Cruisers' Net | Cruisers Helping Cruisers

Nov 10, 2015by: Larry Dorminy 1 Comment 31.8909,-81.0619999
Praise for Delegal Creek Marina, AICW Statute Mile 601

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According to a spokesperson at the marina, the MLW in the entrance to Delegal Creek is 3 ft with a tidal range of 8-9 ft and, as Cap’n Parky confirms, mid to high tide would be the best time to enter Delegal Creek. Once in the creek, there is plenty of depth, however the entrance channel is an issue if you draw more than 3 ft. The entrance channel begins northeast of waterway flashing daybeacon #86. just north of Hell Gate.
Recently had the opportunity to visit Delegal Creek Marina at Mile Marker 601 a few miles south of Isla of Hope. This is the best and friendliest marina I have stayed at for a while. Certainly it’s probably a good idea to enter the creek a couple of hours before or after low tide – which gives you an easy channel around 8ft or more. The marina offers a lower transient rate than average while at the same time giving first class facilities well sheltered from inclement weather. Super clean restrooms and showers, laundry, floating slips, clubhouse, and above all a courtesy golf cart giving you a delightful run through the woods of Skidaway Island to the Publix grocery store, Bar & Grill restaurant and other stores at the Village. If you have a motorised dinghy – great fun also visiting nearby tropical island beaches. I give it a Five Star rating. Call Dockmaster Billy in advance for a reservation at (912) 224 3885.
Cap’n Parky
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Delegal Creek Marina
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Comments from Cruisers (1)

Michael Dindore - November 11, 2015 - 10:20 am

This is an oasis, hidden from almost any perspective. Once you slip in it’s a place you want to stay. Mike was the Dock master and he greeted me with open arms and they are the nicest people you will ever meet. I docked talked to Mike a second and grabbed the golf cart and went to the Village to eat. No fuss no worries just enjoy the many vistas that are around every corner. The facilities are excellently maintained and the dock is clean and free of “things”. No live a boards makes a difference to the transients that frequent here. I am on my way to Houston TX and will be comparing all to follow to this Village. And for the faint at heart they will drive out, drag you off a spoil area, and when you get in treat you like a Captain. Don’t ask how I know.
Michael Dindore
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Nov 10, 2015by: Larry Dorminy 2 Comments 32.0853,-81.09139999
Report on Visiting Downtown Savannah, GA, Savannah River, off the AICW

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A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, the Savannah Hyatt Hotel is in the very center of activity on the Savannah waterfront, as affirmed by Cap’n Parky. River Street Market Place Dock is a few steps farther downstream on the Waterfront.
Here’s the up to date situation (Nov 2015) of visiting Savannah, some 6 miles or so up river from the ICW. Firstly the downtown public dock is now closed to boats of any size – I have no idea why. [See Mike Ahart’s comment below] The Market Landing marina [River Street Market Place Dock] is $3 per ft per night but the best deal is at the Hyatt Marina. $2.75 per ft transient [see Dockmaster’s comment below] but you get all the hotel’s excellent facilities – solid floating dock, 30/50amp power, impeccably clean restrooms, showers, exercise room, indoor swimming pool (with free towels), coffee shop and excellent (though pricey) restaurant. Next door on Rivers Street, try the roof top bar and grill of the Bohemian Hotel for a great sunset view of the Savannah River. Well worth a visit – Five Star Rating
Cap’n Parky
Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Savannah Hyatt
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Click Here To View the Georgia Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For the River Street Market Place Dock
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Comments from Cruisers (2)

Mike Ahart - November 12, 2015 - 1:56 pm

As for the downtown public dock (John P. Rousakis Riverfront Plaza City Docks), according to Shawn in the city office, only half of the dock had been closed to the public but as of Friday, Nov. 6, the whole dock is open to the public.
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Dale Martinez Dock Master - November 12, 2015 - 11:21 am

