April 1 through 5 -Friday through Tuesday

April 1-Friday-Isle of Hope Marina to Savannah Bend Marina, GA:  We just had a short ways to go today.  Said good-bye to John and Sue and got to Savannah by 11:00.  Got fuel at Savannah Bend Marina as they had a real good price; $3.89/gal where other marinas in the area were .40 to .50 cents more a gallon.  When backing into our slip we had one heck of a time; the wind and current were real strong.  All the guide books say that from Georgia through North Carolina to be prepared for strong currents.  We had a good dock hand who was very helpful.  We spent 2 days here; it felt good to rest up.  We ate at a local pub that served steamed shrimp and crab.  They used newspapers for table clothes and paper plates, etc. so after you were done eating all they had to do was take the silverware off and then roll up the newspaper and plates.  The waitress said it made clean up very easy.

N32 02.142
W81 02.740

April 3; Sunday-Savannah Bend Marina to Factory Creek anchorage-We were on the waterway by 08:45.  Again, it was very strong currents and strong winds.  We crossed the Savannah River into South Carolina at Mile 576.0, but first we had to wait for a huge cargo/container ship going to City of Savannah with what looked like a load of cars, trucks, etc.  They also had a Yacht sitting on top that looked like about 45 feet long.  The cargo ship had to be at least 800 feet long.  After crossing the river we went through Caliboque Sound and Port Royal Sound; both were pretty smooth considering the winds and the outgoing tide.  In Port Royal Sound we passed Parris Island, the USMC boot camp for new recruits from the east coast.  We anchored in 8.5 feet of water on Factory Creek just outside of Beaufort, SC, at low tide.   The creek had houses on one side and marsh land on the other.  There was a nice man out washing his boat and he told us where to anchorage and not to worry about swing room as the creek was deep on both sides.  He even offered his dock for our dinghy if we wanted to go ashore, which I though was very nice.  We had a real good hold on the anchor and a nice night.  The tide rose 9.5 feet between 16:00 and 22:00.  The marsh next to us became a lake.

N32 25.253
W80 39.131

April 4; Monday-Factory Creek Anchorage to Lady's Island Marina:  We just went a mile or so back down the creek and stayed at Lady's Island Marina because there was a bad storm heading our way.  We stayed there for 2 days.  We didn't want to anchor out in the storm and the next marina was 66 miles from here.  The storm hit early on Tuesday morning with thunder, lightning, and very strong winds.  An unattended sailboat was tied up to a personal mooring ball and winds were so strong it dragged the boat at least 1/2 mile where it ran into someones dock; don't know if there was damage or not.  We were just glad it didn't run into us.  The rain stopped by about noon but the strong winds kept up all day.

N32 25.186
W80 39.468

CO's comments:  I sure am glad that we decided to move from an anchorage to a marina and tie up.  Today (Tuesday)  there were wind gusts of over 40 mph.  It was quit a sight to see a sailboat going down the creek, dragging it's mooring ball.  Even our friends that we were with last week in a thunderstorm decided to find a marina to stay in and we were glad.  Use the heaviest anchor that your boat will tolerate and don't skimp on mooring lines-bigger is better.

Rising tide at Savannah Bend Marina
Still  3 feet to go

Sunrise at Savannah

Container ship on the Savannah River
(see Yacht on top)

USMC Boot Camp on Parris Island
from the ICW