Places, Stories, and Thoughts of the Atlantic ICW St Simons, GA to Beaufort, SC (including half way ICW stats)

May 12-May 22, 2018
11 days. 68 days since start.
122 nautical miles. 608 total since start.

St Simons Island to New Teakettle Creek
24 nautical miles. 510 since start.
5 hours motoring
Leaving St Simons, we entered the area of coastal GA that is dominated by marsh land. The Georgia marshes are vast areas of tall grass etched with winding rivers created by the strong ebb and flood of the tidal flow. Tides in this area are a huge 7 to 9 feet with current to match. When the tide is high the grass is partially submerged, and you feel you are in a huge grassy lake. At lower tides, the mud banks of the rivers are exposed, and Holiday’s cockpit would be lower than the grass such that we couldn’t see over the edge, only up and down the river in front of us. This giant ecosystem also is mostly immune to human development leaving us with some great secluded natural cruising areas.
We motored along the ICW which follows these natural winding creeks and intermittently spills into larger sounds created by Georgia’s larger rivers exiting into the Atlantic. The ICW goes up or down and across these larger rivers before finding another small creek on the other side and continuing it’s winding path. Always in the large rivers and sounds we could look out to the east at the great Atlantic.
We motored into Doboy Sound on the edge of Sapelo Island then exited the ICW onto New Teakettle Creek in the middle of marsh in every direction for miles and miles and dropped the anchor for the evening.
Anchored 1 night
From my description above, you can probably tell I was impressed by the nature of the area we were in. There was nothing around us except marsh grass and coastal birds. Fish would jump. Dolphin would crest and blow. Birds would call. And the wind would rustle the grass. That was about the only sounds during the day. It was awesome. As evening came, we could see the giant arms of returning shrimp boats moving up Doboy Sound. It was a beautiful peaceful sunset. This was one of my favorite all time anchorages.

New Teakettle Creek to Kilkenny Creek
29 nautical miles. 539 since start.
5.5 hours motoring
This next transit was much like the last through the marshes. A lot of the ICW here follows along the awesomely named Blackbeard Creek. Near the end of the day’s trip we went across St Catherines Sound between St Catherines and Ossasbaw Island. Both island’s tips had protected beaches that wrapped around to the inside from the Atlantic. It was a Sunday (Mother’s Day), and lots of people in power boats were beached there enjoying the afternoon. Looked like a cool spot. Just a little further up Ossabaw Island we turned inland off the ICW onto Kilkenny Creek to anchor for the evening.
Anchored 1 night
On Kilkenny Creek we saw our first sign of human development in a couple of days. There were some fish camp type houses and a small fish camp type marina. There was a nice anchorage on the creek just passed them. We didn’t go ashore though. We had a nice night just chilling out on Holiday. One cool sighting was some otters playing along the banks here.

Half Way Point Stats of the ICW

We noticed we were about half way to the end of the ICW  (Norfolk, VA) from the center of the 7 mile bridge in the Keys where we had begun our trip north and east. Kind of a surprise as we still had plenty of Georgia left, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia to go. Just telling of how long a state Florida is including the long stretch of the Keys. Here are some stats I found interesting of the trip so far. Will have to compare them to the second half totals in the future:
59 Total Days
21 Different Stops
26 Nights at Anchor
11 Nights on Mooring
22 Nights at Dock (includes a week off the boat and the few days before and after prepping for being away. this is WAY more than we have docked in the past)
539 Nautical Miles Traveled (620 regular miles)
25.67 Nautical Miles Average Passage Distance (29.54 regular miles)
105.5 Hours Underway
5.02 Hours Average Transit
3 Passages Sailing with Motor Off
3.5 Passages Motor Sailing
14.5 Passages Motoring (another big change as we estimate that we sail 75% of the time when not on the ICW)
Lindy’s favorite city: St Augustine, FL
Lindy’s favorite anchorage: Cumberland Island, GA
Zach’s favorite city: St Augustine, FL
Zach’s favorite anchorage: New Teakettle Creek, GA

Kilkenny Creek to Herb River
27 nautical miles. 566 since start.
5.5 hours motoring
We continued on the ICW through one of the curviest spots we’d been through. The river through the grass here was making full U turns over and over. As we neared civilization and the city of Savannah, we went by Skidaway Island where I had first learned about the marsh ecosystems of Georgia as a kid on school field trips.
Anchored 2 nights
We ducked into the Herb River to anchor for the night and figure out our strategy for visiting Savannah. We were just outside the city and right next to a possible marina for shore access if we decided to just use Uber to get into Savannah. Herb River was a really nice anchorage. Big homes were around but back off of the shore line allowing privacy for all. We ended up staying two nights and also dinghying up the river to an awesome restaurant called The Wyld Dock to meet our friends Andy and Amber and their kids. Great times!

Herb River to Thunderbolt Marina (Savannah)
2 nautical miles. 568 since start.
.5 hours motoring
We decided to head to Thunderbolt Marina and see Savannah from there since rain was in the forecast. We would be Ubering anyway instead of walking in the rain, and Thunderbolt was about $40 cheaper per night than the slips on River Street in downtown Savannah. So, we basically had $40 per day to Uber with, and it only ended up being about $20 round trip for the 10-15 minute ride. Plus Thunderbolt puts a half dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts on your boat each morning!
At dock 4 nights
We had a great time in Savannah. We took a trip to River Street, toured around some of the beautiful squares, and ate in the downstairs tavern of the Pink House. We also spent more time with Andy and Amber, plus Andy’s sisters and their families, Andy’s parents, and my parents. Our parents have been best friends since we were children, and it was great to see everyone together! We gave everyone a tour of Holiday and at one point had over 20 people on board!

Thunderbolt Marina to Beaufort, SC Mooring Field
40 nautical miles. 608 since start.
7 hours motoring
Leaving the Savannah area also meant leaving Georgia, where we both grew up. It had been an awesome few weeks seeing lots of remembered sights and rekindling nostalgic memories of times gone by. Between Thunderbolt and the state line, we went right past Bonaventure Cemetery made famous to most by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Just after crossing into South Carolina, we motored past Hilton Head. Nearing Beaufort, we also went right by Parris Island where the Marines train all the new recruits.
Moored 3 nights
Beaufort, in what is known as the “Lowcountry” of South Carolina, is a special place. It’s the second oldest city in S Carolina (behind Charleston), and there are a ton of mansions, buildings, and homes dating back as far as before the Civil War. The houses are all mostly well preserved and also privately owned. We spent a whole day walking around the oak covered streets seeing the many homes and grounds. Hollywood has used the city for a ton of movie backdrops. Google it to see them all. One that is interesting is a bunch of Forest Gump was filmed here, including all the Vietnam scenes on an adjacent island where now sits a golf course.
And as always, you know we checked out the food scene. Beaufort has a bunch of cool restaurants, and the Lowcountry cuisine was awesome!