We left Graham Creek in a light fog. We stayed in fog until we reached the harbor at Charleston. We like the view in Charleston Harbor but it was cloudy today so it was not a good day to take pictures. At times the fog was challenging. It was nice to have the GPS map to help keep us on course. It was cloudy with the winds picking up all day making it a little chilly. We anchored in Tom Point Creek which was a new anchorage for us. We would definitely stay there again. The holding was great ! The wind blew all night and the tide changed, but our 45 pound Delta anchor held on. I took a picture of our GPS which we use as an anchor alarm. You can see our arch as we swung around the anchor.
Thursday was a windy day. We had the currents in our favor but the bigger bodies of water were still choppy. For some reason we have never caught the Coo Saw River on a good day. I am not sure if it is us or if it just never has good days ! With the predicted wind of 30+ for the night we decided to stop at a marina. We ended up at Skull Creek Marina at Hilton Head. After securing the boat we took a walk around the neighborhood. It was a windy night as promised and the heat felt good when we awoke to temps below 40. Getting a dock was the right thing to do.
Welcome to Georgia ! To cross get into Georgia you cross over the Savannah River. As we were going down the AICW our AIS (Automated Identification System) indicated a Target on the Savannah River. Note: when we got back from our last cruise we bought Coastal Explorer Navigation Software and it came with an AIS reciever. BIG boats and ships are required to have a transmitter, but we just have a receiver. It has been a fun addition going down the AICW to see when ships are near but will be really nice to have when we are making our crossing to the Bahamas. Back to my story...we saw a Target on the AIS. We decided to slow down and give the ship below the right of way based on the law of gross tonnage ! He was heading to sea, we crossed the Savannah behind him.
Bridges are one of the things on the AICW that can be a challenge. Some bridge tenders enjoy using their power to make you wait. We had two bridges in Savannah and if there was a bridge tender of the year award the bridge tenders at these two bridges would get my vote ! Both bridges open on request. In both cases I hailed them on the VHF to request an opening and BOTH of them said don't slow down I will have it open when you get here ! So Georgia bridge tenders get my vote as the best !!!
As we were approaching a high rise bridge on the other side of Savannah, Wayne looked over and said "that sure is a tall mast; it is taller than the bridge". I looked at it and said "that can't be a mast, it must be some kind of tower that they made look like a mast". As we got closer it looked more and more like a mast. It was a mast !!! The picture below is of the Mirabella V, you can see the name on the boom if you zoom in.
We anchored south of Savannah at Red Bird Creek. This was a new anchorage for us, but one we have put on the list to stay at again.
Today was another pretty day on the water. It was over 70 degrees out and sunny. We always enjoy watching the dolphins and birds. The pelicans must be very used to boats going by because they do not move as we pass, they just continue to float around. It was nice to have the tides and currents in our favor as we wound our way through the Georgia AICW. It reminds me of being on the switch back roads in the mountains but you are weaving in and out of the marsh land.
Tonight we are anchored in front of Fort Frederica on the Frederica River at St Simons Island, Georgia. As we were anchoring, the cannon went off. I think they were welcoming us ! Actually they were doing a reenactment of some kind. We could see soldiers in their red coats.
We are protected from the wind so it should be a good anchorage. Low tonight only 55. Tomorrow we move on to Brunswick Landing Marina.
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