The AICW/Jekyll Creek Problem Stretch has had shoaling for some time now with reports of depths below 5ft at low tide. Mid to high tide passage is recommended.

1-11-12, passage thru Jekyll Creek, two past high tide of 10am saw water around G”19″ at 7′ depth from 30′ off of the green marker.
Capt. Mike

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The AICW/Jekyll Creek Problem Stretch has had shoaling for some time now with reports of depths below 5ft at low tide. Mid to high tide passage is recommended. Carl provides us with another passage report through this very shallow creek

I passed this problem spot yesterday (17 August) Northbound in my 35 foot sportfisherman which draws 3 feet. I got distracted and veered slightly east of the channel, just south of “19″. Realizing my mistake I headed due West, but then seemingly couldn’t find a channel. There was a brief period where I showed 11 feet but that vanished quickly and I was forced to navigate through lots of 8 foot water at least to Marker 19, and possibly a short distance further. What is impressive about this is that the tide at that moment was +6.3 feet, nearly high tide! That means there’s only 1.7 feet of water at low tide.
Skipper Carl

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Jekyll Creek

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The AICW/Jekyll Creek Problem Stretch has had shoaling for some time now with reports of depths below 5ft at low tide. Mid to high tide passage is recommended.

I followed my usual path thru Jekyll but found less water than on previous trips with as little as 5′ mlw in spots. Either I messed up on that run or shoaling got worst over winter. I’ll keep playing the tides…
Captain Pascal

We traveled this stretch on 4/27/11 at 1 hr.before low tide mid channel and saw no less then 7′. Follow the range markers listed as RW on the charts around the curve past Jekyl Wharf Marina.
Capts.Steve & Di Koch

May 2011: came thru northbound and 7′ MLW was the lowest reading i found mostly near G19 and along the range. I passed about 150′ off G19 then turned right on the range. Stayed on the range till past R16 (passed about 75′ away).
No depth issue between the bridge and the wharf. You just have to take it slow and found the best water as the “channel” is very shallow. On a previous run in April, I did find some 5′ spots around G19 not far from where i passed on this trip.
Pascal aboard MY Charmer, 70′ 6+ draft

May 28, 2011. Northbound on a 50′ trawler with 5 foot draft. Passed marker 20A at 4:56 pm. Passed marker 10 at 5:19 pm
20A depth 14.1 feet
20 depth 13.3
19 depth 13.4
17 depth 13.7
16 depth 14.1
13 depth 14.5
11 depth 17.6
10 depth 22.3
I hope this is useful.
Darrel Peters Aboard “Present Moment”

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As many of you already know, the Jekyll Creek section of the AICW, south of St. Simons Sound, is one of the worst “AICW Problem Stretches” on the entire run from Norfolk, VA to Miami, FL.

5 ft at almost low tide on 3/24/11 40 ft inside G19. Channel very narrow. Go very slow.
Skipper Stephen

I cruise this section of the AICW often. If you are heading south I would hit Jekyll Creek at mid tide and rising because you will want to hit the Brickhill River (south end) and AICW at high tide. Because that is a very bad section as well.”
James Rogers

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Jekyll Creek

Our “fearless, roving reporter,” Captain Jane’s, report below is one of the most in-depth looks at the AICW/Jekyll Creek “Problem Stretch” we have had her on the Cruisers’ Net. EVERYONE who will be traversing these shoal plagued waters this fall, or even during the spring of 2011, will want to take a CLOSE look at the account below!

So, is it Jekyll Creek or Hyde Creek? Is it ridiculously shallow and perilous or fine or something in between?
There are two well-publicized schools of thought on approaching Jekyll Creek. One is that it is so shallow you should only go near high tide on its way up. The other is that you should go at low tide so that you can see where the channel is. Other advice is to favor the Green side of the channel and some say the opposite.
A recent November morning, several boats ahead of us on first-light parade out of Duplin River and neighboring Georgia anchorages chose the low-tide option which happened to be when at normal cruising speeds most of us would arrive there. As the captain of the fastest boat in the group said over the VHF: We’ll let you know if we get stuck.
We compromised, throttled back and took Jekyll Creek at two feet above MLW. We chose neither the green nor the red side of the channel and observed the ranges with great fidelity and respect. We found nothing less than 8 feet of water and we practiced no form of complex intuition or sorcery. We also heard of no boats going aground ahead of us and presume the early morning group did just fine. While we were safely docked at Jekyll Harbor Marina, we did hear two vessels hail Towboat US for advice on Jekyll Creek and the Towboat US response was that there is a 3 foot spot at MLW and it’s best to transit Jekyll Creek at mid-tide rising.
We know that each transit is a little different and it’s not always easy to know if you were really in the middle of the channel — we could have been lucky. However, in our experience in the Spring of 2010 and November 2010, Jekyll Creek is actually Jeckyll and not Hyde.
Wait a minute — that’s not a picture of Jekyll Creek! Correct! Who has time to photograph Jekyll Creek with all the ranges and depth sounder “just in case” worship? This is a photograph of Faith Chapel in the Jekyll Island Historic District, among the homes and playground of the millionaires of the early 20th Century. Think of this as incentive to take the inside passage and transit Jekyll Creek. We encourage you to stay an extra day or arrive early enough to get in a visit to the historic district. It makes for a delightful afternoon. We recommend borrowing bicycles from the marina or walking (it’s about a mile) or asking one of the marina staff for a lift to the district. While there is a trolley tour, we’ve heard that walking is more fun and gives you an opportunity to enter buildings that are not part of the trolley tour. The Goodyear Cottage is home to the Jekyll Island Arts Association and features monthly exhibits. Through November is a show called “Blackberry Creek” featuring local artists — painters, sculptors, potters, and more. It’s a great opportunity to pick up holiday gifts — mugs, bowls, knitted hats, scarves … creativity abounds and your purchase helps support the artists and the arts association. In December, the gallery features the “Advanced Members Show.”
A favorite of our afternoon self-guided walking tour (with suggestions from one of the employees at the museum) was the Jekyll Island Faith Chapel. Built in 1904, Faith Chapel features charming architecture and wooden gargoyles and a signed Louis Comfort Tiffany window. This little architectural jewel is open from 2 to 4.
Captain Jane
S/V Lady Jane

