Great Loop Route # 221: Savannah, Georgia to Hilton Head, South Carolina | What Yacht To Do (2023)

Introduction

Welcome to What Yacht To Do, a Great Loop Documentary. Today, (April 19, 2022) Rev and Sam are moving on their Great Loop Route from an anchorage near Savannah, Georgia called Buckhead Creek Top over to Hilton Head, South Carolina. We stayed at Windmill Harbor Marina and had to go through a lock to get there.

We are cruising around America's Great Loop for a second time and selected a 1999 Carver 504 named the Here's To Us!! as our Great Loop boat. So much goes into Great Loop planning and we share every trip with you. Welcome aboard!

Here are a few resources that we used for the trip: www.whatyachttodo.com/resources/

We started the Great Loop on May 15, 2019 and completed our Gold Loop journey on August 30, 2020. You can see our entire trip here: www.whatyachttodo.com/our-great-loop-journey/

We started our second loop on September 2, 2020 and you can follow our route here: www.whatyachttodo.com/our-great-loop-route-platinum-loop/

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Content

Well, hello, everyone: it is a kind of a frosty morning here, 53 degrees, but you know: we've been used to 75 and 80.

We got acclimatized and uh.

While we do like the cool it's a little too cool.

We had the windows open last night down there and had to throw another blanket on.

We are here at buckhead, creek top where the tide went from well 15 feet up to 22 as far as our anchoring is concerned, so uh it's actually 15 and 23, and a half so about eight and a half foot swing.

So you don't have to take that into consideration when you uh put your scope out and we had winds up to 22 miles per hour, still pretty good wind.

Now we're gonna head up to hilton, head and uh.

If you are using like auto routing tools and the weather was good, the auto routing tools will take you in the most expeditious manner and that means going outside.

So you would go from here.

You go out the ah sound o s s a b, a w, don't know if that's the correct pronunciation and into the calabog sound and uh, then up to hilton head we're not doing that.

We listened to the forecast and well, we kind of knew from the winds uh, it's four to five feet out there and that's not pleasure boating as far as I'm concerned.

But if you are here- and you are heading north and it's a great day on the outside- it's a great way to save 10 miles.

So for us we're going to be going through uh, savannah and then up to the intracoastal.

I mean it's all intracoastal but we'll be following the intracoastal through savannah.

So there'll be some stretches there, where we're going to have to slow down so we're going to get an early start.

The tide is beginning to rise.

I'm going to give it about another half hour and we'll be out of here and uh.

Look forward to talking to you along the way, going out to take the snubber off and then pull up the anchor we're leaving the buckhead creek top anchorage.

It's really nice, it's tucked back here off the channel and we really enjoyed it.

We did have some company last night, one other boat was in here, but there's room for tons and tons of boats.

So we highly recommend this particular anchorage, well we're underway here, mile 607 in our first area of concern today, which actually went into planning last night as to hey.

What time are we going to leave? Is an area called hell gate and some people say it's hell's gate, but it's actually hell gate on the chart.

I don't know which is correct.

That has been dredged and shouldn't be an issue.

However, I don't want to go through on a low tide, so we're on a rising tide and with all of the electronics and apps and information that is just packed in everything.

You don't have to use a tide table anymore, so you go there and you see the nearest station and look when the tide's going to be up and uh by the time we get there we'll be uh well into a rising tide, three feet above low tide, and that is nice and you can actually just kind of click on areas on the chart uh, depending on what you're, using for your navigation devices.

What software you have, what equipment you have? They usually all have that capability.

You just have to learn how to use it and see what time you're going to be there and what the tide's doing so pretty easy.

As long as you understand all those things they will also show you, current charts will show you, if you're going into a current out of a current lots of information on those electronic charts and they keep getting better and better.

It's just one of those great things, as you have competition out there between them.

They keep raising the bar because they want their product to be the best.

So I'm just amazed over the three and a half years, or so that we've been doing this just watching the uh incremental improvements in the technology so learn the technology use the technology to your advantage.

Well, it's really bright out there.

The sun's been in our eyes for a while, but we are finally to the turn mile marker that looks like red 92, making a turn into hell.

Gate now, don't go through here during low tide, although they have dredged it.

You just want to be comfortable going through here, so we're on a rising tide.

How many feet you got there? Sam under us, 26 feet plenty of time, the first time through here we were nervous because it was pretty low, but this time no problem at all.

Well, I say that talk to me after the red and green here are the giant ones we're used to seeing, but up ahead, they're small kind of reminds me of kentucky lake markers showing us the way to go through here and 11 feet now, so we went from 25 to 11 feet and it better not go any lower than that all right.

Staying between the red and the green and we're actually it's a mile marker 602 right now and the uh, the red nun and the green can out there floating around just go right between them, showing 13 feet now good.

You know if you are navigating this visually and didn't have those navigational aids out there.

You might just say: hey I'll, just go in the center between the points, and that would be bad.

Well, we're not columbus.

I mean we do have some aids here to help us.

The other thing that's happening is we were against the current uh as we were traveling toward the asavo sound and as we made this turn now uh, we picked up some speed because the water's kind of pushing us now, instead of going against it, are we out of the danger zone um.

Well.

This is technically still health gate, but yeah we're we're never really in the danger zone.

