There is one thing I can say for certain about Kilkenny Marina. There is no middle ground with this place. Some cruiser love it, others hate it. Clearly, our fearless roving reporter, Captain Jane, is among this former group!

Sometimes you just don’t want to set that anchor and wonder several times a night whether or not that swift Georgia tidal current has you dragging into the marsh grass.
Kilkenny Marina offers just that respite between Georgia’s infamous Florida Passage and equally infamous Little Mud River to the select several boats it can take at its rickety yet floating face dock.
Kilkenny Marina is its own genuine Georgia coastal thing. Family run, with at least two generations visible, friendly and bereft of amenities but oozing authenticity, it’s a place we have enjoyed visiting twice in our decade of cruising the ICW and we’d happily do it again.
Special features of staying here include watching the power boats launching and unlaunching on the power lift by the transient face dock, in slip DIY fueling, hearing the waterfall like sounds of the
bait tanks while you sleep, a weathered and well-trodden ramp which at low tide makes you feel like a mountaineer, plenty of Spanish moss draped trees and gnats galore. Rachel Carson would be applauding in her grave at the news of this healthy ecosystem of gnats and swallows!
We love it here. And great news, the restaurant literally one dock over and a short land stroll away is open and thriving. Marker 107 is a seafood and steak restaurant that looks upscale yet homey. You can
spend a moderate or more than moderate amount for a meal depending on whether you go for the grouper sandwich, the Grey Ghost special seafood platter or a 12-ounce steak. The Grey Ghost is the shrimp boat docked outside the restaurant.
As you may have guessed from the restaurant’s name, just turn at Marker 107 and follow the marina signs down Kilkenny Creek. People at the marina say the food is excellent.
Marker 107 opens at 5 for dinner Wednesday through Saturday. It closes at 9 on Wednesday and Thursday and stays open until 10 on Friday and Saturday.

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Kilkenny Marina

The posting below from Captain John Haluska (copied from the AGLCA list) is very interesting, and contains a lot of useful cruising tips if you decide to go offshore along the Georgia coastline. However, let me make it crystal clear that neither I, nor anyone here at the Cruisers’ Net, is recommending the use of Wassaw Sound Inlet (see below). The one time I even had the nerve to take a look at this passage, we turned around and got out of there as quickly as possible!

Last year we were traveling though that area and were very worried about passing all of the low spots just before high tide and still being able to make a marina for the night. The tide cycle was not in our favor. We had good weather and decide to go outside. (Four looper boats)
The channel out of St Simon is great, no problem. Now it was where to duck back in. We were all trawlers and no one was anxious to do an overnighter. To make a long story short we called Thunderbolt Marine and they told us to come back in at Wassaw Sound Inlet. The chart does not show adequate buoys at that inlet, but the marina assured us that there were four more buoys to lead you from the sea-buoy to the charted buoys on the river. Just to be careful I called the Coast Guard and they confirmed the same.
The entrance turned out to be a piece of cake with one caveat. We navigated to the sea-buoy and then could not see any buoys. Talk about a bad feeling. Then I noticed on our radar one extra blip and
it turns out the the first buoy is very small and is located back to the southwest of the sea-buoy. We were far enough out that we went right by it on our way to the sea-buoy. We backtracked to that buoy
and then could see the next buoy to the North, and then from there the next buoy turned us West and into the mouth of the river. The river runs right up to the ICW and intersects just to the south of
Thunderbolt Marina. The run will let you pass most of the low spots in GA.
Safe Travels
John Haluska
M/V Emery El
DeFever 49 RPH

Two-Way Fish Camp should change its name to “Two Way Full Service Marina.” This facility offers just about every service cruisers would ever want, except for a Laundromat and Wi-Fi internet access.

Stopped at 2 Way Fish Camp yesterday for fuel, $2.60/gal for diesel. There are big currents getting in out of the fuel dock so you need to have your ship handling hat on or go in at slack. I was by myself and Jerry the dockmaster let me linger so I had dinner at their restaurant – was good. When I left I went down river a mile or so and anchored in the straight part of the river in 12′. Good holding strong currents. MM619.
Charles

Good Job Martha Ann,
Two Way Fish Camp and Mud Cat Charlie’s (restaurant)is an old stomping ground of mine. Hat’s off to ya for getting Martha Ann in and out of thefuel dock in any current. The fuel dock narrow fairway approach is 90 degrees to the current (which can reach 5+knts on the ebb) and the fuel dock area very tight and depending on the tide may be very skinny. We use to teach docking there because of it’s difficulty in certain conditions. You obviously passed!
Joe

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Two Way Fish Camp

I love dropping our hook on the waters of Wahoo River. It is amony my very favorite of the less obvious coastal Georgia anchorages.
You do have to be careful to stay east of a point abeam of charted Wahoo Island’s easterly tip. Just a bit farther to the west, uncharted shallows will be encountered.

Spent a very quiet night here yesterday. We anchored in 17 feet at MLW with only a slight current and almost no wind. The anchor grabbed at once and set great. Very peaceful as has been the previous 3 times we’ve stayed here. This is a great protected spot for anything coming from the North or East.
Larry Morrow

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Anchorage Directory Listing For Wahoo River Anchorage

There is a wide swath of opinion when it comes to Kilkenny Marina. Some, like Captain below, find this facility charming. Others swear they can hear the “Deliverance” music playing in the background as the dock is approached. Let us know about your experiences here. Click on the “Comment on This Posting/Marina/Anchorage/Bridge” link below, and share your Kilkenny experiences.

