Week 29:
Wed. Apr. 17, 2013—Day
197:
Destination: Wahoo River (Mile 630) to Turner Creek,
Savannah (Mile 585.5)
Departure: 0755 hrs. Arrival: 1540 hrs. Distance: 44.5 SM
Winds: NE 8-17K depending on proximity to Sounds
& Inlets, calm at sunset
Weather: warm sun but cool breeze with clouds to west
& south, clouds at sunset
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| All the Sounds & Inlets that affect our Tidal Currents |
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| A Wahoo River, Georgia Sunset |
Destination: Turner Creek, Savannah (Mile 585.5)
Winds: E 5-10K
Weather: mostly sunny & warm once morning clouds
moved off, few clouds in the afternoon
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| In famous Savannah Squares in Spring |
A warm night & also I
must mention that for several weeks now we have experienced condensation &
moisture at night, especially on deck & the enclosure & heavy in the
morning; the enclosure windows required wiping before setting off in the
morning. We dinghied & tied up to
Hogan’s Marina before they open at 0800 hrs.
We walked across from the Publix on Johnny Mercer, were attacked by gnats & caught the CAT
#10 bus at 0830 hrs. (seniors rate--65 yrs.= $0.75 each). The Cat route & schedule for some runs
must have changed on Apr. 8, 2013 according to a posted sign, but that did not
affect us. The morning ride in was most
interesting as the friendly riders usually African American, spoke easily &
freely with us, offering suggestions & a few on entering the bus loudly bid
“good morning all!” The 1 hour bus ride
brought us to downtown Savannah at the corner of Martin Luther King &
Broughton. Graeme & I split up for
the morning to do our own touring & met up at City Market at noon; I walked all the squares I had not done in
the Fall south of Liberty St. including Forsyth Park & Colonial Park Cemetery,
enjoying the architect, the wrought ironworks of the old houses, the greenery
& the flowering shrub bushes in blossom & the roses. The front façade of the Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist was totally behind scaffolding, restoration efforts, as well as the
exterior of Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace building. Graeme seemed to have stuck to the City
Market & River St. We walked along
River St. from City Hall east, lunch at Cotton Exchange on River St. &
afterwards lazily walking under Factors Walk down to & west to
Broughton. Believe it or not I declined
ice cream at Leopolds. We caught the
1530 hrs. #10 bus back to East Savannah.
We picked up a few groceries at Publix & Graeme paid Hogan’s Marina
their $10.00 dinghy fee where we met a pet pig called Lucy. The dinghy & motor were lifted for tomorrow’s
departure. A wonderful sunset as the sun
went below the saltmarsh grasses & a
peachy coloured sky. A half moon tonight in a mix of clear &
cloudy skies.
The south winds increased
about 0400 hrs., light cloud increased to heavy cloud & the predicted high winds
did materialize in the afternoon. We left
the anchorage early, 2-1/2 hrs. before low tide to make sure we could pass the
shallow entrance without grounding & attempted to make the 0800 hrs.
opening of the Causton Bluff Bridge (bascule), but were 3 min. late & now
had to wait a full hour; the tide was against us from the anchorage into & along
the Wilmington River, then slowly the tide had less of an opposing effect on
our speed as we got closer to the bridge.
But now we were only ¾ hour to maximum low tide & precisely at that
time we crossed the Savannah River & entered Fields Cut, a notorious shallow
area; 5’4” on entering the cut, 11-14 ft. most of the way through with 1 shallow
area midway & 10-12 ft. exiting the cut into the Wright River. The New River had varied but good depths also
with 1 exception. From Ramshorn Creek we
entered Cooper River & partially rolled out the jenny to assist with the
opposing current from the flood waters from Calibogue Inlet & kept our
speed to a respectable 5-6K range by playing the jenny in & out &
jibbing at times around the circuitous route.
