We left the Fort Frederica anchorage at 8:15, three hours before low tide to make sure we could get through the shoal water at the southern end of the Frederica River. All went well until suddenly we felt a bump...then a second bump that turned into a complete stop. Great! Our second grounding of the trip. Only this time we were stuck fast on a falling tide. Uh oh... Time to call for help. I dialed up tow boat US, sort of a safety net for boaters. If you get stuck and are a member, they come out to help. And so a long hour and a half passed in which we began to lean over as our keel stuck in the mud. Our boat needs 4.5 ft. Of water to float and we were now in something getting steadily less than that.
"How far over will we lean?" Asked Joanna.
"Uh... Quite a bit," I replied trying to sound casual. Soon we were leaning over pretty good. But in true western fashion, the guy in the white hat showed up just in time. Ritch from BoatUS really knew his stuff and in spite of my doubts had us floating again minutes later. The price: 1,000 dollars! But wait... Since we are members, the help is free! Whoopee! Lesson learned: keep your towing insurance up to date!
We moved on to negotiate Jekyll Creek, another bad stretch of skinny water, but all went well and we made it all the way to St. Mary's ga. We are gonna visit with dear friends the next few days.
Before I sign off here is a picture of tonight's sunset dedicated to all my friends on the wrong end of that snow cannon in Pulaski.
Oh, I almost forgot. Docking when the wind is blowing and the tide is flowing can be extremely difficult. We arrived late so there was no dock help and Joanna did a masterful job of bringing us in while I played dock boy.
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