We had heard that Georgia and north Florida was a long arduous trip with endless marsh and skinny water and many choose to go outside from Charleston SC to St. Augustine FL or even further south. You must be south of Ft Pierce FL to go to Bahamas.

We found this portion of the ICW was some of the most beautiful, reminding me of rivers running through the endless "ocean" waves of wheat in the Canadian prairies of my teens. The marshes abounding with wildfowl and occasionally an escort of porpoise.

From Harbour Town, Hilton Head Island SC, we crossed Calibogue Sound to the Cooper River and along Dafuskie Island...early settlers called this "Da Fus Key" (the first key). No bridge links this island to mainland and the small native Gullah population, descendents of African slaves, until recent development lived isolated lives with few modern conveniences.

In "The River is Wide", author Pat Conroy shared his experiences as a teacher on the island.

We followed a serpentine route and crossed many rivers with swift current and sounds with choppy watera s we wound our way through Georgias barrier islands. Markers were scant and far apart, so we used depth sounder and binoculars to find the channel and see the next mark. We had good fortune and near perfect (tame) conditions on this part of the trip.

Savannah
There is a busy shipping lane and no facilities along the waterfront in downtown Savannah.. We did not exit the waterway at Savannah crossing, but contiued on to Thunderbolt on the ICW. A very cruiser friendly clean facility with private showers, data port phones. Newspaper and a box of Krispy Kreme donuts are on your boat each am. Located in Thunderbolt, but local cab co has $7 fixed price one way to & from town.

A charming city, perfect for walking, with 2 square miles of historic district, the nation's largest urban National Historic with over 1000 structures restored and in use. When developers bagan to tear down historic structures in 1955 a group of women organised the Historic Savannah Foundation, one of the country's first restoration programs. Hundreds of properties were bought and resold to private parties with covenants to restore and repair them.

Juliet Gordon Low birthplace and Andrew Low House built by her husband, a wealthy cotton merchant. She founded the Girl Guides in London England and the Girl Scouts in America.

Gen. James Oglethorpe and Col. William Bull laid out England's 13th and last colony in 1733. Designed as a series od wards where commercial and residential buildings center on a public square. Presently 22 of the original 24 squares remain, bordered by businesses, banks, townhomes and homes. Landscaped with live oaks, azaleas, fountains, benches and statues, each square was decorated with greenery and red bows for the holidays.

The visitors center was enroute to and within walking distance to the old city markets and the riverside Factors Walk and converted warehouses now housing shops and restaurants on waterfront plaza. Factors were the sales agents and commission merchants of the 19th century who placed value on and helped oversee the planting and harvest of the rice, cotton and tobacco plantation crops shipped from these warehouses. The structures are 4 and 5 storey brick and stone warehouses built against the river bluffs and to the street 40 feet above. Iron and wooden bridges connect the buildings to Bay St. over cobblestone streets leading to the river

Restaurants specialize in low country cooking, we liked The Lady and Sons $12 fried chicken buffet the best, and lunch family style at Mrs Wilkes Boarding House was a real bargain at $10.

We are fans of John Berendt's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", seen the movie (rented the video) and I had recently read it, known locally simply as "The Book". Tourists flock here in droves since the book and movie came out and it has been a mixed blessing. This is off-season so there were no crowds. Savannah historically has fought to retain the "small town" flavor and altho the tourist dollars are a big part of the economy, the crowds and curiosity about the citizens are not welcomed.

We had passed Bonaventure Cemetery along the ICW...several folks were fishing on the banks, and the 2nd day we took "the Book" tour, passing all the homes and buildings with stories and updated gossip and a tour of Bonaventure included . We later toured Telfair Mansion regency style circa 1819, now a period furnishings and art museum housing "the Bird Girl" statue from the cover of "The Book" . We could spend another few days here.

Cumberland Island
This is a 25-yr old national seashore preserve with only 15 % private properties that have been passed down through generations of families. No roads or bridges will ever be constructed. We anchored overnight here, with views of ancient live oaks dripping with spanish moss and Palmettos. In the morning we dinghied ashore and walked the trail past secluded tent-sites to the ocean beach . Carnegies built 3 homes, 2 Dungeness House, both destroyed by fire, and Plum Orchard circa 1898 that survives.