When we turned away from the inlet towards Hilton Head, we were with a
favourable pushing tide motorsailing along at 7.0-7.8K down Calibogue Sound,
now with building 1 ft. waves & some whitecaps. We continued to play the jenny as required
through the deep flooding waters of Skull Creek. Out into wide open waters of Beaufort Sound, the
current was opposing, the winds were gusting 15- 29K, the waves were heavily
whitecapped about 2-3 ft. high on our beam & some crashing over the boat. We reefed the jenny as the boat was heeling
with gusts of 25-29K, forcing one to brace themselves when at the helm, until
we could bare off towards Port Royal & Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort) now
with pushing tides. We were assigned a
dock tie up on the inside of the north end of the face dock but between 2 power
boats & that was a problem with the winds, the tides & the current; our
stern nearly side swiped the starboard side of the 1st power
boat. I was upset to say the least &
trembling afterwards & really needed that hot shower. Graeme as usual said nothing but busied
himself adding another spring line, attaching electricity (I can’t remember the
last time we were plugged to shore power) & topping the boat’s diesel tank. Chef Larry invited us & Pat & Fred (Marianna-met
2 yrs. ago) over for a wonderful pizza & key lime pie dinner. We had a enjoyable evening finally reuniting
with Lynn & Larry, distracted with lots of conversation while a storm was occurring
outside. There was another tornado &
thunderstorm warning approaching from the west with winds shifting to the north
& bringing cold temperatures. We
were hit with heavy rains & 30+K winds & lightning, rocking boats at
dockside+++ & slamming them against the dock, but it was over in a few
hours. I might add that ‘Marianna’ was
hit by lightning as they were travelling north with ‘Twomorrows’ from Dinner
Key to Ft. Lauderdale in a wicked storm with 22K winds at the beginning of
April; lost their GPS, autohelm, radar, instruments, VHF & refrigeration temporarily
with the exit strike likely out the mast decklight that was blown to
smitherines. Back at the boat I worked
till 0100 hrs. trying to purchase & install my antivirus program soon to
expire, with great difficulty requiring chat line tech help. Fortunately the winds & waves calmed
down. But the forecast is not at all
good Sun. through Tues. Decision time in
the morning.
The rains continued on
& off during the night. By morning heavy
moisture surrounded the windows. Having
gone to bed so late, I was feeling very tired & not wanting to get up. ‘Twomorrows’, ‘Marianna’ & ourselves had
a conference talk on the VHF at 0730hrs. & all unanimously agreed they were
staying another night; in fact Lynn & Larry & ourselves decided to stay
2 nights as Sundays weather is dreadful (stay 2 nights, get 3rd
night free). Cloudy, cold, windy just
plain miserable; certainly not the weather you would expect at this time of
year at this latitude. But I made real
toast with a toaster this morning!
I had intentions of baking muffins or cinnamon rolls which would help
warm the interior up, but my morning was occupied still trying to install the
antivirus program on our 2 other laptops (2 of 3 successful) & edit my
password for my account; hours on chat line with tech help. Graeme worked at washing the enclosure
windows, cockpit floor & cushions with FRESH water & added water to one
of the boat tanks. Early afternoon we used the courtesy vehicle to visit Port
Royal’s Soft Crab Festival; booths of crafts, jewellery, T-shirts , food &
beverages & even vintage cars.
Quickly we drove to historic downtown Beaufort for a oil print Graeme
had seen in the Fall of a shrimp boat in saltwater marsh grasses at Fordham
Market, a converted hardware store into multi consignment craft units. Late afternoon Graeme worked on his >200
emails, while I updated my blog & added pictures. The sun appeared as the sky cleared totally a
few hours before sunset. We had a social
hour at ‘Twomorrows’ & said our goodbyes to Fred & Pat as they need to
move on tomorrow. Calm water, clear
sunset sky, clear night sky & ¾ moon.
