day nine - losing ground

Sail off anchor 6:40, steady but light wind.  Overcast, damp morning.  Sail out of the New River onto Ramshorn Creek, find a strong opposing tide.  Wind still light and I find we are sailing in place.  Wind falters and SPARTINA slips backwards in the current.  Go to use the outboard but it won't start, jibe back onto the New River.

While working on the outboard I look over the marsh and see three container ships transiting the Savannah River.  So I didn't miss anything after all, I would not have crossed the river with large ships in the channel.  Finally get the outboard running and motor down Ramshorn Creek.

9:25 crossing a tide line and the tiller shakes in my hand.  9:40 a second tide line.  At 10:00 I see there is a dredge and boom in the cut that leads to the Savannah River.  I'm unsure of the path between the two until a man comes out on the bridge of the dredge and uses both arms, kind of like the guys on the tarmac at the airport, to show me the way to go.  I find a fast current in the cut.  

10:25 on the Savannah River, 1:40 across the channel.  Raise full sail and motorsail into the current on the but behind McQueen's Island.  Pleased with the nice pull we are getting from the sails.  The cut leads to the Wilmington River where we pass beneath a bridge, find good wind on the south side.  

12:15 cross another tide line, making 5.4 with the ebb tide towards Thunderbolt.  Pass through the high end marinas at Thunderbolt at 1:40.  Very rough at the mouth of the Skidaway River.  Calmer once on the Skidaway, making 3.2 against the current.  

Wind falters and I find we are losing ground with each tack.  Motorsail up the river to red marker "42" where the Skidaway turns west southwest.  Afternoon wind fills in, tacking up the Skidaway and looking at the chart on my phone for an anchorage.  Isle of Hope seems to be a good spot for the night.  

2:45 drop the main and sail under mizzen and jib to where Isle of Hope sits on a sharp bend in the river.  Anchor down just outside the channel markers at 3:45.

 20.54 NM

Chicken and Dumplings