Leg 19, April 22, 2022, Richmond Hills to Thunderbolt GA. FUN DAY IN SAVANNAH!

Shallow water, deep water, narrows and wide-open water. We had it all. Travel to thunderbolt was beautiful. We decided that Georgia is prettier than Florida. We even travelled through Hell’s Gate. It’s an area that everyone talks about getting through. We did it without issue. It was a bit of a slalom course and shallow, so you needed to pay close attention to your charts.

Photos underway:

We arrived at Thunderbolt about 1:00 p.m. and were very pleased with the marina, staff and facility. We found out that we couldn’t get in at Beaufort, SC. until Sunday instead of Saturday so we were thinking about Hilton Head for Saturday night, but things happened and we had to stay at Thunderbolt another night and I’m glad we did.

The reason we stayed is because while we were docked a small boat with a grandpa and his two grandsons somehow lost control of the boat and ran into ours. Not hard, but we did feel the hit. I was sitting in the pilot house working on my computer and Glen was up on the flybridge on a conference call. I looked up right before he hit. He caught us with his bow pulpit and anchor and put a 6” gash on the starboard bow. Thankfully it is cosmetic and will be repaired once we are back in Michigan. We had to stay until Saturday and wait for a police report for the insurance companies.

So, on Saturday we got up early and washed the boat top to bottom (minus the starboard hull which couldn’t be reached). The salt builds up on everything. It’s a bit crazy. I could have filled my saltshaker just from what collects on all the rails. The police officer showed up while we were washing. Glen dealt with that, and I continued to wash. Once done we had a quick lunch, caught a ride from Uber and went into Savannah for the afternoon.

Thunderbolt is less than 2 miles from East Savannah. We took the Old Savannah Tour trolley which was a fun way to see and hear about the area in a short amount of time. We got off at stop 13 which was Bay Street (one level above River Street). We took the “stairs of death” (old steep stone stairs) to the river level and walked up and down River Street which was

Photos: Stairs of Death "use at your own risk".

bustling with people, restaurants, culture, art and history. We stopped in at The River House Restaurant and had a couple of drinks and appetizers.

Also at the bar was an interesting couple from Minnesota. We chatted it up with them for quite a bit. Some topics got a little political, but it was okay since we were on the same page. They were waiting for their 5:00 flight back to MN. About 4:30 we caught an Uber back to the marina.

Safe Harbor Marina was hosting a get together at 6:00 for all the boaters. What fun, and with free drinks and a Cuban food truck from which we could order anything off the menu. I had MOFUGO? Smashed plantains with a Cuban pulled pork and pig skins. Glen had a Cuban plate, of pork, rice and beans. We both really enjoyed our choices.

Meet, greet, and eat. With Rich Bergmann (from Charlevoix) and Sean (a young solo sailor we met).

Small world, we chatted for a long time with Richard (Rich) Bergmann. Rich is the owner of a local pub and brewery in our hometown and our granddaughter worked for him for a few years. Thunderbolt is one of his favorite winter stomping grounds.

EVERYWHERE, seriously, everywhere we go, people know and love Charlevoix.

Savannah: