Into South Carolina MM 557

Coastal Living Magazine includes Sunbury Crab Company in this year's list of the 22 best seafood dives in the country, and the only listing in Georgia. While it is accessible by car, the restaurant is on the hill above the marina by the same name. Now, if we rated Lang's Marina a two out of ten, this marina is a one as there are no real shower facilities. Water depths of 24 feet dockside were offset by swift current, even four miles up the wide and pleasant Medway River. Would we reoccommend Sunbury? It certainly was easier and safer than Kilkenny Creek anchorage we stayed in in the fall, and you can plug in- a bonus in the Georgia heat and green fly season.  The large crowds here for fresh catch and the band are testament to good food- by seafood dive standards. By the way, Timotti's in Fernandina, FL, and J&J Seafood in Rock Hall, MA,  make the same list. This was the best of the three.

Today was another seven am departure to facilitate our passage of Hell Gate at high tide. Mission accomplished. Then we had to slow down considerably as we feared the tide would be too high for the under-construction-high-rise bridge at Thunderbolt. No bridge boards :(. We have passed mile marker 600, half way through the ICW and only 900 miles from home port! 

High tide or low, you can't have it both ways. At the end of ten and a half hours we pulled up to the gas dock at Hilton Head Harbor Marina. The description of  twenty feet of water at the docks was misleading. There is twenty feet at the gas dock, but only two feet in the marina at low tide. The gas dock it is! It's only one night, right? So what if the restaurant is closed on Mondays, we know fifty ways to make pasta after a long run like today. 

It will be an early night because its an early morning tomorrow. We are off to Dataw Island, then on to Charleston for a rest and great food. We feel fortunate to have this great weather so we are making the most of it. Dolphins swan with us all day today and swam under the boat  after we docked, spouting to get our attention. The sunset here in South Carolina was gorgeous. At the end of the day those two things make up for any flaws in our travels. We know how lucky we are.