Jan 30, 2010 If you want to get some insight as to what it may have been like cruising the ICW 40 years ago, plan to stop here. Very straight forward going up Kilkenny Creek. Side tie on port or starbgoard depending on tidal flow. Restaurant is now open. Call ahead to be sure. Restrooms open only during office hours (7am to 7pm). Really nice folks and real country. There is one long floating dock. Very dangerous on a frosty morn’. We left Harbour Town on Hilton Head ‘“ stopped at Kilkenny ‘“ and proceeded to Brunwick Landing. A perfect stopping point. Capt Dave
David Jenkins

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Kilkenny Marina

Redbird Creek intersects the Georgia stretch of the AICW just south of Hells Gate and the Ogeechee River. We have always found this streams makes for a secure overight stop, UNLESS the wind really gets its dander up. With this sort of especially foul weather in the offing, the marsh grass shores may not afford sufficient protection.

January 14 2010, We are anchored upstream on Redbird Creek in light winds. This is a great spot. We entered at low tide and the depths are a bit less than shown on the chart but we never saw less than 10 feet. If you want piece and quiet, this is the place. The middle of nowhere but we still have cell phone service. The only problem is finding adquate swing room between the crab traps.
Dave Boxmeyer

Click Here To View the Georgia Cruisers’ Net Marina Anchroage Listing For Redbird Creek

Brunswick Landing Marina is located well off the AICW, on the shores of East River, near downtown Brunswick. This is a very popular facility with cruisers, particulary those who plan to stay in Brunswick for long perids of time.
Nearby, Jekyll Harbor Marina (Statute Mile 684.5) is located directly on the Jekyll Creek portion of the AICW, and these good folks are a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! This facility also features some of the friendliest folks you will ever encounter on the Waterway.

Clean, well run marina. Rates have gone up, $2.00 transient and $11.00 monthly. Electricity is metered and billed at $0.18 per kwh, 50% higher than I pay at home in Florida.
Fox’s retaurant has very good food and reasonable rates
Dick Hein

Redbird Creek is the first good anchorage available to cruising size craft, directly off the AICW, south of the Ogeechee River. As usual for this region, the shores are marsh grass, which does not give the best protection in really heavy weather. Otherwise, this is a fine overnight stop.

We are fogged in at an anchorage you described in your book, Redbird Creek, north of Florida Passage in Georgia. Great holding and depth just as you described. Nice save as we got fogged in yesterday
afternoon just after Hell Gate.
Captain Jane Tigar

Click Here To View the Georgia Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Redbird Creek

We had a posting some time ago here on the Cruisers’ Net informing one and all that the dinghy dock at the Fort Frederica National Monument was out of commission. There is good anchorage abeam of this attraction in the Frederica River, but the option of going ashore would make it ever so much nicer. Now, as you will read below, looks like the dock will be restored in 2010.

I just received this response from the Superintendent at Fort Frederica (Georgia) to my question about when, if ever, the dock would be reopened. Perhaps we’ll be able to stop and go ashore next year!
Bob McLeran and Judy Young

Thank you for your interest in the National Park Service at Fort Frederica National Monument!
This message is in response to your question regarding the boat dock along the Frederica River.
We are indeed planning to re-build the boat dock and have been working on it over the last months. Unfortunately, we are working at 1/2 the normal staff levels so we face the challenge of completing multiple projects with just two employees.
Our plan, at this point in time, is to aim for dock completion by March 2010. The park’s long term goal includes building a floating dock near the historic dock site in the town of Frederica. This will take extended planning and project monies to see to fruition but we are actively pursuing this project. It will prove a wonderful way to tie in the park history and provide modern accessibility to the site.
Again, thank you for your interest in Fort Frederica National Monument. Please stop by when you sail once again. Hopefully we will have the
dock completed by that time.
I look forward to meeting you.

Subject: Fort Frederica Dinghy Dock
Cruising News: It appears that the dinghy dock at Fort Frederica is being restored. As I passed by this morning, a park ranger was laying down planking on what appears to be a new dinghy dock.
John Viera
S/V Tyche

Your Email Address: lassman@summerwindjourney.com
Subject: Fort Frederica Dock mm678
Cruising News: Good news!!! We are currently anchored just outside Fort Frederica and their dinghy dock is currently under construction. There are a top few planks being added and for safety reasons access to the Fort is still blocked. However for spring time it looks like cruisers will be able to access the Fort!
Dick and Elle
m/v Summer Wind

Update – We anchored off Fort Frederica in late October, 2009 and snapped this picture of the dinghy dock under construction. It would certainly appear that it should be completed in time for the northbound Spring migration. Beautiful anchorage, by the way.
Jim and Nancy Tracey
M/V O’dea

The dock is there but it is a LONG way from the water at low tide! There is no evidence of a dinghy float yet. (4/11/2010)
Allen Ames

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Anchorage Directory Listing For the Frederica River Anchorages