Crew Log for April 12th – 14th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Jekyll Island – Isle of Hope
• Trip Distance of 84 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,729.7 NM
We had wisely extended our stay at Jekyll Island to wait for the winds to die down. We woke to a beautiful morning. It was warmer and the winds had finally calmed. Given our chaotic arrival, we were being particularly cautious with our departure.
We delayed our departure until slack tide and we spoke to the marina staff about helping us off the dock. We confirmed water depths, and were assured we had enough to safely get out of the slip. We also discussed, at some length I might add, how we wanted the marina staff to manage our lines. It all went like clockwork, just like we planned it.
Despite it’s rough beginning, our stop at Jekyll Island was a real treat. We were comfortable in some very bad weather conditions, the marina offered good value and came away with a good appreciation for the Island’s history and current success. We also learned a few things about sea turtle rescues.
We were headed towards Savannah, but would need to anchor somewhere along the way given it was over 80 miles away. I’ve talked about our attitude to trip planning before. Rather than focusing on “getting to Nova Scotia”, which from where we are in Georgia, seems like an impossible task, we tend to focus on the next milestone. In this case Savannah, which we missed on the way down.
Our first day was a meandering motor through the Georgia ICW, which is beautiful, but frustrating at the same time. This section of the ICW also has a lot of tidal currents, which we timed, “perfectly…err…wrong”. We struggled our way out against the flood tide, made the turn into the next river system, at what seemed to be precisely at slack tide, and fought our way against the out going tide. Only to repeat it at the next inlet.
We had lots of trawlers passing us throughout the day and at one point we went by a relatively large cruise ship, the American Star. They somehow were able to navigate their way down through the Georgia ICW, although we did here the Captain on the radio tell one approaching boat that he had to stay in the middle.
Despite our late start and frustrating progress, we completed the 38 mile trip from Jekyll and arrived at our anchorage at Crescent Creek on the Wahoo River by late afternoon. There were a couple of other boats here, but there was lots of space. It was very wide and very well protected. There was some current through here, but it didn’t seem to be a problem. We slept very comfortably.
We woke to overcast conditions. We had rain showers for most of the morning, but we felt fortunate that it wasn’t worse given the weather reports we were getting from other boats. Adanaco, who were waiting on a mooring ball in Fernandina, were hit by a water spout that tossed the boat around pretty badly. Thankfully they weren’t hurt and there was no damage to the boat, other that the contents being stirred around.
We once again seemed to struggle with the tidal currents which lead me to speculate on another ICW / Ocean current theory. I wondered if in addition to flowing east to the ocean, the rivers and creeks also drained towards the south. This would explain why we seemed to make good progress in the fall, yet struggling on our northern return.
We had left Crescent Creek at first light, around 06h30, and completed the 46 nautical mile trip to Isle of Hope before 16h00. We had initially planned to go to Thunderball Marina which was closer to Savannah, and reportedly delivered Crispy Cream donuts and a paper to your boat in the morning, but didn’t want to add the additional 2 hours onto an already long day. Our passage went fairly smoothly, other than a torrential thunder and lightening storm, an hour or so from Isle of Hope.
We were very pleased with the marina at Isle of Hope. It was directly on the ICW, had easy access to the transient berths on the face dock, extremely helpful staff and good facilities. They also had a courtesy car which we borrowed to make a provisioning run. Our arrival was uneventful, just the way we like it.
We said hello to Chuck and Stuart, the crew on Long Gone, who we met way back in Cambridge Cay, shortly after we arrived in the Bahamas. Once again, we reflected on how interesting it is to meet new people and to run into them months later and hundreds of miles away in a new place. They were headed back to Deltaville on the Chesapeake where they live.
We took an Uber into Savannah, which is where we met Corey, a life long resident of Savannah. He loved living here, although he did say it was hot and humid all summer. He had a real fascination with the container ships coming into the Port of Savannah. He mentioned that there was some “crazy idea” being floated around about raising the bridge over the river to accommodate the bigger container vessels. We told him about Halifax’s “big lift” and our oldest son’s involvement. Like any other proud parents we spoke as if our son single handily designed and constructed the new bridge. In reality, we know he had a little help.
Established in 1733, Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and the first state capital. It is separated from South Carolina by the Savannah River. Its location makes Savannah an important seaport, dating back to the American Revolution and American Civil War, as well as being an important industrial center in the US. It is Georgia's fifth-largest city, with a population of roughly 150,000, with over 400,00 in the broader metropolitan area.
It is evident that Savannah is popular tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors each year. Tourist attractions, unique shops, cobblestone streets, parks, and notable historic buildings, are all part of the attraction. Some of the more notable buildings include: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA); the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums); the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest African-American Baptist congregations in the United States); Temple Mickve Israel (the third-oldest synagogue in the U.S.); and, the Central Georgia Railway roundhouse complex, now a visitors’ center. Savannah's downtown area, designated a National Historical Landmark, encompasses the Savannah Historic District, its 22 unique parklike squares, and the Savannah Victorian Historic District.
