Georgia

Sunday November 7 – Wednesday November 10

Sunday we planned to go offshore from Hilton Head to St. Catherine's sound, but were put off by the mornings predictions of 25-30 kt winds out of the north with 6-8 ft seas and 50°F and persuaded to go the ICW route instead with only 10-15 kt winds, 60°F and no waves. We left the anchorage at 8 AM, and by 10 were crossing the Savannah River into Georgia, weather is cold but better then being off shore. By 11:15 we are at the 65' bridge at Thunderbolt but due to the tide it is at 64' 9” so we put the anchor down and only have to wait 45 minutes for the tide to go down 2 feet more for us to fit under. Catch up to our traveling buddies on Wild Thing by 2:30 in time to go through the narrow/shallow passage called Hell's Gate. Other than that one little spot this is a very pleasant trip down the ICW. We are anchored by 5 just before sunset (hate the time change) in Walburg Creek behind St. Catherine's Island and have dinner on Ocean Star. We had anchored here on the way up & it is a great isolated anchorage in the middle of nowhere, where you can pick up a Wi-Fi signal & TV – life is good. Monday we are underway at 7, dressed like we are going skiing as it is 41° as we head out the channel to the ocean. We have light winds & calm seas making for a very pleasant trip down to St. Andrew Sound. By 3 it has warmed up to 70° as we take a short cut through the shoals to the entrance to the channel. We turn down Cumberland River and then into Floyd Creek and are anchored by 4:30, time to relax a little before dinner on Wild Thing. Tuesday we have an early departure even though we are just going a short distance. We leave the anchorage by 7:45 and are anchored at the southern end of Cumberland Island by 10. We go into the Island for a quick visit to the other side for a walk along the beach. Check out the conditions of the sand road to see if we can use bikes. Last time we were here the roads were like a washboard, this time they are smooth & hard enough to make bicycling easy. Back to the boats for lunch then back to the Island, taking a bike ride down to see the Dungeness ruins & the beach at that end of the Island. The weather is warming up and we enjoy the beautiful day outdoors. Dinner on Ocean Star as we talk about Florida just 3 miles away. We know that we can have some cold weather in Florida in November but also know it won't be as bad as the cold days we had in North & South Carolina. As we wake Wednesday morning at 7 it is like someone put a blanket over the boat. The fog is so heavy you can not see 50 feet away. We had planed a 9 am departure but the fog did not lift until 11:30. during that time we had the VHF radio on and there were several crazy people out there trying to navigate! It was scary at anchor, can't even imagine trying to travel in those conditions. Once the fog lifted we were underway by 11:45 and crossed into Florida by 12:15, topped off with fuel and anchored off Fernandina Beach by 1:15.

link to pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/Georgia?feat=directlink