Triangle Loop – Week 28 (Home Again!)

Nov 2nd to Nov 8th, 2025

Day 189 – Sunday, November 2nd, 2025 – To: Johns Island, SC
St. Johns Yacht Harbor

After a great stay at Wacca Wache, we headed out on Sunday. Our first stop was about 2,000 ft from our slip at the Fuel Dock. Wacca Wache has the lowest fuel prices in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia! $2.00 a gallon! Woo Hoo!

After topping off our tanks (and filling every empty water bottle, coffee cup, and flower vase we could, just kidding), we headed toward Charleston.

All of this territory is familiar to us. We passed Brookgreen Gardens, which are just getting ready for the “Nights of a Thousand Candles” celebration, then Sandy Island with the only South Carolina School Boat. We passed Georgetown and went down Winyah Bay to the intersection of the ICW. There we went by the floating swing bridge (one of two on the entire ICW), and headed down the ICW toward McClellanville. McClellanville is noted for the Leland Oil fuel dock, the Carolina Seafoods restaurant, and super skinny water at low tide!

After McClellanville, it’s pretty easy cruising to the Isle of Palms, just before Charleston Harbor. The Isle of Palms is a long, no-wake zone with many homes and docks. They are notoriously aggressive at enforcing the No Wake Zone, and DNR and the Coast Guard frequently patrol the area.

Once through the Isle of Palms, you enter Charleston Harbor. Here you can speed back up as you pass the famous Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Next, you pass The Battery, home to the historic Rainbow Row of houses.

We passed the Mega Dock at Safe Harbor Marina and turned down Wappoo Creek, the gateway to Elliott Cut. Elliot Cut is a narrow man-made channel connecting Charleston Harbor with the Stono River. When the tide is changing, the current coming through the cut can reach 6 mph! At this speed, slower boats like sailboats have to wait if they are going against the tide.

We went through just fine and reached Saint Johns Island Yacht Harbor just after 3:30. It took three dockhands to get us tied up as we were fighting the current. As we were tying up, it started raining a bit.

There is not much on Johns Island. They do have a courtesy car, but you need to have it back by 4:30, so we didn’t take advantage of it. Brenda made some corn chowder for dinner, which was excellent, especially with the cold, rainy weather.

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Day 190 – Monday, November 3rd, 2025 – To: Beaufort, SC
Safe Harbor Beaufort

When I was down in the engine room doing my morning checks, I heard a loud thrumming sound. I stuck my head out of the engine hatch and saw that they were moving a large crane past the boat. Saint John’s Yacht Harbor is expanding, and they were relocating the crane. It was out of our way by the time we were ready to leave. We had had some rain overnight, and the morning was cloudy and foggy, with just a light breeze.

Our destination for the day was Beaufort, SC. Aside from lots of twisty marshland, there’s not much to see along the way, except for Stevens Towing, a large shipyard on the Wadmalaw River that always has some interesting ships being repaired.

The creeks that make up the ICW in southern South Caronia have six to eight-foot tides. We were going through on a falling tide, and we saw lots of mud along the banks and some shallow water. Once or twice, we had less than a foot under the boat. The seabirds were loving the mud and shrimp we were turning up, and we had an entourage following us most of the way.

We pulled into Beaufort just before 2:00. As we were hooking up our power, we found that we had a hitchhiker! A small fish had jumped onto our swim platform. The seagulls had missed it!

After settling in, we decided to take a walk downtown. As we were walking, we heard a low rumble that grew louder. Two Marine Corps jets passed over downtown on their landing approach. Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort is very near town, and there is a constant stream of jets and helicopters overhead.

We stopped at a local bakery, Lowcountry Cider & Superior Coffee, and picked up some baked goods for breakfast for the rest of the trip. Then went to Q on Bay, a BBQ place we found on our first visit that had great Burnt Ends. We had our docking beer and a snack. It was just getting onto 5:00, so rather than go back to the boat and then to dinner, we walked down the street to Hearth Wood Fired Pizza. They have a “Pizza Bar” where you can sit and watch the pizzas being made. They use hickory wood for their oven, and the smell and taste are amazing!

As we walked back to the boat after dinner, we stopped at YoYo’s Ice Cream Shop. When we walked in, there was no one behind the counter. There is a small back room, so we shouted HELLO! And, after no response, I knocked on the door. Still no response! They have another store 1/2 a block away on the main street, so we walked there. When we walked in, a young lady had her head buried in her phone. I said “Hello.” No response, just her thumbs racing across the screen. I was getting annoyed. So I walked up to her and shouted, “I said HELLO!” She looked up and said, “Yes?” I’d had enough! I gave her a short, loud lesson on customer service and walked out. As we walked past the first location, I decided to stop in again, and if there was no one there, we would help ourselves to ice cream.

