June 9 Big Tom Creek

June 9

Great night on the hook.  Nice anchorage with plenty of room and a light breeze so we simply swung with the tide as it came in and went out.  Cranked up the generator before bed and  got things nice and cold so we could fall asleep easily.  That kept the temps and humidity inside reasonable all night.  Woke up to sunny skies and hot humid temps.  Already in the 80’s before 7AM and climbing fast. Another day with heat index above 100 degrees.  We got lucky yesterday in that storms were on the horizon but never hit us.   Looks like ideal conditions for some late afternoon storms today so our plan is to move another 35 miles and get anchored by 1PM.

Nice start to the day

Open waters on Sapelo Sound

Other than these big biting flies bothering us again today the trip was very pleasant.  Some people hate this section of the ICW with its miles and miles of winding water through the marshlands, but I rather like it.  Nothing but nature all around. Very peaceful and tranquil.  It was another day where we seemed to have the ICW entirely to ourselves.  The only traffic today was a single powerboat heading south.  Martha took the helm as I raised the anchor and she never gave it up until the anchor was dropped in the new anchorage and the engine was cut off.   She’s taken the helm plenty of times before but never for an entire day run.  She admitted it was pretty tiring doing it for that long, but she did a great job.   That left me standing with a fly swatter in hand terminating any that dared enter the flybridge. I really should have kept count on the death toll – it would have been very impressive.

Marshlands as far as you can see

Making room for the only boat we saw all day

Our route today was continuing around the back side of Sapelo Island, crossing the open waters of Sapela Sound, tucking in behind St. Catherines Island and then crossing St. Catherines Sound and finally running halfway up Ossabow Island to our anchorage at Big Tom Creek.  It’s a little narrower than yesterdays anchorage but still plenty of swing room after putting out an appropriate amount of rode. Light winds and an incoming tide made crossing the open waters of the sounds  a non-issue.

Dolphins  greeting us on the bow

As expected, storms did make their way to us.  Starting about 4PM we got hit with rain, winds, thunder and lightning.  Quite impressive watching it move across the marsh towards us.  Got to admit I’m always a little nervous during a lightning storm when we’re the tallest thing around.  Much prefer having some sailboats with their tall masts around me in that situation.   Things should settle down for the night and we’ll be off to meet up with friends at Isle of Hope tomorrow.

Storms a comin'

Storms passing through

Wind whipped flag

Clouds breaking up in time for the sunset

Eerie look as darkness fell

Things are starting to feel really weird.  After 15 months of traveling we’re just a few days away from crossing our wake.  Lot’s of mixed feelings going on.  

Journey for June 9