Saturday, November 10 – Cattle Pen Creek (Mile 625) to
Wally’s Leg (Mile 665):
One of the
books Bob bought on selected anchorages along the waterway suggested putting
out a second anchor in Cattle Pen Creek, but we opted not to do that as the
current didn’t seem to be too strong, but before we went to bed, we decided
that we better check on how the boat was holding in the anchorage. Well, when we opened the door and went out, we
were awestruck - the night sky was just spectacular! We have beautiful night skies at home, but I
don’t think I have ever seen anything quite like this. I don’t know what phase the moon was in, but
when we looked up, the sky was a cloudless jet black with millions (probably
trillions) of stars glittering with no moonlight whatsoever to hinder the
beauty of the darkness and the stars. It
looked like the sky has been dusted with diamond sequins – some looking so
close, it seemed as though you could reach out and touch them. Cattle Pen Creek turned out to be a beautiful
anchorage with an added surprise of a gorgeous night.
This
morning dawned sunny and calm again, and we woke on a falling, almost low
tide. We have to go through the Little
Mud River today, and the Waterway Guide says this river is one of the
shallowest on the waterway, and we were also warned by everyone we came across
that you can’t get through this area at low tide! We plan our departure for around 9:30 a.m.,
and have breakfast – a fried egg with one of Bob’s favorite pastries from
Publix! One of my favorite things to do
is to have coffee up on the flybridge before the day’s activities start, and
this morning we had time to do just that.
We didn’t see any dolphins in this creek, but a pair of pelicans flew
low over the water in search of their breakfast. I keep looking for alligators, but never see
any! I’m just guessing, but I suppose
when you see birds strolling along the banks searching rather nonchalantly for
their morning meal, it’s probably a good bet alligators are not around.
It is time
to get going, and as Bob pulls up the chain and anchor, it is coated with more
mud than I have ever seen. I’m thinking
Cattle Pen Creek…wonder where it got that name…so much
mud…cattle…mud?...hmmm…where do these places get their names?
We, of
course, don’t want to get to the Little Mud River before mid-rising tide, which
is around 2:00 p.m., so Bob opts to drive slowly, which is another of my
favorite things to do – basically – meander (sailboat speed).
We leave the anchorage and return
to Johnson Creek, which enters the South Newport River. Our entire trip, today, is a test of your
ability to pay close attention to the marks and avoid shoals, spits, and
“lumps” and stay in the channel! The
South Newport River empties into Sapelo Sound (and, yes, I can see the ocean clearly
again). We had no trouble in this body
of water, though – the wind and water were both calm, but the current was
whizzing us along! However, had the day
not been so nice, once again, we could have been in for a rough ride. We did see one poor soul, who (for the life of
me I can’t figure out how he missed the mark) had run aground so hard, the bow
of his boat was out of the water. He
must have been on the edge of a shoal, and when he hit it the front of the boat
made it, but the rear end didn’t! If you
weren’t paying close attention today, it would have been a great opportunity
for Soundings Magazine to do a story on you – but not one that you would have
wanted to be mentioned in!
We still see lots of dolphins, but
they don’t play in our wake – they are all business, just cruising and looking
for meals. We did hear on the radio that
someone had seen a Right whale. Lucky
them! For several days now, we have
noticed flocks of seagulls following our boat and others. I guess they are trying to get a break by
flying in our slipstream.
From Sapelo Sound you take a left
into the Front River and this starts you on another narrow, skinny, thin
voyage. You wind down Old Teakettle
Creek into the North River, and then you hit Little Mud River. While we were in the North River we noticed a
beautiful Trumpy yacht speeding (yes, it doesn’t seem like Trumpy Yachts should
speed – should be more like cruising gracefully, but this one was
speeding). As a matter of fact, this
same boat was in the Isle of Hope Marina with us, so we were surprised that we
saw the boat again. Whoever the captain
was, he was going way too fast without much regard for other boats around
him. I would like to assume that the
boat was just being delivered by someone who had been hired by the owner, and
that the real owner would not drive this beautiful boat so recklessly. He passed us, and we thought he was going on
out to the ocean, but at the last minute he turned right, and we knew he was
headed to the Little Mud River. We knew
if he could get through there, so could we!
As we navigated this area, and we were going very slowly, we heard a
sailboat calling other boaters in the river that they had just been pushed out
of the narrow channel by a speeding Trumpy, and they were now aground! Everyone wanted to help them, but were too
afraid of leaving the channel and getting grounded themselves. Shame on that captain! Fortunately, we were on a rising tide, and as
we left the Little Mud River and turned into Buttermilk Sound, we could look
back and see that the sailboat had been able to get off and was on its way
again. From Buttermilk Sound we went
into the Mackay River, and into Wally’s Leg where we are anchored for the
night.
Where do they get these names? I’m not even going to take a guess about that
one!
We are exhausted - it seemed like a
very long day. Bob is willing to make
BBQ chicken on the grill, and I will come up with something to go with it. It promises to be another beautiful night,
but I am not sure we will have the energy to stick our heads out the door
tonight. Tomorrow we plan on going to
Jekyll Island, which we have been told is totally awesome with lots of hiking
and biking trails and wildlife galore.
 |
| Sunset at Cattle Pen Creek |
More on that later…
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