Cruising savanna river from augusta to ocean...

[Bob]

Still Primitive

I keep looking at a road map of Georgia and South Carolina and see nothing regarding cities, towns, etc. on the river until you get to Port Wentworth. The closest town east by south of Augusta is Clyo, Georgia approximately 88 miles east of Augusta, and Clyo is three plus miles south from the river and my guess is, it might have a gas station!! If you had an emergency, had to get parts or make repairs, do not think this it is going to be a cell phone call and a high speed motor boat comes to deliver the goods in an hour. You are in southern wilderness, home of the snake, and the gator, no if's and's or but's!! If you run aground in that sailboat, BoatUS or Seatow is not going to come to your aid here. Add an extra 20+ miles on the distance just on the meandoring and ox-bow's. Marina's? Your kidding me! Maybe a boat ramp here and there.Personnally I believe your going to encounter a lost tribe of head shrinking Pigmy's, a mutated generation of noodle'ers, civil war prisoners still living in mud caves and god knows what else!!! If I were doing the journey and I have seen the Savannah River numerous times in Augusta and Savannah, I would mount a 50 cal. on my deck, take enough c-rations to survive for a year, a couple hundred flares and tow a support barge with a mounted crane. You might be the first to navigate the Savannah in a sailboat.....could mean Guiness World Record here!!!!!Sounds cool............

 

[MoonSailer]

A quick Check

I suggested the bass boat as a quick check of conditions before taking the sailboat. We went up the Tenn-Tom waterway spring 2006 and the first 100 miles or so were strange..make that the first 200 miles. Just north of Mobile the wife told me to dodge a log that turned out to be a large gator. The first night we couldn't find a place to anchor. The guide book's recommendation was not doable we tied to some pilings meant for barges. After Demopolis things seemed better !!!! The lower river snaked around a lot and there were sandbars to avoid but generally there was no problem. Barge traffic keeps the channel open.  But with a bass boat a quick trip would let you know places to stop and you could even duck into some anchorages to check conditions. You would know if you could stop and get some supplies!!!! A lot of useful information could be gathered for the enjoyable leisurely trip in the sailboat. By the way we enjoyed our trip up the Tenn-Tom. About 450 miles. I am looking forward to our trip down the Tenn-tom...that trip means we are retired and heading for the Bahamas for the winter.

 

[Bob]

No Barge Traffic

From what I understand, no barge traffic is on the Savannah River west of Port Wentworth, which is a mile or two west of Savannah and home of Dixie Crystal sugar. Once you get beyond Augusta eastward or westward from Savannah, your in desolate country. The river narrows, shoals and meandors too much to support barge traffic. Besides, based on road maps and access points, fuel stops would not exist. I do not think you can compare the Tombigbee, constructed by the COE soley for barge traffic to the gulf of Mexico with the Savannah River. The Savannah is a wilderness river that happens to be a potable supply source for several communities and a receiving stream for NPDES permitted industrial discharges. Augusta's industries have had a tremendous negative impact on the river near Augusta. Once well downstream of Augusta I am sure it becomnes very pristine as you get into swampy areas, watersheds and magnificent wildlife habitat. The Savannah River Keepers, just like our Chatahoochee River Keepers, monitor the river for health, promiscuous dumping and wildlife monitoring. I would think the Savannah River may be tidally influenced well westward of Savannah and brackish further upstream. Taking a bassboat down the river for exploratory documentation is the adventure to begin with; sort of like the first Apollo missions that went to the moon but did not land on it. The sailboat trip has to be the ultimate challenge, and I emphasize challenge.

 

[MoonSailer]

savannahriverheeper.org

These might be the people to talk to!!! They have trips in boats from the Savannah waterfront up to Augusta!!! 196 miles is the number they give. Write them and ask for some information.

 

[Ross]

here is a place to get a whole bunch

of information. http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/coast/northern_coast/savannah_river.html

 

[Bob]

Not Enough Info.

