11-18-2015 – 11-22-2015 SC, GA

Continuing our southward journey, from South Carolina into Georgia.

Wednesday, 11/18/15, we are up early at Tom’s Point Creek Anchorage, in SC. The sky is red! Awake at 6:30, anchor up at 6:45, back in the channel by 7:00 AM. “Full Moon” is staying another hour, to wait for the tide to come up a little, the other two sailboats are going out with us.  Ahead of us, Serenade warns us of shallow spots, over the radio. The sky has turned pinkish yellow now, and we are accompanied by dolphins. The water is shallow and electrical pole caps are exposed.

Early morning at Tom's Point Creek Anchorage

Other boats are still sleeping

We passed Full Moon, another boat is coming out with us

Pole caps are exposed at low tide

I have pain in my back from Monday’s walk over the Charleston bridges, leaning and holding the bike awkwardly (and nervously) over the very narrow walkways. The pain will be with me for the next 3 days, unfortunately. Last night I had trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep, and today it’s especially hard for me to climb up and down the stairs. I have to lift my right leg with my hands.  I am so thankful that neither of us have ever had a more severe injury while living on the boat.

We reach the Ladies Island Bridge at Beaufort SC in time for the 2 PM opening, but it is delayed due to an auto accident on the bridge. We circle around for an hour and finally go through close to 3 PM. While we are waiting, Full Moon arrives in time for the 3 PM opening. He anchors in Beaufort, SC, across from the town docks. We stop in Beaufort for fuel and water, and continue on southward. 

Scenery along the waterway in SC

Ladies Island Bridge, Beaufort, SC

Full Moon, traveling since 2004, has been around the world

We scramble to find an anchorage for the night, now that we lost an hour of daylight. We find a reference to Cowen Creek in Skipper Bob, a book we use less frequently since the version we have is out of date. (We primarily use the On the Water Chart Guides and On the Water Anchor Guides, written by Captains Mark and Diana Doyle, which are far more comprehensive.) The Creek is wide and exposed, but empty and suitable for the weather that we are expecting for tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night: rain, without strong winds. We anchored at 4:55 PM, just before dark. There are houses and docks close by, but no other anchored boats.

Thursday, 11/19/15, a rain day, we stayed at Cowen Creek, SC, STM 544.5. Chuck shelled some pecans and I made pecan sticky buns. 

Pecan Sticky Buns - Before

Pecan Sticky Buns - After

For Caleb and Andrew - Polite and Patient Granpa Chuck

For Caleb and Andrew - Goofy and Greedy Granpa Chuck!

We contacted a few friends and made plans to see the rocket launch scheduled for 12/3. For dinner, we made a stir fry with fresh vegetables, bottled sauces and canned pork, which was a little salty but surprisingly good.

Pork and Veg Stir-fry - Before

Canned Pork

Cooking...

Cooking...

Pork Stir-fry - after

Friday, 11/20/15, we are up and leaving Cowen Creek at 7:15 AM, on our way to Savannah. We spot a familiar boat, “Cynthia Gale” from Bath NC, and we exchange greetings as they passed us, sailing faster. We sailed across Port Royal Sound, leading the parade in front of the smaller boats, the “jib flying dinghy draggers”.  We also experimented with our two sails, in, out, reefed. The wind was weak and from behind, so the sails didn’t do much. As we crossed the GA line and passed through Savannah, we tried to contact our friends who live there. We were only able to leave a phone message, to say that we were reminded of the wonderful time we had there last year, but did not plan to stop this year. We are still trying to stay ahead of the cold. Last year, the Delegal Marina had to turn off the water at night because the temps were below freezing. This year was much warmer, but we still didn’t want to take chances. We needed to keep moving.

Cowen Creek Anchorage, SC

Here they come!..

The parade of "jib flying dinghy draggers"

A colorful boat, "Wanderlust"

Hell Gate, in GA

Chrysallis

"Gorgeous Girl"  from Maine

We anchored at Red Bird Creek, in GA at STM 607, with “Gorgeous Girl” from ME, and “Lagniappe”, the green hulled boat from Canada, just before sundown, at 5:15 PM.

