Saluting Captain Judy...

Captain Judy 

I love traditions and history. One of my favorite Savannah stories concerns Florence Martus, The world famous "Waving Girl" of Cockspur Island.  She greeted so many ships coming up the Savannah River that returning her greeting with blasts from a ship's horn became a tradition.

I was standing on the river downtown once when a ship passed the Waving Girl statue and gave a prolonged blast on the horn. I asked a friend, "why did they do that?"

"They are saluting the Waving Girl statue."

Now, how cool is that? Carrying on a tradition out of respect for our history is part of Southern Culture, and I love it.

Whenever I pass Captain Judy's (AKA Miss Judy's Fishing Charters) docks on the Island Explorer with a boat-load of tourists, I tell of her history here, and about her dad and his friend Al Capone and the diamond ring and the prohibition-shuttle. She is a living Savannah tradition, in addition to being a pretty wonderful human being. If she is on the dock either returning from or embarking on a charter, she smiles and waves, and we wave back. A few months back, I started having the passengers yell "on 3, HEY CAPTAIN JUDY!" It's amazing how much sound we can make. Judy smiles a huge smile and waves with both arms!

One of several boats running charters at Captain Judy's docks on Wilmington Island

It's fun, and everyone involved laughs. It's a small nice thing to do for someone, and doing small nice things make me feel better about life. It's my own little Savannah tradition.

Savannah's Waving Girl Statue on the riverfront downtown.

To learn more about the waving girl click here.

To learn more about Miss Judy and her fishing adventures click here...