Studying Georgia

Studying Georgia

Thursday March 18, 2021

Yesterday, we bumped into to a couple from the S/V Barry Duckworth. We had met these guys in Calabash Creek in North Carolina—way back when.  We mentioned that our plan was to start moving north and take our time going through Georgia—which we had skipped on the way south.  They told us that they had avoided Georgia completely now that the laws around anchoring (in Georgia) had become so restrictive. They claimed that effectively there were no longer any “legal” anchorages on the ICW in Georgia, although the law may not be strictly enforced. This was information that we had not heard previously and it seemed a bit troubling.

This morning, I decided to resort to the “interwebs” to find out what I could about anchoring on the ICW in Georgia.  Sure enough, legislation had been passed in Georgia in 2019 to prevent anchoring within 1,000 ft of any structure—dock, jetty, pilings, or building.  Also prohibited was anchoring within 1,000 ft of any shellfish beds.  The rationale behind the law was to prevent pollution from boats with “live-aboards”.  As the discharge of sewage in inland waters has been banned for many years, the new legislation probably had other objectives! Members of various boating organizations have petitioned the legislature and revised legislation is now in place.  

Studying the information on the “cruisers net” website we were able to identify those anchorages that are still allowed and those that can’t be used.  Overall, it seems to be much less of a problem than we feared, probably because of the revisions to the original 2019 legislation.  So we are a bit more relaxed about that aspect. 

A cold front is forecast to come through tonight leading to some strong winds over the weekend.  So, once again, we are in a wait and watch situation with regard to making progress northward.

Thanks to my family, we now have use of a car for a couple of days. My brother Paul and his wife Fran have leant us their car, which was made possible because Fran’s brother-in-law Clark has leant them his car! I know it sounds complicated, but this will make things much easier for us, in terms of re-provisioning before we get underway again.  The marina here is great but it is quite a distance from the nearest supermarket.  We are very grateful!

Gloria

27 39.509 N, 80 22.272 W

The beach at Vero Beach. Today was really warm (~85oF) and we walked up here in the early afternoon. There was a pleasant breeze but by the time we got back to Cotinga we were hot and sweaty and took teh dinghy back in to the marina to shower

Rafted up to "Always Home"

Rafted up to "Always Home"

Hanging out watching a film on Netflix in the evening