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From: Norm of Bandersnatch (no email)
Date: Mon Nov 13 2006 - 14:38:32 EST
I have gone out St Helena sound several times, even at night in dusty
weather. It is scary because it is very wide and open with dangerous
shoals all around. Always use a safe route on your GPS so you will not
drift sideways into shallows. Without doing this, you could easily go hard
aground even though you have the next marker dead ahead.
I took waypoints off the chart, the one I used had markers on it, and used
them to create a route on my GPS. Yes, it was scary, but we were never so
scared about the depth that we turned around. We made of our waypoints
abeam each marker and in other places to stay in the deepest water noted on
the chart. We draw eight feet.
We used the radar to spot the buoys and if they disagreed with the
waypoints we favored the buoys watching the depth very closely for trends.
We have a fish finder type depth finder which we like very much (with the
fish feature turned off) because it shows the trend of the bottom at a
glance, as well as the softness if it has a white-line feature, which is
the only kind I use.
The scariest place in that stretch of the coast for us is the easternmost
point of the path through St Andrews sound in GA while following the ICW
around and just north of Quick Red number 32. We have had less than a foot
under us there on several occasions.
Be careful following shrimp boats. Many are built to work in shallow
waters and have shallower draft than a sailboat. I almost came to grief
once doing this.
The ICW through Georgia is a pretty ride through unspoiled marshlands but
recently I have read that the ICW is so shallow in Georgia in some places
from lack of dredging that the CG has removed the markers because there
simply is no channel there.
In addition, living on a boat in Georgia is a crime.
Nowadays we go offshore by Georgia, between Fernandina Beach and Moorhead
City, unless we stop to visit Andina, bypassing all the grounding problems.
North of Moorhead there are no depth problems. Cirrituck Sound is rather
shallow but soft and easily passable for our 8' draft.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying 30 07.715N 081 38.394W
Julington Creek Estuary FL
> [Original Message]
> From: <>
> To: TWL2: <>
> Cc: R C Smith Jr <>
> Date: 11/12/2006 11:23:50 PM
> Subject: T&T: Re: St Helena Sound, SC info
>
>
> Copy to Bob since he is not on the TWL2 board.
>
> I've been in (and out) the St. Helena a number of times, but not
recently,
> with our 71 ft motorsailer. It can be rather tricky and I would only
> attempt it in good weather and good light. The channel shifts around
quite
> a lot so that is why the charts don't show the markers. The markers have
> always been correct when I've come in so I guess they move them as needed
> but if you can follow one of the local shrimp boats in, they do it
regularly
> and know the tricks.
>
> The scary part is (was?) the channel makes a 90 degree shift to starboard
> just as you cross the bar, putting you parallel with the breaking sea.
It
> looks scary, going parallel to these big rollers coming beam-on but they
> break on the sand bar and are minimal by the time they reach your boat
but I
> would not like to do it in seas more than 3 to 4 feet.
>
> That was 10 years ago now, it is quite possible the conditions are quite
> different. My biggest problem with the lack of marks on the chart was
> finding the first marker buoy to get started in. It shallows quite a way
> out so there is a wide space to search to get the first one. A good
radar
> to pick up the buoys makes it much easier.
>
> As you get to the area opposite Morgan Island, if you come that far,
watch
> your depth sounder go crazy. If you have a moving chart display you will
> get a nice square wave for the bottom of about 20 feet edges as you sail
> over dredge channels where shore based winches would drag the bottom, I
> think for phosphate.
>
> If you get to Beaufort, SC, call in to Heminways, my bar/restaurant about
> 200 yards East of the downtown dinghy dock, facing the waterfront park
> (still under re-construction). Have the bartender call Andina - I'm
usually
> only a few minutes away - and I'll come down to visit and buy you a drink.
>
> Live webcam access at http://www.hemingways.org/webcam/
>
> Regards,
>
> Ann-Marie Foster,
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "R C Smith Jr"
> Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 10:27 PM
> Subject: T&T: St Helena Sound, SC info
>
>
> > Anyone come offshore through St Helena Sound lately. I would appreciate
> > any
> > local knowledge. Coastal Pilot is vague, but entrance looks
> > straightforward.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Bob
> > ____________________
> > R C smith Jr
> > MARY KATHRYN
> > 1977 Hatteras 58 LRC
> > McClellanville, SC
>
>
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