Crew Log for December 2nd, 2022
Trip Summary:
• Wright Creek, SC – North New Port River, Georgia
• Trip Distance of 49.9 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,139.2 NM
• Departed at 07h30, arrived at 15h30
Today was an exciting day. We were about to add another State to the list of places we have visited. We are leaving South Carolina with mostly pleasant memories and will be forever grateful for the bonus of getting to spend time with good friends in Charleston. We were off to Georgia!
Talk to other cruisers and you get real mixed response about the Georgia portion of the ICW. It is for the most part, the most remote and least populated section. So much so, that it is exciting when you actually see another boat or person on shore. On anchor, you are likely alone or in the company of one other boat, with no lights in sight in any direction.
On the other hand, it is also the least maintained section of the Intracoastal Waterway. We received numerous reports of boats bumping off the soft mud or narrowly missing a unreported shoal. And, as the title of this crew log suggests, this section of the ICW makes so many twists and turns, it impossible to actually know where you are without the aid of the charts. The winding track also makes it difficult to time your trip with tidal currents. The tides through Georgia are reportedly the highest on the entire ICW. The result is the currents are some of the strongest we have encounter to-date.
We made our way through Fields Cut without a problem. The day before we had noted a number of large container ships in the distance. We were basically in a massive wetland that had a tartanlike pattern of rivers and creeks running through it, so the ships appeared to be moving over the land. They were in fact going up and down the Savanah River, into the City of Savanah. Friends of ours had gone outside to avoid the Georgia section of the ICW and said that 15 – 20 miles off the inlet to the Savanah River, there were dozens of container ships waiting on anchor for either a weather window or their turn to enter or exit the river.
Given the current could be running as much as 3 knots, we had to cautious not to get in the way of the commercial traffic. As a container ship made its way past us, we started to cross the River and had our first experience of what was in store for us over the next few days. The current hit us on the beam and wanted to push us down the river. We had to throttle up the engine to maintain our course. On the other side, it was impossible, without the track on the chartplotter, to figure out which creek to enter. It reminded me of that Yogi Berra quote, “…when you come to a fork in the road, take it…”, although in our case a wrong turn could be disastrous.
As if to put an exclamation point on how remote the Georgia ICW is, there are warnings to check your fuel level before heading past Thunderbolt or Isle of Hope. The next place to get fuel is close to 100 nautical miles away. Fortunately, we only burn about 1.5 litres and hour and we left Charleston with a full tank and 3 extra jugs on the deck, enough to get us 450 – 500 miles.
We eventually made our way to “Hell Gate”, which has absolutely nothing in common with “Hells Gate” in New York City. It is however a very narrow cut between the Vernon and Ogeechee Rivers. Fortunately, luck would have it that we had minimal current and minimal winds, which resulted in a rather heavenly passage through Hell Gate. The rest of the day was spent twisting and winding our way down the Georgian coast. It times if felt like we were going in circles.
Georgia recently passed a law prohibiting “anchoring within 150 feet of a marine structure, or within 500 feet of approved commercial shellfish growing areas and designated public harvest areas”. It takes a fair bit of sleuthing to figure out where you can anchor and where you can’t. That said, the place is so remote, I am not sure there is a strong enforcement presence if you did make a mistake.
We were pretty confident that we could anchor in Walburg Creek, off of St. Catherine’s Sound. As we arrived at the anchorage, there was already one other boat there. We dropped the anchor and settled into our post trip routine, which involves logging the trip details and more importantly, having a capful of rum.
As we were celebrating the completion of an almost 50 nautical mile day, the other boat lifted their anchor and started to leave. We were of course curious why they were leaving and so we hailed them on the radio. It turned out, it wasn’t our arrival that frightened them off, but concern for water levels at low tide. I really didn’t understand the concern, but of course, when someone plants a seed of doubt in your mind, it tends to blossom into a forest. So, despite my skepticism, we hauled anchor and moved a short distance to North New Port River.
In a north east wind, our new anchorage would be very exposed, but the forecast was for light winds through the night and into the next day. The one nice thing about anchoring anywhere on the ICW is the holding is generally very good. We dropped the anchor for the second time in less than an hour and it held firmly. The anchorage turned into a massive mill pond in the evening which made for a very quiet and restful night.
We survived the first day on the Georgia ICW and actually found it to be quite pleasant. We’re guessing ICW reviews are like art, music and wine reviews. Everyone has their own tastes.
We would be headed back to civilization tomorrow. Our destination would Lanier Island, off St. Simone, Georgia.
But more about that, next time.
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