March 21, 2013 Day 314

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head Island, SC
Total miles to date: 5252.1

Another short posting tonight.

We spent the morning finishing chores.  This afternoon we ran several errands and then drove to the Savannah airport to pick up Kari.  It is good to have her with us.  Thanks to her husband Robert for the idea of a little getaway trip for her!  He is home in Texas with their four children.

We stopped for dinner on the way home from the airport and then spent time visiting and relaxing after her long travel day.

Tomorrow we will show her around Hilton Head Island.

March 20, 2013 Day 313

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head Island, SC
Total miles to date: 5252.1

This was simply a day of cleaning the boat.  Bill worked on windows and Joyce continued working on the interior while keeping the laundry going!

The weather is quite chilly for this first day of spring with a forecast of even lower temperatures as the weekend approaches.

We did manage to take a walk around the resort before dinner.

Just a short post tonight – we will drive to Savannah tomorrow to meet our daughter’s airplane!

March 19, 2013 Day 312

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head Island, SC
Total miles to date: 5252.1

We had a big thunderstorm late last night so it was a relief to have a bright sunny day in the low 70’s!  We are sure the golfers were out in force.  We know the bicyclists were!

We picked up our rental car at 11:00 and drove around much of the island.  There is one main road that runs through the island and resort communities with condos and golf courses that are tucked around it.  Sometimes the shops are hard to see because of trees and signage restrictions.  (There is a Walmart – but it does not have big blue letters!)

We also had errands to run: Publix (Joyce will miss that store when we get farther north!) and West Marine (yes, we just needed two items – and yes, we walked down every aisle – it is a guy thing!)

We returned to the boat and put things away, then had dinner on board.  Bill continues to plot our course through the Carolinas in his spare time.

No big plans tomorrow – just trying to get the boat ready for company!

March 18, 2013 Day 311

Shelter Cove Marina
Hilton Head Island, SC
Total miles to date: 5252.1

We woke to rain and stayed at anchor off Bull Island until the rain stopped. Then we departed and headed for Hilton Head Island, only 10.6 miles away. It was nice to have a short ride today (thanks to our two previous longer days).

We arrived at 12:15 and then had crab cakes for lunch at Ela’s, a very nice restaurant on the second floor of the complex.  We went back to the boat and started major cleaning. Bill spent much of the afternoon cleaning the outside of the boat while Joyce worked on the inside!

Love the blue herons! Nice to be greeted!

Paddle boarders coming back from their lesson

Carried Away at Shelter Cove Marina

Our marina is part of a resort with condos, restaurants, and shops.  We have not had time yet to go exploring.  We will pick up a rental car tomorrow and see the whole island.  We look forward to having our daughter arrive on Thursday!

March 17, 2013 Day 310

At anchor, Bull Creek
Bull Island, SC
Total miles to date: 5241.5

Today was another long travel day of seven hours, but we had the tide with us and traveled 52 miles.  We left Walburg Creek and traveled through rivers in the marsh again - this time with names such as Bear, Ogeechee, Vernon, Hell Gate, Skidaway, and Ossabaw. 

It wasn’t until we reached the Burnside River that we saw houses!  There is a lovely community along the river.  Shortly after that we crossed Moon River, made famous by singer Andy Williams.  We had no idea it was there!

Shoaling is frequent!

A typical view in Georgia today

One of many large homes on the Burnside River

By 1:00 we were passing the Isle of Hope Marina. At one time we had thought of stopping there and touring Savannah by car, but we have decided to skip Savannah this time and go there next fall.  (We have been there in previous years.)  The boating traffic started to pick up once we reached this point.  We continued on and eventually crossed the Savannah River (Savannah is about 8 miles up the river). 

Isle of Hope Marina

We passed Dafuskie Island and then entered Bull Creek and anchored by Bull Island.  It is hard to believe we are in South Carolina.

Shortly after dinner, the Coast Guard stopped by our boat and wanted to know if we had made or heard a Mayday call on the radio. Apparently they had heard a call but did not know the location.  Unfortunately we were of no help since we had turned the radio off when we arrived at 4:00.

We planned our trip (with calendar in hand) for the remainder of the way home to Virginia. Then we spent the evening watching a special on Phantom of the Opera on television.

We will go to Hilton Head tomorrow and stay at Shelter Cove Marina. Our daughter will visit us later this week for a few days and we will also visit friends Bill has known since childhood!  We had planned to stay there two weeks but we will cut that short and leave around March 27^th.

March 16, 2013 Day 309

At anchor, Walburg Creek
St. Catherine’s Island, GA
Total miles to date: 5189.6



Georgia Marshland

We traveled over 56 miles today through marshland and twisting rivers and creeks and wider sounds of water.  We found the names such as: New Tea Kettle Creek, Little Mud River, Front River, Doboy Sound, and Sapelo River to be quite interesting!  We actually like the Georgia scenery!

More marsh



The pelicans were hoping for their share of the catch!

For a Saturday we found very few other boaters out, which was surprising.  We did see several dolphins which are always delightful, if not elusive.  We had very good luck with the tide and current – well some of that is good planning on Bill’s part! 

You can see the winding river
in the dark shaded area on the chartplotter

A sharp turn coming up!

We went farther than originally planned but wanted to shorten the time for tomorrow or Monday.  We anchored in the quiet Walburg Creek off St. Catherine’s Island. There were two other boats anchored here when we arrived. 

We grilled steaks for dinner and then watched a movie. We will continue up the ICW through Georgia tomorrow to another anchorage.

March 15, 2013 Day 308

Golden Isles Marina
St. Simons Island, GA
Total miles to date: 5133.0

Although we had a short trip today, we left Jekyll Island early with sufficient tide to get us through the low points.  First we stopped at the fuel dock and filled the center tank.

Georgia marshland on the ICW

These birds assume the sign does not apply to them!

We left Jekyll Island, surrounded by marshland and were soon in the St. Simons Sound, passing the inlet to the ocean.   We traveled under a sunny sky and calm seas today, which we did appreciate!

We arrived at the marina at 11:15 and tied up on the transient face dock. We had planned to do some sightseeing, but instead, did some work.  Our starboard shifter had given us problems again when we departed, and Bill spent time bleeding the system.  He also spent a great deal of time on the phone trying to find some replacement parts.  We also took time to order books and charts we will need for our trip this summer.  Joyce did some vacuuming and laundry and made reservations for our upcoming trip to Hilton Head.

Lots of sailboats call Golden Isles Marina
at St. Simons Island their home - this only shows a few of them!

We went out for dinner at the Coastal Kitchen restaurant next to the marina and had excellent seafood.  The restaurant is also known for its beautiful views!

We will anchor out this weekend and then arrive in Hilton Head on Monday.