Passage - Anchorage Wright River 32°05.36’N 80°56.21’ W Sunbury Crab Restaurant / Marina

9:15 AM underway
4:56 Docked
54 miles 8.9 engine hours

Wow, started out cold this morning in the anchorage! But after coffee and a little challenge with the wind, that was now at 17-20 kts, to get the anchor up, we were on our way. Our anchorage was very near the intersection with the Savannah River. Hmm, lots of ships. And sure enough my AIS let me know it would not be smart to cross front of a cargo ship coming up the river much faster than I could get across. It’s never a good idea to go in front of a ship no matter the distance. Your motor will surely cut off mid stream! So, I slowed to time the ship to pass before I crossed the river to the other side where the ICW continues. Because Liquid Therapy has an AIS transponder, the SHIP called me! I told him I was holding for him to pass. I really like my AIS transponder. In the past we got startled by not knowing ships or tugs were coming the other way. Even with radar you, can’t see around bends. And, radar does not tell you WHO or WHAT you are looking at. AIS gives the name, course and speed of the vessel. AIso, AIS tells how close the vessel is going to pass me and how many minutes until the passing occurs. Other vessels can see the name of my vessel as well its navigation status. Very nifty. AIS is a VHF radio and can see farther than radar in twisty situations.

It was windy today, NE10-15kts, and forecast is pretty bad 25-30kts tomorrow, It might shut us down. Not sure. The ICW is pretty easy most of the way in small rivers and cuts. 25-30 kts would be a no go on the Chesapeake. But the wind will be behind us and could actually help push the boat with our canvas enclosure. Marinas are sparse in this area of Georgia and I’m not going to attempt to anchor in 25-30 knots into into the wind. So, more planning after hearing the weather in the morning.

Today’s passage was nice. We ducked under 1 bridge by lowering our antennas. The path we took was rather twisty and I think we pointed almost every direction on the compass. It un-nerves me when the latitude increases because that means we are headed north somewhat.. We don’t want to head north at all but many of the curvy creeks and rivers head north at times. We got through a cut called “Hell Gate” where many people run aground and radioed the sailboat behind us about the water depth being fine. The biggest water we encountered was St. Catherine’s Sound. We encountered ocean swells rolling in mixed with the wind driven waves of the sound. It got sloppy riding the swells up and down for a bout 3 miles before heading up the Medway River to our destination, the Sunbury Crab Company.

We just had to check out the Sunbury Crab Restaurant as their motto is “KEY WEST JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT CLOSER”. The restaurant and marina is all a family run place and is eclectic for sure. Lots of outdoor seating and stages. Barney, besides being the dock master, a waterman also plays drums. Elaine, Barney’s wife, helps with the marina and and is the restaurant manager. Both of them seem to just be having fun owning the marina and restaurant. I bet this place is jumping in warm weather. It’s not warm now and the wind is howling. The parking lot was quite full with many customers inside. Think we are going to be here tomorrow night as well.

The fresh catch of the day was local grouper, which we chose to have marinated in a special ‘house made’ sauce and then grilled! The Sunbury Sunset cocktail was tasty and we had apple pie for dessert with ice cream! Way too much but we were hungry and had had a long day with lots of navigation, wind and waves.

Today’s picture is the ship coming up the Savannah River when we were trying to also cross! I LOVE my AIS