Day 5...Cattle Pen Creek to Herb River

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

     After we went to bed last night we continued to battle the “no see ums” until I got the fan and aimed it toward the bed.  It seemed to blow them away before they could bite us.  Sleep at last.  They began to attack again as we prepared to leave about 8:00 a.m.  It took us longer to weigh anchor than usual because of all the sticky mud that was attached.  The chain and anchor were covered in it.  Thankfully Gary had installed a wash-down system on the bow or it would’ve been really messy.

    After the bumpy ride yesterday the trip down St. Catherines Sound and through Hell’s Gate in Ossabaw Sound was as smooth as glass.

See smooth as glass   

     As usual with the current against us about 75% of the time we averaged about 5mph at 1500 rpms.  We could bump up the rpms to go faster but we don’t want to use more fuel and we have time to go slow.  We don’t mind being passed because we think of the fuel we’re saving as some boats speed by us throwing huge wakes.  At the slower speed we use less than a gallon of diesel an hour.  At this speed we could cover over 50 miles in a 10 hour day.  We can always go faster and longer if we need to. 

     We saw a lot if dolphins today, but none of them rode our tug’s bow wake like they did on our sailboats.  It was always fun to have them ride with us.  I guess they don’t like the shape or speed of the tug.

     It started raining lightly just before we decided to stop in the Herb River near Savannah.  We stopped early (3:00 p.m.) so we could take a nap if we want to after losing sleep last night.  I have a book that I want to finish before we go to bed.  Hopefully we’ll have a restful night at anchor since there is a nice breeze to keep the bugs away.  Today we traveled 41 miles in just under 7 hours. 

View from the Herb River Anchorage