Thunderbird, GA

Saturday January 25, 2014
32 02.130 N
81.02.732 W

We kept warm and slept OK although Deidre got spooked by something that woke us all up. I was up about 8 AM (it was 29 degrees) and started a generator and turned on the heat and made some coffee. We took it easy keeping warm and did our emails.

I must not have been too keen to get out on the deck to recover the anchor, as we ended up not starting engines till about 9:30 and were not underway till about 10 AM. Other than being cold the morning seemed OK even though there was another small craft advisory predicting 30 MPH winds.

The captain keeping an eye open for "ships crossing"

Ship Crossing ahead

As we passed behind Hilton Head Island the waterway was deserted. We only saw one other boat all day. Ten miles later we crossed the Savannah River. It's an awkward crossing as the charts and navigation aids contradict each other (its not an uncommon issue) plus we have to be on the alert for big ship traffic. The good thing is that one can usually see the big ships over the marsh. Bottom line is that we needed to slow down to let a giant container ship cross in front of us.

The west wind built during the day and by the afternoon we were really feeling the effects. Since we were mostly heading south, the gusts were hitting our beam and leaning us over. We also seemed to be fighting the tide all day and averaging less than 6 knots. That combined with our late start meant we would not reach our target anchorage before dark. So we started thinking marina, and here we are. We were also getting a bit low on water so we filled up. It will be another cold night so we are plugged in and will keep warm all night. The forecast for tomorrow is much better.

Hilton Head - Nice place