9 foot tides cause me Stress!

Have I mentioned that coastal Georgia has huge tides. If you look outside this evening (Sunday) its a full moon. This shot was just taken off the front of Rock Chalk with the moon rising over Tybee Island. Very pretty right?? It is but it causes these massive tides that we have been fighting these last few days. Today's low tide was 9 feet down, just as we were coming up the Wilmington River into Savannah. So many times I would look at my depth sounder and see that I had less than a foot under the keel. This boat with it's shallow draft has saved me many times already.

It is really hard to look at a river and figure out where the deep water channel is. I am getting better at reading the water, but it is stressful, and today was the ultimate. Shelley says, "Charge on, Marc! She is not driving. But we made it to Tybee Island and the Bull River Marina without hitting the bottom and I was so relieved after 7 hours of this today, that I had to just sit on the back of the boat, sip on a Gin and tonic, and smoke a cigar. I am better now, but really, these tides, currents, and little rivers are a real navigational challenge.

We are here for two nights, then its off to South Carolina, which is just a mile away across the Savannah River. We will spend a couple of nights in Beaufort, SC, then on to Charleston. I know these rivers, tides, and currents are with me until we get up the Hudson and get into either the Erie Canal, or go north to Lake Champlain. We have yet to decide which way we will go to get to the St. Lawrence Seaway. But that is a long ways away. Right now, I am going to get better at reading rivers. Where is Huck Finn when you need him. Marc