Little Mud River is almost universally acknowledged to be the worst section of the AICW. This “AICW Problem Stretch” lies some 21 statute miles north of Brunswick, Georgia. The readings below come from our good friend, Chuck Baier, an experienced and skillful cruiser, and confirm our recommendation to navigate this area at mid to high tide only.

We transited most of the problem areas on the [Georgia] ICW at or near low tide so we are sure we had an accurate depth readings. We transited the Little Mud at 2 hours before low tide and on a falling tide. Based on this the following,
depths would be at low tide. At Red `192’³ depth of 5 feet. At Crooked Creek, depth of 4 1/2 feet. Approaching Green `193’³ 4 feet, then 3 feet very near `193’³. Just past Green `193’³ 3 1/2 feet. At Red `194’³ 3 1/2 feet and just past Red `194’³ 3 feet. From Red `194’³ to the turn onto the Altamaha is all about 4 feet. Fortunately there were no other fools except us transiting at this low of a tide. We hope this will help others STAY AWAY at anything less than 2 to 3 extra feet of tides.
Chuck Baier

And some advice from another experienced cruiser, Chuck Gorgen:

Time to comment on the `rules of the mud bottom channels’. The deepest part of the channel is probably NOT going to be in the middle. Water current on a falling (ebb) tide runs faster than water on a rising (flood) tide, and the faster water cuts a deeper channel. So, the deepest place in a tidal channel is the outside bend in a falling tide current. The next deepest place is the outside bend on a rising tide current. On some curves where the curve is outside for both the ebb and flood, to will find very deep water and the possibility that the curve is even outside the charts. The situation at MM 704 is a good example of that. On some S curves you will find shallow water in the center of the channel. At low tide look at the banks, along a steep bank you will find deep water close to the bank,
along a gradual bank, shallow water. In some of the cuts that have been dredged, it isn’t always obvious which way the water flows, so you just have to observe which way the water is flowing at a given tide state. So, read the channel by looking at it, and don’t follow the magenta line on your chart plotter. Frequently, your chart plotter will show you in the marsh, and there have even been some places where the deepest water is outside of the buoyed channel! When your depth finder is showing less than the chart, wonder slowly back and forth looking for the deep water, sometimes the deep channel isn’t very wide. You actually learn a lot about a channel at low tide when you can really see it.
Chuck Gorgen

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Little Mud River

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