When we walked in, there was still no one visible, but when I called out again, another teen walked out of the back room. I think she may have been getting high. I mentioned that we’d been in before, and called and knocked. “You couldn’t have because I didn’t hear anything,” she said. I asked for the owner’s name and phone number. “I don’t know, I think it’s Steve something,” was her reply. That was it. We walked out again. I did take the time to find the owner’s email, sent a complaint, and left negative reviews. I doubt that I’ll hear back.

We had lost our appetite for ice cream, so we went back to the boat for the night. We did get an incredible sunset as a consolation prize.

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Day 191 – Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 – To: Thunderbolt, GA
Thunderbolt Marina

Today, we will cross into Georgia from South Carolina. Our route would take us down Port Royal Sound, past Hilton Head Island, and to the Savannah River, which is the border.

Just before the Savannah River is a mile-long channel called Fields Cut that connects the ICW to the river. This cut has a history of shoaling and can be tricky to navigate at low tide. We decided to leave at 9:00 so that we would reach Elliot Cut around 12:30, which was high tide. One of our toilets had clogged, so while we were waiting, I decided to fix it. I tried a plunger, but that didn’t work, so I disconnected the hose to clear it. From pumping with the plunger, the hose had built up pressure, and when I got the connection off, it spewed “stuff” all over the cabinet and my pants. Gross! So in typical boat project fashion, what was supposed to be a 15-minute job turned into a 45-minute job.

After cleaning up and changing my clothes, we pulled out of Thunderbolt at 9:15. We ran a bit fast so we could time our crossing of the cut to be close to high tide.

From Beaufort, the route goes down Port Royal Sound and passes the Marine Corps Parris Island training center. The sound can get lumpy depending on the direction the wind is blowing. We’ve had two uncomfortable crossings, but today, it was just light chop until just before we turned down Skull Creek toward Hilton Head. Here, the waves were reaching 1-2 feet, but they were pretty much behind us, so we still had a comfortable ride.

We cruised along Hilton Head Island and back into the creeks before reaching Fields Cut. As we approached, we heard a boater ahead of us radio a large container ship heading down the Savannah River. “Hello, we are about to cross ahead of you. Can you…. Oh, I guess we’ll wait.” These ships move pretty fast, and in the tight confines of the river, they look like floating buildings. The crossing is a bit tricky, as you have to go upstream a bit before entering the channel on the other side. The tide was outgoing, so unless you really gun it, your speed is limited by the current. We saw the tops of the containers passing over the trees as it went past. They made the right choice!

By the time we reached the crossing, the ship was rounding the far bend, and we had a clear shot across. From the crossing, it’s only about 3 miles to Thunderbolt Marina. When we arrived, we stopped at the fuel dock first to top off our tanks. This should be enough to get us home. After topping off, we moved to our slip for the night.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on the blog and, in the evening, walked up the road to Tubby’s Tank House, a nice little restaurant we’ve visited a few times. By the time we had finished dinner, it was dark, and we were treated to a beautiful moonrise as we walked back.

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Day 192 – Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 – To: Richmond Hill, GA
Kilkenny Marina

We have had several long days in a row, so we decided to do a short day and stop in at Kilkenny Marina, one of our favorite backwater marinas. Once past Kilkenny, there is only one other marina about two miles away, and that is a way off the main route. After that, you have 50 miles of the Georgia Salt Marshes. Unless you want to anchor (not our thing), Kilkenny is a great stop. Also, there is a restaurant next door, Marker 107, that is quite good.

As with most of the route through South Carolina and Georgia, timing your travels to take advantage of the tide is essential. The tides in this area are between 5 and 8 feet! Between Thunderbolt and Kilkenny lies a channel known as Hell Gate. This is a short 1/2 mile cutoff that they dredge constantly, but it always seems to fill right back in. At low tide, we’ve seen less than 4 feet of water in some spots. We need a minimum of 3.5 feet, so there’s not much margin for error. Boats with a deeper draft, like sailboats or larger cruisers with five or more feet, have to go through at pretty much high tide to be safe.

The tide cycles were in our favor, and high tide at Hell Gate was right around 11:00. This meant that we could sleep in a bit and take our time. We left Thunderbolt just before 9:00, taking our time. We fell in behind another boat doing about 9 mph and watched the scenery.

