32°1′27″ N 81°2′52″ W

(Thunderbolt Marina)

Today the boat stayed docked in Thunderbolt while Chris & I went by taxi to Savannah to tour the city.

We started the morning early with fueling up the boat, pumping out the waste holding tank & filling the fresh water holding tanks. That will allow us to get an early start tomorrow morning for our trip to Beaufort, SC.

I filled up the diesel fuel tanks in Jacksonville & with the tanks now topped up again here in Thunderbolt I was able to calculate the rate of fuel consumption so far. It works out to be about 1.5 Imperial Gallons per hour travelled (or about 5 miles per Imperial gallon) which is very economical for a boat of this size.

I will continue to track my fuel usage to double check the accuracy of my calculations. This is important information for me to have because the boat does not have any fuel gauges so I have to make sure that I don’t run out. The boat has a range of several hundred miles between fill ups so as long as I get fuel every 3 to 5 days I will be ok.

When we arrived in Savannah we took a hop on hop off trolley tour. It was very interesting & the driver had tons of interesting facts & trivia about the city & its history.

About 3/4 through the route we hopped off the trolley in the market area & found a good place to eat a late breakfast/early lunch.

The temperature was brutally hot today with a peak of 35 C that felt like 45 C with the humidex.

Even the tourist carriage horses were finding it too hot today. We were happy to see their tenders giving them shade & lots of water to drink in between tours.

Savannah is a very interesting and attractive city. I wish we could have had more time to walk around the squares but it was simply too hot. Time to head back to the boat.

We got back to the marina just in time to see a mega yacht coming into the boatyard.

This beauty makes my boat look tiny & it is now docked beside an even bigger mega yacht that is at least twice as big as this one.

After the “boat show sail past” Chris BBQ’d an excellent dinner of swordfish steak plus kebab skewers with shrimp, onion & zucchini.

When dinner was done I went up to the marina office/guest facilities area to shower & do my laundry. I met a couple of crew members from the mega yachts who were sitting out on the patio having a chat. (See photo below).

Rachel is originally from New Zealand & works on the yacht in the photo above. Derek is originally from South Africa & works on the other ship docked beside hers. (Photo below)

Talk about a small world – Rachel & Derek met 5 years ago while working an assignment on the same mega yacht. Then they went their separate ways. They met again today at a restaurant here in Thunderbolt – with neither of them having any idea that they were in the same port at the same time. Needless to say, they have a lot of catching up to do!

Rachel’s ship leaves tomorrow for the Mediterranean & Derek’s ship is getting ready to cruise the American Atlantic coastline for the summer. Safe travels to you both!

Tomorrow we continue north on our journey up the ICW to places where mega yachts cannot follow.

Cheers everyone!

I meant to start my previous post with a Happy Independence Day wish to all of my American friends.

It’s not midnight yet & there are fireworks going off all around the marina.

Happiness, good health, peace & prosperity to all of you & your families.

Wally

32°1′30″ N 81°2′49″ W

We are now docked at a marina in Thunderbolt Georgia which is about 20 minutes from Savanna (by car).

We will stay here tonight, go sightseeing in Savanna tomorrow & the continue our journey north the next day.

The marina here only has a few slips for transient boaters. It’s primary business is looking after the maintenance needs of all sizes of boats – including the huge one on the other side of the docks from where we are tied up. Talk about feeling inadequate in the shadow of this behemoth. But I love our little boat & am very grateful to have it.

Our trip today took us almost 12 hours. We left the dock at Two Way Fish Camp at 7:00am & tied up in Thunderbolt at about 6:30 pm. Our journey is certainly not physically demanding but the heat & humidity sure tires you out. I have been drinking 2-3 liters of water each day while underway & am still thirsty after we tie up on the dock. G&Ts sure hit the spot after the engine is shut down & the lines are secure.

Lots of interesting sights along the way. We saw a many black & grey dolphins/porpoises today. Not exactly sure what type they are but they are beautiful to watch. They are almost always in groups of 2 or 3. I keep trying to get a photo of them surfacing for a gulp of air but can never seem to time the camera shot right.

This part of the ICW has lots of grassy marshlands & boat speeds are restricted to protect the manatee that live in these waters (photo above).

Fortunately for us the speed restrictions do not hinder our progress as our “top” speed is below what is required.

We noticed that the traffic on the ICW increased as we got closer to Thunderbolt & Savanna. The properties along the rivers also got much closer together (& bigger – wow!).

TouringSavanna tomorrow. Should be fun. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow night.

Cheers!

Now docked at Two Way Fish Camp Marina.

31°19′41″ N 81°26′44″ W

I took the photo above at sunset last night where we were docked at Jekyll Island.

Our plan was to get up early this morning & try to get to Savanna-or at least as close as possible. That plan was foiled by a potable water supply mystery on the boat.

When we woke up the fresh water pump was running & our water holding tanks were empty. This was a surprise because the two tanks on board hold well over 100 gallons & we had not used that much since we left Jacksonville.

No evidence of any major leaks so we filled up the tanks & cast off at 9:00am. I will keep a close eye on the water system to determine if there is a leak or if we just used it all up. Meanwhile I will keep the electric water pump turned off unless we need it for dishes, etc.

Our original goal for today was to get to a marina that was about halfway to Savannah but there were no spaces available at any of the ones we contacted. So, on to plan B – to find any marina with space that was on our route north. It cannot be that hard to find a dock on Independence Day Long Weekend, can it? 😉

Well, the answer to that question is yes. What else should I expect on the biggest holiday weekend of the summer – with exceptional weather for boaters?

Fortunately we found a spot for the night at a marina called Two Way Fish Camp. It is just off the ICW on the Altamaha River & a few miles south of Darien GA.

This place is a bit off the ICW “beaten path” but it is a great place to stop with very friendly people & a nice restaurant on the dock. The scenery on the river in to the marina was beautiful & a bit exciting as there were some very narrow channels to navigate with mud banks & sandbars looking to greet us if we let our attention slip even for a moment!

Thank goodness for GPS & excellent charting by the US government. I simply don’t know how boaters managed before those resources existed.

We spotted several Ospreys nesting in dead treetops along the river shoreline just south of the marina. Looks like they have a prime spot for getting their dinner each day.

We pulled into the dock just as thunder started to boom & a heavy downpour was threatened but never materialized.

Tomorrow we will try to make it to a marina just outside of Savanna & spend a day exploring the city. Wish us luck getting there!

Cheers!

31°2′48″ N 81°25′22″ W

We are now on the dock at Jekyll Island.

Yesterday was Canada Day so we donned the appropriate clothing & had a parade down the Main Street in St Mary’s.

We left St Mary’s GA at 8:30 am this morning. Lotsa fun trying to get away from the dock with a very swift current trying to push us back into the dock & into the boat in front of us.

A fellow from the boat in front of us offered to help – a kind gesture & some security for him too as he certainly did not want us to get pushed into him.

Long story short, he showed us a reverse-out trick with only the bow line still secured to the dock & in a jiffy we were in full reverse away from the dock & plenty clear of all neighboring boats. Thanks mate – we will remember that maneuver for sure!

The photo above shows our wake with Cumberland Island on our starboard stern.

The trip to Jekyll Island was only 4 1/2 hours – a good pace after a long day yesterday.

We saw lots of dolphins on our route today & a wide variety of seabirds.

About 30 years ago Catherine & I had a golfing holiday on Jekyll Island. We had a lot of fun & still talk about it often. Wish you were here today, Honey!

It’s been really hot & humid here. Time for a shower & to start thinking about dinner.

Cheers everyone!