St. Catherine's Island to Thunderbolt

 TRAVEL DAY 22 - St. Catherine's Island to Thunderbolt

March 24, 2023

5.1 Hours/39.7 Miles

    We pulled anchor at 8:30 am with a destination just outside of Savannah. Yesterdays long travel day put us a little closer to today's target destination. 

Newport River 

    We turned 90 degrees to port on the Ogeechee River through Hell Gate to Green Island Sound to the Vernon River. When you see "Hell Gate" on the chart you know you are going through an area that requires both hands on the wheel.  We traversed more marshes and as the waterway narrowed the shore line had more pines and oaks. It is amazing how much the landscape changes within just a few miles. 

Pines and Oaks

    Seeing the US from the water is absolutely incredible. Every stretch we do lined with homes reminds us we are traveling through the "backyard" of America. It is a totally different perspective and we cherish every minute at 7 mph. 

Most sailboats we saw were not under sail

    As we neared Savannah we passed Isle of Hope. We had originally planned to stay there and as we viewed it from our port side we wondered if we might have missed a very quaint Georgia area. 
    
Isle of Hope

    The marshes and mud produce plenty of "no seeums" and we were glad we had taken our Thermocell. I hung it from the upper wheel and it kept the biting critters at bay.
    
Thermocell sanity saver

    We rounded the corner on the Wilmington River and located what we thought was our landing point. After a few conversations on the VHF with the dockmaster at Thunderbolt and his perplexed responses, we realized it was not Thunderbolt Marina but the Savannah Yacht Club. I guess I should have had a clue as I peered into the distance and viewed the 8' tall letters on the 3 story building just off the bow that spelled THUNDERBOLT MARINE. 
    
Not sure how I missed this...
    
...or this

    
Short walk for lunch at Tubby's

    As I walked down the floating dock I noticed thousands of little squid-like creatures swarming at the bulkhead. "What are those things?" Just then, like something from a Seinfeld episode a fellow boater said "Ask this guy, he's a Marine Biologist" Are you kidding me? What are the odds? "Those are Alitta Succ...." "No, not Latin, a name I can remember" "Ragworm or Clamworms" he replied with a grin.
    

Allita Succinea - AKA Ragworm/Clamworm

    Several Loopers we came across on our route were leaving the marina, some staying longer and a few more arrived. One couple on Irish Hurricane (we meet in Clewiston, FL) offered us their car! That's awesome. The next day we took the opportunity to play Pickleball and re-provision at Publix.
    
Savannah Pickleball

    I am still amazed at the tides. The gangway at the marina goes from a slight angle at high tide to 45 degrees at low.
    
Huge tide swings

St. Catherine's Island to Thunderbolt, GA



    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bottom Line

Image
    H ere in the Crystal River area where we keep our boat, underwater fouling is minimal. This is due to the amount of fresh water we have. Our canal is "brackish" with not alot of salinity and the closer you are to King's Bay and the springs the salinity goes way down. Out to the Gulf and further south, hull bottom fouling becomes worse. Go to the Keys and the Bahamas and it is very aggressive.  Wintertime when the water is cold, the growth is minimal, but when the water warms it is alive with billions of tiny organisms ready to cling to something and start reproducing. Now that our boat is in Tampa Bay and the water temperature is moving into the 70's the growth is accelerating.  How do we combat this? The list of ways is endless but the basic method is to apply Anti-Fouling coatings. Bottom paint. There is a whole science and tons of info about anti-fouling coatings so I won't go into all of it but basically there are 2 types of paint. Hard & Ablative. Bot
Read more

The "REAL" Journey Begins

Image
TRAVEL DAY 1 - Palmetto to Sarasota February 14, 2023 4.2 Hours/31.6 Miles     Today is "really" the day we start of the Great Loop, as opposed to the "Unofficial Start of the Great Loop" . We felt pretty confident that all the preparation and work would pay off . Well, feelings are one thing, realty is another.     We pulled out of our slip and headed for the fuel dock to top off the tanks with a few gallons of diesel and pump out the holding tank. Of course the predicted wind was not what we got, neither was the air temperature, still it was a decent day for a cruise. We're still in our home waters so we basically knew the way. Our destination was Sarasota and a free anchorage. We had planned to pick up an anchor ball at Marina Jack's but it was full. Free anchorages mean more money for food, snacks and drinks!     Beth had planned some routes on her Navionics and Aqua Maps apps and was ready to assume her roll as "navigator", Not sure why but th
Read more

Erie Canal - Part 1

Image
  TRAVEL DAY 69 - Shady Harbor Marina to Waterford July 5, 2023 3.8 Hours/24.7 Miles     Sort of a rough start for this day. The night before, a microburst or something like it roared down the Hudson right at dark. The storm came in so quick and so violent it was unbelievable. In the aftermath, 1/2 of the docks (including the floating dock we were on) broke loose, twisted and pushed together. We were fortunate along with the other boats that we had no damage. Remarkably only a few suffered some scratches. The next morning our boat was trapped between the damaged docks. After the outer boats were moved, the marina staff disconnected and removed the finger dock blocking our way out so we could float our boat back. Once out into the river, we were on our way.  Erie Canal or Champlain Canal?     "Low bridge, everybody down, low bridge, we're coming to a town, and you'll always know your neighbor and you'll always know your pal, if you've ever navigated on the Erie Cana
Read more