The Joy of Greenheads

The Joy of Greenheads

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th May, 2025

Greenheads are also known as the green horse fly.  The Latin name is Tabanus nigrovittatus.  They are found in coastal marshes and wetlands of the Eastern US.  Now that you know they are a type of horsefly you know why they have been causing us some consternation.  We have spent the last several days navigating the salt marshes of Georgia.  Unfortunately, the green heads have been our constant companions.  Each day before we even get started moving, the little devils are flying around the screen in the companionway.  Once we get moving,  they seek us out from all directions and accumulate on the underside of the dodger and bimini in dozens.  From time to time something disturbs a few and they fly - usually into our faces or onto our heads.  I shudder to remember it.  Left to their own devices, they find their way into the cabin.  Somehow, it is here that the biting begins.  Believe me when I report that these bites are painful.  Yesterday we adopted a new strategy.  Not only do we spray our legs with a DEAT containing repellant, but we now also keep the board and screen lodged in the entrance to the companionway.  This is reasonably successful at keeping the bugs out of the cabin.  It is also a significant pain in the neck when trying to go below, but we reckon it’s worth it.  Initially we were trying to kill all the green heads in the cockpit.  They just kept coming —and we damaged our flyswatter. (A crafty application of duct tape has that back to working!) Now we concentrate on killing the few that get below decks.  As you might imagine, we are not enjoying cocktails in the cockpit, or dining watching the sunset.  These bugs are cramping our style.

In terms of travel, we have been sticking to our plan of traveling from three hours before high tide until sometime after.  Usually, this means we travel for six hours or less.  It’s been pretty successful so far.  There is a slight problem in that high tide moves forward about 1 hour later each day.  At some point we won’t be able to carry on in this fashion.  Now that we have left Georgia (crossing the Savannah River today put us in South Carolina), we were thinking that there would be less “skinny water”.  Sadly this anchorage turns out to be just shy of a very shallow gate that we will have to cross tomorrow.  Tomorrow the high tide is about 5pm, but we really want to get moving earlier in the day.  Our objective is to get to Beaufort, SC.  We would actually like to ride the flood up the river. However, the we don’t think there is enough depth to get out of the anchorage at low tide. Currently our plan is to get going early —a few hours before low—to get through that shallow spot - then carry on carefully through low tide until it starts to rise again.  Fingers crossed.  

As we got started this morning, our knot meter was working.  After traveling a few hundred yards, it stopped functioning and read 0.0 for five hours!  We figure some detritus got stuck in the paddlewheel.  That will need sorting out before we set out again.  It’s always something….

Gloria 

32 06.709 N, 80 54.162 W

Scenes from the coastal marshes of Georgia and South Carolina

Sapello Sound

Motoring down Fields Cut off the Savanah River

Ditto

Fields Cut off the Savannah River

The New River near Daufuskie Island

The Wright River

Survey vessel flying along Elba Island Cut

There are some impressive properties on the banks of the less remote areas - this one on Daufuskie Island

After sunset in the New River anchorage

One other boat followed us in the the New River anchorage