Isle of Hope in Savannah - at a dock

Isle of Hope Marina is literally right on the ICW, you can see the channel just beyond the docked boats

We left Kilkenny at 9:00 since we wanted the tide to build up at Hell Gate. I had mapped out a new route based on the recent USACE survey and wanted to try it out. In the fall, I had pretty much gone down the middle except for the dogleg near G89 which everybody already knows about. The main difference is in the southwestern part of the cut, the part you first go through when heading north. The modified route hugs the green edge of the channel (not the green markers, just the mapped edge of the channel).  So I lined up carefully and sped through. The shallowest part of the cut was after the entrance going north, 5 MLLW. It was deeper elsewhere. That's an improvement over my track last year where I found 3.5 MLLW.

I just marvel at these huge live oak trees. They are so different from what we see up north.

The USACE survey shows that route to be very narrow, just 20 ft off that track will cut 2 ft off the depth so you have to be careful but it's harder to do than you think. The wind is blowing, the current is raging and another boat is coming at you. Do you play chicken? Maybe he's following the same route but going in the other direction?! After all, it's published on my blog site.

The docks are floating concrete and they are very high, no step is needed to get off your boat

We had intended spending two days at Isle of Hope and meet up with friends in the area but then the weather forecast turned solemn with storms all day Friday. With that, we borrowed the courtesy car for groceries and did laundry (such excitement...) so we would be ready to leave Thursday for Windmill Harbor when we'll stay two days to wait out the coming storms.