Savannah Views

Our windy day started with an Uber ride from the marina to the Savannah downtown historic district.  We started with a visit to Chef Darin's Kitchen Table.  Chef Darin teaches cooking classes at this location and also has a nice kitchen shop.  We found a few things we thought would come in handy.

 This little gadget keeps the lid tilted on your pot if you don't want it sitting flat and possibly causing a boil over.  George thought we needed him!

These hangers will hold towels and we need these on a boat since wet towels are sometimes hard to get dry.  

Next, we had lunch at the Olde Pink House.

Crispy cheese straws

George had shrimp and grits and I had BLT salad with fried green tomatoes this dish was featured on Food Network's Guilty Pleasures)

Still chilly!!!!

The landscaping around the OPH

The next few pictures are from the OPH

Savannah Cotton Exchange

A pretty shop

A few of the houses around the marina

The Tides That Bind Us, Tug Talk and Snaking Through the Tall Grass

We are bound by the state of the tide here in the State of Georgia (and other places, too) but this is the first region where the tide swings 7-8 feet, and it should dictate when you start, where you go and when you stop.  Avoiding low tide won't guarantee you won't run aground, but at least you have a better chance of staying off the bottom.

Today's route took us from our anchorage in North River -1 out across the Doboy Sound and into Old Teakettle Creek (love that name). Old Teakettle Creek spilled into Blackbeard Creek for an open water passage, followed by a narrow canal that ran into St. Catherine's Sound.  Across St. Catherine's Sound we steamed northward on Bear River along the Florida Passage to our anchorage in Red Bird Creek just south of the Ogeechee River.  This is a favorite stop for northbound boaters to stage the passage of Hell Gate at high tide the following day, which is what we will do tomorrow.

As soon as we sucked in the anchor and pointed out of North River -1 we spotted a tug with no barges heading north.  It was going faster that we would go, so we let it pass and pulled in behind.  Earlier this morning, a tug with a large construction crane barge and other stuff on board passed going north but was only making 4 kts.  We knew we would have to pass it somewhere up the channel.  The bargeless tug in front of us requested a pass caught up to it first and started a conversation on CH 13.  It was interesting listening to this chatter.  The tug was headed to Charleston, SC to pickup some machinery and bring it back south, and the construction tug was going north to clean up sunken boats left by Hurricane Irma last year.  He said they had recovered hundreds of sunken boats from the Keys to Virginia.  We caught the slow tug and dialogued with him about a good place in the narrow channel to pass safely.  This place came open soon enough and we crawled by as fast as we could.  We later met a large, fast moving tug in a hairpin turn with a channel marker stuck where we would have to squeeze between it and the tug or stop and let the tug to first.  We stopped.

With all this boat traffic on the AICW today we could still see most of the boats ahead and behind us, all day long, just sticking up over the tall grass in the flat marshes that the AICW snaked through.  It looked like they were going every direction from our view.  Once we got anchored, we watched all the tugs, sailboats and slower vessels move past us to their northern destinations.

The wind is still ripping and so is the current where we are anchored in Red Bird Creek.  The tide going is out and we will swing 180 deg this evening when the tide comes back in.  This deep, slow breathing of the Atlantic Coast goes on forever, and the party never ends.

That's the news and here's the views:

We are here

Today's Passage from North River-1, GA to Red Bird River anchorage, GA

Where we like to cruise on the tidal hump

The lovely and gracious first mate washing down the windless

One of the tugs we passed today

Taking names

In Blackbeard Creek Crossing, St. Catherine's Sound, GA

Just hangin' around the boat

Sunset on Red Bird River, GA

Jekyll, Day 2 - Bike Paths and Squirrel Appocolypse

Jekyll Island has made it a priority to build and maintain some of the best bicycle paths, both paved and unpaved, we have had the pleasure of riding on.  Today we checked out two complimentary bikes, made a picnic lunch and peddled out the dirt bike path from the marina to the downtown shopping area.  After checking out the Jekyll Market and a few other shops, we headed south along the Atlantic shoreline behind the dunes and sea oats.  This trail    teed into a dirt path that wound through thick tropical undergrowth with live oaks, palms and pine trees, making a tall green canopy overhead.  Wood bridges took us over estuaries and marshes until it intersected with another paved section.  This pattern repeated itself until we had covered the entire island, passing some of the places we went yesterday but mostly new territory.

We found a really cool picnic area that was shady and had wooden walkways and stairs that would take you over the dunes and onto the beach.  Once we got our lunch out and ready to eat, we looked up and there were at least 7 squirrels that had surrounded us and began demanding a taste of what we were having.  They eventually got so bold that they were jumping onto the table and trying to take food out of our hands.  We had some fun with these guys, and it was clear that we were not the first ones to share our lunch with them.

The bike trails on the northern end of the island go all the way to Driftwood Point before it turns south again.  Not sure how many miles we pedaled today, but it was all flat and easy going.  We only saw a hand full of folks out doing the same thing.  Since the weather was unseasonably cool, we didn't even work up a sweat, but we did work up an appetite.

Back at the marina in early afternoon, we did a load or two of laundry and the firstmate read her book while I worked out the next week's destinations that will take us from here to Charleston, SC.   Later, three other Looper boats and friends of ours tied up to the dock and the crews of State of Bliss, Dash Away and First Forty joined us aboard Viridian for docktales and sharing war stories.  It was good to see some familiar faces on such a sunny and breezy day.

That's the news and here are some views:

Piper and Leaf sold at Jekyll Island!!!

Hey guys,it's our lucky day!

Free food!

Viridian tied to long dock at Jekyll Island Marina, FL

 The crews of Viridian, Dash Away, First Forty and State of Bliss unwinding and telling tales