SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

Currently, we are anchored just north of the ICW and just west of the Beaufort City Marina, in beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina. However, let me regress a tad to discuss our visit to Savannah.

From this walk way, cotton buyers would look down on bales of cotton before purchasing them, after which they were loaded onto ships.  Note the cobble stones.  These stones were actually ballast stones that came in the empty ships coming from England and Europe.  Each bale of cotton weighed aroun 500 lbs.  So, when they loaded the cotton, they unloaded the ballast stones.  Well, they had to do something with them, so they used the stones to build walls, foundations, streets, etc.

When we crossed from Florida into Georgia, we started seeing a lot more trees; not just trees, but very tall trees in large forest groups. Things had become quite green. The ICW goes from wide and deep to shallow and winding, depending on whether you are on a river, creek or sound. To visit Savannah, we decided it best to stay in a marina on the outskirts of town, so we chose Isle of Hope Marina. It was very cool. Rustic is the best way to describe its appearance, but it was otherwise very modern in terms of its amenities.

I previously mentioned that, upon our arrival, we grabbed the courtesy car and ran into town to do a little shopping. Well, we actually went about 2 miles towards Savannah to the WalMart and loaded up on stuff. You have to do that when you have a car. Then we spent the rest of the evening figuring out how we were going to get “downtown”.

Well, it turns out that the IOH Marina is only a block from the bus line that goes downtown. It only costs $1.50, so we took it. We got up early and ran out there because it only goes by a few times per day. If we had missed this last morning ride, we would have had to wait until nearly 2:00 to go to the city and then we would have had to be on the bus back by around 6:00 in order to get back by bus. Anytime you take a bus, it always takes a little longer since its route is anything but direct. A side benefit of this is that you get to see things of, about, and around the city you would not otherwise get to see.

This is the front of Paula Deen's restaurant.

For instance, when you think of Savannah, you probably have images of grand antebellum buildings all shiny and restored. Well, if that’s what you thought, you would be wrong. That is only a small part of downtown Savannah. The rest of the city is quite “normal”. It’s where folks live and go when they get off work. From Isle of Hope Marina, we passed through what some might consider the rougher neighborhoods on the way to that shiny downtown area. There are a lot of homes built of brick. I guess it was an easily available building material. There are also sided homes. Many of the homes on the outskirts were single story. There were no fences and there were a lot of trees. Neighborhoods were interspersed with shopping malls, low lying affairs and not big, flashy, indoor malls. Many rough looking characters got on and off the bus between Isle of Hope and downtown Savannah. Every bus line has its crazy folks, too; you know, the ones who get on the bus and have to talk up a storm about nothing really whatsoever, and to nobody in particular? In this day and age, it could be someone talking on a blue tooth device. Unfortunately, this was not likely the case. Entertaining.

The bus ride into downtown took nearly an hour. (It took almost 2 hours to get back). The bus stop was 3 short blocks from the Savannah Visitors Center. There, we hopped a tour bus/trolly that would take us all over the city and afford us the option to get on and off wherever we wanted and then get back on again later if we chose. This way, we say a lot more of the city and learned some interesting stories and historical tidbits as well.

Certainly, the architecture and restorations is a primary reason to come to Savannah, and the tour bus drivers made sure you got the skinny on many of the oldest and most interesting structures. For instance, there is one house which belonged to the guy who started working with cast iron. Where there were parts of his house that appeared to be wood painted white, it was actually cast iron painted white, he having said that whatever you can make of wood, I can make of cast iron. We also learned where the word, “Shanghai’d” as in , “I got shanghai'd” came from.

This was General Sherman's house/headquarters.

Although this looks very much like a Christian Cathedral built during the gothic ages, it is actually a Jewish Synagogue, the only gothic synagogue in the world.  Although there were originally no Jews or Catholics allowed by Ogelthorpe for his new colony, the jews were allowed to settle there after the Jewish doctors provide services during an outbreak of Yellow Fever that affected everyone and nearly killed most in the colony.

All the white painted elements of this house are not wood.  They are cast iron.

There is a place closer to the river where the pirates of the day used to hang out. If you were young and dumb, and they were recruiting, it is possible you might be sitting in the bar and one of these characters might slip something in your drink. When you finally fell off your stool, they (the pirates or merchant shippers) would then drag you out through this black door (there were tunnels under the walls that went all the way down to the river) down to the ship, and you would wake up a couple days later far out to see with a new “career”. In some cases, these folks might not let you get off the ship until you reached Shanghai, and thus the term.

