CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (43)

CODA : Meandering in Georgia's waterways

Crescent River anchorage, Somewhere behind Sapelo Island, Georgia  

Shrimp boat with wings extended but no nets in Sapelo Sound

(caused me to make a bit of a detour when I thought he was fishing).

Marc-  We left Thunderbolt at 09:00 for the perfect timing to get through the infamous Hell Gate.  This Hell Gate is similar to its namesake in NYC in that is has very strong currents but with an additional factor of skinny water to make a passage exciting.  Not a problem at half tide.  This part of the Geogia ICW is a maze of zigzags through connected creeks , river and sounds.  The sounds are open bays to the Atlantic ocean.  Thrown in to the mix today was a northeast wind of 25 knots gusting to 30.  Fortunately that meant downwind for us with some rather large waves and swells in Saint Catherine's sound and Sapelo sound.  We are the only boat anchored in Crescent river which is unusual.  Lots of wind here but no waves.  

Nice paint job eh!  Thunderbolt Marine does great work.

Goodbye Thunderbolt.

The two i-pads after we just squeezed through Hell Gate.

An unraveling Yanmar v-belt that I replaced en route today.  Luckily we were traveling through a small creek at the time we heard like a large rubber band hitting the floor.  Only took 10 minutes to replace (glad we had a spare).

There is a v-belt down there somewhere that needs replacing.

All fixed.

Lou- Yeah, Dad was very impressive with his quick replacement of the v-belt! But dang-- it was a hardcore job! It involved a few tools and a lot of elbow grease! 

Afterwards, I offered to drive so he could chill out, but he said he'd feel calmer at the wheel. A true captain!

Side note: It's been fun, as I've been talking more on the radio, to get called "Captain" by other sailors!

Now we're anchored in a spot that's supposed to have so many dolphins you can "hear them breathing" at night. Sort of creepy? But then again, can dolphins ever be creepy? Nah.

Sadly though, we can't hear the adorable breathing of dolphins because there's a serious wind tonight! Really gusting. It makes it extra cozy inside, though.

We had veggie burgers for dinner with cheddar cheese and Mom's homemade pickled beets, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Every night, Dad does his calculations to figure out what time would be best to leave (based on the tides), but tonight was especially intense because tomorrow we have to go through a really tricky spot called Mud River. It's also important that we get to our destination (Jekyll Island) at high tide. In the end, he was debating between departing at 5AM (in the dark!) and 11AM. Eventually, he called up his friend Charlie to help him decide. Charlie encouraged him to take the sane route and go with 11. I'm glad, but I'd like the sail in the dark on some safer occasion! (Maybe when there's moonlight or illuminated buoys.) 

Wish us luck getting through Mud River (where Charlie said he's run aground twice!)!

Marc- Note:  Glad we didn't opt for the night-time travel option since a large oil barge being pushed by a large tugboat came through at about 05:30 and they were taking up the entire channel.