Current Location: Duplin River off Doboy Sound:31'25.317N/081'17.742W
The question of the day was do I stay at anchor in the Frederica River in the face of gusty winds and rain and in a location that really is tight or do I run the risk of taking off for my next spot on the change that I'll get rained on and have a bad trip but will end up in a better anchorage? It was an easy decision and made as soon as I got up and saw how close I had swung to the shore. Even though the depth sounder was reading 16 feet, I wasn't 10 feet from the marsh grass and with what was coming it was time to go. And I was gone by 7:30am!
Getting out of the Frederica River was the first task. It is quite twisty and there are no markers for the channel with the exception of crabpots, and crabpots rule! I had to take it rather slow because even with the crabpots, what channel there was was narrow and, like I said , twisty. It meanders from one side to the other of the river and doesn't always respect the belief that the inside corner will be deeper than the outside. I was puttering along at about 4 knots not wanting to "become a stick in the mud." Eventually though, I made it out and got into the ICW when the rains came. They were not too bad. About five hard minutes, followed by five non-rainy minutes, followed by five hard minutes . . . . you get the idea. And that was pretty much the way it was the whole trip.
The wind never quite materialized though there were some rather big gusts. Going through Altamaha Sound, the wind and the tide gave me a great push, but only took it away as I made the turn up into the Little Mud River. Actually it should be called the "Lots of Mud River" and it is a real pain. I caught a sand bar right at the start but was able to work off of it. The channel in this river makes the channel in the Frederica look like a six lane highway. To make matters worse, what wind there was, gusts included, was coming straight down the rive and churning it up. As a result, the depth sounder was going crazy and I couldn't quite be sure if it was reading very muddy water or true bottom. It went from 4.3 to 6.7 to 5.5 to 6.1 to 3.9, man it was all over the place. As far as I can tell though, I never kissed bottom aside from the beginning. One good thing about that little stretch is that the tension and concentration kept me warm. Once out, I was just cold and wet.
I crossed Doboy Sound, right into the Duplin River and dropped a hook dead center about 1/2 mile from the Ferry dock. With the changing wind, ABISHAG has inscribed about 3/4ers of a circle and the water is deep and I come no where near the shore, well no where near as I did at Frederica. I haven't decided whether or not I stay just the night or whether I'll stay another day. The weather should be pleasant for the next couple of days but Friday/Saturday looks not so good. It is not a decision I have to make right now, so I won't.
The wind never quite materialized though there were some rather big gusts. Going through Altamaha Sound, the wind and the tide gave me a great push, but only took it away as I made the turn up into the Little Mud River. Actually it should be called the "Lots of Mud River" and it is a real pain. I caught a sand bar right at the start but was able to work off of it. The channel in this river makes the channel in the Frederica look like a six lane highway. To make matters worse, what wind there was, gusts included, was coming straight down the rive and churning it up. As a result, the depth sounder was going crazy and I couldn't quite be sure if it was reading very muddy water or true bottom. It went from 4.3 to 6.7 to 5.5 to 6.1 to 3.9, man it was all over the place. As far as I can tell though, I never kissed bottom aside from the beginning. One good thing about that little stretch is that the tension and concentration kept me warm. Once out, I was just cold and wet.
I crossed Doboy Sound, right into the Duplin River and dropped a hook dead center about 1/2 mile from the Ferry dock. With the changing wind, ABISHAG has inscribed about 3/4ers of a circle and the water is deep and I come no where near the shore, well no where near as I did at Frederica. I haven't decided whether or not I stay just the night or whether I'll stay another day. The weather should be pleasant for the next couple of days but Friday/Saturday looks not so good. It is not a decision I have to make right now, so I won't.