Do you see the black door?  This is one of the ports from which you might be plucked having been "Shanghai'd".

We also learned why so much of the beautiful antebellum south is so well represented in Savannah. It was spared in both the Revolution and the Civil War. During the revolution, the city was packaged up and handed over to General Washington as a “gift.” Well, you’ve heard of “re-gifting”, well, at the beginning of the Civil War, Savannah was packaged up and given by General Sherman to Abraham Lincoln…..as a gift. So, Sherman put his headquarters downtown on one of the original 4 squares and ran his operations from there.

In all seriousness, Savannah is an interesting place understanding that it was originally started as somewhat of a social experiment. In the early 18^th Century, the King George of England needed to establish a buffer between his English interests in the north and the Spanish interests in the south (Florida). So, he called in his friend General Oglethorpe and asked him if he was interested in traveling to the new world to establish a colony in Georgia. He was asked to build homes, to help grow new crops, to exploit other natural resources, to build forts, etc. He agreed, and came to the new world with a bunch of his followers. They had rather strict rules, but managed to start a colony. Unfortunately, the colony suffered from disease and never really recovered. Oglethorpe was called home, accused of mismanagement, and never came back to Savannah. However, he was very well remembered for, among other things, laying out the original plat of the city, around which the entire city was developed and continued to develop.

Here is Mr. Ogelthorpe.

Savannah is also where Juliette Gordon Lowe was borne and raised, and where she founded the Girl Scouts.  There are many, many things that had their beginnings in Savannah.  It's also a simply beautiful city worth of a visit just to visit.

Those of you who have seen the film, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" or who have read the book, might recognize this house.  Yes, it is the Mercer House.

Savannah is also the home to the Savannah College of Art and Design. This was of interest insofar as my brother graduated from Art Center in Pasadena. I suspect SCAD is also touted as one of the top design schools around as well. This college is huge, however, and takes up several/many buildings throughout the city, similarly to NYU which has its buildings scattered around a part of New York City as opposed to being on an enclosed campus. One of the biggest areas of SCAD’s concerns is the restoration of Savannah. It would seem that they acquire an interest in a building and raise the money, and then engage in the restoration. In several cases, they ended up owning the buildings. It’s a good deal for the city for sure and an excellent way for students to really learn something other than working on computers.

Of course, a visit to Savannah would not be complete without lunch at Paula Deen’s restaurant. Wow, now that was the best southern fried chicken I have ever had, and the pecan pie was just about fatal. We were lucky to even get in. Generally, you have to show up at around 9:00 in the morning if you want to get a seat for lunch which is seated from 11:00 to 3:00. We just walked up and asked about a seat in the bar. We waited around 20 minutes and then at 2:59, they let us in. The food was good.

We had a nice time in Savannah, and I would recommend Isle of Hope as a stop on a trip north.
The next morning, we left for Hilton Head, South Carolina and anchored in a place called Skull Creek. We decided Hilton Head Island had really nothing to offer us, so we decided the next morning to head up to the town of Beaufort, South Carolina. We are currently anchored here in front of the town. This is a great little place of which I will tell you much more later.

Bye for now.

Goodbye Florida, Hello Georgia and Jekyll Island

After nearly 5 months, we made it out of Florida.  We entered the state just after Christmas and spent New Years Eve in Fort Walton Beach.  We then visited the Panhandle region, crossed the Gulf of Mexico and visited the West Coast of Florida.  We then crossed the state via the Okeechobee Waterway and headed south as far as Key West.  Then we returned north along the inside, stopping at a variety of places in the Everglades.  We hoped to see the shuttle Endeavor launch, but that was not to be.  As a result, we spent the last month or so lazily making our way north along the Atlantic ICW visiting a number of towns and cities in Northeastern Florida.  Fernandina was our last stop in Florida and we had a great time there with Erin and Steve.

On Monday morning, we left the anchorage, fueled and left Fernandina. 

Now that we have visited and seen at least every other inch of the coast of Florida, we can say with no uncertainty and with absolute clarity that there are NO flamingos in Florida other than, perhaps, the little plastic ones you find for sale on the side of the road, or maybe (and that's a big maybe) at a zoo.  Sorry to all of you fans of CSI Miami and Miami Vice.  There are no hills in Florida either.

Within an hour, we were crossing the mouth of the St. Mary's River, which marks the boarder between Florida and Georgia.  Perhaps you cannot well imagine, but for us, each time we have crossed into another state's waters everything seems to look different. 

This is a Nuclear Submarine Base in Kings Bay at the top of Cumberland Sound.