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Section” Listing For Jekyll Creek

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Captains Bob and Helen continue their detailed reports from their southward voyage through Georgia.
As many of you already know, the Jekyll Creek section of the AICW, south of St. Simons Sound, is one of the worst “AICW Problem Stretches” on the entire run from Norfolk, VA to Miami, FL.
Note that Captains Bob and Helen’s reading below were taken only a hour before high tide. With a tidal range of approximately 8 feet, that means we must subtract at least 7 feet from the soundings below to discover what depths would be at MLW. Notice that means there would be 1 FOOT of water near marker #18 at low tide!!!!!!!!
Clearly, cruisers MUST plan to traverse this section of the AICW as near to high water as possible!

Larry, we hit Jekyll Creek about 1 hr 15 min before high tide.
Jekyll Creek, High Tide 1503. Entered Creek at 1345 Draft 5 ft
R8 = 18.6 ft,
G9=18.6 ft,
R10 = 13ft,
G..11=13 ft,
G13=13ft,
g17=13ft,
R18=8ft,
G19=13ft
R20=13ft (Time 14:04),
R20A=11.5 ft,
R24=16 ft,
Exit Creek 1415
Good Run down the middle of the marks. You need to play the tides Mid-to High
Captains Bob and Helen Kovach aboard M/Y ALLEZ

And, Captain Pascal chips in with the notes below. Though he doesn’t say it, I deeply suspect his readings were taken near high tide as well.

I came thru Jekyl on the Oct 30th (70′ MY, 6+ draft) and noted the following:
10′MLW all the way from northern creek entrance to G13
At G13, I aimed straight for R16 until about 200′ north of being abeam of the range marker, then turned to port to intercept the range. on this path, the shallowest water i found was about 7 to 8′ MLW just before the range and then on the range, all the way to G19 which I passed about 100′ away.
The key here, like many other places is to go slow and feel your way thru for best water as the channel is very narrow. it’s easy to stray off just 30′ and find very shallow water.
Pascal

G19 on range found 2.7′ corrected for MLLW. [Transit Jekyll Creek] Definitely [at] 1/2 [tide] or better.
Captain Ed Potter

11/3/10 9:30 am local, low tide today is at 12:47pm
PASSED GREEN #19 mid channel & saw 8.5 ft the rest of the cut the readings were around 11 ti 12t.
Mike & Barbara aboard M/V Elan

Well,clearly different cruisers are finding very different depths in the AICW/Jekyll Creek. See Captain Rogers note below.
I suspect these soundings differ because some are lucky enough to find the best water, while others are encountering shallows “in the AICW channel.” Jekyll Creek is still, in our collective opinion, the #2 problem stretch on the entire run from Norfolk to Miami (with Little Mud River as the #1 problem)

We came through Jekyll yesterday(11/3/2010) an hour before low and saw no less then 8 feet. I called Jekyll Island Marina and talked with them before transitting because of what I had read. They said they had seen no problems and depths were good and just stay in the channel. They also said going through at low was a good idea because you can definitely see where the channel is. I used the range marks and they were right on.
Richard Rodgers

Click Here To View the “AICW Problems” Entry For Jekyll Creek

This is good news and good advice in light of recent reports of decreasing depths in Jekyll Creek.

Submitted on 2010/10/26 at 6:22pm
Just traversed Jekyll Creek an hour before MLW (according to my “Charts and Tides” App on my iPhone – highly recommended!). I have a Beneteau 40 that draws 5′3 – came within inches of touching but never did. When you approach Green #19, stay in the exact center of the water you can see (there is hundreds of feet of exposed mud to either side of you at close-to-low tide). Great advice from the Jekyll Harbor Marina! It’s still pretty skinny (at low tide) from there to the bridge, but again – with a 5′3 draft I never touched…
Retriever

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Click Here For Another Report on Jekyll Creek

The interesting thing is that, according to my calculations, the tide was still better than 5-feet above MLW when Captain Bob took his soundings, described below. That means where he found 8.6 feet of water, north of marker #19, there would only be 3.6 feet (or less) there at Mean Low Water. Clearly, Jekyll Creek is very much still a portion of the Waterway that needs to be run near high tide.

Good evening, Claiborne.
Passed through here today (5/17/10) at 12:30 PM one hour past High Tide. Depth readings at mid-channel 100 yards North of Marker “19″ was 8.6 feet. Depths at Makers on either side (“17″ and “20″) were in excess of 14 feet.
Bob

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Section” Listing For Jekyll Creek