Thursday, Nov. 8 – Savannah (lay day):

            I realized the most curious thing in the middle of the night last night.  I woke up and realized that the sound of the boat-eating shrimp had diminished to a faint, sporadic crackle.  I couldn’t quite understand it – why would it all of a sudden stop?  Maybe they devoured all the critters they possibly could from our hull?  Maybe they finally got full?  Maybe they wore out their little claws?  Maybe they found another boat…and then it hit me!!

            On our way here we passed Thunderbolt Marina!  Now, before I actually saw this marina, Bob had made a reservation for a slip there.  He told me it was because he anticipated having to have some work done on the boat (like maybe an oil change), and they have a nice repair facility - but I know the real reason:  Their ad in the Waterway Guide says they give you fresh Krispy Kreme donuts and a newspaper every morning.  No kidding!  Well, anyway, several people told us that Isle of Hope was a very nice place to stay, and…they have a courtesy car (and Thunderbolt doesn’t, and I’ll explain that in a minute, too)!  Hence our main reason for staying at Isle of Hope, as Bob decided we didn’t really need any work done on the boat.  So as we approach Thunderbolt I start to realize that I am looking at mega yacht after mega yacht, and I mean MEGA YACHT.  For a few minutes I thought I had been transported via wormhole to Monte Carlo.  I don’t quite get the Krispy Kreme donut thing, because the owners of these boats (or more probably their crew) would have handmade pastries flown in from Paris, although Krispy Kreme could rival any of them!  I get why the marina doesn’t have a courtesy car, because they probably couldn’t afford a Ferrari or Lamborghini.  In any event, if an owner of one of these boats were present they would have a limo and a chauffeur or, perhaps, a private helicopter!

            So…back to the shrimp…as I was saying, when we passed Thunderbolt marina, I know exactly what happened.  The shrimp looked up from our little hull that they were munching on, saw the mega yachts and realized they had hit the jackpot!  They must have taken off like a shot without a second glance back at us with joyous cries of, “Eureka!”  So, finally - one night of blissful sleep without “snap, crackle, and pop” to be heard from the hungry little critters.  Who knows what will attach itself to us next.

            The marina here, Isle of Hope, was kind enough to let us have the courtesy car for four hours!  So we drove into Savannah and bought tickets for the tour bus, which lasted 1½ hours.  It was a good tour with 15 stops and a very knowledgeable, friendly guide.  I can never remember half of the information they tell you – I guess that’s why they hand out all those brochures. We drove through several sections of beautiful, majestic, old homes, full of rich history, surrounded by 200 year-old live oaks, with long tendrils of Spanish moss draping the branches.  The city has many “squares” in addition to the first original four, which are lovely green spaces, heavily treed with live oaks, walkways, and fountains creating a pleasing residential environment throughout the city.  We loved Savannah and would like to go back and stay in a bed and breakfast so we could really explore the city and do the house tour and ghost tour thing.  It’s supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in America (if you believe in ghosts).  We truly enjoyed it!  We didn’t have much time for lunch after that, so we just ate at the little restaurant at the Visitor’s Center – The Whistle Stop Café.  Then we really had to get the car back to the marina! 

            Once we got back to the boat, Bob decided it was time to plan the next few days.  Remember I wrote earlier that we had to go through a section called Hell Gate – tides here will be a concern.  During most of our trip, so far, the tides have cooperated and been with us.  Now it seems that we are running into a block of time where high tide is coming at the wrong time – at least for us (or me).  I don’t relish the idea of getting up at 4:30 a.m. because we have to transit some area at high tide!  So Bob is studiously calculating the tides and currents for Hell Gate and Mud River.  I see calculators, paper and pencils, the Waterway Guide, tide tables, several charts, pages being flipped over back and forth, the hand held tide calculator, and the computer is starting to get really warm, and I think there is a pile of crumpled up paper on the floor.  But then – someone from the marina tells us that these areas have recently been dredged, and we should have no problem even at low tide!!  Wow, that’s great – all that paraphernalia can be put away.  But – wait – someone else just said, “no – the area has shoaled in again, and you better pay close attention to the tides.”  Yikes!  All the papers come out again. It’s definitely better to be safe than sorry!

            The cat is meowing that she wants dinner, so I’ll let you know how it all turns out tomorrow.