Brunswick Georgia, Wahoo River anchorage. dlf

   We pulled anchor off Cumberland Island early in the morning just after sunrise. For two days we have viewed the lights at night of the Trident sub base at Kings Bay. We could see the security boat patrolling the exclusion zone, but now we would get the chance to see things up close and personal. As we approached the base three Coast Guard boats with 50 cals were heading out, down the ICW. We ran the markers as far away from the base as possible. Getting haled by the patrol boats was the last thing we wanted. The base is ominous. The structures are huge. If you think about what is on this small part of earth its pretty scary. At one time ten Tridents were assigned to Kings Bay, not sure how many now. Along with the subs in port there are storage for the nukes they carry. The thought of enough fire power to wipe out most of the populated earth in one small peaceful, beautiful place, doesn't compute. There are two very large building that could easily house the Trident. I recall that back in the early days of the Tridents the SALT treaty required building that were sized such that half the trident stuck out so the Russians could see where they were. I am guessing things changed with the hiding sub requirement.
    We made the passage past Kings Bay without a hitch. We just watched the patrol boats with the 50 cals as they watched us. We were headed for Brunswick. Our planning for travel has changed now that we are in Georgia. Prior to this we didn't worry much about tide because our 3.5 foot draft boat let you get away with a lot. Here in Georgia the tides are 8-12 feet. The ICW is shallow in Georgia and can be a problem due to shallow channels. Dave wasn't a believer until we hit this stretch of the ICW. Just prior to entering the sound to head up the river to Brunswick he got the tide religion. We were running in water that was on 2 feet below the keel and the tide still had three feet lower to go.  It was hard to comprehend that we were in the ICW and our little 3.5 ft draft wouldn't hack it at low tide. In the intrest of full disclosure we were in a cycle of extreme tide swings.

  Brunswick is a small town with a nice old southern downtown with wide street and large oak trees. The town is in recovery. It has a great marina. We walked into town for a nice dinner at a local pub. Bets wanted to stay for trivia night but Dave pooped out.
  We stayed two days and then departed at zero dark thirty so we could use the rising tide to our next stop at Wahoo River. At anchor on the Wahoo we observed the effects of the extreme tide. When we anchored it was mid tide and there was marsh grass as far as the eye could see. We watched the tide reach its lowest point and uncover huge mud flats. Then the tide began to rise at two feet an hour. After an eleven foot increase, much of the marsh flats were gone. We were now much farther from the shore than we were a few hours earlier. Wahoo is a great anchorage and we had a great evening with another wonderful sunset.

The message, stay away or face the consequences.

I think this is a degaussing station. Look it up

One of the big Tridents

Trident escorts

We passed a large dredge heading south. Made us feel like we were back on the river system.

The large tide swings result in big currents. On some sections we got a push and on others it was a drag.

Big bridge heading to Brunswick

All sorts of water craft to behold.

Sunset in Brunswick.

Zero dark thirty. All lights on the nav equipment as we head out in the dark.

Odd spot for an eagle

 Shrimp boat staging to go to work.

Marsh grass going

Going

Gone