Moving south, the Georgia portion of the Atlantic ICW follows the Vernon River for a brief stretch, before heading through shoal prone Hell Gate. As Captian Rick notes below, it is a simple matter to depart the Waterway, and cruise upstream on the Vernon to some nice anchorages. Both of the havens he describes below are covered in my “Cruising Guide to Coastal South Carolina and Georgia.”
We have never had trouble with the holding ground near “Beaulieu,” but after reading about Rick’s experience here, we’ll take another look during research for the next update.

After a false start due to anchor dragging, we spent a pleasant night on the Vernon River last week (9/28). Our first attempt was near Beaulieu (N31d55.99m/W081d06.92m) in calm wind and ebbing tidal current. The hook set well for the first hour or so, but then an 8mph SSE wind and the newly incoming tide started us moving upriver. We relocated around the bend, past Breakfast Creek, to Montgomery (N31d56.25m/W081d07.69m) and stayed pegged to the spot in 7 feet (at low water) to 15 feet (at high water) through three tide swings. Next day we departed about one hour after high water and passage out the Ossabaw Sound north channel was pretty much routine.
Rick George, MV Hale Kai

Who is suprised, (NOT me) to hear that the name Hinkley is associated with quality service. I’ve always been impressed every time I’ve visited on of this famous company’s repair yards. Sounds like the Thunderbolt, Georgia facility lives up to this proud tradition!

After a recent electrical fire on board Life’s2Short I wanted to take a moment to thank the crew @ Hinckley Yacht Works in Savannah (Thunderbolt) GA. It’s so refreshing not to hear “Hmmmm, never seen this before?” from a mechanic when they step on board. The guys (Tim & Michele) who helped me rewire a number of items that got fried were fast, very knowlegeable & professional! I would highly recommend Hinckley to those of you who might need assistance as you travel the ICW!
I would also suggest to those of you who have a davit motor to check and make sure that it has some type of fuse or breaker in-line, ours did not. What happened was that over years of use the wire on the control box of the davit motor wore through, shorted itself out on the crane and melted the wire and every other wire that was touching it as it passed along 30′ of chase.
It’s quite scary when you’re anchored out enjoying the evening on the sundeck and all of a sudden your smoke alarm goes off. You then open the salon door and can’t see 3′ in front of you because of all the smoke rolling through your home! However no one was hurt (physically) and we were able to head back south to Hinckley under our own power.
Just thinking about this has made me thirsty, anybody for a Bloody Mary?
Brenda & Todd Lanning
M/V Life’s2Short