Beaufort SC, to Meggett, SC

Miles Traveled 43.3

Total Miles Traveled 3396

Day 233

                        

We were anchored close to the Beaufort public dock so we took the dinghy to town and had breakfast at the Lowcountry Produce Restaurant.  The restaurant is located in the old post office building built in 1916.

Beaufort is an old river town chartered in 1711 and is the second oldest city in South Carolina.  The city has maintained its historic character by preserving its antebellum architecture.

As we were approaching the dock we noticed a sailboat that we had passed yesterday before crossing the Savannah River.  The sailboat had oars and the captain was rowing as there was only a mild breeze in the narrow channel.

We introduced ourselves and asked where he came from, as we are about 40 miles from where we passed him yesterday.  He said his name was Ron and we were surprised to find he started the loop a few miles north of the intersection of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River on December first!

That's our dinghy in front of Ron's Boat

His boat is only 13 feet long, has no motor, no generator…no shelter.  He camps as he travels the Great Loop.  He told us when he broke camp this morning and was loading the gear in his boat, an alligator slid into the water.  Now that’s roughing it!  What’s really amazing, we left two months before he did and we didn’t pass him until yesterday.  Ron told us his boat’s name but by the time we arrived at our boat and were underway, we both forgot the name. 

Know we know why they call this the low country, miles and miles and miles of salt marsh.

We did see a few dolphins today, this one stayed in front of the boat for quite awhile.

We are anchored tonight in the Toogoodoo Creek, we may stay here tomorrow and wait for a storm to pass before continuing on to Charleston.

Thunderbolt, Ga to Beaufort, Sc

Miles Traveled 46.8

Total Miles Traveled 3353

Day 232

We departed the marina early this morning to take advantage of slack tide, a short period in tidal water when there is no water movement up or downstream.  The marina is located on the Wilmington River with 8 foot tide swings, and we were boxed into the end of an inside pier.  We had three boats behind us and had to back out of the marina about 100 feet before we could swing around.   Backing up a single engine trawler between  other boats is not my favorite mode of operation.  

Timing worked to our advantage when we approached the Savannah River, this container ship passed before we entered the river.

We had great weather crossing Port Royal Sound.

We saw several jellyfish today.

Harbour Town Lighthouse on Hilton Head Island.

Beaufort, SC anchorage.

Thunderbolt, Ga Day 3

Miles Traveled 0

Total Miles Traveled 3306

Day 231

We watched two more loopers catch up to us, and then pass us on their journey north this morning.

“California Lady”

“Act III”

We spent the day sightseeing in Savannah, Ga today, the oldest city in the state of Georgia.  We walked cobblestone streets, through parks, and saw several historic buildings. 

This is city hall, the dome rises over 70 feet tall and was originally made in copper but was gilded in 1987 with sheets of 23-karat gold leaf, we were told the dome cost more than the entire building.

Of course we couldn’t pass up Paula Deens place.

Our last stop was the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum exhibiting ship models, paintings and maritime antiques, principally from the great era of Atlantic trade and travel between England and America during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  The museum is housed in a home built for William Scarbrough, one of the principal owners of the Steamship Savannah and president of the Savannah Steamship Company.  Would this be a long lost uncle Dick?

Thunderbolt, Ga Day 2

Miles Traveled 0

Total Miles Traveled 3306

Day 230

This was our second day at the marina so we participated in the marina’s tradition of delivering fresh donuts to our boat.

We stopped at this marina to have a repair made to our leaking steering cylinder.  We took advantage of the stop to perform a few more preventative maintenance tasks.  We also watched two of  our looper friends catch up to us, then pass us on their journey north.

“Chasing 80”

“Leeloo”

We heard that this is the old boat “Huntress”……..

And this is the new boat “Huntress”, with a price tag of over $180 million.  Just a rumor?

Montgomery, Ga, to Thunderbolt, Ga

Miles Traveled 15.5

Total Miles Traveled 3306

Day 229

We had a short cruise to Thunderbolt Marina today, we felt out of place with all of the mega yachts here.

