Entries about georgia

Saturday 17 November 2001

In preparation for the trip to Beaufort SC, we spent the night at Johns Island, just south of Charleston. Bob heard a barge and tow go up the river early this morning.

Limehouse bridge early in the morning

We were up and about before 7, and Penelope on PENELOPE JAYNE told us that the tug had hit the Limehouse bridge. So I turned on the radio and I heard the tug captain who was really upset that he'd hit the bridge. A sailboat was on the radio asking to go through the bridge and the bridge tender told him the tug had just hit the fenders (hadn't damaged the bridge mechanism) and he could open. I checked on the radio, and the bridge tender told me the same as the other boater. We got underway about 7.

Limehouse bridge after run-in with barge

Looking back at the Limehouse Bridge

Barge moored near the new bridge

We got to the bridge, and I took a lot of pictures of the damage as we went through. I think the barge that hit it probably had construction materials for the new bridge. They are constructing a new high rise span, which may be open in a year or so.

New bridge

Cranes for the new bridge

Later, we heard some boats behind us go through, and then we heard the bridge tender say that he was closed to water traffic until further notice. Some people apparently anchored in front of the bridge. The bridge guy said the engineer was climbing down to inspect it.

Fixed bridge south of Charleston

We could also hear the Wappo Creek bridge tender saying that she would not open either, and that people had to go out Charleston Harbor and come in south of Johns Island. When I looked on the chart I saw that the route she recommended would have been impossible.

Fishermen north of Beaufort

About noon, the Limehouse Bridge opened and let the people waiting through. The Canadians (PENELOPE JAYNE, CJ VI and a ketch that had been anchored near Johns Island) caught up to us eventually, and then stopped and anchored before we got to Beaufort.

Side of the river at 12:13

We went on down toward Beaufort SC - saw again the yard doing work for the army and took pictures.

Army yard

Came into Beaufort and were tied up by about 3 pm.

Beaufort marina

Tide was low and ramps up to ground level were very steep. The word there was that the Limehouse bridge was not going to be open until about Weds. for boat traffic.

I did email at their counter inside the store on the fax line, and called Palmer-Johnson on my cell phone and they said they'd put me on the waiting list for tomorrow

We walked up and had dinner at the Bank Street Grill which was a very rich looking converted bank in the historic district. The bank was originally built between 1914 and 1916 but went out of business in 1926. Between '47 and the early '80s it served as a movie theatre. It was restored in 1988, and is "the only example of Beaux Arts Classicism in Beaufort"

Bank Street Grille

The menu carried through somewhat on the bank theme, with "Beginning Balance" (appetizers including "Initial Investment which is a $16 seafood assortment), "Combined Interest" (soup and salad- "ask your teller for today's selection"), "Prime Rate" (primarily beef altho the whole lobster and 10 oz rib eye for $Market Price$ is called 'Investment'), "Junior Investors" (kid's menu), "Ending Balance" (desserts featuring "$Dirty Money$", "Liquid and Frozen Asssets" (drinks and frosted drinks, which includes "Banker's Tea" - Long Island Tea with a splash of Sprite), and "From the Safe" (non-alcoholic drinks. Lucette would have loved it - they had herbal tea.

It was popular, but I didn't think much of the service. We both had prime rib, and I took some of mine home for lunch. I didn't like their garlic potatoes- too much garlic. Our bill for the two of us without dessert was $47.37.

When the Bank Grille didn't even offer us dessert, we left there and walked down the street to a small mall where there was an ice cream store, and got dessert there. The people were helpful and friendly.

Sunday 18 November 2001

Palmer Johnson was supposed to call me back if we could get a space and the Toshiba which I am using for charting keeps asking for virus software updates, I thought I'd do that. I made the mistake of trying to do it without plugging it in, and it is SO SLOW on the battery.

While I was doing that I heard that the Limehouse Bridge concrete supports had been damaged, not just the wooden fenders, and it was considered unsafe for motor vehicle traffic, so was permanently open for water traffic until they could repair it. That means that all the folks who want to drive to Johns Island have to get to James Island (possibly by the Wappo Creek bridge) and then from James to Johns Island via the bridge over the Stono River.

Then I had a shower. Afterward I found that Palmer Johnson had called back, and Bob couldn't figure out how to answer the phone. Even though we had gotten the thing I ordered which makes the cell phone into a speaker phone, playing the other person through the radio. Palmer Johnson had said we had a space, but now we had to hurry and leave.

We got underway about 10 just as PENELOPE JAYNE and CJ VI and a houseboat were coming through the Ladies Island Bridge just north of the marina. We followed them down to Port Royal Sound, past the Parris Island Marine Base.

Parris Island

From Beaufort, we had 47.5 statute miles to go, and we normally go about 6 mph. So that would put us there about 6. I was concerned that the dock master would have gone home by the time we got there.

