted for a long time. The problem was how to get it to us? I made those plans and now we were suddenly on a schedule. That is bad! The next 4 days were a bit hectic and crazy. In my next entry, I will write about it and tell you what I got for Christmas.

Our Somewhat Complicated Life

 We left Miles Hammock on November 18. We enjoyed our rest day. Kim spent some time reading and I caught up on the blog and did routine maintenance on the boat. The weather was good, but kind of cool.

First up was a cut that required my full attention. The area around the New River is known for shoaling and it can get shallow in a hurry. The good news is we have some good tracks that are published by another boater. Almost all of the boats on the ICW use the Bob423 tracks and I have come to rely on them in the shallow areas. Kim has the track on our Navionics app on my phone and I am looking at the chart plotter and tablet. She can tell when we need to deviate from the center of the channel and just guides me through. We make a pretty good team. 

We motored on for 35 nautical miles to Wrightsville Beach. The only complication on the day was the bridge at Wrightsville. It opens only on the top of the hour. We did a poor job with our timing and had to wait about 30 minutes for the bridge. We did get lucky when a work barge was coming through and the bridge tender opened about 10 minutes early and let us through also. 

When we arrived at Wrightsville we anchored in the large anchorage. It was now about 2 pm and we had a mission to complete before dark (5pm). We had an empty propane bottle and I did not know how much was in the other one, because I had been using it for the grill. We got the dinghy down and used the hoist to install the outboard motor. It is a kind of complicated process, but we are getting better at it each time we do it. 

We loaded up the dinghy with the pull cart, the empty propane tank and some insulated bags. We then made a walk of about 1.8 miles to the hardware store that fills bottles and then hit the grocery store. We had to walk over two bridges including the one we had opened and gone through just about 2 hours earlier. All went well at the hardware store and the grocery. Then we had to walk the almost 2 miles back to the dinghy dock pulling our now loaded cart. Then we had to put the stuff in the dinghy. Then we had to motor out to the boat. Then we had to lift the stuff up into the boat into the cockpit. Then we had to put the propane back in the locker and the groceries in the cabin. A perfect example of what is easy on land, but a bit complicated for us. We did just make it back to the boat before the sun went down. 

This is the ICW across the bridge. The bridge tenders office is in that building. 

This is the ICW heading north. That is where we waited a few hours before.

This is a smaller bridge right by our anchorage at Wrightsville Beach. You can see SHIFT in this shot.

Here we are back on the boat. We had picked up the dinghy for the night and were ready to eat dinner. It was a beautiful calm night. 

  The following day we decided to take a much shorter walk to the beach and go out for lunch. We were a bit sore from our forced march the previous night. 

It was a nice day to walk along the beautiful Wrightsville Beach. 

No blog entry from a beach would be complete without the Kim on a beach shot. 

We had a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant and went back to the boat to get prepared for our travel on the following day. We liked Wrightsville Beach and certainly would use it as an alternative to Carolina Beach that is only about 10 miles further south. Carolina Beach does have a mooring field, but it is currently closed for repairs. 

We were up early on November 20th to head a bit further south. We had heard about a small town dock in Holden Beach. It was just about the prefect mileage, so I called and got reservations for 2 nights. We pulled the anchor, just as the sun was rising and got moving. We cruised along the ICW for about 10 miles against the current to Carolina Beach. Then we turned to go through the cut that takes you out to the open water of the Beaufort Inlet. The current that was against us was now with us and about 2 knots. We also had wind behind us at about 10 knots. I unfurled the Genoa and shut off the engine. We had a great 10 mile sail down the inlet. We averaged about 7 knots with no motor. Yeah!

After those great 10 miles, we had to furl the sail and turn on the motor and head down the ICW again. It was only about 12 miles to Holden beach. When we arrived there were two boats already on the dock on this Sunday. I called one of them on the radio and one of them quickly moved to a dock across the ICW. The guy on the other boat helped us dock and we hooked up power for only the second time on this trip. It was cold (about 45 degrees F), so Kim turned on the little electric heater. 

The following morning, I went to the town hall to pay for the dock space. When I told them what had happened, they told me that we were supposed to be the only boat on the dock. It is sad that some people are always trying to cheat their way through life. 

Another Kim on a beach shot at Holden Beach. We took a couple of long walks and found some very interesting shells.

Holden Beach is very nice. 

Here is SHIFT on the town dock in Holden Beach. $1.25 per foot and $5 for electricity, $5 for all the laundry you can do and nice shower and bathrooms. Really nice place.

The dock is right next to the city park and Town Hall. 

We enjoyed out time so much in Holden Beach that we decided to stay an extra night making it three nights. We were once again watching a weather system that would impact our plans, but first we had Thanksgiving to celebrate. In my next entry, I will write about our Thanksgiving and what we would do to stay safe.