Thursday, September 30, 2010

Georgetown, SC

After leaving Savannah, we continue north, crossing the state line into South Carolina, spend one night in Beaufort and continue on to Charleston where, sadly, John needs to catch a train back home for a meeting.  Just past Beaufort, we find another spot in the Ashepoo River where the chart needs updating.  Once again we find the Towboat US towing insurance helpful.

The chart says 23 feet of water....



Fortunately, the tide was rising (there's a 9 foot tide in this area).  The crew broke into the emergency rum locker.  This guy seemed amused by it all...


Savannah, GA

August 19 - 22

We decide to come back by Savannah and spend a few days.  Savannah is the second busiest port on the east coast.  Tied up on the historic riverfront district, we watch huge ships of all nationalities pass by on their way to the port, just upstream.  There were typically at least a dozen ships each day passing by.

This container ship is typical, it was so big and so close it took four photos to get it all.





We used the website  www.marinetraffic.com/ 
to watch the ships travel up the Savannah River and approach our dock.  You can click on each ship and the website gives you information about the ship such as it's size, speed, destination, last port of call, when it was built and the country where it's flagged.

We also turned on the marine radio to channels 16 and 13 to listen to the ships' captains contact each other and the tugs.  It was very interesting.

There was also this small plane landing and taking off  just beside us.



 We decided to take advantage of the free trolley running along the historic district.




One of the many squares found in "old" Savannah...


The City Hall from the street....




Savannah was located along a 40 foot bluff above the Savannah River.  Here are several views of the historic waterfront....



City Hall from the river....


Some of the ironwork in the historic district....






Colonial Park Cemetary....



Cathedral of St John the Baptist...



Some antique police cars.  I can remember when these actually were pretty common on the highway.


 


St Marys, Georgia

August 16, 2010

When passing through this portion of the ICW, we usually anchor just off Cumberland Island and visit the national park there by dinghy.  However this trip we decide to visit St Marys Georgia, a quiet little town just 2 miles up the St Marys river.

St Marys is a historic town adjacent to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and also hosts the visitors center for the Cumberland Island National Park.  A few street scenes from walking around the town. 

The Spencer Inn (ca 1872)...



Among other attractions, the town has a beautiful, waterfront park.  This is the riverfront walk....


Some sailing ships moored on the St Marys River...


A view of the park from the town pier...


One of several fountains in the park...


The park entrance...


Looking out at the St Marys River...


The town market....


The First Presbyterian Church....


We decided to spend two days and three nights in this peaceful, enchanting place.

Finally we must leave, however, and turn the bow again north towards home.  The ICW is beautiful along this stretch of Georgia, a couple of views...




The resort at Sea Island....


We anchor for the night on the Crescent River at ICW mile marker 643 and watch several late afternoon thundershowers pass by in the distance.


St Augustine

August 15, 2010
We usually stay in St Augustine for at least a couple of days, however the municipal marina had an electrical fire on July 4 and most of the docks have no power.  In addition, the repairs are scheduled to start tomorrow and they will need to cut power to the rest of the marina.  Here's a shot of the dock where we tied up for the one night.  It is usually filled with boats.




Pulling away from the dock, we pass the famous Bridge of Lions, currently undergoing some renovations.





A view of downtown St Augustine from the harbor,


And the fort, Castillo De San Marcos (1672 - 1695)


Since the weather continues to be nice and the ocean is calm we decide to run outside again today to the St Mary's River inlet on the Florida-Georgia state line.