On 9/22/09, as part of a “Georgia Wish List,” I posed the following question:

Have any of you brave cruisers out there tried to anchor on Moon River lately (near Statute Mile 595)? I took this body of water off my list of recommended anchorages several years ago, as we had difficulty in finding an adequate entrance channel. Did you have the same or a dissimilar experience?

Responses follow:

Hi Claiborne,
Thanks for all you do. I don’t usually chime in on these things, but your mention of Moon River struck a chord. I’ve been traveling up and down the ICW, alone with my dog, for a couple of years now. And anchoring in remote areas is always an adventure. On the way north this past Spring, I was heading for Thunderbolt and ran into some really nasty weather that slowed my progress. Also, ‘Hell Gate’, not my beloved ‘Hell Gate’ on the East River in Manhattan, but that nasty muddy ditch that I had to plow through with my 5’8″ draft on the way south, was being dredged (Finally!!) and I had to slow down and wait for clearance from the dredge. It was getting dark and I decided, against the advice of all the cruising guides, to pull in to ‘Moon River’ for the evening. Here’s my log:

1500 – Entered Hell Gate, a dredge, ‘˜Richmond’ was working told me to go ahead and pass through, wasn’t much help, the regular buoys weren’t there.

1800 – Realized I wasn’t going to make it to Isle of Hope so I cancelled the reservation. Found a spot called ‘˜Moon River’, the same Johnny Mercer and Andy Williams ‘˜Moon River’, that showed as an anchorage on the chart but not recommended by any of the guides. Took a chance and entered, anchored in about 9′, let out 90′ feet of chain and felt very secure. Lots of bad weather predicted for tonight. Now I’m going to find a place for my buddy (Salty Dawg) to go to the bathroom. He hasn’t gone in 2 days. T’storms passed and it’s a pretty nice evening.

1830 – Lowered the dink and pulled into a private boat club, no one was around until I pulled in and then all the neighbors decided it was a good time to take a walk, or a bike ride or a jog. Well Salty went, and went and went. One of the residents, who was very friendly, happened to mention that there was a 7′ rise and fall of the tide. That made me very nervous, but at least if I’m aground I can’t drag. Back to the boat, going to cook the crabs tonight. Salty’s very mellow.

Monday, May 18, 2009 ‘“ Moon River

0200 – Awakened by the weather, cold and very windy. Checked the holding, excellent. Winds NE 20-25. NOAA radio is calling for three or four days of gale conditions. Worried about not being able to get out of here before the full gale arrives.

0600 – Got up and was going to take Salty for his walk but, conditions had deteriorated and I had all I could do just to get the dinghy back up top. Now the challenge was getting the anchor up. First the snubber then maneuvering the boat for the hoist which went very well, minimal amount of mud and got out of Moon River with a lowest reading of 8’.

1030 ‘“ Pulled into Thunderbolt Marina, Anthony the assistant dockmaster is from Pelham, friend of Tom Lyons son Chip. Going to stay at least two days depending on the storm. Slip $1.80/ft. Very accommodating place.

I’ll be leaving on Tuesday the 29th and heading for Annapolis for the boat show and then it’s Morehead City to visit my mother and then to Florida with many stops along the way. I’ll try to contribute to your ‘Wish List’.
Regards,
Joe Nekola
MV Sea Pearl
53′ DeFever RPH
Lying New Rochelle, NY