22 October 2026
Depart: Beaufort, SC anchorage 8:10
Arrive: Buckhead Creek anchorage SC (south of Savannah) 5:30
Distance: ~ 64 nm
Before getting underway today, I managed to grab a couple of sunrise pictures.
Yesterday, I saw my first pelicans of this season. Today I saw them in abundance mostly packed in tight on the buoys along the waterway. Talk about crowded!
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| Green #31 |
Most of the pelicans could not care less that we passed by, but a couple of them decided to abandon the buoy.
Then, later still, there was the guy shown below ...
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| "King of the Mountain!" |
Watching birds turned out to be a highlight of today's trip as we passed through a lot of marshland scenery with little to no boat traffic to speak of.
Excitement at last ... a tug pushes along two brand new barges.
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| Royal Engineer |
The captain on the tug appeared to have hardly enough energy to respond to calls on the VHF radio for passing agreements with other boats. I could almost picture the captain as Eeyore as he would say "on the port"!
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| Sparkly new barges with this tow |
Later, we passed another boat - a sailboat, but it would not be going anywhere under its own power.
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| Nice Solar Panels on this wrecked Sailboat |
Finally, early afternoon, we passed signs of civilization! The old Causton Bluff Bridge is being replaced by a tall, highway bridge - Sam Varnedoe Islands Expressway. One span is completed and open to traffic.
Our boat, Sunset Delight, needs some work done on the shafts / cutlass bearings. Clark is shopping around for some service places knowledgeable with the proper equipment to do the job right. Given that, we stopped at Thunderbolt Marine as we passed by.
Before talking to engineers, however, we decided to roll the dice on getting a pumpout of the holding tank. Success! It pumped out quickly and with no craziness making it do so on our part! Yay!
We spend about an hour at Thunderbolt with Clark taking to mechanics about potential work to be done. Clark's plan is to have the work done in the spring when we don't have a timetable for arriving somewhere. Clark was favorably impressed with the two men he met with at Thunderbolt.
Upon leaving Thunderbolt, we soon passed an interestingly decorated boat.
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| Halloween - Ghost, Wizard, & Pumpkin |
In amongst all the usual boats seen at a marina, I spied an unusual one siting "on the hard". I could not get a good look.
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| Left of Center: Fancy tug? Steamboat? |
Our travels today took across the river going into Savannah -- too far away from the city for any pictures. Passing by Savannah meant that we are now in Georgia.
Clark found us an anchorage for the night in "no man's land" surrounded by marshes just a little short of Walburg Creek the intended desitnation.
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| Anchored for the night |
23 October 2026 - Friday
Depart: Buckhead Creek anchorage GA 8:30 a.m.
Arrive: Cumberland Island North (Brick Hill River) anchorage Georgia ~ 6:00
Distance: ~ 76 nm
Before leaving today's anchorage, I ran out and grabbed a couple of pictures. With no clouds to speak of the photos were lacking the "wow factor".
Meanwhile, back home in New Jersey, the maples at the end of our driveway are showing off their colors!
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| New Jersey colors |
Most of today, like yesterday, the scenery was mud flats and marshland.
Finally, at 3:30, we saw signs of civilization as we approached St. Simons Island!
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| Cars! Lots of Cars! i.e. People! |
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| Actual buildings! |
As we passed by the St. Simons Island inlet, Clark pointed out that there was no evidence of the car-carrier ship, Golden Ray, that wrecked here in 2019. It took years for engineers to determine the best way to remove the wreckage and execute the removal.
Late in the day, as we approached Jekyll Island, we saw a couple of other boats - a rare siting today! Traveling through here turned out to offer the most excitement we had seen in several days of travel.
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| Sailboat heading north |
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| USCG boat |
The waterway here had lots of markers for various channels including range markers for two different channels. One with the sun shining on it,
The next thing we knew, we were being haled on the VHF radio by the US Coast Guard requesting us to switch to Channel 22 to talk with them. They advised us that they would be boarding our boat and told Clark to maintain speed as they came aboard.
I looked out to our stern, and there they were right behind us. The same boat we saw going the other way just a short while ago.
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| USCG following behind us |
Clark misspoke when he replied to them regarding our last boarding and said we were boarded recently in the fall. It was April when we were boarded near Norfolk. They won't board a boat if it has been boarded for a "safety check" within the last six months. Given we were boarded so recently, we were well familiar with the drill. I was only slightly annoyed by the action because I was just going to use the head when they climbed on board. My comfort would have to wait for them to leave.