Hello Boaters: Just wanted to make a slight correction here, we are also $3.00 a foot per night during the summer boating season. However we offer the US Boat discount to members for $2.25 per foot. Our fall and winter rates are adjustable so come and see us. Our facilities are top notch and the amenties to our boaters can’t be beat. Thanks for choosing Hyatt.
Dale Martinez
Dock Master
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Nov 10, 2015by: Larry Dorminy 1 Comment
Nav Alert: Bahamas Chatter: Submarine cable near Matt Lowes Cay
Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits. Monty and Sara Lewis are well known in this area for their personal research and reporting.
Submarine cable near Matt Lowes Cay
Posted: 09 Nov 2015 11:38 AM PST
A submarine cable has been found to exist near the marked anchorage running from Matt Lowes Cay to John Cash Point. The area of disturbed bottom over the cable, near the north edge of the cove, may still be seen from the surface. Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 7.33.04 AM

Use caution when anchoring in this area.
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Chris - November 13, 2015 - 2:30 pm

If the owners of the property are around, they will come out and strongly encourage you to leave the entire vicinity.
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Nov 9, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 32.4197,-80.65899999
Herl Report: Ladys Island Marina, Beaufort, SC, AICW Statute Mile 536.5

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Ladys Island Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, continues making improvements in the marina portion of this property under the direction of owner, Kelly Ryan, as confirmed by the positive comments SSECN has received. Ladys Island Marina is located on Factory Creek just east of Ladys Island Bridge.
Ladys Island Marina
Arrived to a rousing welcome of “welcome home”. As you recall we were here last spring for a month. What a wonderful place. All needs are close and everyone here is very friendly. Shopping area for projects and lots of eateries very close. Love this place.
Phil and Sandy Herl
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Ladys Island Marina
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Nov 9, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments
Good Morning from Ortega Landing

Good Morning from Ortega Landing
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Nov 9, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 32.785,-79.819999
Good Advice for Problem Stretch North of Ben Sawyer Bridge, AICW Statute Mile 460

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This good advice was forwarded to us by Hank Pomeranz at Carolina Yacht Care of Southport Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! Skipper Wehmer has been communicating with Hank about Problem Stretches he had encountered. Funding for dredging the Problem Stretch north of Ben Sawyer Bridge has been approved but has not yet begun. See /?p=149544. SSECN continues to recommend mid to high tide passage for this stretch.
Hank,
From connector bridge to Ben Sawyer:
Favoring the red side found more water as suggested. At G117A and B a sailboat in front of us drawing 6.5′ went aground staying to the far red side. They had approx. 1.5′ of tide. They radioed us and suggested to stay 40′ off of those buoys, which we did and had about 8′ MLW.
For the balance of the passage, the notes you provided were good. If you draw 6 feet or over, we recommend waiting until there is at least 3′ of tide before making the trip, however, other than grounding next to 117A, the boat in front of us made it through with 1.5-2′ of tide.
We are going to try to go outside from here to Fernandina, but if we do not, I’ll send you what we find.
Bill Wehmer
S/V Island Bound
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For the AICW North of Ben Sawyer Bridge to Isle of Palms Bridge
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Nov 9, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 32.785,-79.819999
Good Advice on Isle of Palms Problem Stretch, AICW Statute Mile 459

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This good advice was forwarded to us by Hank Pomeranz at Carolina Yacht Care of Southport Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! Skipper Wehmer has been communicating with Hank about Problem Stretches he had encountered. Funding for dredging between the IOP Connector and the Ben Sawyer Bridge has been approved and one can only hope that the Isle of Palms Problem Stretch will also be dredged. See /?p=149544. SSECN continues to recommend a high tide passage for this stretch.
Hank,
We transited from Isle of Palms to Charleston yesterday.
The stretch between IOP marina and the IOP connector bridge: Stay in middle as suggested. We strayed right of center to see how depths were and it shallows very quickly from center. Lowest spot we saw was about 50 yards before the bridge at 3.4 MLW in the middle of the channel. Otherwise we saw 7-10′ MLW.
We are going to try to go outside from here [Charleston] to Fernandina, but if we do not, I’ll send you what we find.
Bill Wehmer
S/V Island Bound
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For the AICW North of Ben Sawyer Bridge to Isle of Palms Bridge
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Nov 6, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 35.8691,-76.75649999
Praise for Plymouth Landing Marina and the Albemarle Loop, Albemarle Sound, NC

