Kathy and Jim’s Frederica River anchoring experience below was very different from that of Captain Arnold, as related in an earlier posting here on the Net (/shoal-at-northern-mouth-of-frederica-river-near-st-m-665-5). I’m glad to hear that there seems to still be a good way into and out of this stream to and from the AICW. It is a beautiful cruise as the river cuts into the western shores of St. Simons Island, and anchoring off the historic fort is a wonderful historic experience, which will be even better when the landing dock is completed (see below).

We anchored in Frederica River across from the Fort last night. We are a sailing vessel with 5′ draft and entered from the southern end at mid-tide and maintained a minimum depth of 9ft. We left the northern end of the river at close to high tide and saw no less than 10ft. this was very similar to the conditions we saw in the fall when we were going south. As always, there is shoaling at each end and you have to pick your way between the two shores and pay close attention to the tide. The park is working on the dock, but it is still not complete.
Kathy & Jim Bearden
s/v Charm

We went up the Frederica River from the south on 4/11/2010 and anchored just south of the fort. Although we only draw 3 1/2 feet, we set the depth alarm at 6′ and it never went off. The fort is a great place to visit, but if you go in at high tide in your dinghy and tarry too long, you will have a very long slog back to the river through very deep mud. A visit to the site is well worth it if you can figure out how to do it. We continued through the next morning, again never seeing less than 6′ all the way to back to the ICW.
Allen Ames

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Anchroage Directory Listing For The Frederica River Anchorages