Here is one of the "Boomers" at the dock.  The chances of ever seeing one of these bad ass ships is very slim.  The ultimate in "reach out and touch someone."

For instance, in Florida, the waterways are all very well marked with signs - signs, signs, every where a sign.  The aids to navigation are large enough to see from quite a distance and they are abundant.  Thus far, in Georgia, there are no signs, and the aids to navigation seem smaller and spaced further apart.  However, for the most part, our experience on the coast of Georgia has been one involving running inlets and rivers, inlets and rivers.  The scenery is also very pretty.  The ICW is a magenta line you follow.  However, there is no "ditch" so to speak.  You merge onto one river from another, cross an inslet, bounce across a sound, and then enter another inlet, only to merge onto yet another river. 

If you look closely, you will see one of the many wild horses that exist on the shores of Cumberland Island.

Our first stop in Georgia on the way to Savannah was an island called Jekyll.  No, there is no Hyde.  Rather, Jekyll Island hosts an interesting tidbit of history even superior Americanists probably never even knew of.  In the late 1800's, some really big money guys got together and decided to have their own little hunting and recreational club in isolation, The Jekyll Island Club.  It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000. The club thrived through the early 20th century with an exclusive limited membership consisting of many of the world's wealthiest families at the time, most notably the Morgans, Rockefellers, and Vanderbilts. The club lasted 54 years. The members built their own "cottages" on the club property, which cottages have been beautifully restored.  Many of these so called "cottages" are considerably larger than most single family homes and might even be more aptly described as "Mansions." The complex was designated a historic landmark in 1978. It was restored and reopened as a luxury resort hotel in 1985.  Several nationally important events took place on Jekyll Island during the Club era, including the first transcontinental telephone call made by Theodore Valie, President of AT&T to Alexander Graham Bell in 1915.  Moreover, Jekyll Island was the location of a meeting held in November 1910 in which a draft of the legislation creating the US Federal Reserve was created. 

This old boy was just chillin' in this pond right next to the bike path.

At Jekyll Island, we stayed at the Jekyll Island Harbor Marina as there was no good anchorage in the area.  This place was totally cool.  There was a pool and jacuzzi both of which we enjoyed, as well as a courtesy car we were allowed to use to go into Brunswick to do some shopping.  There was a restaurant/bar on the premises that served up a really tasty Low Country Boil buffet for dinner.

So, we took the courtesy car into Brunswick to see if we could find, among other things, a new sink fixture for our galley as the one we had leaked incessantly inspite of numerous attempted repairs.  So, we found the fixture we needed.  I went down an aisle with an attendant to find some plumber's putty and no sooner than I am gone, did Brenda go off on a mission of her own.  I found her several minutes later with an ice cream maker!  So of course we had to try it.  Yesterday, Brenda had Rocky Road and I had Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch......for breakfast.

Our next stop along the way is not noteworthy other than to say that it is a nice place to stop and relax in complete and utter silence and solitude.  We are off on a tributary of the Mackay River in a little bend referred to as "Wally's Leg."  There is nothing here but the wind blowing through the coastal Georgia grasslands.  It is utterly beautiful.  The trip to Savannah is not that long, but we have to give serious consideration to the tides, given that they swing 6-9 feet twice per day, and so we have decided to break the 150 mile trip into several easy days.  The tides would not be so important if the water were routinely deeper.  However, Georgia is one place that needs dredging more than just about any other place on the Atlantic coast.  With so many sounds, inlets, and rivers all merging together, shoaling, sometimes to extremes, is always a consideration.  So, if the water in a pass at high tide is 10 feet deep, then it might have less than 4 feet of water in it at low tide.  We need at least that.  So, given the number of places where this kind of thing occurs, we have to run with the tides.  We like to allow it to come up some before leaving, and then be where we want to be before it gets completely low.


Giving consideration to the tides is especially important for boaters like us who prefer to anchor out.  Generally speaking, your scope requirements involve much more than the depth of the water under the keel.  You also need to consider the height of the anchor roller above the water.  Then, you have to consider how the depth of the water will change with the changing of the tides.  So, for example, if you stop the boat in 10 feet of water, and your bow roller is 5 feet above the water, and the tide is expected to rise 5 feet, you have to base your scope calculations on 20 feet and not 10 feet.  So, if you give yourself a 5 to one scope in 10 feet of water, you might only put out 50 feet of chain.  The proper scope, however, should be 100 feet.  In other words, if you did not also consider the height of the roller above the water AND the tide change, there is a good probability that, if a stiff breeze comes up at high tide, your going to end up on the bank, stuck in the mud.  Congratulations. 