I was slow to rise on this
bright, clear, cold but sunny morn as I had another late night. At 0800 hrs. NOAA announced a gale force advisory
for the Beaufort area from 1100 hrs. to 0600 hrs. tomorrow. Cold NE winds of 15-20K started soon after
0900 hrs. & by late afternoon were in the 20-35K range. The Beaufort River was an ugly sea of white,
with good 2 ft. waves rolling south, crashing into boats tied on the outside of
the face dock & crashing into the face dock. I had a busy morning changing the bed linen,
doing 2 loads of wash, shower & internet; washers (1 front load + 1 top
load) =$1.00 ea. & dryers (1 front load & 1 large commercial with 70
min. cycle) = $1.00 ea. At noon we
borrowed the courtesy truck & the Morrows & ourselves drove to Historic
Downtown Beaufort & had lunch at Luther’s, then casually walked along Bay
St. popping into a few shops. Having a
pre-dinner drink on ‘Twomorrows’ we all said how glad we were to be here &
with these weather conditions. Besides,
the marina staff Tom, Rion, Tony, Chris are so friendly, accommodating,
personable & knowledgeable; this is one of the very best marinas! ‘Marianna’ left this am & texted the
Morrows saying they were anchored in Toogoodoo Creek (Mile 495.4) but would be
doing anchor watch tonight. No sunset
after such a brilliant sunny morn, no moon, only cold, vicious, howling NE
winds, waves slapping at the hull, rain & dark errie night.
NE winds howled & blew
like stink most of the night with a few noticeable lulls now & again. No question, the Morrows & ourselves were
staying our 4th day; oh, I forgot to mention yesterday was our free
day. There was no way we could have gotten
off the docks, especially from where we were positioned, without an
incident. NOAA reports & all of Lynn’s
sources indicate improving & more favourable conditions tomorrow. I actually baked up some cinnamon rolls this
morning which warmed the cabin. I have
been spending much time the last few days & again today on my blog, posting
pics for the many weeks I did not have stronger enough internet to do so &
adding captions to pics from day 1, if you can believe. Very late morning after showering, we used
the courtesy truck for a short time to Lady’s Island to Bakers Marina &
Publix, then cooked up a pot of chili for supper tonight. The Beaufort River by this time was less
whitecapped & ugly. Both of us
utilized the sunny & warmer afternoon + our last chance with fresh free
water & electricity to do some serious cleaning; Graeme washed more of the
deck & removed some rust & stains from the deck; I vacuumed &
washed with chlorax & pinesol all the lined bins from bow to stern below
the floorboards which we use for storage as they are bone dry, in an effort to
make the tasks lighter & quicker when we reach home base & put ‘Sweet
Chariot Too’ to bed for the summer. Larry
baked up some cornmeal muffins to accompany our chili dinner together tonight. I did not take note of the sunset sky
tonight. A clear night sky filled of
stars+++ & a 7/8 moon & much
calmer winds & sea conditions.
