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