The day we crossed into Georgia

We started cruising at 7:40 a.m. today and went about 85 miles on the ICW  from Upper Rock Creek, SC to Possum Point, GA, just outside Vernon View. It was raining about half of the day, towards the late afternoon, and we anchored at about 5 pm just before it started to thunderstorm. Possum Point is a peaceful anchorage with Vernon View, a suburb of Savannah, on the eastern shore.

We passed Parris Island and Hilton Head, SC in the afternoon. The islands are fairly close to each other, but are complete opposites, and have no association with Paris Hilton, as far as I know. Parris Island, as many know, is the recruiting center for the U.S. Marines, and Hilton Head is a wealthy resort area with world renown golf courses, like Spanish Wells and Harbour Town, and celebrities. My dad trained as a Marine at Parris Island, and as we passed the island Uncle Ken told me stories about visiting him there, and other stories about the harshness of platoon leaders in the 1960s. The island seems drenched with hard times, and has its own potent character that stands out in the middle of the otherwise placid, historically hospitable South Carolina Low Country region.

After passing the Georgia border, we soon encountered a barge while crossing the Savannah River. It looked like we were on a collision course with it, so we turned around quickly to give it room to pass us, then continued to cross the river. It was fascinating to see the barge up so close, but frightening when considering the danger of being so close to such a large vessel on such a big river.

We've passed several quaint towns like McClelanville, Andersonville and Beufort, SC, as well as Isle of Hope and Vernon View, GA. We stopped at Charleston a few days ago as well. The city marina of this southern gem, the Holy City, was the only marina we've stayed at so far.

Anchored at Upper Rock Creek

The route today was filled with southern plantation homes and docks along the waterway and wide open rivers, as well as some narrow creeks and man made cutoffs. We're now anchored at Upper Rock Creek, about 45 miles down the ICW from Charleston. Like Minim Creek, it's a very remote spot with nothing but marsh all around us. The view of the night sky is majestic, and could even compare to the northern lights they said appeared over New Jersey this evening.

The water around us is between nine to 12 feet, and the marshy shore is about 100 feet away on either side. We were going to go up the creek to deeper water, but the low tide revealed a sandbar that was too large to risk navigating past. After settling in, another dolphin passed right by our boat, and later a small boat with about five people on it passed from up the creek. That seems to be a common sight around here, as are the dolphins.

Being in the middle of nowhere doesn't mean we can't have modern conveniences though. For dinner Captain Ken cooked up pasta with meat sauce, and we watched Raiders of the Lost Arc with power from the generator. We have the peace and quiet of camping with the creature comforts of our own home.

Tomorrow we will cruise past Beufort and Port Royal, SC before crossing the Georgia border. We don't know exactly where we'll anchor or when we'll settle in because another storm is forecast for the evening tomorrow. The idea is to be settled in well before that.

Almost ready

Finding a place to anchor after Beufort, SC could really be difficult. We were looking at anchoring off of Thunderbolt, about 43 miles from Beufort, but we'd like to go further than 43 miles that day. We could be wasting a good amount of daylight if we stop in Thunderbolt, GA. But the next port city, Brunswick, GA, is 130 miles from Beufort, which is definitely too far to go in one day.

Our only other option is to anchor somewhere in the Georgia marshes between Thunderbolt and Brunswick. Uncle Ken and I spent a few more hours looking for a good anchorage between those two points, found a few that may be good and then just concluded the best way to find out is to see what the spots are like when we get there. And that was the end of that.

We were going to go out for another test run today, but it was once again too windy, with wind gusts up to 21 mph. So we did some errands, and then went to a Bass Pro shop to find line for our fishing rods, and get some pointers from the experienced fishermen there. We'll be fishing for wahoo and mahi mahi.

You may be thinking, when will you be leaving already? Well, preparing for such a long voyage takes some time. But we will definitely be leaving some time next week. Only last-minute provisions are left.