Shrimp boat about 1:15

We did get some good wind, and also some good current to help us,and were averaging 6.6 mph. (Although Bob put out the whisker pole at one point not realizing that we were going to turn pretty soon and had to take it in)

Barge with multiple daymarks

We saw this barge anchored by the ICW - I took the photo because it had so many daymarks (the black shapes on the top poles) and so many cranes that I thought it looked like Edward Scissorhands.

We crossed the Savannah River about 4,

Tug pushing a barge about 4:00

Bridge near Thunderbolt 17:12

and came down to Palmer Johnson very close to 5 pm. Which is really pushing it from Beaufort (almost 48 miles). They charged us $5.00 for electric even though it was only 30 amp, and their literature says it is less for 30 amp. There are no longer separate lines in the mens and womens rooms for internet - you have to share.

Just as we were getting tied up (at the very tippy end of the dock because we were on the wait list), two rafted shrimp boats came in together to get fuel. One of them was completely out, so the other one was giving him a tow. I actually thought at one point that they would crush us to the dock as they seemed to think that they had the right away over all other traffic.

Shrimp boats rafted

The first time they tried to tie up, they threw the dockmaster a line and neglected to hold onto their end. Oops - then they missed the line he threw back and he had to do it a 2nd time. They took 199.9 gallons of fuel

Egret on back of a shrimp boat

Dock beside the shrimp boats

The restaurant by the marina was closed, so we walked up to Tubby's Tank (has a bathtub on the roof).

Looking back at Tubby's

There are two trees with spanish moss on them and a cross right in the middle of the road at that point.

Cross

I had an oyster stew

Cup of soup

which was very much like crab soup except with oysters, and fried asparagus and a chicken salad.

Inside downstairs

This was a shell with a tossed salad and chicken fingers on top.

Bow of our boat and the megayachts in yard

Our boat at sunset

Tomorrow - we went our way through the Georgia marshes. We will probably anchor in the Wahoo RIver tomorrow night.

We are starting to transit the Sounds, Bays, and Rivers of Georgia where there are eight foot tides. Claiborne Young warns the boater very sternly to be sure that they have to be sure they have sufficient supplies and fuel to get through this section of the Georgia ICW. There are very few services. It's very flat land (little wind protection) with big tides and currents.

Monday 19 November 2001 - Leaving Palmer Johnson

I had a little trouble casting off. This time I got the line off the cleat in a timely manner, but they had insisted that we put the fenders out parallel to the dock instead of vertical, and one of them got caught on the pier backing out. Bob powered forward and we touched the motor trawler in front of us. We waited while the owner looked, but he couldn't find any mark where we had done it. So we left.

As we passed the Herb River where we anchored last year a blue ketch named WITCH DOCTOR came out and followed us down to Skidaway Narrows Bridge. A boat named STEELAWAY called us on the radio and asked about our furler. (All three of our sails furl - not only the jib which normally furls and the staysail, but also the main which furls behind the mast.)

Houses along the water -Isle of Hope

We passed Isle of Hope where we had seen a friend at the marina last year, but there wasn't anyone we knew either at the anchorage or at the marina this year. We are getting into long stretches where we don't see anything but grasses with an occasional tree.

Typical landscape in Georgia sounds

The gulls sit on the osprey nests or on the solar panels that run the lighted ATONs.

Shrimp boat

The power boat MEANDER passed us again (for about the 3rd day), and a very large power boat named CALYX with the man on the bridge talking on the cell phone and not paying any attention, and also the trawler tug KNOCK OFF that we saw up at Barefoot. SEA YA calls back to us and tells us that she sees otters playing around, but all I see are mud plumes in the water. The winds were light, and we put up the staysail. AMERICAN EAGLE, the small cruise ship passed us going north

AMERICAN EAGLE (a small cruise ship) in Georgia Sounds

and then SEA YA went into Cattlepen Creek to anchor.

Shrimp boat with nets

We were followed by a catamaran that anchored in Moon River. Moon River is too shallow for us.

We were passed for a second time by a black power boat named BLACK something (Swan?) which tows the dinghy on a very long line - longer than our boat. So when he passes us, we can't cut in right behind him to avoid his wake or we will get caught in his dinghy tow rope.. Later, we mentioned him to Norm and Jan and Jan said that Norm had spoken to him about towing his dinghy that way. Others have also had a problem - he pays no attention. Very inconsiderate.

When we came to Hell Gate, we passed what appeared to be a cable laying barge with two tugs. They apparently also had a diver down.

Dredge

We went on down to the Wahoo River (MM 630), and anchored up the river about 1.25 miles in 16+ feet of water after 47 miles. There is someone anchored way up the river just up by the trees, and TRUE LOVE (Bob talked to him in Beaufort SC) came in and anchored too. He's single handing.

