Doing the Loop in GH 3

"Time and Tide wait for no man (person)." - Geoffrey Chauser (1343-1400).

How fortunate to be in the warmth of Florida from early November until late March. We have travelled nearly all of the 1,197 statute miles of Florida coastline, seen amazing sights, met incredible people, and have had adventures/challenges on this winter segment of The Loop.

The Florida Department of Revenue has kept "Georgia on our mind." Florida has been like a beautiful bumble bee waiting to sting us if we stay around too long. We bought Bucket List in Florida but plan to keep it close to home in the Midwest. Since we paid sales tax and registered the sailboat in the Midwest, Florida required us to prove that we left the state before a specific date or pay a penalty of two times the Florida sales tax. That fact along with the approach of spring has kept us moving toward Georgia.

When we crossed the state line from Florida into Georgia, this range finder was the first thing we saw.

An unofficial "Welcome to Georgia" sign


Near the state line is King's Bay Nuclear Submarine Base. We never did see a Trident Sub ... probably a good thing ....

At Night -


During the Day -



Georgia's ICW is a beautiful but challenging place for boaters. We have left behind the possible sales tax penalty in Florida. We are even more glad to have once again caught up with and travelled with our friends Don and Peg on Endeavor.


Georgia has abundant grass marsh land and beautiful anchorages with far less development and fewer beaches than Florida. Georgia also presents a unique set of challenges for boaters on the IAWW.
One challenge is areas of low water and narrow channels. The Corps of Engineers in Savannah simply does not have the budget to maintain deep water throughout the AIWW in Georgia. Another challenge is incredibly large tides and tidal currents. Tides move in and out of numerous inlets and rivers twice a day. In Georgia tides typically change the water level 7 to 9 feet four times a day. Yet another challenge is the ever changing path of the channel and occasional lack of a magenta line. All of the tidal action moves water as well as sand and mud. Shoals occur when sand and mud relocate.

We have found it is very true that "Time and Tide wait for no man (person or boat)." Each day in Georgia we studied tides, current and wind as well as studying our route for challenges. Large changes in tide 4 times a day mean that water depth and currents change greatly throughout the day. We time our travel only a few hours each day before high tide until a few hours after high tide making sure to hit the most challenging areas of skinny water at high tide. We also plan our days to maximize travel with the current. We like to fly like the wind with the extra speed boost of current in our favor. We typically travel at 6.5 miles per hour with engine alone. With maximum current and wind in our sails, this speed has increased to 10 miles per hour. Our engine provides 30 horsepower which can easily push us through any current we might have encountered. It is simply more fun and better use of our diesel fuel to take advantage of wind and current whenever possible.

In the tidal marsh lands of Georgia, marsh grass is a very common sight. Below is a picture of the marsh grass at our anchorage at Queens Bess Creek at High Tide.



Here is our view of the same shoreline 6 hours later at low tide after the water level dropped 7 feet. Notice that at low tide, the creek has dried up, the marsh grass is well above the waterline, and the channel in which we are anchored is narrower and shallower.



We have met the unique Georgia challenges by following some seemingly simple principles:

a. Stay in the channel
b. Travel only in water deeper than our 4 foot 4 inch draft.

Staying in the channel is more challenging than it sounds. The magenta line on our navigation software supposedly shows the center of the recommended route. Red and Green bouys, including small temporary bouys, show the left and right boundaries of the recommended route.

Sometimes bouys are missing or temporarily submerged. Sometimes the path of the magenta lines runs outside the path defined by bouys. Staying in deep enough water requires us to study a variety of resources daily so that we are aware of and plan for the challenges that will be presented in any given day. We have travelled in Georgia only within a couple of hours of high tide each day.

Higher tide translates to more water under the keel. We passed a formidable section of IAWW south of Savannah called Hell Gate. The well marked channel is only about 30 feet wide with very shallow water on either side. It is only about 1000 feet long. Using cruising guides and other resources, we planned our whole day so that we would traverse Hell Gate at optimal tide and current. Our friends, Don and Joan on Panecea, traversed Hell Gate ahead of us and radioed us to let us know that they saw a minimum water depth of 8 feet. With good planning and a steady hand at the helm, Hell Gate was a piece of cake for Bucket List.



We enjoy travelling with our friends on Endeavor. We anchored with them near Jekyll Island just south of an area known for shallow water especially at low tide. The navigational software shows a red line here indicating caution for shallow narrow channel. Endeavor is a 34 foot catamaran with a draft of about 3 feet. We have a 4 foot 4 inch draft. That difference is a very large difference especially as low tide approaches and in challenging areas. We travelled safely past Jekyll Island on a rising tide with Endeavor in the lead.

Because Endeavor can travel safely many hours a day even at low tide, and we can travel safely only a few hours a day just before and after high tide. The two boats separated. We look forward to the times we are able to catch up to them when they spend several days in a town.

Following Endeavor through a particularly narrow and shallow channel past Jekyll Island, GA.



As we travelled on the ICW in Georgia, we shared the waterway with pleasure boats doing The Loop and a few commercial boats:

Here is the Independence - a passenger ship sailing on the ICW -


And a more conventional barge ...



We spent a couple of days at Thunderbolt Marina in northern Georgia near Savannah. While we were there, Tracy's brother, Ralph, visited overnight from Navarre, FL. He brought his newest camera and his talent as a photographer. From the top of the Thunderbolt Bridge, he took great pictures of Bucket List under sail.



Finally - all this fun requires some routine and non-routine maintenance - such as when the roller furling drum jammed ...







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