Cumberland Island, GA to Savannah, GA

From Cumberland Island we headed to Savannah, GA, on 2 April, anchoring in Wahoo River overnight. Ellen and Woody on DOUBLE SS were there when we arrived. We, along with DOUBLE SS, had the anchorage to ourselves. This is a great anchorage with plenty of swing room, although the No-See-Ems were rather active. These little things manage to get through the screens on the windows. Now, if you don’t know what No-See-Ems are, then you haven’t experienced one of God’s more interesting creations. In short, they are very small insects that you can barely see (hence the name), with biting ability that rivals a horsefly. The locals call them “flying teeth”, and they are a real PITA.

After getting settled, we had dinner and then watched a full moon rise, which was absolutely beautiful. The colors of the moon and the reflection of the moon on the water were breathtaking. We had a quiet evening with almost no wind and smooth water--a great night to be at anchor. There’s nothing quite like sitting on the flybridge with a Captain Morgan’s and Coke, watching the sun descend into the water on a beautiful spring evening, especially if you are with your best friend.

We left Wahoo River anchorage early on 3 April headed to Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah. This was another gorgeous day for cruising. We arrived at Thunderbolt around noon. Phillip and Virginia on HARMONY were there when we arrived. Ginger and Laura on STARGAZER arrived a day later.

Thunderbolt is a nice marina with clean restrooms/showers and laundry room, and a security guard is on duty all night.

Tubby’s, Tank House restaurant is within walking distance of the marina. However, to get to historic downtown Savannah, you must take a taxi. You can get to a pharmacy, banks, grocery store, gas stations, numerous fast food restaurants, etc., on your bicycle. We rode our bicycles to the nearest grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, for a few grocery items to hold us over until we get to Charleston.

By the way, Mike’s long experience in the Army with ruck sacks has come in handy on this trip. Those of you who served with him can probably imagine that he would never leave home without one. When we go to the grocery store, he just loads up the groceries in his ruck and marches (or rides them on the bike) them back to the boat. So, all of you who thought he was crazy for all that rucking, well, there was a purpose for it.

The highlight of staying at Thunderbolt marina was that Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a USA Today newspaper were left on our boat every morning!! Now, those of you who know how much Mike loves doughnuts know that he thought he had died and gone to heaven!!

Early afternoon, we took a taxi downtown to meet Phillip and Virginia, and Doug and Sue on BEACHCAT, at Boar’s Head. Afterwards we went to Doug and Sue’s boat that was docked at the downtown marina. They have a beautiful Trawler Catamaran that is just gorgeous. We watched the tugs come and go and assist large container ships through the ICW. Later, all of us went to dinner at The Old Pink House Restaurant and Tavern.

We spent our days in Savannah being tourists, walking the city streets, and window shopping. Our last day there, we took a trolley tour of Historic Savannah. Taking these trolley tours is the best way to find out about the city. You can get off at different stops and then catch another trolley later and continue on with the tour.

We enjoyed our time in Savannah and look forward to visiting there again. As always, there is more to see and do than there is time to do it all. Next stop is Charleston.