I ran down to open the side door to the cockpit, so they could climb aboard underway. Two agents came on board - one man and one woman. Once onboard, they immediately asked if we had any weapons or firearms on board. Once I said no, they breathed an obvious sigh of relief and got down to business.
I took over the helm from Clark, so he could pull out paperwork and answer questions. The place where they chose to board us had shallow sections. Clark's color-coded chart had so much red area on it, I could not see the position of the boat on the chart in the bright sunlight. When the depth finder indicated we only had two feet of water under the boat, I called out to Clark to help get me pointed in the right direction. It was a little nerve wracking with a USCG person looking over my shoulder.
Once again the agents that climbed on board were pleasant. We had some discussion about our boat and why they boarded us. "Honestly", one agent replied, "Yours is the only boat out here!" I had a feeling that we got selected for just that reason. Clark said, "Last time we thought it was because the agents wanted to see the boat." The female agent agreed that also was a motivating factor as she likes to check out the various styles of boats.
When we were boarded near Norfolk, the driver of the USCG inflatable boat put his boat up snug to the side of our boat. The agents stepped from one boat to the other with no difficulty. Today, the pilot of the USCG vessel came close to our boat but not snug. I could see it took bravery, skill, and a bit of luck for the two agents to step across the water from one moving boat into another. On the way back to the USCG boat, they had paperwork in hand making the "jump" even more interesting.
Their "visit" was short and sweet as the saying goes with no real inconvenience to us. As soon as they were off the boat, I did run for the head however. Then I came back and started taking pictures once again.
Clark pointed out a "fair" / farmer's market on shore. I could smell the tantalizing aromas of the food trucks as we passed by.
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| Tents of a Farmer's Market |
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| Food Trucks Galore |
The USCG boat was still hanging about waiting for the next "victim".
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| Passing by Jekyll Harbor Marina |
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| Jekyll Harbor Marina |
Clark pointed out that, behind the bushes, we could see amusement rides at Jekyll Island.
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| Folks in wetsuits - all busy studying something or another |
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| A standalone dock - no house, no boat |
As with prior trips up and down the coast, today we got chased by a huge flock of seagulls. They are noisy and it is a wonder they don't crash into each other as they dive this way and that while following the boat.
Big boat near an inlet must equal fish right? Wrong! They left disappointed.
Clark selected the north side of Cumberland Island for tonight's anchorage. We had to cross St. Andrew's Sound to get there. Even with stabilization on the boat, the action felt like we were in a washing machine. It was a bit on the rough side. Clark said it was similar to what we would have seen on the ocean today. Thank goodness we were not on the ocean. We got enough wave action that spray came up over the port side of the boat as high as the upper helm.
Unfortunately, I misunderstood how much time we had before we reached the anchorage. I planned on serving potatoes with dinner tonight. I needed to pre-cook them using the microwave. I should have waited until after crossing over the inlet. Instead, thinking I was running out of time to cook before we shut the engines down, I went below just before we entered "washing machine" mode to cook the potatoes. The potatoes got some extra stirring in the microwave as, due to the rocky wave action, the dish moved from side to side within the microwave.
I got the job done and went back up to the upper helm to enjoy the sites as we came up on Cumberland Island.
Lighthouse as we approach Cumberland Island ...
Looking back at the wave action behind us ...
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| Four horses on shore |
Calmer waters once out of the sound ...
Clark reminded me that last time we anchored in this anchorage it was after we had lost our anchor near Brunswick, Georgia. Thankfully, today was not a repeat of that "fire drill".
Last night, we had the anchorage all to ourselves with no other boat in sight. Tonight, we have a neighbor though I never saw any people on board.
Late afternoon today, Clark got a reply from the insurance company. With exclusions on coverage, we got permission to carry on into Florida tomorrow instead of waiting until November 1st.
With the tanks getting low since our fill at Top Rack near Norfolk, Clark is seeking a place to get fuel that won't "break the bank". Unfortunately, we are passing through Fernandina Beach on a Saturday, and Port Consolidated is closed on weekends. He found a place in St. Augustine of interest, however, their pump broke today. Clark was told to call back tomorrow to get the status on the repair that was underway this evening when he talked to them. Oh the suspense!
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