Brunswick GA to Herb River (Anchorage, Savannah)

Today we did some miles.  We left Brunswick early and headed toward Savannah.  We have two nights to get to our reservation at Beaufort SC but we want to get there at a reasonable hour.   

I've got some boat packages arriving there so I can fix my toilet system - hopefully for good.   I have had it with Vacuflush problems.   23 year old Vacuflush systems seem to fail at a different spot or in a different way regularly.   

Katie's toilet - the vacuum sensor was failing.  The pump wouldn't turn on for a while after a flush and then eventually it would pump.  I swapped the valves between the two systems and the problem moved....  Thus I know it's the switch.  Vacuflush switches?  $175.  Insane.  Plus shipping.  

My toilet won't hold vacuum.  I replaced the bellows and the duck bill valves again in Brunswick and.... The problem remains.  There were days it would hold vscuum fine and others it would run and run and it isn't  leaking air at the toilet.  I could HEAR it by the pump so I think it has to be the bellows, duck bills or the actual casing that they sit in.  Either way the thing is 23 years old and the motors have been updated so I ordered an entirely new pump, bellows, casing, duck bills.... Everything . Those aren't cheap.  I hate Vacuflush.   If the problem remains when I replace the entire assembly then I'm going to have to get a professional to figure out what I don't know.   

My boat is toilet cursed.   Thankfully we have two.  

We arose with the sun and it was a beautiful sunny morning with no rain in the forecast.  Thunderstorms gone.  It was a wet two days in Brunswick.   Thankfully there were fun things to do at the marina.  They have a social director and the marina is huge.... Activities every night.  

Well, we cruised out of the East River...  Why it's called east river I don't know because it's on the west side of Brunswick.  

There are big ocean going freighters in here, not just pleasure boats - plus a couple of cruise ships.   

I'd attach photos but the blogging software insists they be upside down.... Even if I rotate them and save copies the blog software flips them back over again.   Go figure....

Here's one we passed on the way out that I took the 'right way' with my phone.... It was just coming in off the ocean and probably glad to be here.   

We were able to watch Calvary Church live today (two weeks worth) since last week we were underway and didn't watch.    We wanted to catch up with Tom's sermon mid week but it wasn't on the website for some reason.   It was there today.... So we did double duty before calling family.  (We do that every Sunday if our kids get together) 

It turns out there was one thing I didn't take into account when determining go or no go today.   Wind.   I didn't realize there are five or six - one mile to ten mile long stretches exposed to the ocean here in Georgia.   

The wind, of course, got to gale force winds and drove straight up the inlets so that I had to drive straight into the waves.  .

Thankfully our boat has 740 horsepower and can get up on plane and hold the front end high in the air.   This limited the water crashing down on the windshield but didn't eliminate the spray...    The boat is now very salty.     I'll need to wash it when in Beaufort. 

Still.... Not the nicest cruise day and we had to waste lots of fuel going fast to drive into and over the waves.     

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They say the worst thing you can have when boating is a schedule.   This is one section where we actually have a schedule and it's problematic but we are figuring it out.  

We are looking forward to having guests from the 30th until.....whenever ... as we will have multiple groups between Charlestown and Norfolk..  

Photos just don't do the conditions justice.  

There were times we had protection from wind and houses to see but they were far apart and rare.   

As we approached Savannah we are seeing more but most of coastal Georgia is desolate.   Nothing.  Just wind swept islands that are about 2ft above sea level.   

There were also areas only a few feet deep again.  

We hit the worst section at high tide so there could be no issue.  

The last one, however, was at dead low tide.   It has me a bit nervous seeing 3 and 4 feet depths on the depth finder.   

They call this one hell gate for a reason.  It shoals back shut almost as fast as they dredge it so the channel is tiny.   The waves were big at the same time coming from the ocean and crashing at each end.  Fortunately when in the channel itself there were no waves and it was well marked.  

Having two foot of water or less on both sides of the boat while driving in a trench is nerve wracking.  

We made it safely, however, and have reached the outer limits of Savannah.   

101 miles today.  That might be a record for a day trip.   The crossing of Lake Michigan was close.   It was further from Carrabelle to Clearwater across the Gulf.... But neither of those trips had shallows, curvy and wavy sections.    I'm tired tonight.  I am hoping I can sleep well...

Hopefully bow and stern anchors will hold (winds are still blowing and tide is about to switch).     The odds of pulling two anchors is low....