Departed Brunswick, GA May 10 at around 9:30am. Skinny water, but the tide, thankfully, was on our side. We had to cross a number of sounds, most of which were kind. The Spell Sound, however, was not. Our previously clean girl got a good salt water bath. Arrived Walburg Creek anchorage about 5:15pm after a 57 mile day. Good day on the water. I didn’t take sunset pictures because the bugs here are something fierce and I didn’t dare step outside!

The next morning was beautiful. The anchorage was lovely as we left.

As we are entering Saint Catherine Sound, I was at the helm following the course Mike had plotted the night before. The chart plotter (Navionics) said our depth was 17 feet. Aqua Maps said the same. We saw some disturbance in the water, and thought it was an eddy from the ocean confluence with the river. All of a sudden, the boat softly lurched, then lurched again. *&%$!!!! Yes, at the helm again, I touched bottom. A number of times. The charts were totally wrong!!!! We had a +2 tide and should have had at least 14 feet below our keel. Effing charts! Ugh! It was the strangest feeling, scared the hell out of me, and I seriously contemplated having a beer and a shot of whiskey at 9:00 in the morning.

We made it through the morning with our hull, and sobriety, intact. Arrived Savannah at 1:30 that afternoon. I was super giddy as I have always wanted to visit this town. It did not disappoint!

Our first stop was the Crystal Beer Parlor which had been in business since 1933. We had a cold beer and a peach cobbler…when in Georgia and all that.

I am an avid reader. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was one of my favorite reads of the ’90’s. (Clint Eastwood directed a movie which I never saw, but need to.) This home was one of the characters and is so very cool!

Mike and I love dive bars. They are often where you can find the true local flavor versus what the town wants the tourists to see. We found a great one in the Historic District called Pinkie Masters. Pinkie’s has been there since the early ’50s and was a great bar. We had a great chat with the owner/bartender who told us of another great dive bar which was a short boat ride away from our marina. The next day, Mike and I set out in our dingy and rode the 3.5 miles to Wilmington Island to Cheers To You.

We lucked out in that we were at “Cheers” on a Saturday as we found out the crab races would begin at 2:00pm. What are crab races? Well, the locals go into the water and gather a bunch of fiddler crabs (super small crabs) and put them in a 5 gallon bucket. The bar patrons can buy a ticket for $3 which gets them a number between 1 and 10.

3 or 4 crabs are dropped into the middle of the tray, and the first crab to reach the outer shell wins…the card holder wins if the crab lands on the his/her number. I won the first race. And, summarily lost the next 15 or so. It was SO much fun! The people were amazing. Our bartender, Heidi, was an absolute hoot! Mike had 3 beers (PBR draft, thank you very much), and I had 2 (I was driving the dinghy). Our tab was $12.50. We vowed to return.

The following day was Sunday, Mother’s Day. I told Mike I really wanted to attend the concert mass at St. John the Baptist. Lo and behold, Mike agreed to go to church with me! This cathedral is spectacular, and the concert was amazing! (Thunder and lightning was abound as Mike entered the church.)

After the concert, we Ubered back to our favorite dive bar, Cheers. Mike had told George and Ramona (his old training officer and his wife who we rendezvoused back in Cocoa, FL) to join us as they brought their RV to Savannah that afternoon. We didn’t have time to go back to the boat to put on our outfit of shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops, so went to our dive bar in our church garb. Had an absolute blast, and were treated to a beautiful sunset, with the Stipes!

We walked to Publix, did a small provision, then Ubered back to the boat. Next morning, we departed Savannah with Magic Jeannie, another Looper boat. We didn’t leave until almost 11:30am as we were waiting for the tide to rise. (The waters in Georgia are really, really shallow.) Magic Jeannie pulled off at Beaufort, SC to catch a mooring ball. Mike and I wanted to take advantage of the high tide and get as many miles as we could before dark. Got to an anchorage at Edisto Island, South Carolina just at sunset around 8:20 pm. Was beautiful.

We picked this anchorage for both its protection from the prevailing winds, and it’s closeness to a really skinny area we wanted to go through the next morning at high tide.

After too little sleep, we departed the anchorage at sunrise the following morning at 6:30am. Weather was beautiful. Had a decent amount of water under the hull. Right before Charleston, we went through Elliot’t Cut, a pretty skinny cut through the rivers where the current can get pretty brutal. It was a ripping current, but wasn’t too bad for us, and was at our stern, so we had some good surfing for a bit.

We pulled into Charleston at 10:45am as we had an epic current at our back so made good time. Tied the boat up and walked into the city. We walked past so many incredible homes. Everything in Charleston, it seems, is historic. Really a beautiful city. We walked to the east side of the peninsula and hopped on a ferry to visit Fort Sumter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired.

The Fort has so much history. I won’t bore anybody with it here, but everyone should look it up. It was an incredible tour.

Last night, after Mike and I toured the USS Yorktown and The USS Clamagore submarine, we were walking to dinner when we saw a rum bar. Happened into Cane. Had a couple epic cocktails, and were greeted by the owner and chef, Paul. Paul gave us a great history on rum, and quite a tasting. Late, and a bit buzzed, we went on to Cafe Cru for dinner. Restaurant was in an old home which was over 175 years old and was so charming. Had an EPIC dinner. And, dessert that Mike ordered (blueberry and pineapple bread pudding with creme fresh…wow!). We met an adorable couple from London, Linda & Gary, at the restaurant who had the audacity to return truffle fries as the dude didn’t like the truffle flavor. That notwithstanding, we befriended them and took them back to our rum bar. Mike and I stumbled back to the boat at around 12:30 this morning.

Did some laundry and chores today, and departed Charleston around 3:30pm so that we could hit some higher tide. Charleston Harbor was a bit boisterous. Hit the ICW around 4:10 and the seas calmed a bit, although the wind is brisk today. Went about 30 miles this afternoon and dropped the hook at Awendaw Creek, Clellanville, SC just after 8:00 tonight. Not much in the way of wind protection, but not too much fetch, so hoping for a good night’s sleep.

Happy Wedding Anniversary to Morgan and Ryan Rigsbee, and Tricia and Tony Griffin today! And, happy birthday to our dear, departed Uncle Robert. Live every day! Cheers, M&M.