On Wednesday, March 19, at sunrise we untied from Jekyll Island Marina as we knew we had a long day ahead of us, and a sketchy area called Mud Creek to get through mid-day at high tide. We traveled from 7:45am to 3:30pm and completed 62 nautical miles (71 miles). There were four other boats we traveled with for the majority of the day and we happened to be the lead boat for the day. Boaters all seem to be on a similar schedule, sunrise to early/mid afternoon and we all untied around the same time from Jekyll Island.
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| We were the lead boat of four boats yesterday. |
As the day progressed, one by one, each pulled off for an anchorage or marina. The last hour or so we were solo and had a quiet arrival at Kilkenny Marina. By late afternoon another boat arrived to stay two nights like us and today (Thursday) another boat arrived early afternoon so now there are three of us here. Once we arrived yesterday, Bert was able to get all the salt washed off the boat while Hilary worked on her list of chores. As we expected, a small bit of rain came through this afternoon and it was nice to be secured at the dock not boating today.
Everyone's goal for the day yesterday was to pass through a two mile stretch of the ICW called Little Mud Creek which is known for shallow waters. The goal is to pass through on a rising/high tide, which we all did successfully.
The ICW in Georgia is not populated. Yesterday we saw no bridges, very few boats, a couple remote hunting/fishing cabins accessible only by boat and mostly a lot of grasses as far as the eye could see. Very different scenery than Florida which was lined with many very expensive homes to look at as we traveled. We did pass one commercial dredge barge without any issue. It was a peaceful day of boating with nice weather and little wind. We started inside the wheelhouse in the morning as it was cold, but by afternoon we switched to the bridge and were outside for the afternoon. This was very welcome after driving two full days prior from inside. We were both ready to be outside in the fresh air.
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| The one commercial vessel we passed yesterday. |
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| Our view for most of yesterday.....nothing to see. |
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| After 2.5 days of driving inside, we were both ready to be outside on the bridge. |
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| When we drive from inside, the view is very obstructed. Note the removal of the lampshade to help the view. Hilary sits on the table on a couple pillows to get high enough to see out the windshields. Not the greatest view. |
We crossed four Atlantic Ocean inlets yesterday (St. Simons Sound, Doboy Sound, Sapelo Sound and St. Catherine's Sound) and thankfully all were calm and easy to cross.
Kilkenny Marina is in remote, rural Georgia. There is little to no cell service here so we had a quiet disconnected evening. Today we were able to get marina WiFi access which made it possible to call ahead and secure our marina stays for the next week. We have dear friends from Michigan vacationing in Beaufort, South Carolina next week visiting their son at college and are coordinating our plans moving north around visiting with them.
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| Docked at Kilkenny Marina. It's perfect for us. |
The tides are roughly 8-10 feet twice per day in this part of Georgia and the boat launch system is very different from what we are accustomed to in Michigan, Mississippi and Florida. A travel lift picks the boat up off the trailer, rolls it back, and then drops it down to the water some 20' - 30' below. The boats use their eye hooks on the transom and the bow to connect to the lift system. The whole process takes just a couple minutes. Very interesting boat launch/retrieval process to observe. Excuse the obstructed view in the video, hopefully you get the idea of how it works.
Because we were not boating today, there was no alarm clock, Hilary saw an amazing sunrise over coffee, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs, sliced tomatoes and toast. Breakfast while traveling has been grits for Bert and a protein shake for Hilary. This morning to get cell service Hilary went for two separate 5K walks after breakfast before the rain. The afternoon has been leisurely making plans for the next week and the sun is back out.
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| Sunrise out the galley window. What a great way to start the day. |
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| Hilary walked a 10K up and down this road. |
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| Beautiful old moss covered Georgia trees. |
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| This is not a decoy, its a real bird hanging out on the piling in front of our boat. |
Tomorrow we will not start very early. There is a one mile stretch 16 miles north of our current location called Hell's Gate that is to be navigated on a rising/high tide which will be around noon tomorrow. Tomorrow will also be our last day in Georgia.
We have a reservation in Hilton Head, South Carolina tomorrow night, possibly for three nights. We go through a small lock to get to Windmill Harbour Marina and since we will be behind a lock, there will be no tide there. A welcome change after the past several days. We plan on traveling 56 miles tomorrow, leaving us an easy 23 miles to Beaufort, South Carolina by early next week. We are a bit ahead of schedule. 😊
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