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Plymouth Landing Marina is located on the southern banks of the Roanoke River, near the western end of the Plymouth waterfront. Our thanks to Skipper Evans for this excellent report.
Plymouth is a well kept secret and is the jewel of the Albemarle Loop. Plymouth is reinventing itself and has more plans for their waterfront. Their new docks are the best on the loop. And Brenda, who manages the docks, is a wealth of local flavor and history. She is very accommodating as is everyone in this town. Three museums to visit plus Civil War History make Plymouth worth the short ride up the Roanoke River off the Albemarle Sound. And, the cruise up the river is full of wildlife and color in the Fall. We spotted an Eagle during our recent trip. Add to this the free two day dockage with power and what more could the cruising boater ask for?
Doyle Evans
Click Here To View the North Carolina Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For the Plymouth City Docks
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Nov 6, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 36.0842,-76.40639999
Good Visit to Albemarle Plantation Marina, Albemarle Sound, NC

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Albemarle Plantation Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! is located off the AICW, on the northern shores of Albemarle Sound, on Yeopim River/Creek. Good reports from boaters like Skipper Evans and descriptions of this facility make a side trip up the Albemarle Sound very inviting!
The Albemarle Plantation is part of the Albemarle Loop. This loop offers free two day dockage and sometimes free power at each stop. Ports also include Elizabeth City, Hertfort, Edenton, Plymouth and Columbia. The Albemarle Plantation is a very boating friendly community and welcomes loop visitors. This was our first stop after exiting off the ICW. We had a port engine issue coming in and the dockmaster recommended Daneker Marine. These guys came out to the marina ASAP and repaired our problem and got us back on the water. So, we cannot say enough about the marina and residents in this area. We highly suggest spending time exploring each port-of-call on this loop. Each marina offers a unique variety of things to see and do.
Doyle Evans
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net North Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Albemarle Plantation Marina
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Nov 6, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 32.4277,-80.66929999
Ladys Island Bridge Returns to Old Schedule, AICW Statute Mile 536

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Good news: the Ladys Island Bridge has returned to its former schedule of only 4 hours of restricted openings M – F, after a 6 month trial period during which the bridge would not open for 5 1/2 hours 7 days a week. Our thanks to Mel Neale for this information as reported in East Coast Alerts Update. If you missed all the verbage concerning the restrictions, see /?p=147494 for a lengthy discussion of the trial run opening regulations.
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Bridge Directory Listing For Ladys Island Bridge
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Nov 6, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments 32.7818,-79.9579999
Herl Report: Charleston and the Harborage at Ashley Marina, near AICW Statute Mile 469

