Thunderbolt, GA

Saturday, 22 November                                                43.4 SM

The youthful voice on channel 9 comes down clearly from the small clapboard house on the Causton Bluff Bridge.

A sure sign of the Deep South: Spanish Moss.

“Welcome to Georgia, Captain. Have a safe trip.”

Steadfast crossed the state line four miles back when her bow sliced into the Savannah River but no one was there to greet her then. The sentiment is much appreciated now as the bascule bridge closes behind and she makes the next turn on the twisting Wilmington River. It’s just another couple of miles now to Thunderbolt and, for this night, “home.”

It’s been quite the run, Steadfast first off the pier this morning at 0630, followed shortly and soon overtaken by the O’Day 40 Pieridae, her anchor-mate from a couple of nights before. The Catalina 440 Merlin moves by next. Good. Ahead loom some of the more challenging parts of the waterway through South Carolina. The more traffic ahead today, the better to judge the best path through the shallows.

The light at Hilton Head.

It’s easy enough, though, running with the tide, current and wind down the Beaufort River past Parris Island. And that northerly’s enough to bring out the genny, adding another half-knot to her progress. The wind chops up Port Royal Sound, though, the two-and-three footers making it a lumpy ride the three miles across to the mouth of Skull Creek. Once in the lee of Pinckney Island, though, the creek settles out while the wind keeps filling the foresail. By the time she’s past Hilton Head and into Callibogue Sound, Steadfast has caught a fair tide and, with the wind honkin’, speeds are up in the eights! Sweet. Now the fun starts.

Turning to starboard at Haig Point, the Cooper River at first is wide and deep—30’ or more—then arcs slowly southward and shallows, down briefly to single digits before settling into the teens. The true tests still lie ahead, though: Ramshorn Creek, the short Walls Cut, then the mile-and-a-half of Fields Cut, all three a maze of muddy shoals, shifting to snare the wandering keel. (When the keel’s only three-and-a-half-feet deep, admittedly it’s not quite as daunting but a challenge, none-the-less.)

Industry occupies most of Savannah’s waterfront.

It’s 1300 by the time Steadfast exits Fields Cut and the Savannah River sends its powerful current across her beam to sweep her downstream. Little Red, as she always does, responds to the call and carries Steadfast across to the day’s last little dicey stretch through the shoals that stretch along Elba Island Cut to the Wilmington.

The Wilmington waits with a good current to quickly carry Steadfast the few more miles where safe harbor awaits.

Clouds at first light lead to a stormy day in Thunderbolt.

And where better to tie up this night than Thunderbolt Marina? The forecast calls for high winds, rain and—yes—thunderstorms this night and tomorrow.

Just a good old Georgia “welcome.”

Steadfast out.