Short day today: 32 miles from Kilkenny Marina & Fish Camp to Bahia Blue Marina in Thunderbolt, Georgia. I drove while we moored and unmoored; some while we were in the ICW; and the fun part, going up on plane – 2500 rpm, 19 mph – as we turned into the Ogeechee River. It’s wide and deep enough there not to worry about shoaling or the serious horseshoe bends in the rivers. And I drove through Hell Gate, a very narrow and shoaled passage between the Ogeechee and Little Ogeechee Rivers.
We had more biting flies today, but the closer we got to Savannah, the fewer there were. This is a good thing for us but not the food web. Every insect pest out here on the marshes – mosquitos, flies, gnats – is as vital as the thousands of acres of Spartina grass that nourishes life: shrimp, juvenile (and adult) fishes, birds, dolphins, manatees, and everything other estuarine life. Including the alligators (we’ve seen one now, a bold 6-footer who barely batted an eye when we came within a few yards of him).
The big action today was suddenly losing oil pressure in the starboard engine. Pete called me up to the bridge and turned over the helm so he could run to the engine room and figure out why we’d lost pressure. This is not a good thing – without oil the engine will overheat and shut down.
As I took the wheel, the starboard engine was off. It’s easy enough to drive on a single engine, though you have to use compensating rudder to stay on course. Unfortunately, I quickly realized I had no throttle on the port engine, either. There were were, in the Vernon River, with the tide starting to pick up, on one engine that wouldn’t turn more than 500 rpm, or about 4 knots, our clutch speed.
I steadied on an okay course, engaged the auto pilot, and ran to the engine room behind Pete. We never did figure out what happened with the port throttle, which magically began to work again. In the end, we decided the starboard pressure gauge was bad, not the actual oil pressure. Though it magically got itself back online, too. Yet more things to run down and fix.
Otherwise, I cleaned – the bridge and sun deck, which were crusty with pollen build-up and general grime. It’s good to be shiny again!
We docked around 1400. As I said, I was driving, so Pete was handling lines. Katie took a proud position on her bow turf and waited patiently for the lines to go over while wagging her tail profusely at the dockhands. She’s really taking to the life.
It’s good to be “home”. I have many great memories of Thunderbolt – Coast Guard small boating during the 1996 Olympics; the boat forces were mostly staged here in Thunderbolt. Tubby’s Tank House was our go-to for post-ops beers. Pete and I have stayed in Thunderbolt for R & R both on and off Irish Hurricane.
Best of all – we got groceries today!
Irish Hurricane 