Fri. Apr. 19, 2013—Day 199:
Destination: Savannah, Georgia (Mile 585.5) to Port Royal
Landing Marina, Beaufort S.C. (Mile 539.6)
Departure: 0650 hrs. Arrival: 1440 hrs. Distance: 45.9 SM
Winds: S 8-15K in protected rivers & creeks,
15-29K in more open water
Weather: cloudy, warm & humid
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| Dreamy Beaufort, S.C. |
Sat. Apr. 20, 2013—Day 200:
Destination: Port Royal Landing Marina (Mile 539.6)
Winds: NE +/-20K, decreased early afternoon to 5-10K
by sunset
Weather: cloudy & cold! H= 60’ish only & L=
mid 40’s! Thinning clouds early afternoon & sun & clear skies late
afternoon
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| Port Royal Soft Crab Festival |
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| Note the Palmetto Palm in the Green Shutters |
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| Licence Plate--'56 T- Bird |
Sun. Apr. 21, 2013—Day 201:
Destination: Port Royal Landing Marina (Mile 539.6)
Winds: gale force advisory NE 15-20K in am &
20-35K late pm & night
Weather: crystal clear, sunny & cold + made cooler
with strong breeze, cloudy mid pm, rain
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| Lowcountry Saltmarsh Grasslands, Live Oaks & Spanish Moss |
Mon. Apr. 22, 2013—Day 202:
Destination: Port Royal, Beaufort (Mile 539.6)
Winds: NE 20-25K, decreased late afternoon to 15-20K
Weather: cloudy am, few raindrops , then full sun mid
afternoon
.JPG) |
| Note the length of the dock from Marina Office to ICW |
.JPG) |
| Mud Flats at low tide at Marina |
Tues. Apr. 23, 2013—Day
203:
Destination: Port Royal Landing Marina, S.C. (Mile 539.6)
to Church Creek (Mile 488.2)
Departure: 0815 hrs. Arrival: 1625 hrs. Distance: 51.4 SM
Winds: NE 15-20K, decreased to 10-15K especially in
more open waters & 9-12K in protected areas & calmer through the
afternoon with a shift to E then SSE 5K by sunset
Weather: cloudy & cold, mid afternoon the sun
tried to break through & clear late evening
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| Note the mud banks, the new saltmarsh grasses & zoom into the alligator sunning |
I got that last shower in
before dawn & departure time. I was
worried about getting off the dock, but Tony was superb once again; it was
slack high tide & he released the midship & stern mooring lines, the
wind gradually brought the stern out or away from the dock, then Tony took the
bow line, walked it along & at the same time pulled the bow right around;
Graeme powered in reverse just a short time then we motored out into the
Beaufort River, which had only a slight chop this morning. What a difference a day makes! The time of the tides today were not really in
our favour in accordance to the caution shallow depth spots we had to
pass. We made the 0900 hrs. opening of
the Ladies Island Swing Bridge along with 5 other northbound & 1 southbound
boats. Brickyard Creek was O.K. on the
falling tide & against current until we exited into the Coosaw River; boat
speed was up to 7.7K with the wind on our nose motoring towards St. Helena
Sound & into the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff #2.
I sure was glad I had put my antiperspirant on this morning through the
cutoff; man-o-man was it skinny/low water (6-9ft.) & there still was over
an hour before max. low tide! And I was
driving! Although the depths were O.K.
through Rock Creek, the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff #1, the Ashepoo River &
Fenwick Cut, it was a seesaw action of our speed, depending which direction the
current was flowing at that location in relationship to the inlet, ie flooding
or ebbing. The South Edisto River &
Watts Cut were a different matter as we cautiously cut our engine RPM’s through
these areas 1 hr. into a rising tide; the depths were low & the muddy
shores were very exposed through these narrow passages; we even saw an
alligator sunning on the mud banks in Watts Cut. Finally the narrow ICW widened into the North
Edisto River followed by the tortuous Wadmalaw River, with better depths as
well. I tried to sit outside the
enclosure this afternoon when the sun was trying to break through the clouds
but the breeze was too cold & the sun was more in than out. We pulled into Church Creek as to: (1) stage
for Elliott Cut & it’s vicious current; must go with the current, so on a
falling tide, because the water flow originates from Charleston Harbor Inlet;
and (2) an early arrival into Charleston & therefore more time to
experience it’s romantic air. We
anchored against the strong current as opposed up into the wind which was at
our beam in 16 ft. with 100 ft. of chain.
There were 6 boats here tonight.
With very calm winds, it was a very tranquil spot, with only the sound
of a variety of birds & soundless but peaceful movement of dolphins through
the water. We will part company with the
Morrows early in the morning for our 2 night stay in Charleston, as they bypass
Charleston & move on. But we hope to
meet up again at the end of the week. I
seem to still have some trouble with eating supper after 2000 hrs., whereas in
the Fall you are looking to go to bed at that same hour. A
magnificent sunset, more magnificent red evening sky & clear night sky with
a bright near full moon & stars.
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| Church Creek |
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