Their is a ton of information about the Savannah River near Savannah including Port Wentworth, BUT their is that great expanse of waterway over 100 miles long once you get away from the civilized world. Take a look at a Georgia map and you will see no towns, communities, nothing on the South Carolina and Georgia sides where you can get assistance or any support if needed. Thats what I have been preaching! Not to take away from the adventure once you are on your way east from Augusta I see that nothing exists for a long distance but local knowledge of the river and where do you find that? Driving from Augusta to Savannah south of the river its a very desolate drive. I have done it over a dozen times. And I never see signs indicating, "turn here for the Savannah River Resort Community"!! Or come, " stop at Bubba's fish camp on the river for beer, food and gas"!!If I were to do this trip, especially on a sailboat, I would never raise the sails until I was a stones throw from the ICW. For starters I would be calling each county along the river, both in South Carolina and Georgia and inquire as which department could provide Savannah river information. In that great big desolate section, you might find a wilderness canoeist venturing out. Otherwise you are definitely on your own. Bob

 

[MoonSailer]

Exploration and adventure

If you knew everything about the Savannah River then there would be no exploration. If you knew everything that would happen then no adventure. If you have a Dinghy with a motor you should be able to explore the river and have an adventure. Since it was used for barge traffic 20 years or so ago probably most of it is navigable. With the Mac 26 needing little water and Barges needing 8' or so you will probably be fine.

 

[48dodge]

Another practice run

Try putting in at Lake Moultrie, ride the lock down to the cooper river (very cool) then ride on to the Charleston harbor. A group of friends do that once a year with fishing boats, but we leave from Charleston early in the morning, go to Lake Moultrie, spend a couple hours on Moultrie dodging tree stumps, and head back getting home around dark. You still see a bunch of Hugo boats, the occasional alligator, and usually a couple submarines at the Naval station. I do like the idea of doing a practice run on the savannah river with a fishing boat. I'd throw a spare 5hp kicker on there just in case.

 

[Paul Bednarzyk]

Savannah River Trip

Jim, I used to live in Augusta and if memory serves me right there was a group that did the trip to Savannah every year but in power boats. I don't know if there is a web site, but a good starting point may be to research this through the Augusta newspaper. I do know they had to take extra fuel as there was no place between the two cities to fill up. By the way, there is no lock at the dam at Strom Thurmond Lake Dam, but the lake itself has several marinas with active sailors and there are some beautiful coves to anchor in overnight.

 

[Bob]

Water too low!!!!

Just a heads up....All major impoundments and rivers are at historic lows right now according to the latest Army Corps of Engineer report. Atlanta and Georgia in particular is suffering from a draught right now and the Savannah River is no exception. Here at Lake Lanier water level is dropping a foot every few weeks and the trend at "Level 3" (sort of like Defcon 2!)is not good for the late summer and fall sailing. That means our sailing area where we know we will not run hard aground (mud and tree stumps) is getting smaller. If you still intent on doing the Savannah River sometime soon, you better cut off an extra foot or two off that keel!Bob

 

[jim]

Been wondering about that!

been busy with my job....leave date is now around the 5th of august till the 12th. Leaning towards trailoring down from Augusta at least 2/3rds of the way to Savanna...spend more time sailing around and checking out the city...then head up towards Charleston. been checking out charts for good anchorage points between savannah and charleston...anyone have recomendations? We tend to like the more quiet/secluded spots. Probably hang in a marina or tthree along the way as well.Something I was wondering concerning the low water level...my boat only draws just over 3 feet with the centerboard up. But I had a wild thought about the water ballast. I will have the mast down...only two people on board...would it be better to prevent/deal with shoaling if I had less weight with the water tank empty?

 

[Ross]

Does a Mac26 draw 3 feet with the

board UP? When I have seen them on trailers the water line/boot stripe seemed to be only about 18 inches or less. I suspect that the Savannah is tidal almost all the way to Augusta.Edit to add : I knew that if I searched enough I could find some difinitive information and here it is. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-721

 

[jim]

I read it's tidal up 60 miles from the coast...

the rudder goes down 3'2" (so I have read, never measured it, and I have the ida rudder which may be a bit longer...? Not sure about the hull.

