Heading South

Port Royal Marina, SC to Herb River (near Thunderbolt) GA – anchored

June 18, 2025

We’re heading south on Lailia for a few weeks this summer.  We only have these few weeks before family vacation at the beach and my return to work.  There are a couple of places in Georgia we’re hoping to visit.

Today’s goal was to go a little over 40 miles to anchor in the Herb River, the first place I ever spent the night at anchor.  We’re pretty much in the same spot as we were in 2022 but it’s about 40° warmer. Back in January of 2022 we wound up heading to a nearby marina after a few days because temps were heading below freezing.  Tonight we’re running our air conditioner with our generator.

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We passed sailing lessons in Hilton Head (there were many young sailors).

We saw a few para sailing folks in the Calibogue Sound.

The ICW intersects briefly with the Savannah River, near the Port of Savannah and its big ships.

The new Causton Bluff Bridge is 65 feet high.  One of the spans from the old, lower one still stands – it’s a little disorienting when you first see it, especially since no bridge really seems to be high enough when you look up

We’re tucked into the Herb River tonight.

Tomorrow we go through Hell Gate (not as epic as the name suggests) on our way to anchor near St. Catherine Island, a trip of about 47 miles.