Return to Seasons

After a long day heading from Norfolk through the Virginia Cut – with a wonderful stop at Coinjock Marina for dinner – we anchored in the North River, just north of Buck Island. We dropped the hook in the charted seven foot depths outside the channel between markers “149” and “151,” and had no problem setting in the muddy bottom. As the sun quickly set over Backlanding Creek to the west, we enjoyed a few beers in the cockpit. By the time the orb was below the horizon, bugs were buzzing about, and we retreated into the cabin. Fortunately, we had already anticipated having some problems with mosquitoes, so we had put in the screens in the companionway.
Continue reading →

Waking up on the Herb River, just south of Thunderbolt, Georgia, we took our time getting going in the morning. We only had about 16 miles to go before transiting Hell Gate, another short section of the Intracoastal where we would need to be aided by the tide because of shoaling. And, with high tide not until 2:30 or so in the afternoon, we had some time. After a good breakfast with the last of our eggs, we raised anchor and made our way out the Herb, back into the Wilmington, and, before we could even get comfortable, into the Skidaway River.
Continue reading →

Since returning to Peoria, a few people have asked me what the best part of our summer aboard Bear was. I have given a variety of answers and hemmed and hawed a few times, as there were so many great experiences. But I would not equivocate if someone asked me (and I am not sure why they have not) what was the best bar we went to. That would be Backstreet Pub in Beaufort, North Carolina.
Continue reading →

Fields Cut is the last obstacle that we would have to overcome before we entered Georgia. In fact, it is the final stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway before the Savannah River, which marks the Georgia-South Carolina line. The project depth – the depth that the Corps is charged with maintaining – for Fields Cut is twelve feet at mean low water. But the Corps reported in July 2014 that the minimum depth was only three feet. Still, the Corps noted in the same report that we would be able to find 7.5 feet on the eastern, or green, side of the channel. Between that information and the notes on ActiveCaptain, where people reported seeing numerous vessels aground at mid-tide, we decided to hit Fields Cut on the flood within about an hour of high tide. (I should note that the Corps is not neglecting their job; it is, unsurprisingly maybe, Congress who is to blame for the low water as they have not funded dredging in the Savannah District for some time).
Continue reading →