We crossed the Savannah River a little after 3 PM, and that means that we entered Georgia. I really liked the city of Savannah when I lived there in 1979 on my mission, but the facilities at the docks downtown are not great and the trip up and down the river takes time, so we continued right across the Savannah River, past Bird Island, and into the Wilmington River. We then went past the town of Thunderbolt where Palmer Johnson has a large boat building center that Nordhavn has often used for eastern commissionings. They do some pretty spectacular yachts there.
We anchored in the shadow of Palmer Johnson, in the Herb River for the night of the 4th.
The next morning we got underway and saw to starboard this mansion on Dutch Island. On the port side was the University of Georgia Marine Extension Aquarium on Skidaway Island. This was an important find for me because back in 1979 I rode by bike from downtown Savannah to this place and back, a bike ride over 50 miles!
The weather was reasonable so we headed out to the Atlantic Ocean at 9 AM via the Ogeechee River. A squall came by as we were about 5 nmi offshore. I love squalls.
After the squall came sun and heat. The gradual but larger ocean swells required the use of our stabilizers continuously, which heat up the autopilot hydraulic fluid in a large reservoir in the engine room. The engine room got to 120°F but unfortunately the "J-Box" component of the Robertson autopilot did not like this heat, and it shut down with the message "No J-Box". We had to actually steer by hand! We decided then that it was time to come back inside to the ICW, where we normally do not use the stabilizers, and perhaps then the engine room would cool down enough for the autopilot to work again. The final fix was to reroute the engine room fans to blow directly on the "J-Box" and it worked reliably thereafter.
Trawler Note: When I had a Nordhavn 46, I thought I was unique in my having many major systems break down. This trip taught me that my experience was more the norm, and that to be a cruiser one must be prepared to fix anything. Fixing things comes with the territory. This was an important lesson for me to learn. (Erich's auxiliary generator also had problems.)
As we returned at noon into St. Catherines Sound from being out at sea we were followed by shrimp boats, a very pretty sight against the growing afternoon thunderclouds. As we reentered the ICW we passed Blackbeard Island, a wildlife park.
Historical Note: Born Edward Drummond of Bristol, England, he took the name Edward Teach and went to sea. Later he became a notorious pirate and earned the nickname Blackbeard. He terrorized the entire Atlantic seaboard and Caribbean. He died in battle November 22nd, 1718 on Ocracoke Island, NC.
We ended the day a bit early (4:12 PM) at Wallys' Leg, a river a few miles north of Brunswick, GA with this spectacular backdrop. Lightning flashed a lot at night, but without thunder. I believe they call it streak lightning.
Another pretty evening at anchor, but it was hot, humid, and had many bugs. The overnight low was 75°F.
A few hours later we had a wonderful meal of New York steak, pasta, and zuchini and onions. What a feast!
Onward, leaving at about 7 AM. We saw a shipwreck at the SW corner of Jekyll Island buried in the sand.
Pelicans are very common along the ICW. These markers are often used by birds to take a rest.
The saloon of the Salty Dog. On the table is my handy ICW chartbook, my iPod, and my Apple PowerBook G4.
At about ICW milepost 700 we hit our westernmost point of the trip. Ever since Morehead City, NC we had been moving west until here at the Cumberland River, GA. We then began moving slowly eastward, and we headed into Florida an hour and a half later.
Last updated: 2003.11.21.