Admiral's Log: 8:30am, Sun. 3/13/16
Temp: 68
Winds: 5 mph
Speed: 7.3
It was drizzly and humid leaving today. Since we had the change time last night, we started fueling in the dark. Three of us were leaving together. After bidding our wonderful dock ladies farewell, we all fueled, pumped out and filled with water, then left for our planned anchorage; Wahoo River. We started out with a 3 knot head current, which slowed us down a bit. But once we made the turn back onto the ICW we picked up speed.
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| Low Tide |
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| Low Tide |
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| See the difference at High Tide! |
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| We hope this would bring us luck! |
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| Bald Eagle, another sign of luck |
We got to our anchorage at 2:15. So we had the rest of the afternoon to relax and read or nap. We cooked shrimp on the grill, roasted brussel sprouts and crab cakes we bought at the farmer's market. We could not have done any better if we were at home! The next morning we compared meals with the other 2 boats and they grilled as well.
Monday, we radioed Morningstar II and Sweet T, and set our departure at 8:30 as to make the dreaded Hell Gate section of the ICW at rising or high tide.
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| The Danger Marker at entrance to Hell Gate |
It is well known among boaters to watch out in this area! There can be a lot of shoaling and we had to pay very close attention to the channel markers. We had to leave early to catch the rising tide at Hell Gate. So when we did get there, we would have plenty of water under us. Our boat typically draws about 4.5 feet of water, so when we got to Hell Gate we were happy to see 8 feet of water. The tides in that area can also range from 6 to 9 feet! So if you get caught on low tide; you will go aground and have to wait for several hours until the tide comes in again.
Well...we did not even get to Hell Gate before Sweet T lost all navigation leaving the anchorage and she ran aground! The two of us turned around to see if we could help get them off. Mel unloaded his dinghy and his guest Ed, tied a rope to Mike of Sweet T's boat. Mel almost ran aground himself, then the rope snapped and almost broke Ed's finger. Mike was guiding them all with our handheld radio. Oh my, what a comedy of errors. Luckily we were not at a Marina because we were all the show this day!
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| Morningstar freeing Sweet T |
We put Sweet T in between us and Morningstar for the duration of the trip. So once we got to Hell Gate, it was a breeze! We arrived at Isle of Hope Marina just outside of Savannah at 2:00.
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| Our fleet passing thru Hell Gate |
After calling Garmin, Mike of Sweet T found out he had forgotten to turn his Navigation back on after spending the night on the hook. He just got his new navigation electronics less than 30 days ago, so he was still learning how it all worked. No harm no foul, just another story to relate at "docktails".
We knew that a good friend of ours from Auburn was going to be in Savannah at the same time we were. So we arranged to have them come tour the boat and have a drink. Then we all went to dinner with another couple of Auburn grads, at the "Pink House", a well know Savannah restaurant. Whole fried flounder is their specialty. But Mike had a fried pork chop that was huge and collard greens. I had friend green tomato and bacon salad and she crab soup that was awesome! We've been told on several occasions after we finish this Loop, we are going to have to join AA and WW; I can believe it!!!
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| Bill and Kristy Myers, War Eagle! |
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