Day 363 - Queen Bess Creek to Thunderbolt, GA
Day 363 - Monday, April 24th: Today is our last day cruising "The Great Loop!" When we reach Thunderbolt, a suburb of Savannah, we will be done. The feeling is bittersweet to say the least.
In spite of the fact that we only had about 25 miles to travel today, we were up early making preparations to get underway. That's because we had to traverse "Hell's Gate" into the Ogeechee River. This two-mile long passage was about 1.5 miles from our anchorage, and is infamous for shallow water (about 3.5 feet in places); we draw a little over four feet.
Timing would be everything for this passage. The morning high tide had come at 5:49am and the low would be around 11:30am. That meant that we needed to be through Hell's Gate as early as we could to minimize the risk of running aground.
So we were up at about 6:45am, underway at 8:00am and had no problems at all!
Now we had six hours to go only twenty miles. And we were really in no rush mentally.
The low, wide marshland began to yield to slightly higher ground, which gave way to the developers, and we began to pass lovely homes again:
This home really made us believe we were in Georgia:
And this one got the prize for setting:
It was lower tide now as we oozed slowly northward:
We rounded the bend at Isle of Hope, GA and spied the Isle of Hope Marina:
This is the marina where we had planned to keep Integrity before we started the Loop, but yard work took longer than expected and we never moved the boat here. It's a nice marina:
Isle of Hope is another beautiful suburb of Savannah and the homes along the riverbank are perfectly lovely:
Idling past Isle of Hope we spotted this research vessel. It seemed strangely out of place:
A few miles further we came upon the Savannah Yacht Club right on the ICW. All the marina facilities in this area seem to be right on the ICW:
Across from the Yacht Club this less-than-fortunate shrimper had met with serious trouble; it gave us an eerie feeling:
Next facility: Thunderbolt Marina, formerly known as Palmer-Johnson. This yard is capable of working on the largest of yachts, and usually does:
A little past the repair yard are the transient docks for the marina:
Half a mile later we passed Bahia Bleu. This is a very nice facility with a matching price tag:
Webmaster notes: Friend Pete Butler and I decided to drive down to Savannah to meet Bill and Ruth as they completed the Loop. After all, we'd been there when they left (just over a year ago) so it seemed right. We'd also visited with them mid-Loop at at the "Baker Inn" on the Tennessee River; never hurts to have contact with those you left behind..
We arranged with the Integrity crew to be there at 2:00pm and we made it handily. We walked out along the dock looking at the horizon where they'd steamed away last April -- but nothing.
Then we heard shouting (from the other end of the boatyard). Of course (dummies!!) it's a LOOP!!!!! They're coming in from the other direction:
We hotfooted it down the dock (well, as "hotfooting" as two out-of-condition old farts could go..). Here's Pete giving the Admiral a welcome home hug:
Why am I reminded of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea"?
Back to you, Bill..
From Bahia Bleu we could see our destination, Hinckley Yacht Services. It was about 2:00pm:
We arrived at Hinckley and crossed our own wake at 2:15pm. We had made that wake one year and sixteen days ago, almost to the hour.
The yard's Service Manager, Dustin Hartley, who had worked with us over a year ago to get Integrity ready to go, greeted us enthusiastically at the dock:
Also greeting us were our good friends, Pete Butler and Chaz Cone. They took the time to drive down from Atlanta to serve as greeting party for us, just as they'd been here to send us off over a year ago. Chaz was busily snapping pictures of our momentous event:
"Da Boyz" were also glad to see us:
Chaz was REALLY glad to see us; he's our webmaster and does the marvelous work to make this website good. He is happy, we suspect, because these logs are almost done!
We celebrated our arrival with a cool beverage; Webmaster Chaz still happy:
We had planned to have a celebration feast at one of our favorite restaurants, Tubby's Tank House. It's in Thunderbolt and serves marvelous seafood dishes; kind of a funky place:
Our waitress, Crystal, was kind enough to snap a group picture:
We said a temporary goodbye to Pete and Chaz after supper. They were headed back to Atlanta this evening, but we would be there in a few days also.
We could just hear people asking Pete and Chaz now, "What'd ya do yesterday, boys?"
"We went to Savannah for supper."
We really appreciated the welcoming committee. It was a fun finale to a fun trip.
Back on the boat, Bill swapped the standard AGLCA burgee for our brand new "Veteran Looper" burgee - the yellow one. We were proud as peacocks!
Now it's time to reflect: We're both grateful for the wherewithal to be able to make this fantastic, unbelievably fun trip through two of the most beautiful countries in the western hemisphere; it was indeed a "trip of a lifetime!"
To successfully make this trip one first has to be, and stay, healthy; have a modicum of boating knowledge; have a sense of adventure; have the time to enjoy what nature has put out for us; have the generosity of other boaters and the boating community in general; and, you have to have a sound boat.
We were fortunate in that we were afforded all of these things. We feel like our guardian angels were with us all the way. They stepped in so many times when we had a tense situation and we ended up just fine.
Now it is sad to use the word "completed." We wish the trip would last forever and, in our hearts and memories, it will.
We thank all our friends for making this trip so much fun. From our outstanding webmaster, Chaz, to fellow Loopers to the lockmasters, bridgetenders and dockmasters who give so much, we are very grateful. Thank you all!
We made some special new friends we hope we keep forever. You know who you are. Thank you also!
Position tonight: N32 02.074 W081 02.781
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