S/V TIDES INN Sailing Adventures: Georgetown to St Mary's

The trials and tribulations of sailing. What was originally forecasted to be an ideal two day sail down the coast from Georgetown to New Smyrna, FL, turned out to be an ordeal, a very uncomfortable ride and, ultimately, a diversion to St Mary's. But at least we did not have the white knuckled experience of this sailboat we encountered on the way out of Winah Bay. We saw them tacking across the narrow entrance channel and talked on the radio. They lost their engine before arriving the night before and had spent 14 hours sailing off the entrance waiting for daylight. Now they were tacking their way between the rock jetties up the entrance. I think I would have not been brave enough (stupid enough?) to attempt that.

Meanwhile, our saga started with our departure down the same lengthy channel, but we had the full tidal current against us - 3+ knots directly on the nose. Since we only make 6kts overall, that meant proceeding at half speed and taking twice the time to get out the rough channel. By the time we bashed our way out through the rough waters and could turn downwind, we were already feeling the mal-de-mer beginnings.

As we finally exited the breakwaters and were able to make our turn to the south we experienced the next inconvenience. The forecasted winds had been 10-15kts from the northwest, which would have provided a nice quartering downwind sail. Instead they were 5-10kts from the northeast which placed them directly astern and not strong enough to allow us to sail. So we had to motor downwind rolling from side to side ensuring a good bout of sea sickness. We spent the entire day motor sailing down the coast. At least we were making progress getting south and avoiding the shallow waters of South Carolina and Georgia. By the afternoon we were motoring (not sailing) pass Charleston and heading towards Savannah.

As the sun set we were still making steady progress southward and still feeling not so well, but it was to get worse. The wind was forecasted to shift to the west and strengthen to 15tks during the night, which would have enabled us to sail to the south towards Florida. Unfortunately, it shifted slightly beyond due west which put it on our bow instead of the beam and increased to 15-18kts. Combined with out speed of 6kts that meant we had 20kts now to motor into. The waves began to grow steadily and by midnight were 3-4 feet and very steep and close together. The ride was becoming very uncomfortable. At this point, I had to admit to Sue that this was no longer fun. It was time to get off the ocean.

Unfortunately, we were now trapped between the westerly winds and seas that prevented us from making much progress towards shore and the Gulf Stream on our eastern side which would prevent us from simply sailing to the southeast with the winds we had. Normally, we could just sail off to the southeast with these winds but that would take us into the Gulf Stream and its 3kt northerly current which would basically stop any progress further south and also give us an even rougher ride. There was nothing to do but try to keep edging towards shore and into some inlet.

Initially we set our sights on Brunswick GA, hoping to get there before dark on the 5th. That would at least get us south of most of the shallow waters and meandering ICW through Georgia. But by morning it became apparent that was not going to be possible. The earliest we could arrive would be after dark and it would be a long sail up the Brunswick inlet to reach a safe anchoring spot. We began looking at the next safe inlets, St Mary's and Jacksonville. So along we bashed, making as best progress we could to the southwest.

The wind was forecasted to diminish during the day and veer back to the northwest, but as of noon it was still blowing strongly and the waves crashing off the bow. I was beginning to regret not pulling into Charleston the day before and waiting there another day before pushing south.

Finally, mid-afternoon, the wind began to comply with the forecast, slightly veering and diminishing. At this point I could make the decision to stop bashing into the waves on a direct course towards St Mary's and steer more southward, slightly off the wind, assuming that the veering and declining wind would allow us to turn to the west later in the day and motor to the inlet. That's exactly what happened. By 1800, we had much calmer conditions and were motoring directly on course to St Mary's. We arrived at the entrance channel at 9pm well after dark, but it was not a serious issue as St Mary's is a deep and straight in shot and by that time the winds were down to 10kts and not a factor. We drove straight up the channel and pulled over to the side and anchored at the first opportunity. We were all secure by 2230. If you click on our map position, and switch to Satellite view instead of Map view you can see exactly where we have been anchoring.

We spent all the next day at that anchorage recuperating from our trek, but the following day the wind came up again and we were rocking and rolling being so close still to the ocean. We got underway and motored up along Cumberland Island to a more protected anchorage area. Interestingly, Georgia has 6-8ft tides so at low tide we are well protected and sitting quietly. At high tide however, the water comes over the sand and shell banks beside us and the waves start rolling in. So we get 6hrs of calm and 6hrs of rolling here. But that's better than 24hrs of bashing at sea.