Savannah at Thunderbolt Marina - at a dock

Ann's parking space

We left the Wahoo River anchorage at 7:00 to make the Hell Gate passage at high tide. The day was mostly overcast, we miss the sunny days of Florida. Thunderstorms were due in the afternoon so we soldiered on. The first thin spot was Mud River but with a 6 ft tide, that was no problem. The next obstacle was Hell Gate which we also hit at high tide and doing the math, it would only have 3 ft at low tide, much too thin for our 4' 9" draft - however at high tide of 8 ft, it was no problem.

We made Thunderbolt at 1:00 ahead of all storms. We took on fuel but then had to move the boat to a tight fit between two powerboats. There was about 60 ft of space which sounds like a lot for a 42 ft sailboat. However, from the viewpoint of the helm, it doesn't look so big when approaching the spot, especially with a 1.5 kt tide running. Ann took the helm while I managed the lines and she made a perfect landing. She did our usual approach of about 45 degrees with a last minute turn at the end with full reverse to park Fleetwing. She's done it before, she's good.

Thunderbolt specializes in big boats!

They had my new 4D battery ready and waiting for me. The only problem was I needed help in getting it installed. Those things weigh about 120 lbs! On top of that, you have to bend over the forward battery to lift out the old one and install the new one. That was beyond me. Two guys came by for the installation. The one that did all the work would have made two of me but he still had trouble getting it out, heavy, heavy! While here, Jack Cothren paid a visit, always nice to hear from PYC folks.

Whenever we pay for a dock we want our money's worth so we do a fill up on fuel, do the laundry and top off our water tank and buy ice but we don't dawdle, it's off to Beaufort on Tuesday.