Herb River, Near Savannah

724 nm   N32 00.782  W081 02.796

(New Feature: Click on the Lat/Lon coordinates above)

Well, our plan today was to get in a good day's run of about 48 nm to the Isle of Hope marina, near Savannah.   In order to do this, we needed to get through the drawbridge just south of Factory Creek before they closed from 7am to 9am for the morning rush hour traffic!

So, we set our alarm for 5am (!!), which is insanely early.  This gave us just enough time to dress, get some coffee, and get going.  We pulled the anchor in the dark, before even first light (that brightening of the sky before actual dawn) and cautiously made our way down Factory Creek in the dark.  At 6:40am, first light had started, and we were positioned in front of the bridge, requesting an opening.  I could see that vehicular traffic on the bridge was already heavy, and was half afraid the bridge tender would tell us we would have to wait,  but he started an open cycle right away, and in no time we were through and on our way.

Yesterday, we had called Isle of Hope Marina for a reservation, but they were full and put us on the waiting list in case someone cancelled. About midday,, we called again to check, but they had contacted everyone else to confirm, and no one had cancelled. :(  Time for plan "B".

We've been keeping in close contact with Bruce and Gayleen Donadt aboard s/v Pearl, as they left the Chesapeake about two weeks behind us and were catching up.  Bruce has done this trip many times, and is a gold-mine of information.  He had mentioned an anchorage they use near Savannah, on the Herb River.  I looked it up, and it looked like it had depths that were shallow enough for us to anchor.  It was about 4 nm closer, reducing out day's travel to 44 nm. So, new plan: we're going to Herb River.

When we got there, the entrance was deep, with a number of boats anchored there.  We pushed on  past them and up the river, searching for shallow water.  After the second wide turn, the houses and docks disappeared, and the depth started to gradually drop,  until we found the perfect spot that would be 7.2' at low tide and about 15' at high tide.  The anchor set well in the sandy bottom, and there was plenty of room to swing.

Life is good.