O God, thy Sea is so Great and my Boat so Small

 

March 24, 2023, Safe Harbor Marina Beaufort, South Carolina:

                                                                                                     

 

We completed the Georgia section of the ICW yesterday when we arrived in Beaufort South Caroline which is the 17^th state on Our Great Loop. The ICW in the state of Georgia is a beautiful waterway but certainly one of our more challenging. On the Georgia ICW we cruised on and across over 100 rivers and 10 outlets into the Atlantic Ocean and experienced extreme tides and currents that were not as predictable as I thought they would be, my misunderstanding. We were expecting to have both the tides and currents but not as complex as they turned out to be.  More on that later but as nice and peaceful the Georgia marshes and low lands are, we are grateful to have them behind us.  I’m sure we have plenty more challenges ahead of us, but this one was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. So, below is a review of the week that we spent traveling through Georgia.

Meredith and I celebrating with a beer upon arrival in Beaufort

 

First, The Learnings!

 

So, here is a 10,000-foot overview of the tide and current issue to set the groundwork.

 We knew that the Georgia portion of the ICW is well known for both tides (of up to eight’) and with large tides come robust current. After being in Florida for 4 months which has approximately 1–2-foot tides. At any rate on this section of the ICW we crossed 10 major outlets/bays that one can take out to the Atlantic Ocean. These are major bodies of water and at mid tides with currents that are travelling at 5-6 knots, a lot of water pushing you sideways. We also traveled on or across over one hundred rivers. We are familiar with traveling in these conditions as in the State of Maine (our home waters) it is very similar regarding tide and current. Kennebunkport has about 11–12-foot tides and at mid tide the current in the Kennebunk River is running 5-6 knots. We know the currents play a major factor in traveling up or down coastal rivers, and we all plan accordingly. The impact between going with or against the current can be a game changer so we all normally take these factors into consideration. In fact, we normally use the tide and current to our advantage in traveling and docking. Additionally, there are certain periods of the tide when the current is strongest (the middle two hours of the tide) ((Rule of twelve’s, Mona, and Jim C))  we understand that. So, you rightfully may say what’s the problem here Jack?

 

An important criteria for us traveling anywhere is timing our passageways through the areas with very low water, making sure that we always have at least 5 feet of water under the boat. Unfortunately, we have seen 4 feet every day on the Georgia ICW. We draw 5’0” (that is the depth from our waterline to the bottom of the hull) and our propellers are 3’8” which is our lowest hanging fruit. That is where we have two (new and already replaced props sitting at the bottom of the boat unprotected). When you see 4'’6” below the hull that is not a lot of room (10”) for error. Therefore, our route planning is to arrive at all the low water locations at ½ tide or above and utilize that extra 4 feet (half of the 8-foot tide) of water to avoid grounding. Again, sounds simple.

PICTURE

Less than 5' of water !

 

The rookie mistake I made was when I planned our travel for the first few days I knew what time high tide was at our starting location and then researched the tide at our next port of call. On our next leg the high tide in Brunswick (starting point) was 5 AM, and High Tide in Colonels Island (ending destination) was 1 PM. They are sixty-eight miles apart. So, I’m thinking that we are going to have an incoming tide for the journey. Therefore, the outlets, bays and rivers are going to filling up, which is good. (I know this is too deep for several folks so you can just skip this section and go to the pictures).  Saturday night, the night before we had planned to depart Brunswick I’m doing my last bit of planning.  I identified 4 locations with less than 8 feet of water and confirmed what the tide will be when we are going through those area. I’m under the (false) impression we will be spending the day with an incoming tide and we would be safe. However I then discover that the two worst locations that we must pass we are in fact arriving an hour before low tide at one and the other two hours before low. In those locations the tide is outgoing Therefore, I realize  that not all rivers and bays are going to be at the same, OH MY  

 

Unfortunately, I awoke at 2 AM and I could not get back to sleep, trying to get my head around this, I knew then I had to get a better float plan.  I informed the Admiral at 5 AM, (I didn’t wake her up 😊) that I wasn’t comfortable with traveling in the morning, and I wanted to push our departure out a day. She was in total agreement, came back to bed and then I was able to sleep until 8 AM, a very good outcome.

