February 14, 2014
We left Isle of Hope at 7 AM Friday morning bound for St Simon Island. We had 84 miles to go today and wanted to average 10mph on the ICW so that the trip would not be so tiring. We also had to go through a shallow passage called “Hell Gate” on a falling tide. This is a known passage for boats grounding at low tide and we would be passing through at 1 hour before low tide. I thought this trip was supposed to ease my stress level, not add to it. Well, we made it and checked “Hell Gate” off our list, and on Friday the 13th also. Well our adventurous day wasn’t over. A short while later on a narrow turn we met a barge that seemed to take up the whole channel but we moved off his port side and waited for him to pass. Tonnage always has the right of way. The ICW through this part of Georgia is like a winding mountain road with only one lane. No stress there. We noticed an Air Force plane flying at tree top level heading our way, thought he would pass by a good distance away but he turned towards us and gave us a good fly by. After hours of meandering back and forth we could see the bridge in St Simons appear on the horizon and the channel widened and got a little deeper. Then we starting meeting Georgia DNR and Coast Guard RIBS(Rigid Inflatable Boat) coming from St Simons. A total of nine passed us by and seemed to have no interest in us, but we watched each one to see if they would double back to check us out. We passed under the bridge that leads to the island and could see our marina on our port side(left) but couldn’t get there from here. We had to continue another mile down the river, make a hard turn to port(left) and go a mile to the marina. As we approached our marker for our turn we noticed a much larger Coast Guard RIB approaching from the ocean inlet. Maybe he would just pass by like the rest had, but Noooo! He called us on the Radio and let us know they would be putting 3 officers aboard our boat for an inspection. We opened our side door and railing so the nice armed officers could board. Long story short, we passed with flying colors with no violations and proceeded to our slip at he marina. Good ending to a stressful Friday the 13th.
Today we just relaxed and took a taxi to the village for a Valentines Day Lunch ,a couple of beers and a little shopping. Winds were blowing hard today and may continue tomorrow so don’t know when we might continue south.
No Worries.
