Trawler Blogs

December 1, 2010

We are cruising a 64 mile day on the Georgia ICW. And today has been more exciting than most so far on our trip.

Let me start out by saying by way of explanation that for the last two days we have been concerned about travel because of the predicted severe storms and the extreme high winds. Yesterday we squeezed our short 26 mile trip in between two rain/storm fronts. A warm front off the coast is running into a cool front traveling east from Mississippi (it’s probably the other way around meteorologically).  Not only were we concerned about weather, but we were trying to time our trip to take advantage of the tidal swing – 8.5 ft. 

We wanted the water to be low enough for Grateful to get under SkidawayBridge, but rising enough to get Grateful through “Hell Gate”. Hell Gate is infamous (obviously to deserve the name) for shoaling and shallow water. We passed at mid rising tide and had no problem. Landing was a little quicker than usual because of wind, current and tide, but I was ready with all our fenders out – Kilkenny Marina’s docks are a little rough. (We picked up fuel there because we could save about 30 cents per gallon – we needed 317 gallons at $3.09 – do the math  – YIKES!)

Last night we waited for the second wave of storms in front of the cold front to hit. There was no TV or computer to check the weather status. Other boats also sought shelter at Kilkenny – s/v Talisman from Sister Bay, WI, s/v Extra! Extra! from Annapolis, MD, and m/v Miscellaneous. We got some rain, lost electrical power for part of the night, but the inverter took over and we at least had a fan. It was 70 degrees and humid when we went to bed (after playing a game of Scrabble) and we woke up to 47, clear and WINDY!!

So yesterday was the easier of the two days. Today the extreme winds – 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 knots – have compounded the effects of tides and current. In the narrow channels and rivers, it is better than in the Sounds. Georgia’s ICW is mostly rivers joining sounds with some manmade cuts when needed. Also, for several years, Georgia has not budgeted much money to maintain the ICW. Therefore areas that are prone to shoaling in most cases have not received attention for awhile. Our 64 mile trip to St. Simon’s Island has taken us through St. Catherine’s, Sapelo, Doboy, Altamaha Sounds so far and we will need to go partially into St. Simon’s Sound to get to Morning Star Marina of Golden Isles. St. Catherine’s Sound was first and was quite refreshing!! Grateful got a saltwater bath and we were rockin’ and rollin’. Most things in and on the boat are secure for waves, but not for the winds and pounding sea spray. I was laying towels down to soak up water both down below and in the upper salon and then noticed that the canvas cover for our tender was hanging over the back windows! I got to drive for a bit while Mark went to the upper station to secure the cover. He commented that it wasn’t at all as bad as trying to fix the chocks on the way to the Bahamas. Then he had to go out to tighten the ropes on the kayak as wind was lifting and shifting it on the deck. There he said he could believe that the gusts were 35 knots as he had to hold on to stay on.

Today we also traveled with the cruise ship, American Star. We caught up to her as we were coming out of Sapelo Sound and moving into the FrontRiver, CreightonNarrows and Old Teakettle Creek. The tide also had just shifted from ebb and was rising. The American Star has a draft between 7-8 feet so she traveled slowly and extremely precisely through those critical areas. As the river widened into Doboy Sound we were able to pass and move on at a little faster pace.

I can tell already that this is going to be another long blog, so while I have you I want to tell you about our past week. It was terrific!!

We traveled from Isle of Palms, SC to Beaufort, SC, on Wednesday, November 24. Because it was an 80 mile trip we were up at daybreak and moving by 7:00. Mark and I don’t usually experience this time of day – what a novelty. 

We made good time and landed at Downtown Marina of Beaufort around 3:30. Hank & Ann, m/v Queen Ann’s Revenge, were already there and we made plans to go out for dinner. We ate at Plums and had a fabulous meal – I had the server take a picture before we destroyed the evidence. 

Hank & Ann went on to Port Royal Marina for a Thanksgiving feast while we stayed in Beaufort for a few more days. Thanksgiving Day is all about eating and Mark and I were all over that. We had the traditional meal that I made on the boat and then we sat around and were lazy. Friday was rainy so we used the courtesy car and got groceries and I did laundry. Saturday was a day of working on the steering and repairing a leak on one of the engine exhaust hoses. (We discovered the leak on our way to Beaufort when it took the bilge pump one hour to expel the bilge water when normal is about 2-5 minutes.) 

After the chores we took a carriage tour of the area. The homes were spared in the Civil War because the Union Army moved in and occupied them.

We moved on to Isle of Hope, Georgia, on Sunday. The trip was OK – Mark’s fixes to the engine exhaust hose worked, but the fix to the auto pilot and steering did NOT. The Isle of Hope community is just outside of Savannah. Mark and I took a morning walk along

Bluff Street

. I continue to be enchanted by the live oaks covered in Spanish moss. Both Beaufort and Isle of Hope have many trees that are near 1000 years old – awesome. 

The homes on

Bluff Street

are both grand and charming – this area was a summer “playground” for Savannah’s elite in the early 1800s. Most of the homes are antebellum “cottages” that I would call mansions. Christmas looks beautiful here.