Vernon River, Beaulieu, Ga

Our route today would take us across the Georgia state line in the Savannah river and then further south into Georgia's coastal salt marshes. The Intercoastal in Georgia is very serpentine, following meandering rivers, cuts and creeks as you worked your way through the state  -- indeed, many cruisers try and avoid Georgia's meandering Intercoastal altogether by sailing on the ocean from Beaufort SC to one of the inlets in Norther Florida. This tactic was not an option for us; at this time of year, the areas weather is dominated by the Bermuda high, winds are light and from the South (i.e., on our nose) -- there are no "Northers" that would make sailing south possible. Hence, we will have to do the 138 miles of Intercoastal to make the roughly 100 mile straight-line distance from Georgia to Florida.

After taking care of a few last minute chores (getting ice, topping off the tanks and getting rid of garbage), we locked-out of the Marina and were on our way. The current was initially against us but would turn and be with us later that morning.

The trip from Hilton Head involved going down Calibogue Sound and cutting behind Daufuskie Island to get over to the Savannah River. We happened to arrive at the river the same time a container-ship was coming in from the ocean -- it's amazing how big those ships are up close (and how little you feel on a boat like My Weigh). We crossed the shipping channel behind the container ship, seeing some dolphins feeding in and around the channel.

Harbor Town from Calibogue Sound

Container ship going up river just as we are entering it.

This is as close as we got to Savanannah proper

Suburban Savannah -- not too shabby !!

Once in Georgia, we followed the meandering route through what amounts to the "suburbs" of Savannah (the city itself was a few miles up the river from where we crossed it). The rivers and creeks we traveled on were lined with big, nice homes and there were frequent towns with quaint names like Thunderbolt and Isle of Hope. We passed the Moon River of Johnny Mercer fame (it is distinctly NOT "wider than a mile".) Eventually we arrived at our destination, a bend in the Vernon River that would be our home for the evening.

We anchored off some private docks off the town of Beaulieu on the Vernon River

A private dock had a sailboat with a red mast, a rarity reminiscent of Aletheia, my first boat

It was a yet another hot and sunny day, so after we dropped the hook, we took a swim -- the current was strong in this area (another defining characteristic of Georgia's Intercoastal is big tides (7' or more) and corresponding strong currents), so we used flotation aids tied to the boat to make sure we didn't have any drama around one of us being caried away. Dinner was Sue's famous Asiago, Greek Olive and Fig pizza (made with flatbread and cooked on aluminum foil on the grill) -- delish :-)

The bugs weren't bad on the river, so I was able to stay on deck well past dusk. We had a setting crescent moon -- low in the sky, it did little to impact the stars -- you could see the milky way clearly and, while not overwhelming, there were plenty of stars and constellations visible -- magical. At the horizon, far in the southern distance, I could see the tops of clouds flashing as lightening bolts lept between and down from them. They were very far away -- heard no thunder and just above the horizon -- but they were south, in the direction we were heading.