We saw a few more dolphins today, this one stayed with us for a little while.  I guess this is their mating season, that’s why they haven’t been hanging around the boat.

We saw quite a few nice homes today, what a nice change from all of the salt marsh we have been looking at for several days.

Thunderbolt is only about 5 miles from Savannah, so we’ll be here a few days sightseeing.

Valona, Ga to Montgomery, Ga

Miles Traveled 51.6

Total Miles Traveled 3290

Day 228

We weighed anchor before sunrise this morning, a picture perfect morning on the Great Loop!

Looking out into the Atlantic Ocean at St Catherines sound.

The reason for our early start was to get through a shallow pass known as Hell Gate at high or mid tide.  The tide in this area rises and falls 7 feet every 6 hours and some reports show areas of 3 foot depths within the pass at low tide, “Moni Jean” has a draft of 3’ 8”.  Hell Gate is a man-made canal behind Raccoon Key and between the Vernon and Ogeechee Rivers; the Atlantic Ocean is on the other side of Raccoon Key.  With a falling tide, extremely strong side-sweeping currents from the river can push a vessel off course. 

Raccoon Key

We pushed our Cummins diesel a little harder today, high tide was 11:31 and we exited Hell Gate at 12:06 without any issues.

We saw several dolphins today, and one jumped completely out of the water in front of the boat.  We also saw two giant sea turtles but couldn’t get the camera in time.

Brunswick, Ga to Valona, Ga

Miles Traveled 40.9

Total Miles Traveled 3239

Day 227

This has been a day of coincidences, there were 6 loopers at Brunswick Landing marina and we knew that 5 of us were leaving today but did not discuss a time to leave.  Moni and I decided to leave around 8, and pulled out of our slip to find “Corkscrew” passing our pier and “California Lady” leaving the dock.  When we pulled out of our pier, “Act III” and “Sandrobber” were falling in behind us.  We were all taking the same ICW route north, but had different destinations planned so we decided to travel as a group.

Okay, maybe that’s not too weird because most loopers leave the marina early, but here’s the kicker.  Our boat used to be named “Mascott” and in 2008 was located in Massachusetts.  We bought our boat at Grand Rivers, Ky and the boat name was “Cheers”.  I had contacted the previous owner of “Mascott” just before starting the loop in September and told them about our adventure.  They were also cruising south for the winter in their new boat “Mascott” and said they too would be heading north this spring. 

After cruising several miles this morning, I hear a call on the radio “Mainship 390 switch to channel 17”.  I switched to channel 17 and was greeted by “Mascott”!  What are the chances of that!

“Sandrobber”, “Mascott”, “California Lady”, and “Corkscrew”

After that, the rest of the day was uneventful; this area of Georgia is nothing but miles and miles of salt marsh.

We anchored a mile or so off of the ICW in New Teakettle Creek; our view is about the same as it has been all day.

We watched this trawler heading north on the ICW, it looks like he’s plowing through the salt marsh.

Brunswick, Ga Day 2

Miles Traveled 0

Total Miles Traveled 3198

Day 226

I started the day with a few preventative maintenance tasks while Moni went to the local farmers market with Nancy from “California Lady”.   We met Kevin and Jill from “Chasing 80 and Mike and Nancy  from “California Lady" and walked into town for lunch. 

Brunswick Georgia is known as the Land of Five Flags, the British gave the town its name from Braunsweig, Germany, the ancestral home of King George III:  however, five nations have claimed this area of Georgia as their own.  First, explorer Hernando de Soto raised the Spanish flag in 1540, followed by Frenchman Jean Ribault in 1562, who sought to establish a haven for French Huguenots.  In 1565, the Spanish expelled the French and ruled again until Gen. James Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island in 1736.  The British flag flew until the Revolutionary War.  The American flag was lowered during the Civil War, replaced by the stars and bars of the Confederate flag until 1865, when the United States flag was raised one again.

Downtown Brunswick Georgia.