Arrived in Georgia........................miles of marshland
Despite strong gusty winds from dusk to 2am and knowing that our biggest concern was praying the anchor would hold it was an unnerving night on Skull Island. We were relieved to know that in the morning the anchor held. Now it was time to get back on the Inter coastal. We spent the next two days moving (Wednesday and Thursday) through Georgia. We have read that Georgia is very mundane and is comprised of swamps, lowlands and bugs. After leaving the beautiful historical area of Charleston, and passing by Hilton Head, we entered Georgia. We arrived in Georgia in the afternoon. When entering Georgia,we began to see more commercial vessels that we had to yield to.
At one point, we were approaching a bridge Waiting at the bridge was a tug with two barges attached. These vessels were attempting to go under the bridge but on had about 3' on each side and the tide at his rear. It took about 10 minutes for him to navigate through the small space. After we both passed I congratulated the young captain on a good job.
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| Barge Passing through Bridge |
Shortly after the bridge experience, we entered Savannah where we passed some large boat makers such as Sea Ray, Hinkley and Thunderbolt. One of the large boat yards had what appeared to be a 200' yacht out of the water on with as much scaffolding around it as the Capital building.
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| Yacht with Scaffolding |
We then cruised deeper into Georgia and found ourselves on winding rivers and islets with much of the scenery the same. The weather was threatening throughout the day and it truly was very different from the mansions in South Carolina to the marshes and swamps of Georgia. Concerned about the impending storm scheduled to arrive on Wednesday afternoon, we started to look for a place to stay. After the harrowing experience worrying about the anchor holding at Skull Island,we decided to find a marina. It was getting late in the day and so we settled on the next available option. See Picture below of the "marina" sign. It was like a mirage in the dessert. The problems is that there are not very many marinas in Georgia and to find one every 10 miles is difficult at best. We decided to stop at Kilkenny marina which tuned out to be a very remote and spooky place.
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| Only sign for miles |
See picture below. But, it served to be a safe haven as the winds blew and rain came within minutes of docking the boat. While we felt better that we were tied to a pier, they used 2 X 8" boards for cleats. Again, we hoped the boat would be in the same spot when we wake up in the morning. I tried to go to bed early but even tied to the marina we bucked like A bronco until the winds subsided around 10:00 PM. After that we had a peaceful night. The highlight of the day was when a dolphin decided to ride along with the waves of our boat.
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| Kilkenny Marina |
After traveling another 65 miles today, we decided to stay at Grand Isle Marina a little more upscale than the nights before. We arrived at 3:30, just in time for Happy Hour. Off to the restaurant and bar with our laundry in tow. It worked out well that we could have our drinks and do our laundry at the same time. Met a few friendly people like Al and Terry. Al had some ties to Baltimore as his father was in the army at Ft Meade and Terry was from Canada. He had his own business and was on a sailboat heading south. He was very successful and explained that his success did not mean as much as living life. Seven years ago his wife had a seizure and died a year later. We just can't put off things like cruising as we just don't know how long we'll be around. Carol and I are so fortunate to be able to complete this trip while we are healthy enough to enjoy it. On day when the weather predicted late afternoon and evening thunderstorms, we ended up with a beautiful pleasant sunset.
Tomorrow is a big day....we plan to arrive in Florida!
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