 

[jim]

no water ballast for river? The link below makes

me want to do the river even more *(side link from Ross's)! For sure, I'm going to contact people who have an good idea of the water depth with the drought (water ballast question; mast down, only two people...?). It's gonna be pretty neat to watch the goegraphy change..till I reach the lower river section, raise that mast and finally pull up the sails!!!

 

[Bob]

Think it over!!!!

Did you read that the Army Corps has not done any maintenance on the Savannah since the 1960's! Its obviously not dredged and no longer supports traffic. I still support the need to contact county and city officials along the river to inquire about exisitng river conditions, especially depths. With present drought conditions I would not rely on chart depths this season. Tidal fluctuations from the Atlantic is not going to make any difference a hundred miles up river. Although I have been very supportive of this endeavor throughout this thread, I have also played devils advocate because I feel that the water may be in many locations way too shallow to get your vessel through. With absolutely no outside support for many, many miles this adventure could turn into a major hassle. If I was to render any good advise here and in consideration of your timetable, launching in Savannah and exploring coastal Georgia and its great barrier islands and marshlands in a shoal draft boat will yield just many more sights and sounds in a safer environment then trying to navigate the Savannah with too many unknowns. If you persist on traveling the Savannah, then I urge you again to contact the right folks who know what river conditions are along the waterway.Safe voyagingBob

 

[MoonSailer]

Swing up rudder???

My mac had a swing up rudder held in place with a pulley rope arrangement. If the rope wasn't cleated then the rudder would swing up if I ran aground. I think that Ross is right about 18" . But you should be able to go about anywhere a bass boat can go. Without the water ballast my boat was pretty unstable. But with a pump you should be able to pump out the water ballast through the vent hole if you needed to float higher in the water. 1200#s or so of water in the ballast tank. GO up the River!!!!! Trailer your boat to Charleston and then sail back to Augusta. If you run into shallow water then just go back down river to the nearset boat ramp and call for someone to bring the trailer!!! I've found that I like going up a river much better than going down. You won't have to worry so much about the current pushing you hard aground. We really loved motoring on the Lower Mobile river. It was a little scarey but exciting too. There was no fuel from Mobile to Demopolis which is roughly 200 miles. There was a little fish camp about 100 miles up river near coffeevile. that sold fuel but it was unreliable so I carried enough fuel for 300 miles. About 30 gallons as I get about 10 miles/gallon. It is strange anchoring with alligators swimming near the boat. We had screens to keep out the bugs but only had one night when the bugs were bad enough to use the screens.

 

[Ross]

As for the tides affecting the water depth

100 mile from the ocean. if you look at the charts of the chesapeake bay you will find that Port Deposit is almost 200 miles from the entrance to the bay and we get a larger tidal range here than they do at Norfolk. The tides run up the hudson to Troy which is just a little south of Albany. The tides at Bangor Maine run 11 feet and that is nearly 50 miles from Bar Harbor.edited to change mile from Bar Harbor to Bangor.

 

[MoonSailer]

Lay of the Land not distance!!!

How high the land is above sea level is more important than distance from the sea. The Tenesaw delta in northern Mobile bay is near sea level and the tide affects depth up the river at least 60 miles. We had a following current or dead current going up the river. We started upriver at low tide deliberately so that we wouldn't have to fight a falling tidal current. At the end of the first day we didn't notice the tide. Mobile Bay's tidal range is normally only 2-3'.

 

[Bob]

Tides?

I would not plan the trip based on tidal influence from the Atlantic on the Savannah upsteam. You have to still factor in water depth at various locations starting below Augusta. This is not the Chesapeake, Bay of Fundy or Hudson. The Savannah is really a narrow river and you will be rather surprised when you come close to Port Wentworth heading into Savanah and see that getting around huge container ships in the narrow channel can be troublesome. Once you get close to the downtown portion its even tighter traffic. If you cannot power up sufficient enough to get past these ships not much space is available to get around. Their are no marina's anywhere near downtown aside from the retaining wall in front of two major hotels, held mainly for the paddleboats that provide several tours. Further east several marina's off the river are present where the waterway widens.