 Our rule is if one person doesn’t want or think we should travel on any given day, we don’t travel period. It is both "go" or "no go"! It doesn’t have to be a unanimous decision. If one of us is uncomfortable, we don’t go. We can even say “no go” with the engines running.  This was not the first time we postponed a travel day, however, normally its weather related, but this time the navigator had to get his bearing!

Sunday we got up, had breakfast, walked to mass and then I spent the day studying the GA ICW, its tides, and currents. I needed to understand the big picture which I had overlooked. I was much more confident once I reviewed the entire route through Georgia and knew the timing of all the tides in the low water areas and confirmed what the best times to travel through them. It was a confidence builder that allowed us to pass the entire ICW of Georgia safely and without any bumps, the props made it to South Carolina simply fine.

 In addition to timing the tides correctly the other impact is; what will our average speed be during the day? Then I know when we will be crossing the low water areas. The reality is the ICW in GA has so many twists and turns that you are hitting some rivers that have incoming currents and the next outgoing.  One is at high tide and 3 miles north the next river is half tide, 3 mile later that river is at low tide. One river you are going with the current and the next you are bucking the tide. Each river is impacted by multiple factors and not all will be ebbing and flowing at the same time. Monday’s trip from Brunswick GA to Halfmoon Marina we ran at 1500 RPM all day, we never changed our RPM’s. Normally at 1500 RPM we would cruise at 10 MPH. Our speed fluctuated on this journey from 5.9 MPH to 11.5 MPH. That fluctuation was due to the impact that the current and tide had on us. We would be bucking the tide in one river then turn onto the next river or outlet and get a huge boost.  The learning was we are going to be riding the tides and currents in both direction. Therefore, I am just picking the places with the lowest water and planning to arrive at ½ tide or higher. That is not always going to occur but that’s my number one strategy to safely navigate the ICW of Georgia. We knew this section had it’s challenges, but this challenge exceeded our expectations, okay enough of that.

Monday March 20, 2023, Travel Day # 107 Brunswick Landing, Brunswick GA. To Halfmoon Marina: Colonels Island GA. Total Distance 68 Miles, Total Time 8.5 Hours,

 Well as you now know we ended up spending 4 days in Brunswick , one extra day as mentioned above, but it was a nice town to hang out in. Brunswick is on Jekyll Island which is a very cool place. The marina was right next to town and there were several great place to visit. Sunday I did my research, and we watched the golf tournament. We ate on the boat and went to bed early as we had an exceptionally long day, Monday, 68 miles and 6 miles of this on the North Newport River with no navigational aids! Nothing worse than knowing you are going to end your last hour traveling down a river you have never been on, blind!

We got up Monday and it was freezing, 38 degrees outside and when I put the heat on at 6:30 am the thermometer in the main salon was at 48. BRRR! We headed out at 8 AM with lots of layers on, I had my winter hat on, and Meredith had her ball cap and gloves on. I cannot wear gloves as I am always playing with the iPad and tablet pinching the screen to zoom in and out on the charts. We both had our hoodies up, (Thank you Tina and Gary). It was a sunny day and by 10 AM we were very comfortable, but it was a chilly start. We left the marina and headed down the Brunswick River and 10-miles south we picked up the ICW as we entered St Simons Sound which is one of the outlets to the Atlantic Ocean. We passed by St Simons Island and headed up the ICW. Our first skinny water was at the Muddy River (appropriately named!), and we passed that at 10:30am two hours before low tide and made it without issues, the second was at noontime and we went through that section at ½ tide again no bumps, so waiting the extra day in Brunswick felt like the right decision. I will post several pictures, but the ICW is in the middle of NOWHERE in Georgia. It is high marsh grass and very rural and isolated. We did not pass any houses, towns, or industry, occasionally we would see a power plant on the horizon. It was a very peaceful journey once we got by the thin water.

