Days 65-66 St Catherine's Island & St Simon Island

Yesterday we had planned to leave Harbor Town Marina at 8:30AM for an outside ocean trip. Peter was checking the engine transmission fluid and the cap snapped when twisting it back on. There were lots of colorful comments on that little mishap--including never begin an ocean trip on a Friday!!!! Well he did a great job duct taping it closed and we moved to the fuel dock to fill up. While there we got a Yanmar service number and miracle of miracles they had a cap in stock and would deliver it to us in 15 minutes. So after another cup of coffee, bagels for breakfast, $38 and change plus generous tip (for no service charge) we left the fuel dock by 10:15. Our friends on s/v Persephone went on ahead and were sailing across Tybee Roads dodging large commercial vessels. We put our sails up for a while then eventually had to take them in and motor. We were back into ocean travel with 4' roller waves off the port beam until our turn south. Crossing Tybee Roads we watched a red Coast Guard helicopter doing maneuvers---dropping people in the water and pulling them up again but we only had one outgoing commercial vessel watch out for. Tybee Roads is the main shipping channel to Savannah, Georgia. We arrived in Whalburg Creek, our anchorage just off the ocean about 4:30.

We were 1 of 3 boats total. Dave and Trudie joined us for drinks then dinner of grilled hot dogs!!!! Jane was so excited to get the grill fired up again!.. It's been way too long since we could use it. Nearby there was a sandy beach which was covered with tree skeletons. It was quite amazing.

Today we left Whalburg Creek and chose to stay inside the ICW for an 55 mile run while our buddy boat, Persephone, went outside. The waves were suppose to be 4-6 ' so we opted for a calmer day. There was quite a dolphin show on our way south as we crossed over inlets. They not only arch through the water, we saw them jumping out and crashing on their sides (like whales do) and splashing their tail on the water.

We had a current with us most of the day and were following the high tide south. All our travel was mid to high tide and we had no problem with the depth. In fact we saw evidence of dredging along the way and spotted a large dredging operation going on in Buttermilk Sound.

It was a very good choice to stay inside today. The scenery was full of grassy marsh, serpentine streams & rivers, lots of birds, and very pristine. We had so much fun watching the pelicans dive into the water for fish with such force. There were no houses, lots of wildlife, and no other cruising boats!! That was the biggest surprise to us. We had the waterway to ourselves with the exception of a few small local fishing boats. A very quite and serene day. We arrived at our anchorage, just inside St Simon's Sound on the Fredrika River, at 3PM. It's been a great day!!