November 27-28

One of the very best parts of ‘cruising’ is the conversations and great tips we get from fellow cruisers. Without the suggestion that we stop at Jekyll Island, we would have missed out on one of the highlights of the Georgia waterway.

‘Jekyll Island was the … winter club for the rich and famous. In the 1880s this group, including the Rockefellers, Goodyears, Morgans, Pulitzers … built what they called cottages.’ To help understand the exclusivity of this community, we were told that these families controlled one-sixth of the wealth of the world at this time.

'Each estate was huge, but to promote social interaction none included kitchens. Members were expected to dine together at the club, where a staff from Delmonico’s in New York prepared meals. The restaurant’s 100-page menu included 370 dishes’.

The club still looks pretty nice, but they have shortened the menu somewhat – especially the one they gave us.

We were slow to get started on Thursday, as it had been a windy night and we were a little apprehensive about making our way through St. Andrews Sound. After watching a few other boats head out we decided to give it a shot.

It was a bumpy ride with the biggest waves we have seen, but a great learning experience. The most exciting part was hearing the Admiral yell, ‘Can’t we go any faster?’

Later in the day we passed by the Kings Bay Security Zone, where we had that ‘helicopter thing’ going again. Kings Bay is an active nuclear submarine base and a submarine was heading out to sea as we were in transit. Recreational boats in transit are required to stop and circle while maintaining a distance of 1 000 yards. The circling helicopter and gunboats reinforced the message.

We have passed into Florida and are anchored in the Fort George River. While it is not toasty warm, it certainly ain't snowing. I listened to the last half of the Grey Cup game the other night sitting in the cockpit in shorts and a fleece. I would never have thought of doing that in Winnipeg, at least not sober, I am sure.

November 25-26

People have said that one ought to think about going out to the ocean to bypass the Georgia section of the ICW, while others say it is not to be missed.

Georgia poses some challenges, but overall has been a fantastic part of our trip. We were up early Sunday morning in order to ensure that we could take advantage of the high tide for the passage through Hell Gate and the Florida Passage, which would have been impossible at low tide.

The tides in Georgia have averaged between eight and ten feet, which is by far the greatest range we have seen. While this can make for a comfortable passage through 'thin' water when you time it right, it also brings with it very strong currents which can make anchoring difficult and your progress either wonderfully quick or painfully slow.

We anchored in the Wahoo River and had a fun evening with folks from three other boats. It was good to see Steve, from LORCHA, who we have not seen since New York City.

On Monday morning the weather forecast said that with the approaching cold front there would be periods of fog until 9:00 am. While we pay close attention to the weather, we don’t always understand how it works, and sometimes wonder if the forecaster does either. It was rather hazy until 9:30 am, and then it really socked in. We actually anchored for an hour on the side of the waterway and sounded a horn whenever we heard a boat approaching.

When we convinced ourselves it was beginning to get better, we joined with a couple of boats that were carefully moving along, and ended up anchored out from Fort Frederica on the Frederica River.

November 22-24

We discovered that you don’t need to make many sightseeing plans for Thanksgiving Day, because you’re not going anywhere, and nothing is open even if you do get there. That actually worked out pretty well, though, since there are always lots of ‘chores’ to take care of on the boat. It was nice to have a day to just take care of some of these.

On Friday we caught the bus into Savannah and spent the entire day touring about. Downtown Savannah has been very thoughtfully restored to maintain its original architecture. The shops along the riverfront are quaint and interesting



After spending the morning wondering about, we were hungry and headed for the noted restaurant The Lady and Sons run by the apparently very well-known Paula Deen. Our timing was perfect, as we were able to get in without a wait, even at lunchtime. The buffet served, in part, fried chicken (unbelievably good), collard greens, black-eyed peas, sweet potato … the very best of southern home-style cooking.

After lunch we went on a 90 minute bus tour of the historic area of Savannah. This provided an overview and tease of all of the things we need to come back and see.

While waiting for the bus to get back to the boat, we walked through the cemetery alongside. The tour bus driver had told us about this gravestone dating back to the eighteen hundreds. Can you see why it is noteworthy?


Saturday has been cool and windy, a perfect day to get some provisions and blog postings completed in preparation for an early departure, with lots of high tide, for some 'thin' waters on Sunday.

November 19-21

We have decided that we know it is going to be a good day when we don’t see our breath when we get up in the morning. We have been on a wonderful string of good days, and are thoroughly enjoying it.

On Monday we traveled from Charleston to Bass Creek, a small creek off the Parrot River. The scenery is beautiful through this relatively undeveloped stretch of the waterway, and we had a leisurely trip.

We made the relatively short run to Factory Creek, just outside of Beaufort, on Tuesday. One should be sure to get the pronunciation right. In South Carolina it is pronounced ‘Bew-fort’, as opposed to ‘Bo-fort’ in North Carolina. The story goes that although both towns were named for the Duke of Beaufort, North Carolinians pronounce it with a proper French accent, while in South Carolina they say it however they want, thank-you very much.

Beaufort is a vibrant town with a rich history through the civil war era as well as in terms of pop culture. There are homes and buildings dating to the 1700s, as well as the Beaufort National Cemetery containing 12 000 graves of Confederate soldiers.

On the pop culture side, both of the movies The Big Chill and Forrest Gump were filmed in Beaufort.