We had chosen the Halfmoon Marina because we had read how out of the way it is and it is an hour detour off the ICW, so very few Looper will go there. In addition to being off the ICW, the North Newport River is not marked by navigation aids. What we found and had read is the marina owner, Kevin, has set up his own markers on the shore and it was extremely easy to navigate. I called Kevin when we started down the river and he explained his system and we never had less than 12-feet of water and in most cases we were twenty-five feet off the river bank in 30-feet of water. It was like being on a roller coaster, we were nervous, but we knew we were in good hands. When we arrived at the marina we felt like we had run a marathon. Overall, this was one of our most tense days since we were on The Rivers in November: running over skinny water, crossing 4 major inlets running out to the Atlantic, and finally running up the North Newport River. The marina was bare bones but was in one of the most spectacular locations that we have been, Colonels Island. As soon as we arrived it was evident that this place had such an old home, country, great people vibe, just the heartbeat of America kind of place. When we had the marina in site, Kevin talked us into the dock on his radio and once we docked the first thing I did was to shake his hand and thanked him on his navigational markers, (I could have kissed him, but he was not even a “hugging” kind of guy, which I am!). When I went up to square up I brought cash, he just seemed like a cash guy, and I said “what’s the cash price without a receipt? He says, “$50, I said “done”. We normally are paying twice that. I have had several mentors from Georgia (Gene Ellison and Harold Brewer come to mind), and they are two of the most down to earth, hardworking, honest men I know, Kevin is cut from the same cloth. Georgia country men are some of the finest and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. We were the only transients in the marina and the only boat on the face dock. It was so peaceful and calm. It was one of the calmest nights that we have had in months. The past few months we have been in large marinas with lots of traffic, noise and trains horns blowing all night. It was so great to be off the beaten path and enjoy rural Georgia, it was magical. After all that we had gone through to get to Halfmoon Marina it was great that our final destination was better than we expected. A glorious night. We just cooked a steak on the dock had a salad (before Kevin left at 5 PM, he left us the keys to the marina store in case we needed anything). We never saw another person that evening, until we started the engines the next morning and who appears but Kevin who came down and said, “you get up on the helm and Meredith and I will deal with the lines”.

Just a magical day, we are grateful for every wonderful day we get, and this was one Blessed Day.

 

 

Track  

 

Pictures

 Terns Following us

GA. ICW 

 Three Helicopters passing overhead

 

 Sunset at Halfmoon Marina 

 

Tuesday March 21, 2023: Travel Day # 108 Colonel’s Island GA to Ilse of Hope Marina, Savannah GA. Total Distance 40 Miles, Total Time 5 Hours, We Departed Halfmoon at 8 AM and had a pleasant journey down the river and this time it was high tide, and we had our cookie crumbs to follow back to the ICW. The 6-mile journey took us an hour as we had an incoming tide pushing against us. By 9 AM we were back on the ICW heading north toward Savannah. It was a beautiful day and had wall to wall sun and only a bit of a breeze. The forecast was less than 10 knots of breeze, so it was a pleasant morning. For the next two hours we cruised through the


We spent the morning working our way through Ossabaw Island Preserve which was stunning. All open marshland and big water and I will include pictures below. Once again we didn’t see any other boats, several crabbers, no homes, no towns and no industry. I felt like we were way back in time, very pretty and rustic. Our next section required us to cross St Catherine Sound which is one of the major inlets going out to the Atlantic Ocean from the ICW. The opening to St. Catherine Sound at the Atlantic is 1.5 miles wide which produces a lot of water, and the tide was about 2 hours outgoing so riding down the sound we had a nice advantage with the current. Unfortunately, we had to turn 180 degrees half way down the sound on a mark and buck back into that same current for 2 miles. The wind started to pick up and was on our beam which Her Idea  doesn’t like (nor do we), but it only lasted half an hour so it was fine. We then joined the Bear River for the next 15 miles which was a little more protected. Our next section was (our fifth on the loop) “Hells Gate”, which was not an issue from a wind or current standpoint when we passed through it, but it was skinny water. We saw 5 feet several times and never saw 10” of depth. The good news was it is only a half mile long to it was over quickly. We then joined the Moon River all the way to our destination in Savannah, the Isle of Hope Marina.

We arrived at the marina at 1 PM, had lunch, washed the salt water off the hull and topsides as it was soaked from crossing the sound. The Marina had a courtesy car which we used to go to the store and provision the boat. It is great when they have cars as you sign up for two-hour slot and can pick up everything you need. I was able to go to Home Depot and pick up a wet vac and we stopped at a large grocery store and food shopped. We came back to the boat and had dinner on board. There were 2 other transient boats at the marina, but both were southbound and no Loopers.  

