Thunderbolt to Delegal Creek, Skidaway Is., GA

Short trip today, even shorter track because the GPS shut down for some reason about 10:30 and I had to restart everything. We saw an eagle, a lost Monarch butterfly and a southern version of Andiamo! (homeport Savannah). Did you know that "Moon River" the song (lyrics by Johnny Mercer) has an inlet named after it? Mercer is from Savannah and the powers that be chose to name an inlet (which we passed today) Moon River! We tied up at the Delegal Marina at 1:00 and waited for the McCloskeys (Dawn Zephyr - a 51' fast trawler) who are neighbors from Spring Grove. I cooked dinner for us all and we enjoyed catching up with them. We plan to head off early tomorrow (have to leave before the ebbing midtide to make it over the 4 ft. spot at the entrance to the creek) and head offshore - - - next stop St. Augustine!~~~(\_~~~D&M
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CCYC folks - - -we did a double take when we saw this Catalina 440 (but
homeport was Savannah.)

YUP, (kids) it's an eagle.

Dawn Zephyr and Brunelle (both from Spring Grove, PA) at the end of
the dock, Delegal Creek, Skidaway Island, GA.

Hilton Head to Thunderbolt (Savannah)

The sun came out! A very easy trip from HH to Savannah. A light breeze - - not enough to roll out the jib. We arrived at the marina at noon and relaxed until Cousin Steve Bliss, his wife Anna and their sons, Aidan and Griffin showed up. The boys enjoyed checking out our "home" and after a short drink they took us to a great BBQ place for dinner. It was a little dark to see much of Savannah, but we certainly enjoyed the visit. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Here we are in Savannah at Thunderbolt Marina, among many mega yachts
(and shrimp boats.)

More mega yachts and spanish moss.

B&B Seafood to Hilton Head

Hi!
What a contrast, our stop last night was in the lowest of the "low country" of SC and tonight we are in the Hilton Head. The trip here was very similar to yesterday with winding, sinuous waterways cutting through the marshes of SC. We have spotted several porpoises every day since we entered the Carolinas. They just lazily make their way through rivers and creeks. It was gray and drizzly most of the day, but began to break up as we arrived at Palmetto Bay Marina, up Broad Creek on Hilton Head. We tied up at 3:00 and did a little cleaning up of the boat before being picked up by Dave and Nan Ames (Nan is Kate Pennington's sister) who took us on a tour of the island and then back to their home in Long Cove, a development that Dave and his partner developed. They graciously let us use their shower and laundry before taking us out to a local Italian place that had GREAT food. We are back aboard, sated, washed and laundered! ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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A not so useful channel marker in SC.

Just one of the many porpoises who like to play around us.

Charleston to B & B Seafood, SC

BLUE skies above!! We didn't have signal last night to write, but we did have TV and watched the monumental change to our country (Dan hopes)! We spent a gray, brisk, windy day winding through the marshes of SC, never knowing when the currents would be with us or against us. We had a blustery NW wind behind us, so we were able to roll out the jib and enjoy a boost. We did have to jibe several times as our path wasn't very straight! We decided to go off the ICW track at Mile 513 and headed up the Ashepoo River to Mosquito Creek where we tied up to the B&B Seafood's ($25/night) floating dock. We were joined by a Nonsuch 30 from Hamilton, ONT who invited us over for drinks. We both had gone up to the small shack at the head of the dock where we bought a pound of FRESH shrimp. The shrimp boat tied to the pier had just returned at 2PM. We had a delicious shrimp dish from my favorite cookbook, FEAST AFLOAT. I was actually speaking metaphorically at the beginning of this post, it is actually very gray and misting heavily as we head off on our way to Hilton Head Island. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Sunpenny (a Gulfstar 44) and pelicans escorted us out of Charleston on
our way to a 9:00 bridge as we headed south.

This short cut created a U-turn as we wound our way through the marshes.

Our home for the night.

Charleston lay day

Hi,  I didn't turn the gps on today, because the only traveling we did today was from the gas dock where they put us last night into a slip!  Dan did get the oil changed, I did some laundry and we walked around town after a very good lunch at the Noisy Oyster.  We also did a little restocking at Harris Teeters, a very fancy grocery store.  We were invited to cocktails aboard Sunpenny (the Beattie's from Chambersburg, PA) at 5:30 and just returned to Brunelle a few minutes ago(9:50)!  Another cruising couple was also there (Wind Chaser), and the discussions were lively and informative, as we are the neophytes on this ICW stuff.  Lots of fun!  The only photo is from our walk today of a very interesting Charleston tradition...  We hope to head out tomorrow, but not outside as the weather is still a little wild offshore.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M

"Does you chewing gum lose it's flavor on the phone pole overnight...?"

Georgetown to Charleston, SC

Shoulda changed the oil this morning but our neighbors in Georgetown (and Kate P.) told us there was "weather on the way".  So we took off at 7:30 and headed down the ICW to try to get into Charleston for two nights while the weather came through.  It was a quiet trip with lotsa sights and we arrived at 5:00.  Soon after arriving our new acquaintances from last night arrived to invite us over for a drink.  We talked them into staying and that is why this was started at around 5:45 and I am just getting back to it at 7:30.  A nice time with nice people from Chambersburg, PA!

Thought it was time for a quick summary of the whole trip so far.  We left Kent Narrows on Sunday, 10/19.  We traveled down the Chesapeake (140 Nautical Miles) in 4 days.  We traveled down the Intercoastal Waterway for 170 Nautical Miles (8 1/2 Days which included 2 lay days).  We went "outside" for about 28 hours covering 150 nautical miles.  Today we traveled 56 nautical miles.  Totals are 15 days and 515 nautical miles.

Mileage on the intercoastal is marked off in statute miles.  Mile 0 is in Norfolk.  We are now at mile 465.  St. Augustine is 777 (Thanksgiving).  Key West is beyond Miami which is the last mile indicator in the guide (1095) and is our goal for Key West Race Week.   After that some time in the Bahamas on our way home.

Gotta change the oil in the morning.  ~~~(\_~~~ D & M
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Martha making plans with Sam about meeting us in Nassau in February as
she "drives" us out of Georgetown.

Heading into Charleston beating the weather.