Tomorrow, we will go off to another one of these stop over places before finally pulling into the Isle of Hope Marina just on the outskirts of Savannah.  More later.

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Today, we cruised nearly 50 more miles towards Savannah.  It was a rather long and tedious day.  The landscape is beautiful, but cruising through it can be hard.  We are talking about mostly grasslands and marshlands.  There are no mountains and only a slight resemblance of a hill from time to time.  The nav aids are few and far between and are often small and hard to see if the wind is blowing or the sun is in your eyes. 



I have several friends who have crossed oceans.  There is no doubt that such an undertaking is a solid endeavor.  However, I think from a purely navigational perspective, it is a lot harder to get from Fernandina beach to Savanah than it is to get from Los Angeles to Honolulu.  Let me give you an example:

So, when you leave Fernandina, you head up the Amelia River for a couple miles until you come to Cumberland Sound.  You then cross Cumberland Sound and merge onto the St. Mary's River.  You continue generally northerly until you get to the Cumberland Dividings and then go through there.  Next, you merge onto the Cumberland River for a spell before you have to negotiate and cross St.. Andrews Sound which then merges into Jekyll Sound.  From there, you travel up Jekyll Creek to St. Simons Sound.  You turn right, then left and cross this sound and then pick up the Mackay River.  Finally you can breathe as you are on the Mackay River for several miles.  Then, you leave the Mackay and negotiate Buttermilk Sound which takes you to the Altamaha River.  The Altamaha River then dumps you into Altamaha Sound which you have to cross in order to merge onto the Little Mud River.  Are we having fun yet?  The Little Mud River goes for several miles before you merge onto the North River which takes you to Doboy Sound.  You actually run a few miles on this sound before you cross it and enter the Old Teakettle Creek which takes you to and through Creighton Narrows to the Front River and Sapelo Sound.  After you negotiate those, you find yourself on the South Newport River heading north. (?????) The South Newport River then takes you to Johnson Creek and then the North Newport River (still heading north).  From the North Newport River, you enter and traverse St. Catherine's Sound and merge onto the Bear River. Then comes the notorious Florida Passage.  If you made it through that alive, then you can merge onto the Ogeechee River which takes you to the Vernon River which, after a spell, dumps you into the Burnside River.  You stay on the Burnside for a few miles and then enter the Skidaway Narrows, which leads to the Isle of Hope River and finall the Skidaway River.  Then you merge onto the Wilmingon River which ultimately leads you to the Savannah River and the final stretch to downtown Savannah.  Whooooosh..  Boy I am out of breath just describing how to get from Fernandina to Savannah.  Now, let me make it interesting.  All of the aforementioned has to be accomplished on a rising tide and you best be off the water before dead low, unless of course you're driving a jet ski. 



Actually, it's really not all that difficult.  If it were, there would be a whole pile of fibreglass carcasses littering the banks from Key West all the way to Virginia.  It does, however, take some planning and some skill.  Generally speaking, however, most of the navigation has been pre-done by someone with a magenta colored pen.  I have mentioned before how you just have to follow that magic magenta line and you will be fine.  Well, it's true.  Nevertheless, only a fool would undertake this trip without taking classes in navigation such as those offered by the Power Squadron.  Go at least through Advanced Piloting and you will have all the navigational skills you need.  Whether or not you can drive a boat, however, is entirely another story.  Seriously, the ability to read and understand a nautical chart is paramount.  There are lots of clubs and groups and forums you can join which offer lots of interesting and useful information as well.  But when it comes to getting from point a to point b, all the information you need is right there on the charts.  I also think it would be foolhardy not to have paper charts as well as electronic charts.  There is something to be said about getting the birds eye view of route planning that makes things safer and easier.



Ok.  Today, we will finally reach Savannah.  We will be staying at the Isle of Hope Marina instead of downtown Savannah.  This will take a lot of the guess work out of it and this place is offering a stay two get the third free sort of deal so we may be there a couple days enjoying the pool and, oh yeah, visiting the storied city of Savannah.

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We are now tied up securely at the Isle of Hope Marina.  It's a rustic and cool place right on the river and in the back yard of the city of Savannah.  We spent the afternoon grocery shopping and refilling propane tanks.  Tomorrow, we will spend the day in Savannah soaking up some antibellum history and sites.  Now, however, it is time for cocktails and a dip in the jacuzzi.

Bye for now.