This is where John F Kennedy was married in 1996 at the Greyfield Inn. Rooms must be booked months in advance.

A National Park Service ferry runs the 45-minute trip from nearby St Marys. Only 300 visitors per day are permitted. There are backcountry campsites by permit. All food must be carried in and all garbage carried out.

From here the route once again became narrow through channels and cuts with numerous navigatioal aids. Development increased with homes and golf courses lining the banks.

There was no room at city dock so we went on and drove to town. Valiant attempt to keep historic downtown alive. Mariners Restaurant downtown good, had most incredible Xmas decorations and life sized carved figurines we have ever seen. Down Under Restaurant , yup down under the A1A bridge, was busy with locals. Marina gave us the car to drive the area and do errands. Nearby paper mills interfere with SSB transmissions.

We met a couple from Chesepeake MD, in their 70's, on a 40' Irwin, who have been wintering along the ICW for 18 years. Midmorning they pulled in behind us on a T dock, afixed the lines and within 5 min. appeared in golf duds with their club bags over their shoulders to go play the Amelia Island Club course. We ate dinner with them at the Down Under that night. Great folks who are still enthusiastic about their winters living aboard.

The oldest city in America with beautiful Spanish architecture. Anchorages are unprotected and very rolly. From marina we needed a cab to get to town.

Great help at Visitors Center and 3-day tickets for trolley system to tour this historic Spanish settlement and fort.

Very nice to walk about and Flageler College (once a luxury hotel), was open to public as semester was over. On St George St. we ate delicious Spanish food at Columbia. Coffee and pastry at La Parrisienne was disappointing. The marina restaurant was mediocre, but handy.

A series of cold fronts kept the temps in 30's to mid-60's all week...how discouraging to have travelled south for over 2 months & still need longjohns until lunchtime!

We have seen a few sights, but mainly rested for 2 days, fighting colds with chicken soup, ginger tea & terrible old movies on TV.

Tomrrow we press on to Daytona Beach, 53 St miles, hopefully in 1 day,if the tides & current be willing. We have a reservation for 10 days.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year/Millenium This was our holiday season stop-over. The kids flew in for a few days and we extended over 3 weeks. A laundry day, good cleaning below decks and then removing the "waterway mustache" the tea colored staining on the hull from ICW waters took another day.

We rented a car to explore area for hotel suite witih kitchen on the beach for a couple of days with the gang and to find decorations for the boat and seasonal treats. We found a wreath with battery operated lights and festive plates, napkins and towels. Hung a few cards and it was Christmas.

The weather was cool 60's, but we enjoyed walks on the beach and a day at Kennedy Space center. We had a fun evening at Caribbean style restaurant & bar at Ponce Inlet Marina and delicious dinner at Sweetwaters, a beautiful place with dazzling bevelled cut glass and tropical trees near the Port Orange bridge.

Too soon our visit was over.

Unfortunately the flu hit us and we needed 2 weeks to recover. Weather warmed to 70's and was a quiet, pleasant place to rest, recover, do boat chores and catch up on mail.

This is a great facility, but no repair services onsite. West Marine onsite. Airport is 10 minutes away. Need cab to provision at Publix, to see famous beach, car to see Ponce Inlet, and to tour Orlando theme parks, Cape Canaveral & Kennedy Space center.

Historic downtown across the street is struggling to survive. There is a candy & chocolate factory and citrus growers shipping outlet to send gifts.

You can walk to 7-11, Stavaros, McK Tavern, The Dancing Avocado, Rosario's, (south across the street), The Chart House (south down the street). Car or cab to Ponce Inlet Marina restaurant, Auntie Catfish and Sweetwaters.

Freddie & Ute, the folks across the dock live in town. Recently, there have been some electrical & engine problems on their 1989 Newport 28, and he is down several times a week to check the systems and we had many chats. One day they kindly invited us to go sailing in the ocean. The Ponce Inlet is 2 hours downriver and with no markers, "local knowledge". It was a beautiful day, high 70's, 10-12 knts wind and 1' waves. Very relaxing. Brown pelicans, gulls, porpoise, and jumping mullett put on quite a show. If the weather settles, has been 40's-60's and 25 - 30 knts for couple days, they plan to come by and grill German beerwurst for us this weekend.

Total distance CT to Daytona Beach FL - 1340 stm