Red Bird Creek Anchorage, GA

Red Bird Creek Anchorage, Georgia

11/21/15, Saturday, we wake up at 6:23 AM at Red Bird Creek in GA. We slept like babies, from 9:30 PM to almost 6:30 AM, 9 hours! By 6:35 the engine is on, and by 6:40, we are making our way past “Lagniappe” and “Gorgeous Girl”, with 2.5 kts of current running out of the creek. The marsh has a unique salty scent in the early morning, not at all unpleasant. We see 2 other boats anchored in nearby Queen Bess Creek, and 4 more in Cane Patch Creek, also within sight.

Early morning, leaving Red Bird Creek, in GA

Sky, one hour after leaving, sun trying to emerge through the clouds

The GA waterway, 7:30 AM

The sun is beaming through

Lagniappe, from Canada

It’s a pretty, sunny, comfortable morning. We are motor sailing with the jib, reefed, and doing 6+ kts. Later it becomes cooler and breezier, with dark clouds ahead. We see a lot of dolphins, but they are quick, and as usual, no photo ops. We pass yellow and green grasses, we see grey water and grey skies, and many boats. At 5 PM, we anchored in Jove Creek, in GA, STM 671. I calculated that we would be due for an oil change on the generator in another 2 weeks or so. We’d be in FL by then.

11/22/15, Sunday, we woke up at 6:23 AM to a dark morning in Jove Creek, GA. Engine on at 6:44 AM. At 6:50 Chuck brought up the anchor and I was at the wheel. The current was very strong, I turned to avoid a crab pot and suddenly came uncomfortably close to the next anchored boat, as we were quickly moving downstream, sideways. Fortunately, I narrowly missed hitting their bow by hitting the throttle. Just. Chuck was yelling at me to turn to port, but the other boat was to port, so it made no sense to me. Later he explained that because the prop is in the back, this would have moved the back of our boat away from them. I’ll practice that move sometime when there is not a real boat with a terrified Canadian on the bow. So sorry, “Oceans”!

This was a very grey day, cool and damp, with a cloudy sky. The tide was running out, just after high. The channel markers were still flashing red and green lights as we entered the channel.

We stopped at Jekyll Island Marina in GA for fuel and water. This is a very friendly marina. Residents were making plans at 9 AM for the Happy Hour later in the day and encouraging us to stay, but we declined. We were fortunate to again see Arden, who used to keep her boat in Noank, CT when we were there. We fortuitously ran into her last year in the same place, when we stopped for fuel. She and her husband have been in GA at this marina for 8 years, and are now planning to move to a large house in MA with other family members. Her grandson, who used to catch fish and sell it to us as an adorable child, is about to graduate from college. Time flies!

Jekyll Island Marina and fuel dock

We had light rain, grey skies and dark clouds above. We entered the north side of the Brickhill River, along Cumberland Island, about 11 AM. Saw a grounded catamaran – it looked like a deliberate grounding, to do work on the hulls. Saw 3 wild horses!

Grounded catamaran in Brickhill River

Grounded catamaran - looked intentional

Wild horses of Cumberland Island

Around the bend, another view of the grounded catamaran.
It is anchored. Definitely a planned grounding. Clever!

As we traveled down the river, the clouds lifted a little and it became sunnier. At 12:37, we anchored at Brickhill River South, in GA at STM 703.6, in 7-9 feet of water. We saw an eagle, and a lot of other birds.

Marshes, in the anchorage

Cumberland Island

Shallow, muddy water

We wanted to visit Cumberland Island but had been having trouble with the dinghy engine and didn’t really know where we could land it or how to see the island. And other chores needed our attention, so we stayed on the boat. We defrosted the freezer, and cleaned the walls inside the boat with tea tree oil to remove and discourage mold. Chuck also cleaned through-hull filters. At sunset he blew his conch horn. The work day was over!

We saw our friends on “Lady Ella”, and discussed Thanksgiving plans. They were going to St Marys, which we had done last year. We didn’t like the anchorage, which is 30 ft deep, with a high, reversing current. They were staying at the marina for $1/ft per day, which was tempting. We decided, however, to go to St Augustine, FL, where a big cruiser’s pot luck was planned and we could get a mooring for about $20/day. We’d meet up with other friends there. Something to look forward to.