Hell Gate was a non-event. We never saw less than 10 feet of water, and we had a nice cruise the 10 miles from Hell Gate to Kilkenny Creek. We were happy to see a shiny new sign for the marina! The old was just a board with “Marina” and an arrow hand-painted on it. It blew down in a storm several years ago. We turned up the creek and arrived at Kilkenny Marina about 12:30.

We got tied up to the best cleats on the ICW (2×6 boards nailed to the dock), and settled in. As we went to check in at the office, they were unloading crabs from a boat. The crabber said they were going by truck to New York.

We spent the afternoon working on the blog and making the reservations for our final two nights before reaching home.

At 5:00, we walked next door to the restaurant, Marker 107, and had a great dinner watching the sun color the marsh grass, and then the moon rise. It was beautiful! As we walked back to the boat, the road under the sprawling live oaks was lit for us by the moonlight.

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Day 193 – Thursday, November 6th, 2025 – To: Jekyll Island, GA
Jekyll Harbor Marina

Our goal today was Jekyll Island. Jekyll Island was the vacation home of the Rockefellers and Carnegies and features an old Grand Hotel. It is now a state park. It’s one of our regular stops when transiting this area, as it offers easy dockage and some great restaurants on the Island.

Today’s tidal obstacle is Jekyll Creek. This narrow creek separates Jekyll Island from the mainland. It’s another area that frequently silts in. At extreme low tides, it can be impassable for larger boats, as the depth can drop to as low as 2 feet! We planned to arrive at 1:00, about an hour after high tide.

We left Kilkenny and cruised through the winding channels of the salt marshes. We had a beautiful day! High wispy clouds and almost no wind. There was not much traffic, just a sailboat or two for the first couple of hours, so the cruising was easy.

We saw on our AIS system that three tugboats were heading our way, each about a mile apart. We met the first one that was pushing a fuel barge just before a sharp corner. I radioed him and said that we would wait on the side of the channel until he was around the corner. He thanked us and said that he was trying to figure out what was floating in the channel ahead of him. It was a refrigerator! He said that if we found money in it, he’d get 50% because he saw it first!

Behind him was a small shrimp boat. They stopped and checked out the UFO (Unidentified Floating Object), taking care not to get it caught in their nets. The refrigerator (or freezer) had no door on it and was just floating along with the current.

The second tug was pushing a barge full of construction equipment. We met this one on a wide straight section, so the passing was easy. The third barge was a crane barge. We slowed a bit to let it round a bend, then passed. Passing other vessels coming toward you is easy as long as everyone slows down, and the channel is wide. It goes pretty quickly. When overtaking, it can take a while, you can’t go fast, or you will cause waves that will rock the other boat, but if you are similar speeds, it can take a long time to get past. Good boaters will slow down and pull to the side to let other boats pass.

We reached Saint Simons Sound, where the large car-carrying ships come into the Port of Brunswick, Georgia. No ships were entering or leaving, so we were able to zip across the sound, past the beautiful Sidney Lanier Bridge that crosses the harbor entrance, and to the entrance of Jekyll Creek.

We reached it at 1:00 just as we had planned. There was still plenty of water, and we made it through with only one or two beeps of our depth alarm, tying up at Jekyll Harbor Marina just before 1:30. As we were running our power cord, we noticed that we had picked up another hitchhiker! Two in a couple of days. These are the first in our 8 years of cruising. A few minutes after we arrived, “Jack” showed up to greet us and see what we had done with the fish. He’s a boat cat from the sailboat behind us. Very independent.

For dinner, we went to Zachry’s Riverhouse, which is at the marina. On our many stops, we’ve only eaten here once before. We always seem to be here on Tuesday when they are closed or when they are renovating. As we were walking back to the boat, we had another spectacular sunset! The colors were amazing! They keep getting better!

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Day 194 – Friday, November 8th, 2025 – To: Jacksonville Beach, FL
Palm Cove Marina

We could have made it home from Jekyll Island in one day. We’ve done it before, but it’s a long day. With limited daylight hours, we decided to split it into two days and stop in Jacksonville Beach at Palm Cove Marina. There is also an excellent restaurant there, Marker 32.

We pulled out of Jekyll Island at 7:30 to get in front of the many sailboats and slow boats at the marina. The only boat in front of us was the guys from “The Isle Of Misfits”, a catamaran, who we had met last evening.