Since we can't get all the way through from Thunderbolt / Savannah to Jekyll Island in one go we have to stop somewhere. After the first trip when we went to Kilkenny Creek Marina (Richmond Hill, GA) and then anchored north of Little St. Simon Island, we've always anchored in the Wahoo River. It has enough depth so that we are in no danger of going aground even at low tide, and it is wide enough so that if we swing, we won't end up on a bank.

Anchorage on the Wahoo

You have to leave the ICW (being careful not to cut across the point where it is shallow) and go up the river - some people go all the way up to the island to anchor in the shelter of the bluff, but we don't usually do that.

Dolphins come in and play in the river and you can hear the shrimp clicking through the hull.

Tuesday, 20 November 2001

We pulled the anchor and were underway about 7:20. The boat way up the river proved to be WITCH DOCTOR - they came down and passed us. We passed a very large motor yacht and also a small cruise ship called NANTUCKET CLIPPER (with very smoky engines)

Nantucket Clipper cruise ship

coming north. In Altamaha Sound, we saw a shrimp boat named STRUGGLER towing a barge.

STRUGGLER with barge

As we came across the Brunswick River and turned down into the creek by Jekyll Island,

we saw WITCH DOCTOR anchored in what appeared to be a very bad place - near a lot of riprap. Later, I saw a SeaTow boat darting around at random in the inlet. Still later, saw WITCH DOCTOR being towed west.

We turn down the East River and we can see the millionaire's "Clubhouse"

Clubhouse - Disappearing behind trees

as we pass the Jekyll Wharf Marina docks

Docks

After 50 miles, we tied up at the Jekyll Harbor Marina MM 684.3 and got fuel by about 3:45. Bob complains that none of the deck hands know how to put a line on a cleat. They just keep wrapping it around, as if that would do it. The docks are all floating face docks, and they put us on the fuel dock pointing north toward the bridge. Depending on the wind and current, it can be hard to get to. It is in the shadow of the fixed bridge. One of the things that seems to be pretty common along the ICW, and it is true of Jekyll Island also is that when the old draw bridges are removed, the shore ends of the bridges are left in place. This is not only cheaper (because they don't have to pay people to knock them down and haul the debris away), but gives fisherman a ready made 'fishing pier'

Looking under the new bridge toward Brunswick

A little power boat with no name from MD (the owner said he was vacillating between naming it after his girl friend or his grandson, so was calling it ERIN D) that was in Thunderbolt across the dock from us is also here.

At the gas dock near the bridges

Jekyll Harbor Marina is $1.25/ft plus $4 for 30 amp. They let you have a courtesy car to go to market but the grocery story is pretty puny - almost no fresh veggies. They have an outside pay phone with a data port, but no 110 outlet, so since my laptop battery won't hold a charge I either have to use the dockmaster's phone (when his office is open) or run an extension cord, which gives the restaurant manager a heart attack because he's afraid that one of the old people will trip and sue him. I haven't had a chance to use the pool.

Dusk

They have a nice little restaurant (Sea Jay's Waterfront Cafe) with good service and not too expensive. Inside there is a bar, and you can seat yourself where you can watch TV or not.

Inside Sea Jay's

They have a signature buffet (all you can eat) dish called Low Country Boil which includes shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage for $14.95@, but Bob feels like there's too little shrimp and I think there's too much sausage, so we don't get it.

SeaJay's menu

Bob can't understand with all the shrimping going on how come shrimp is so expensive. Local shrimp was almost 9$/lb. Our bill was $39.66, but that included a big serving of Brunswick stew which we took back to the boat. I got it in case we had to eat on the boat at Thanksgiving.

SeeJay's Sunset Dinner specials

My all time favorite is the Brunswick stew (there are three places in the US named Brunswick - Maine, Virginia and Georgia - and they all claim Brunswick stew - I have had Brunswick stew in NC which I assume is the Virginia kind. I like the Georgia kind). The following is the “official recipe” distributed by the Georgia visitors bureau.

Jekyll Island's version of Brunswick stew

Start with the following ingredients:
1 3-lb. chicken,
1 lb. lean pork,
1 lb. lean beef, and
3 medium onions, chopped.

Place meat in large, heavy pot. Season with salt, pepper. Add onions and cover with water. Cook slowly until meat falls from bones (several hours). Remove from heat and allow to cool. Tear meat into shreds and return to stock.

Add:
4 cans (16 oz.) tomatoes,
5 T. Worcestershire sauce,
1½ bottles (14 oz.) catsup,
1 T. Tabasco sauce,
2 bay leaves,
½ bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce,
½ t. dry mustard,
½ stick butter.

Cook 1 hour, occasionally stirring to prevent sticking.

Add:
3 T. vinegar,
2 cans (16 oz.) small limas or butter beans,
2 cans (16 oz.) cream-style corn,
1 can small English peas
(3 small diced Irish potatoes and box of frozen, sliced okra—optional).

Cook slowly until thick.

Serve in a bowl with barbecue or fried shrimp.