Tragedy Strikes

We made it to Wahlburg Creek and it was indeed deep and wide.  The plan was to anchor there overnight and then visit Savannah before saying goodbye to Georgia altogether.  St. Catherine's Sound Inlet (Wahlburg Creek) is close to Savannah - we could easily make it there early the next day.  While we were out sailing from Brunswick to Wahlburg Creek our son and Michael's brother had frantically been trying to reach us.  Michael's Dad had been in a horrible car accident.  The next morning we made it to Savannah, got a taxi to the airport and then drove to Durham, NC - Duke Hospital.  Our trip then came to an end for awhile.  It ended up being about 2 1/2 weeks before we were back on Talaria.  Meanwhile, the kind folks at Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah, Georgia watched over everything for us - they even went on the boat and took off the fruit that was going to spoil.  Kindest people in the world right there!!!  Eventually, with sad hearts we continued on our way as I had a job in North Carolina starting June 1st.  So... no pictures of Savannah but we did hang out in Charleston/Kiawah for a few days as I had to go to an anesthesia conference.  Charleston is truly old south.  The antebellum homes take you back to a different era.  

Home near Charleston Harbor

Another home near the harbor - Yes, this is a house!

Beautiful Charleston antebellum homes

Ft. Sumter - Where the Civil War began

Ft. Sumter

And of course, there is Ft. Sumter sitting out there in Charleston Harbor.  Where the Civil War began.  All hostilities aside - Charleston is now just a town full of southern warmth and charm.

This guy was swimming in the pond right behind our hotel room on Kiawah Island.  Unlike Disney the hotel had the good sense to post a sign warning of alligators in the water.  Surprisingly folks still walked awfully close to the waters edge.  

Angel Oak

 All over the south there are live oak trees - but this tree is like none I have ever seen.  It is estimated to be around anywhere from 300 to 400 years old.  It is 65 feet tall and 28 feet in circumference.  It has survived any number of natural disasters - including several hurricanes.  But it just keeps growing.  

 
In order to really appreciate the Angel Oak you really have to see it for yourself - pictures just don't quite capture the magnitude of the tree.

The sign is actually old as the largest limb length is now 187 feet long!!  The tree just keeps growing in every direction.

 Since we have made this trip to Charleston without the boat we likely will not stop with Talaria.  We will have to make up for some lost time.  On with the journey!

Welcome to Georgia!

After having traveled the entire coastline of Florida (over 1000 miles - both sides of the state!) on the 27th of April 2016 we finally left Florida behind and crossed over to Georgia.  The first stop in Georgia is Brunswick which was a very nice sail from Fernadina Beach, Florida.  Beautiful day and short trip.  We were all tied up at the marina by 1400.  This gigantic ship met us as we were getting ready to go under the bridge on the way to the marina - needless to say we gave him wide berth!  We were a bit tired and decided to stay an extra day in Brunswick to rest up and do some more sightseeing.  While in the neighborhood we thought we would pay a visit to the legendary Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island.

Barrier Islands of Coastal Georgia

 
 Jekyll Island was of course home to the legendary Jekyll Island Club that was a members only winter retreat for the nations wealthiest people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Very Gatsby like. 

Jekyll Island Club (now a hotel)

The Jekyll Island Club is beautiful and I am sure back in the day it was even more stunning.  The members had impressive name plates on their doors - certainly they were very impressed with themselves!

 The Island itself is lovely with its numerous large live oak trees.  There is a marina there as it is on the ICW but it is much too shallow for our deep draft vessel.  We had some lunch on the Island - wandered around a bit and then headed over to St. Simons Island.  Another of the Georgia "Sea Islands" as the barrier islands are called.

St. Simon's Island has a rocky coastline.  But
fortunately they have put stairs along the coastline presumably so you could get out of the water if you needed to.  Is there a beach at the bottom of the stairs at low tide?  Not sure - all we saw was water!

 

 St. Simon's Island has a very long, nice pier that folks hang out on and fish from.  And they have this beautiful lighthouse.

After a couple of days we were ready to resume our journey.  The fog was thick in the morning of our departure so we had to wait for it to burn off a bit.  When we finally headed out we met these shrimpers heading in - easy to tell which boat has the shrimp!  We are sailing up to St. Catherine's Sound Inlet.  A fellow with Sea Tow gave us very good directions and told us we would find a good anchorage in Wahlburg Creek just inside the inlet.  He assured us it was both deep and wide.  Leaving Georgia behind and heading for South Carolina.