Just past Jekyll, you cross Saint Andrew Sound. This crossing is either really calm or really lumpy! It’s about four miles across an area open to the ocean. The shoals shift frequently, so you have to watch depth. Fortunately, it was close to high tide, and the wind was calm, so we were able to cross with smooth water and take a shortcut across the shoal, which had more than enough water at high tide.

Once you pass the sound, you skirt along Cumberland Island with its wild horses. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any this time. Next, there is another section of Georgia marshland, before reaching the St. Marys River and the Kings Bay Submarine base. Here, you need to pay attention to the markers and stay in the channel, or deal with the Navy gunboats patrolling the area! We made it through without drawing any fire and ran down the Saint Mary’s River to Fernandina Beach, FL. At 9:38 AM, we crossed the border and were back in Florida!

We passed the Fernandina Beach Marina and the large particleboard and cellulose plants, then entered another windy section of the waterway. We made good time most of the way. As we neared Jacksonville and the Saint John’s River, we caught up with Serafina, a boat that we had been leapfrogging since Norfolk. They were behind a large tow pulling 12 dredge pipes that were at least 500 feet long, and a crane. Two smaller tugs were wrangling the pipes. When we reached a straight section of the waterway, we radioed them and asked to pass on the port side. The tow captain said that he would move over a bit and go ahead. Serafina typically cruises at 7 to 8 mph, to get around the tow before the next corner, he really opened it up to 11 mph!

We made it around the tow safely, past Serafina again (our last passing of them for the trip), and into the Saint John’s River. We cruised past the large BAE ship yard with lots of military ships, cruise ships, and super yachts in for repairs, then into the Saint John’s channel on the ICW. This area has narrow sections where bridges cross, and when the tide is going in or, in our case, out, the current can reach 9 mph. We only had one section with a heart-pounding moment. We were coming through the bridge with a 9 mph current against us when two small center consoles decided to come through at the same time from the other direction. One of them saw a big boat approaching and backed off. The other just blasted through. But when they hit our four-foot wake (we had to be almost on plane to fight the current), I think they wished they had waited, too!

Palm Cove Marina is just about a mile from the last bridge. We called them on the radio and had to wait while they figured out where we were docking.

Once we were in our slip and settled in. We worked on the blog until it was time for our reservation at Marker 32. The restaurant is one of the fancier spots in Jacksonville, catering to the medical, military, and railroad executives. The food is excellent, but a bit pricy. Since it was our last night on the trip, we decided to treat ourselves.

We started with the smoked salmon and trout egg canapes. For dinner, Brenda had the Ribeye Steak special, and I went for the pork chop with warm peach compote. The food was almost as good as the view, overlooking the marina and the waterway.

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Day 195 – Saturday, November 8th, 2025 – To: Palm Coast, FL
HOME!

Today is our last leg home! I was ready to leave at 6 am. Brenda wanted to stretch it out as long as possible. Actually, it was low tide in the morning, and the channel out of the marina is shallow even at high tide.

A little after 8, I convinced her it was time to go. I saw a string of slow boats coming up the channel, and didn’t want to get stuck behind them. We pulled out of our slip, and just as we got to the ICW, two slower boats were passing, so we had to fall in behind them.

We were able to pass one of them pretty quickly, but had to stick behind the other through the 8-mile-long no-wake zone through Palm Valley. After the no-wake zone, we were able to pass the other slower boat and made great time to St. Augustine. We were just able to make the 11:00 opening of the Bridge of Lions. From there, it was old territory. We knew every twist, turn, and shoal. Being a nice Saturday, there was lots of small boat traffic, so we couldn’t go really fast, but we made pretty good time, and at 2:30, we took the turn into the canal at home!

We made a stop at Palm Coast Marina across from our home to top off our fuel tanks, get a pump-out, and say hello to Roe, our local dockmistress! After we were done, we went across the canal, backed into our slip, and shut down the engines, bringing this episode of the Frog to a close!

We spent the rest of the afternoon saying hello to neighbors, opening up the house, and taking a few loads of stuff off the boat.

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Recap of the week

We traveled 423 miles this week, bringing our total to 4,074 for the trip. We have made it home again and completed our Triangle Loop Trip! Watch for a special announcement about the Frog coming up!

Trip Recap

Days:	195
Hours Underway:	372.7
Miles Traveled:	3,540 Nautical Miles / 4,074 Statuate Miles
Average Speed:	9.1 Knots / 10.5 MPH
Fuel Used:	3,817 Gallons
Nights in Marinas:	193 Nights
Locks Transited:	107
Draw/Swing Bridges Opened:	49