Day 202: North to Vandyke Creek

Day 202: May 4: Up at the crack of dawn, in time to catch a stunning sunrise. Pulled up anchor at about 8:00 a.m. and headed out of the Jekyll Island bridge onto the ICW. 


As we approached the St Simons Sound inlet we caught sight of Jonathan and Morgan getting UW. They came in from the ocean late last night, dropping anchor on the opposite side of Jekyll Island from us. Their sail was up, taking advantage of the slight breeze that was blowing. JK radioed us that he was going to stay on the ICW today rather than go outside, given it had taken him a couple of hours just to get out of the inlet yesterday. The tides and currents continue to affect speed, especially in the inlets so sailboats do much better on the outside!


We traveled about 55 NM in 8 1/2 hours, getting our fill of the swamps of Georgia and of the constant presence of giant green head flies. One particularly tricky spot was Mud River, a stretch that is quite shallow. Folks often anchor out and wait for an incoming tide before traveling this section. As we approached, we were hailed by "Stella", a sailboat just ahead of us. They alerted us that they were backing down and planned to anchor to wait for the tide as they were seeing depths of 1 and 2 feet just ahead. We maneuvered around them and proceeded cautiously, observing depths ranging from 4 1/2 to 6 feet. From behind came Kokomo, another trawler. They draw a bit less than we do so weren't as concerned about the depths. Luckily both of us made it through successfully. The view of the surrounding flats certainly illustrated just how low this river is. Later in the day our friend JK called us to say he had seen 3 alligators while cruising Mud River. 


It was a very warm travel day and we were happy to finally drop the hook in about 13 feet in Vandyke Creek. Even at 5 in the afternoon the hot sun was too hot; we definitely needed a cool spot to relax in so we moved our cushions to the bow, relishing the cool breeze and stunning sunset. 
















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