I'll go on a rising tide here go over here, but definitely don't want to go through here on a low tide or falling to low tide.

Well, somebody named it hell gate for a reason.

Yeah.

I guess so: okay, when we came through here last time it was raining and we passed barges like this small, nothing compared to the kind of barges we saw going down the rivers all right.

Well, I don't know what channel they're operating on lost the uh got: 16 12, 13, 9 out of ideas, and so the rules of the road two vessels converging each shell altered course to the starboard and that's what we did hey there, how you doing so an alarm just went off and of course I freaked out, but sam has actually set an alarm for every two hours is when he takes readings.

Sometimes I sit here with him and be the lookout and sometimes nothing's going on.

So I don't need to come up here but looks pretty much like nothing's going on.

However, we do have a bridge coming up, it's funny how you do the loop, the second time you remember things that are etched in your mind.

We have another carver following us and it is floating home, so they are behind us.

Our floating home is following us back there so be sure and check out their youtube channel, we'll meet them in person.

Sometime crab pot copy altering course we're coming up on the isle of hope, marina.

This is the second time we have passed by.

We hear it's a really great place to stay.

So if you are in this neighborhood on your great loop journey, this is definitely an option for you.

It is below the 32 degree line if you are working around that for your insurance depending on what time of year, it is just below it's like a mile and a half below, so I don't think your insurance company will give you any leeway on it.

Ours didn't.

This has been such a beautiful ride.

There are so many nice homes along the way and their docks.

It's so peaceful.

I just love this route through georgia, savannah ben marina is where we kept the here's to us for a while, on the first time around looking good got plenty of space according to that board over there.

There are four spans that go up, and I don't like the looks of this, but that one is stuck open, so I guess they don't need, aren't using that part of the highway right now.

Obviously, so I turn my head and look out the window here on the port side and there is a giant container ship.

Look at that moving quite impressive.

We're racing they're on the savannah river over there.

We're on the icw over here and sam has the right of way.

So, however, he's bigger than him we're gonna get caught in his wake.

Yeah uh! I don't think we can beat him.

Look how fast he's going well, we probably could have bet you're gonna.

Do the smart thing: huh yeah, we're like a little nap to him and just in his way so he's gonna.

Do what he's gonna do and then we we adjust.

I might have the right away, but it doesn't matter right now.

I would have tried to outrun it well, eventually, uh probably could have done it uh, except why take a chance? I don't know where it says it's going here: it's it's in code.

It says dangerous goods, um, harmful substances or marine pollutants.

Oh hazard or pollutant category, a underway using engine.

It's not telling me the speed! Oh speed, 13.7, okay, so he's uh moving he's moving right along there.

So that was a big surprise.

That was a big sprite.

When I looked over and saw it, I thought he was docked.

I did too and then boom here he comes well.

Everybody goes through this tiny area, including bob423.

So here we go making our way through this skinny area.

Look at all this water around.

Does that make a difference? No, it does not because you don't know what's well.

I guess we do know.

Shallow water is everywhere else, except right between these two markers, green 39.

You see the gold square, meaning yes, you're still on the icw that red.

What do you call that? A nun it? You know it looks like they just decided to put it there, birds hanging out doing their thing and uh.

So are we we're getting close to uh hilton head about 10 miles out and uh windmill harbor marina, where we're going to go through a block? That's locked, controlled in there and so high tide was about an hour ago and we'll be there in about an hour.

So on the down slope there, but uh pretty good title swing in there.

We don't have to worry about it, uh we're not on the map anymore, we're not on the map anymore, we're doing good um, rev checks me every once in a while make sure what I'm doing she's a good backup, a safety observer, and it's always good you're running along and you've had a couple hard days.

You know it's easy to make little mistakes that can cause big problems so good to have another set of eyes up here.

So these are the kind of toes that we have seen now.

We're in south carolina saw one in georgia has vehicles on it really interesting.

It's like a fairy large that one's called the jake washington gates are opening.

All right looks pretty good a little bit of wind uh coming from the left there, but no no you're, not my way at home.

Just you have a boathole ready.

Would you just in case uh? We got a little bit of wind or something I mean I pretty much.

I think I have it under control here, but yeah just have a boat ball stand about in case we need it.

This is pretty cool just when you thought you were done with locks.

Huh mm-hmm see you so, oh okay, so those are rubber.

Bumper things there.

Okay, all right! Ask him if it's bob that might be bob okay, I'm showing 8.7! Well, we are back on land after three days of anchoring in georgie.

We never set foot in georgia on the soil for some reason, we're in south carolina now, hilton, head and uh excited to be here because we didn't get to go here.

Last time came through a lock we're going to stay here for two nights, so we're standing in front of the south carolina yacht club here on hilton head and just panning around to the south.

I guess it would be where boats are moored there and right in front of houses that are just beautiful houses and now looking out toward the intracoastal, so we were lucky enough to meet bob and ann shearer.

Those of you who don't know bob and ann bob 423 does a lot of great work for the intracoastal cruisers, and so they were gracious enough to accept our invitation for dinner at the yacht club got to know them.

It was wonderful bob presented me with a bob for 23 burgee, which will proudly be flown on the ears to us.

It was 58 miles and uh kind of an exciting journey, particularly with that cargo ship.

So it's time for happy hour early, we'll see you next time on what you ought to do.

You.