Despite it’s historic charm, we tended to prefer Charleston, Savannah’s sister city in South Carolina, although we aren’t exactly sure why. In fairness to Savannah, our tour through the historic homes in the Victorian District was on a “Old Town Trolley” in the pouring rain.
The late Stuart MacLean once said, “you can only truly get the feel for a place by experiencing it on foot”. We would agree, which may explain our lack of enthusiasm for Savannah. It was the first time on this trip that we took a trolley tour. The tour guides were great, and we learned a lot about Savannah in a relatively short amount of time. We could also hop on and hop wherever we wanted, which allowed us to customize the experience to our interests. It was also a welcome reprieve from the torrent of rain, although it was difficult at times to hear the tour guide over the rain pounding on the roof of the trolley.
As we hopped on and off the trolley and walked through parts of the city, a few of things left an impression on us.
The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) had an impressive presence around the city and included tastefully design modern buildings and carefully maintained historic structures. The college has a student enrollment of over 15,000 from 100 different countries. The College’s restoration of historic places has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Historic Savannah Foundation and the Victorian Society of America. Oh, and the crew of Elizabeth M.
The “Waving Girl” statue pays tribute to Florence Margaret Martus (August 7, 1868 – February 8, 1943), who took it upon herself to be the unofficial greeter of all ships that entered and left the Port of Savannah, Georgia, between 1887 and 1931. One popular legend for why Florence greeted ships was because as a young girl, she had fallen in love with a sailor and wanted to be sure he would find her when he returned. When she died, over 300 sailors showed up to her funeral.
Perhaps the most impactful stories we heard, were the stories of bricks made by slaves that still had evidence of finger and hand prints of their makers and the church used in the Underground Railroad. As historic Savannah homes under went a period of redevelopment, grey bricks were highly priced and sold for more than US$3 – 5 each as brick walls were demolished. Egregious profiting once again from slavery.
Our Uber driver and the trolley tour guide both mentioned Pirates House as a great place to have lunch. The Pirates House dates back to 1753 and was a popular meeting place for pirates and other visiting sailors. There were tunnels that lead from the establishment to the waterfront. Legend has it that if you had too much to drink and passed out, you’d likely wake up in the morning on a pirate or military ship. The restaurant had a historic feel from the outside but enter the front door, and it looked like any other restaurant. The food was good though and, they had an amazing gift shop on the second floor.
We cut our visit to the city short when we both realized we had left the hatches on the boat open, including the one directly over our bed. However, getting an Uber in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, provided a good lesson in economics.
The return trip in the rain, was over twice the cost of the same trip in the sunshine. Fortunately, being impatient meant I cancelled the trip and started hunting for another alternative. Once the rain stopped, the price dropped, not quite to the level it was in the morning, but significantly less than the rainstorm amount. It also appeared that Uber and Lyft used the same aggressive weather pricing tactics.
Tyron picked us up in his luxury Mercedes Benz that he originally bought for his wife’s birthday 3 years ago. She decided that she’d rather have a new BMW, which he bought, and he acquired the hand me down. When I commented that he was making the rest of us look bad, his reply was, “well, my wife is a military wife, which is hard, so if she wants a new car, that’s the least I can do”.
Tyron had served in the army for 16 years and was shipping out for Romania in the morning. He figured he’d be away for at least 6 months. His wife was a travelling nurse and he thought she would be home later that afternoon to see him off and wondered if she’d maybe organize a party.
It blew my mind at how casual he was about the whole thing. First of all, here he was driving us back to Isle of Hope from Savannah, hours before he was to leave for 6 months. The first half of the conversation was about football and how much the weather in New Orleans is like the weather in Savannah. He was a big Saints fan by the way and had huge expectations for the team in 2023. And then, he casually mentions that he is shipping out in the morning to Romania. And here I was, strategizing over a 50 mile motor up the ICW to Beaufort, SC.
Luckily, Isle of Hope, did not get the rain that Savannah did, which was fortunate since the dryer was broken, so we weren’t quite sure how we would have dried our bedding. When we returned, the marina’s gazebo was all decorated and set up for a rather large wedding rehearsal party. Unfortunately, just as the food caterer showed up, the skies opened and it started to pour. They were not impressed. We didn’t stick around to see how it all turned out, but the rain did eventually stop before the main event and more importantly, our hatches were closed.
Now that we had visited Savannah, our focus was getting north as quickly as possible. Our next stops would be brief, but we promised ourselves to make it enjoyable, starting with our next stop in Beaufort, SC.
But more about that, next time.
Additional Photos:
Comments