The next morning, they let us have the car for 4 hours since there was no demand so we took off at 10 AM and went into Savannah, which is a wonderful town (and only 8 miles away). Meredith and I had both been there and so we were familiar with the layout. We walked all around the town and the waterfront, had lunch on the Savannah River and went back to the boat. I dropped Meredith off at a nail salon a mile away from the marina, she did her thing, and I was able to borrow the car again and pick her up. We had a wonderful time visiting Savannah it really is a neat old southern town.

 

Track

 

 Crossing St. Catherine's Sound

 

Winds had picked up as we crossed the sound

 Mouth of St Catherine's Sound looking at the Atlantic

Savannah River Crossing

Container Ship going up the Savannah River, which we let pass by 

Houses Along the Way 

Savannah GA.
 

Love  the Trees in the South 

Thursday March 23, 2023, Travel Day # 109, Isle of Hope Marina Savannah GA to Safe Harbor Marina, Beaufort SC. Total Distance 53 Miles, Total Time 6.5 Hours.  Departing Isle of Hope this morning was extremely easy and we were underway just after 8 AM. Once again we had a beautiful day to travel sunny and warm with less wind than the previous travel day. We traveled about 15 miles and crossed the Savannah River which it a major shipping waterway with lots of commercial traffic. We can monitor ships with our AIS system and sure enough we had a large container ship inbound so we slowed down and let them pass well in front of us. I will include a few pictures of the ship, however, when you are up close these container ships one sure seem small. However it is also pretty cool to be watching them and looking up at the bridge as they travel by.  The GA South Carolina board is at the Savannah River, and we entered Fields Cut on the opposite bank and followed that to Hilton Head. I will include some pictures of some very nice homes on the ICW in Hilton Head, very lovely spots. Just beyond Hilton Head we had another major inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, Port Royal Sound. It was similar in size to the St Catherine's but only had to do a diagonal crossing, so it was smooth sailing. When we got to the north side of Port Royal Sound we joined the Beaufort River which we would take all the way to our marina in downtown Beaufort. We had lunch underway, as we were not getting to the dock until after 2 PM. When we arrive the current was fierce and luckily had a competent dockhand that helped get on the main dock safely. I have already confirmed with him that he will be here in the morning to see us off. He said he’s here at 8 and so we are good to go. There are 3 others of us leaving in the morning and we are going to have a captain’s meeting at 4 this afternoon and make sure we can all co-ordinate our departures because the current runs about 6 knots and is pushing us straight into the dock so getting off looks difficult. The one boat that left this morning was not a pretty exit and I sure don’t want to start my day that way!  Now I know why it was easy getting in😊. Yes the Captain’s meeting will be with Docktails!

 

Once we washed the boat down we walked all around Beaufort (not a big city, but very cool) and chose a restaurant for dinner. Back to the boat had a cocktail then walked to town ate at a great little restaurant and then back to the boat by 7 PM. It is light out until 7:30 now with Sunrise is at 7:20 AM so the longer days are most enjoyable. This morning we worked on our next 10 day itinerary and made reservations 4 days out. We did laundry and I’m working on the blog, (this has really HAS become work!) and with luck will have it published tonight. Hopefully by 2 PM we will go out and explore Beaufort again and get our 10,000 steps in. I will snap some pictures and include them in the blog.  We are eating in, after our Captain’s meeting. Long day tomorrow as we are going 70 miles in the morning  to Charleston. Rain and heavy winds (guests to 25) are in the forecast. I think the whole East Coast in getting this cold front running across the country. The next 4 days do not look great weather wise  so we will take it one day at a time.

 

Track

 

Pictures

 Houses Along the way

This was a green buoy that the pelicans turned white!

 Port Royal Sound

 Last Night's Sunset in Beaufort

 Beaufort GA

Pretty Homes Downtown Beaufort

Downtown Beaufort

Swing Bridge we travel through first thing in the morning 

Park in front of our Marina

Jackie  I found your Mermaid!

Fair Winds