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The Harborage at Ashley Marina lies along the northeastern shores of Ashley River (on the Charleston peninsula), between the charted 56 foot fixed bridge, and the 18-foot Highway 17 bascule bridge.
Ashley Marina
Arrived at Ashley on Sunday 10/11/15, the tide was still rather strong and we had a small problem trying to get docked but we did get docked.
Monday. We wanted to see as much as we could, so we hit the Visitor Center first and then walked across the street to the Carolina History Museum. Spent about 4 hours in all. Both are very good and would highly recommend both for any visit.
Tuesday. We hopped on one of the free trolleys that are about 20 min walk from the marina and again went down to the Visitors Center, changed trolleys and traveled to Market Street. Again this was more than we realized it would be. We ended up spending almost 3 hours there and then walked down three blocks to Sticky Fingers for a big batch of ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans and drinks, Wow. Very very good, so good we decided to walk some more. On the way we were asked to be shown a Methodist church that is the oldest Methodist congregation in Charleston. That was an unexpected pleasure. John guided us hrough the entire church, including areas we don’t usually get to see. We continued our walk and ended up walking all the way back to the boat, boy were we pooped.
Wednesday, we took the city tour and then the Fort Sumter tour with the boat ride. We have been told you could take your own boat out to the fort but after looking at the docking at the fort and the current I would suggest you just take the tour. It’s simpler, you don’t have to move your boat and above all it is safer.
Sunday after boat shores day and a trip to the drug store we are heading to Ladies Island.
Phil and Sandy Herl
Click Here To View the South Carolina Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For The Harborage at Ashley Marina
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Nov 6, 2015by: Larry Dorminy No Comments
Bahamas Chatter: School Supplies for Long Island & Other Disaster Relief
Explorer Chartbooks, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, has long been the standard navigational supplement for enjoyable, informative, and safe cruising through the beautiful Bahamian waters and island visits. Monty and Sara Lewis are well known in this area for their personal research and reporting, as well as their concern for the Bahama local communities. If you can contribute, please do!
Posted: 05 Nov 2015 06:42 PM PST
We are all aware of the devastation caused to the southern Bahamas by Hurricane Joaquin. Long Island, Rum Cay, Crooked & Acklins were by far the most damaged with the storm sitting over southern Long Island for 36 hours straight with winds topping 135 mph.
Prior to the tragedy, I had started a drive to bring much needed school supplies to Long Island with the guidance & assistance of Ms. Dawn Simmons of the Ministry of Tourism (Salt Pond) along with local educators. Below is a list as sent to me prior to the storm.
School Supplies for Long Island & Other Disaster Relief
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Nov 4, 2015by: Larry Dorminy 2 Comments 31.8609,-81.08369999
Report from Hell Gate, AICW Problem Stretch, Statute Mile 602

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We began hearing of extreme shallows at Hell Gate last year, see /?p=145174 and /?p=146335. Now Skipper Horowitz gives us further confirmation that MID TO HIGH TIDE is a requirement for passage through Hell Gate. This is trusted advice…TAKE IT!!
Transited Hell Gate southbound today, Wednesday, 11/4/15, at 0825-0840, roughly Â½ hour before low tide 0902 at Florida Passage, Ogeechee River. Had a range of tide corrections from +2.09′ at 0825, +1.53′ at 0838, and +1.16′ at 0902. Tried to stay mid channel from G87, favoring red side. Ran out of water mid channel at G89-always interesting when the fathometer reads —, but no bump. Also saw a low spot exiting around 5.8′. ALTAIR draws 5′. This section is getting very bad again.
Mike Horowitz
M/V ALTAIR
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Hell Gate
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Al Sutherland - November 6, 2015 - 9:22 pm

Passed through Hell Gate at :40 mins past low tide. Sea Tow tide app. showed low tide at 1.5 ft above MLW (near full moon). 6′ was the lowest. we saw. From our chart there was a new Red 90 which we honored. We draw 4’3″ but still had white knuckles.
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Kevin R. Quinn - November 6, 2015 - 3:39 pm

Everyone hears all these freak out stories and they are anxious about going thru Hell gate. To add to the fear you always arrive around low tide. I live in Savannah and go thru the gate on a regular basis, on all tides. Yes it is low but the USCG keeps the red buoy in the proper place. The above Captain said he tried to stay in mid channel favoring the red side. Well that is what they call a diametrically opposing statement. You are either in mid channel or you are favoring the red side. One or the other, you cannot do both. The channel is the same as always. Stay in the middle keep, all markers and buoys at an equal distance to the proper side and you will be fine. When in doubt stay out. If you are anxious waiting one hour can make all the difference in the world. Pick up the radio and ask that local guy who is just about to go thru for help. Ask him to take readings for you. Again like the anxious captain above said after all that he didn’t even bump.
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