Bay Street, the main street along the waterfront, has a number quaint shops and restaurants with decks overlooking the harbour. We had a nice lunch on one of these decks as we took a break from our search for the cooking classic Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking. We are assured it contains recipes for shrimp and grits and the other famous Lowcountry classic, Frogmore stew.

On Wednesday we continued on to Turner Creek, a nice anchorage from which we will be able to gain bus access to Savannah, Georgia. Along the way we passed by the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot and, at the other end of the spectrum, Hilton Head Island. I have always associated Hilton Head with golf courses, of which there are twenty-five. Apparently it also has 250 restaurants.

Nearing the anchorage we passed by Bonaventure Cemetery, which sets the stage for the novel and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Without television, we are really enjoying reading the books with associated different parts of the trip.

November 16-18

We set off early Friday morning for Charleston. Our intention had been to take a marina slip upon arrival and spend Friday afternoon and Saturday exploring. No slips were available when we arrived so we ended up anchoring out in the river, an excellent spot.

This picture looks back from where we were anchored to the mega dock of the City Marina. There are three large boats in the picture. Grits, the one on the right, was in Solomons when we were there and it looked very big at the time. In this picture it is overshadowed by the other two boats. The grey boat is called Kismet. The URL below describes the boat and makes for interesting viewing.
http://www.moranyachts.com/Article/?ID=54

Charleston is a great town. On Friday afternoon we wandered down King Street, a very trendy shopping area. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any festive dresses or holiday attire that seemed quite right for the boat.



On Saturday we browsed through the ‘market’, a four block long collections of shops and stands. I asked in one of the shops if I could try on one of the ‘southern gentleman’ hats for a picture for our blog, and the owner replied, with a big smile, ‘Nope, you’d look much better in this one.’

The shopping was actually pretty good at the market. We bought a bag of grits – because we are still looking for the perfect recipe for shrimp. We did make the one fella’s version of fried shrimp, minus the hog fat, the olive oil and most of the butter, and they were very good. Our favorite so far, though, has been boiled shrimp with a liberal sprinkling of a southern spice concoction.

There were numerous stalls selling the most beautiful baskets made of sweetgrass. We admired these each time we went by, but settled for a ‘rose’, which this young lad made in just a couple of minutes. They really are a work of art, but unfortunately don’t stay together very long.

On the way back to the boat, I said, ‘Maybe we should stay another day.’

Corinne replied, ‘I think that’s a great idea.’

Sunday morning we went for a long walk around the battery, the harbour edge of town. Charleston is steeped in history, beautiful old homes and gardens.

After our walk we met another cruising couple from England for lunch. Three of us, in a moment of recklessness, ordered the shrimp and grits, which were phenomenal. I have to figure out how they do that.

November 15

We nosed our way out of the creek early Thursday morning and headed for McClellanville.

The South Carolina shores are often referred to as the Lowcountry and are very marshy and undeveloped. This is in stark contrast to North Carolina, where there is considerable housing development along the shores.

We seem to have fallen out of sync with other cruisers, as we met no other sailboats throughout the day, and only an occasional motorboat. Indeed, the only company along the way seemed to be the birds keeping an eye on things.

McClellanville is a very quaint community built around the shrimp and fishing industry. We were happy to be tied up at the dock, as strong winds and rain had just preceded our arrival.

The two fellas who gave us a hand were working on the boat beside us, and seemed very happy to take a break and chat. We soon got them on to shrimp recipes, telling them that we had barbecued them with shells on last night. The older fella said, ‘You did what!’ As it turns out, you only leave the shells on if you are going to boil them.

The younger fella said, ‘I’m a shrimp and grits kinda guy,’ and explained how we could prepare them in that way.

The older fella said, ‘I like them best fried.’ When pressed, he explained, ‘Well, you heat up some hog fat, add a little olive oil because it’s good for the heart, and of course some butter, and then throw in some onions, anything tastes good with onions, and when that’s smellin’ good, toss in the shrimp.’

And in answer to one final dumb question, ‘Nah, you never worry about taking out the vein.’

November 14

We are now in South Carolina, and passed through Myrtle Beach Wednesday morning. This is a very populated area with beautiful homes along the waterfront. There is also an abundance of golf courses, which makes we wonder if I shouldn't have snuck on a few golf clubs. One course has holes on both sides of the waterway with a cable car that ferries golfers and their clubs back and forth.

We have noticed two changes this morning. First of all, many of the homes in Myrtle Beach have Christmas decorations up. Secondly, as we pass into less populated areas, the fall colours in the trees have appeared, almost as if overnight.

We anchored in Thoroughfare Creek in mid-afternoon. As the afternoon warmed up wonderfully, we dinghied ashore to do a little exploring. At shore was a 20 to 30 foot high sand cliff, a smaller version of what we used to play on at Wanasing. Just as we pulled up to the beach, a fisherman pulled in as well. We went over to chat with him, and he explained that Sandy Island had been declared a nature preserve. ‘You can see all sorts of wildlife here - raccoons, deer, foxes and wild hogs. You have to be careful of them hogs,’ he said, ‘they’ll git ya.’ That was pretty much the end of the conversation, and definitely the end of the exploring!

Last night we bought a pound of fresh shrimp on the dock at Calabash Creek. A mother and her daughter, a real cutie, weighed them out and before putting them into the bag asked if we wanted the heads off. I said, ‘Sure, but how do you do that?’

The little girl replied, ‘It's easy, just squeeze them just like this’, and so came our first lesson in cleaning shrimp. Fresh shrimp are amazingly good, and we are experimenting with different ways of cooking them.