Monday, April 29, 2013 – Big Tom Creek (Mile 614) to Isle of Hope (Mile 590):

            Last night Bob was checking the anchor and decided he didn’t like the looks of the boat as it was swinging around in the creek, so he decided to turn on the engines and move.  I told Kitty Cat what was about to happen, and when the first buzzer when off, her eyes got a little big, and she just looked at me kind of strangely, but when the second buzzer went off, she headed for under the covers!  Well, Bob decided that we were really ok, so we turned off the engines, and I thought Kitty Cat would never come out now, but she scrambled right out and looked at us like, “Well, what was that all about?!”

Shrimp boat we passed yesterday

            No strange guttural growling noises this morning.  Just the twittering of a few birds as we woke up to a gray, dreary, rainy sky.  We had rain last night, and I was hoping the skies would clear up.   We were on a rising tide, however, and that was a good thing, and there was very little wind.

            One of the reasons I like anchoring is that you don’t have to worry about lines and fenders and getting away from the slip or dock.  At anchor you just pull up the hook, and slip quietly away.  So easy!

            Thankfully, the winds have really calmed down.  These rivers today would be serenely beautiful if it was sunny.  But they’re not bad under gray skies either. 

A view of the shoreline as we travel along

            So out of Big Tom Creek and into the Bear River for our short run to Isle of Hope Marina.  Once again, I didn’t see any bears - or any other significant wild life, for that matter, other than the usual dolphins and birds.  From Bear River we turn left into the Florida Passage (again I have no idea why it’s named “Florida” passage!  The Florida Passage takes you to the Ogeechee River and left into Hell Gate which was not a problem at all since we were going through there at high tide.  However, there is a very narrow little part of Hell Gate where the marks are very close together and on either side of them are “danger – shoal” signs.  We still had 12’ of water, but you do have to be very careful in here.

            Dark skies are starting to hover over us about now and Bob checks the weather on the chart plotter (we have Sirius weather that comes with the chart plotter), and there seems to be a “whole lotta rainin goin on.”  We are pretty much by ourselves so far, but there are a few fisherman out here in little skiffs running back and forth.

            We now enter the Little Ogeechee River and then head up into the Vernon River.  When we were in the Little Ogeechee River we could feel the motion of the water change, which I assume had to do with the crossing of Green Island Sound and it’s proximity to the ocean.  I don’t know why we didn’t feel this change when we crossed other sounds.  Bob says we were feeling the affects of the Ossabaw Sound.  Who knows – whatever it was, I think it was enough to make me think I wouldn’t really like to go out in the ocean in our boat.

            From the Vernon River we turn into Burnside River and pass Moon River, which I believe is the river that the song was named after.  There are dolphins in here and we pass by a section of nice homes along the shoreline.  Next up is the Skiddaway Narrows Bridge, and as we are following a sailboat we decide to follow him under the bridge.  The Waterway Guide says the bridge has a vertical clearance of 22 ft., but when I call the bridge tender to tell him we are following the sailboat he says, “We have 27 ft. right now – you don’t need the bridge up, do you?”  Whereupon we reply that we don’t really, and he closes the bridge as we are going through.  Well, that worked out ok, but it still didn’t seem right to me to have the bridge closing as we went through!

            Just beyond the Skiddaway Narrows Bridge is the Isle of Hope Marina where we will spend the night, and once we get tied up, we have lunch, then borrow the  marina car and head to the grocery store to reprovision perishables.  Now, I know I shouldn’t complain, and I’m not really – I am only offering a description of the vehicle that is the marina’s loaner car.  Anyone who has read this knows that I am eternally grateful for a vehicle, any vehicle, to drive to the store and run errands – especially after having to ride those horrible folding bikes.  But – this car, which was an older Honda van (and I love Hondas – I drive one!) had a few issues!  Number one – there was a sign that had been affixed to the left rear passenger side door that said “DO NOT OPEN!” which we obeyed religiously.  I have no idea what would have happened if we had opened that door, but I’m glad we didn’t find out.  The remote door locks didn’t work – you had to unlock the doors manually by pulling the lock up after you unlocked the driver’s side door.  We couldn’t figure out how to operate any of the inside controls and it looked like other people had also gotten frustrated by the dysfunction of the controls as it looked like someone had tried to scratch-out the readout panel with a key or perhaps a hammer since the panel looked rather “crinkled” up.  None of this is terribly crucial, but once we got to the store, we noticed that two of the tires looked like they were trying very hard to go flat, and on our way back to the marina, the “maintenance needed” light came on.   But really, we were just glad to have the use of a car, seriously! 

After that exercise, I have to wash clothes and this is when I find out this marina only has one, yes, that’s right, only one washing machine for the tons of boats that are in here – oh yeah, and only one dryer.  Fortunately, no one else is using them, and I have them all to myself, but, of course, it takes twice as long as it normally would have.  It is also more expensive to use their one washing machine and dryer.

Well, I’m thinking and hoping that this will be the last time we have to go to the grocery store or do laundry before we get home.  Bob says that is wishful thinking on my part but I’m thinking it anyway!

As I write this and wait for the last of the clothes to dry, there is a gentle, soft drizzle falling.  The guy next door is playing Jimmy Buffett music so all can hear him, and that would be ok if he would just make margaritas for everyone!  I am going to poach some salmon and sauté some spinach for dinner and then crash!

Tomorrow we will be in South Carolina!