First light found C Ghost conveniently pointing towards the exit to our anchorage due to the expected current shift. We left right at sunup. It was already in the mid-sixties and reached the mid-eighties by noon. Pretty surprising to those of us who expect much colder temps with November on the horizon.
We had begun the night in the cockpit, until NoSeeEms drove us below. When a breeze came up around 11pm and blew them away, Tom returned to the cockpit, (Paula was out like a light on the settee inside) and slept with the soft sounds of dolphins clearing their blowholes nearly constantly in the darkened waters surrounding C Ghost.
Our path today led us through one bascule and two fixed bridges. All proceeded smoothly and the number boards now reflect the expected clearances. We’ve left the flood zone behind. As we passed through Field’s Cut, we had been warned that as we entered the Savannah River we might encounter large commercial traffic. Sure enough as we approached the river, we saw the AIS signature of this behemoth, and then the cargo ship itself. We slowed and waited at the last marker before entering the River as the Seoul Express thundered by.
Surprisingly, as least to us, we saw very few other cruisers, and only heard a handful conversing over the radio. As this is cruising season on the ICW, we expected much more volume and really don’t know why we’ve seen so little traffic. It makes for a very peaceful passage-at time we are the only humans we see for miles. We did see signs of human habitation, lovely homes, and unfortunately, still saw hurricane damage.
What we failed to see in terms of people has been made up for in dolphin sightings. I hope we never come to consider seeing these sleek creatures routine. Often they would broach and dive within a few yards of the boat offering us a great view, but they were much too quickly gone for us to photograph, through we always try. Paula has lots of great “ripple” pictures, but never could catch the dolphins themselves. She was a little more successful with birds.
We had significant following current, which pushed us along at 9-10 mph as contrasted to our usually 6-6.5mph without. This led to a tough decision for Tom. We could anchor in our planned spot at about 12:30pm, or given the great time we were making, forge ahead an extra 10 miles and go through Hell Gate, a known ICW trouble spot. The narrowness, limited depths at low tide, and strong currents make this passage challenging and we didn’t want to try it too far away from ideal conditions. The following current meant we would arrive there just two hours after high tide. We had heard from friends a day ago that they had passed through there yesterday at a similar point in the tide cycle and had 10 feet. However, as a man-made cut, the current’s direction of flow could not be anticipated by any means at our disposal. Worst would be if the following current continued through Hell Gate, as it lessens control at the helm, and forces the pilot to go faster through the cut to maintain steerage.
One the one hand, if we stopped before Hell Gate, we could be sure of passing at full high tide tomorrow morning. On the other hand, it would be so nice to have this worrisome spot behind us when we anchored tonight, and our fast speed made this scenario possible.
We decided to go for it, and if we found depths not adequate, to turn around and go to the bail out anchorage. Just before we entered Hell Gate we were lucky enough to come across a trawler heading north who had just exited the cut. We hailed him, and he gave report that depths were passable and the current was behind him. This was good news on two fronts.
Although a bit tricky and narrow, this cut was not nearly so arduous as the Dawho River. Another proof that timing is everything.
We just anchored at Redbird Creek in Georgia, thus marking our first stop in this new state. It features the now familiar salt marsh characteristics and has 18 foot depths two hours out from low tide.
Tonight’s dinner is grilled chicken thighs, cooked and frozen in August, Brussels Sprouts, and yams. No Halloween activities planned, although we will wait and see if our anchorage has any tricks up its sleeve for us tonight.
One Response
I thought you were never going to get past South Carolina! We are seeing many dolphins off of the beach here in the Outer Banks as well. Hopefully the great weather continues for your journey.