Frday, June 7
As expected the eye of Tropical Storm Andrea hit us somewhere between 0100-0245 this morning. The waves had been strong all afternoon/evening, but picked up substantially after midnight. We were all in our beds, but none of us asleep when it rolled through. The winds were estimated to be upwards of 45mph, but it didn't seem like that to us. Here's a picture of the restaurant and condominiums at the marina.
Since we stayed a day longer than originally planned, we needed to settle up with the staff. That delayed our departure until a little before 0900. The next stretch of the journey requires a night on the hook, as the nearest marinas (close to Savannah) are 70+ miles away. As mentioned before, the ICW is a series of left and right turns....nothing is straight down here. I think we travelled about 40 miles to check out a couplf of suitable anchorages that Tim found in our boating literature. To say that there is nothing between Brunswick, GA and just south of Savannah, gives 'nothing' a good name. We didn't even run into any trees for the longest time. Miles and miles of grass-filled marshland. Well, now wait a minute. I need to take that back. When I said nothing, I failed to include the bazillion horseflies we ran into. While cooking breakfast down in the galley I kept hearing the floor above me creaking and loud slapping noises. And, quite a few "Geezes" and "why, you little.....". When I delivered breakfast to the flybridge I found out that while Joe was at the helm, Tim was killing flies. We have a bright yellow fly swatter and the flies now are on the lookout for "2 heap-big white men yielding yellow stick". Anyway....we found a good spot to anchor and on the 2nd attempt the anchor held. After supper, the guys sat out back (covered with bug spray) and enjoyed a pretty strong, constant breeze (helped immensly with bugs and temperature). Bed before sunset. It was another long night, however, due to the heat once the wind died down.
Saturday, June 8
Up with the sun/sweat around 0630. If you've never been in our boat you cannot appreciate the 'closeness' of everthing...especially in the head (bathroom). Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that while one sits on the pot one can see inside the sink. Overnight, a crab had crawled up the side of the boat and up the through-hull for the sink drain....right into the sink. When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those big, black wooly spiders we have at home. This wasn't possible where we were and then realized what it actually was. Grabbed a photo, started the coffee (inverters are wonderful), the guys pulled up the anchors and we were underway. Another day of marshland, but today there were more interesting things to look at. Being Saturday, there was more weekend boat traffic, to include many kayakers. Saw more trees and even a couple of wild animal sightings. We saw our first alligator (AGD-ask my brother Dave what that means). Actually, Tim saw it and pointed it out to Joe and me. We ran into some more really nice riverfront housing areas with nice docks. That meant quite a bit of slow travel, "No Wake". For us, slow travel is only about 1-2mph slower than we normally go, so not a big deal. And, it did give us the opportunity to view about 7 wild hogs. We though of Mark and Daria and how they would have loved to 'shoot'em junior'. We are currently docked at the Morningstar Marina, Thunderbolt, GA. When Tim checked in here, the workers told him that today is National Marina Day and they had free bbq beef, chips, watermelon and soda pop for anyone staying here. Wonder what they served at Lake Perry, hmmm??? The guys are currrently out front working on the straps that hold the dinghy down..something about rust... After awhile/showers/rest we plan on hailing a taxi to take us into Savannah for dinner. It sure is hot!!!!
 |
Our first alligator sighting.
|
 |
| Wild hogs |
 |
| Kayakers near Thunderbolt, GA |
 |
| Our freeloading crab. |
 |
| Did someone say 'free food'? |
No comments:
Post a Comment