Three 'Toons in Perfect Harmony--Tritoon Trip Report With Chance and Leo

If comfort is your thing, this boat will make you sing. It's the perfect 'toon. 

Chance: Hey again, it's me; Water Dog number one with another story to tell about my day on the water! Jump on! Let's go!

Leo: Yeah, right. You forget that I was there too no-nuts!

Chance: Oh geez, are you sensitive much? Why don't you go stare at your person for five minutes and drive him crazy trying to figure out what you want. Let's talk about the boat ride!

Dan: There's an old saying about boats. "The two happiest days in a boat-owner's life are..." As a member of Freedom Boat Club, there is only one type of happiest day, and it get's repeated over and over each year. It's the day a new boat shows up for us to enjoy. With around 35 boats in Thunderbolt and the Richmond Hill fleet growing steadily, and all of them being replaced every two or three years, that new boat smell is a regular pleasure.

Want to ride through paradise with a licensed captain
and crew? We do that! Special family-group pricing for limited time
Call 912 657-5222

Like any new love, a new boat starts out being pure pleasure. It's only later that you learn how much work is involved in the relationship. Cleaning, storing, transporting, maintaining--not to mention launch and recovery. The list is long and the chores don't go away until you sell her or sink her. After a while you begin to wonder if you are the owner or if you're getting owned. Eventually a labor of love turns into straight-up labor.

With Freedom Boat Club? It ain't like that! It's just fun!

Get on the boat. Go have an adventure. Return to the dock. Step off and leave. That's it.

While the COVID 19 Pandemic has required enhanced safety and social distancing procedures; now more than ever, Freedom is the easiest and least complicated way get out on the water.

Not that she needs enlarging, but tap or click on picture to enlarge.

Leo: Any day on the water is better than being stuck inside four walls! You never know what you will see!

Dan; "Leo! Chance! Look at this beauty coming up the Wilmington River. She is (reportedly) the second largest privately owned sailboat in the world! She is visiting Thunderbolt Marine. Boys, I am glad we got to see her!"

Chance: Bow Wow! That's a BIG boat! Wonder if they are looking for a dog? Hey Leo, you are always looking for a better deal, right?

Leo: Nope, that's all an act to keep my person on his paws. I am happy right here on this shiny new boat. And doggone! Is it ever comfortable. There are seats everywhere; some in the sun, some in the shade. Hey, that sun is warm! Glad we got to do this today! Have you noticed that our people are around a lot more these days. I like this new way of living. I hope it lasts a long time!

Need more room? There you have it! Chance (L) and Leo (R) are happy!

Leo: You know, this feels like a good time to take a nap. And this boat is perfect for that. I hope we got to do this again and again and again. 

Dan: Me too Leo. Sweet dreams buddy. I love you and I'm glad you and Chance are here today. You both look pretty good for ten year old dogs. 

Chance: Later Leo. Don't worry. I'll wake you up when the biscuits get handed out. Yeppers! You can trust me.

Dan: So, while our club acquired several new pontoons a couple of years ago, and while we have enjoyed them many times, they didn't go very fast with any kind of load on them. It seemed like a power problem, and Tommy began replacing the 115 horsepower motors with 150's. That helped big time.

Now, any of them are fine for a slow cruise on the river with lots of friends and cargo. And the "150" powered boats will run noticeably faster. But it always felt like we were missing something on these 

two-toons. 

And now I know what was missing! A third pontoon running right down the middle! The tritoon offers all the benefits of a pontoon with none of the sluggishness. She comes up on plane, thanks to 33 percent more lifting surface, and as she does her bow drops down just like a runabout--albeit a BIG runabout. These boats are going to be very popular for members with lots of kids, or groups headed to Daufuskie. With two adults and two mutts we ran about 25 miles per hour at 4000 RPM. The motor was turning quiet and easy, and that speed feels pretty good and gets you there in good time. A color GPS with depth sounder and a Bluetooth stereo pushing four speakers work well and make for more fun.

Ain't nothin' like that "new boat" smell. 

As the motor is new, we didn't push it hard or leave it at one power setting for too long. We treat all these boats as if they were our own personal boat--out of respect for the machinery, the club, and the other members. We try to "be gentle to man and machine" (And dogs). 

Chance: I like how nice it is to sit up front in the breeze. The river is full of good smells and I get them first. This is fun! Let's keep doing this!

DOLPHIN! HEY COME HERE FRIEND! HEY OVER HERE! 

Leo: Really dude? Really? You spazz out every freakin' time! Okay, lemme look! Move! Gimme some room to look!

Chance: You know! I wish we could spend more time with dolphins. They seem pretty cool. 

Dan: As wonderful as it is to see dolphins in our midst, please don't attempt to attract them to your boat. Don't bang on the sides, and for their sake, never, ever feed them. As a tour boat captain, I see the aftermath of dolphins getting prop-struck. It's tragic. They have a natural shyness around us and our boats unless we feed them. A fed dolphin turns into a beggar, exhibits beggar behavior, and won't teach the babies to catch food. Feeding a dolphin is akin to killing one. 

Love them, look at them, enjoy them. But do it from a distance. Please! (It's the law, yo!)

Leo: Hey! What's that big thing over there! DOG! That's BIG!

Chance: I could have been a dolphin you know. I can swim, and I can go under water. And I love the water.
And I want to swim with a dolphin. Do you think they would like me? Would they play "you can't catch me!?!" I could have been a dolphin!

Dan: This is what keeps the Savannah River deep enough for Post Panamax ships to get to the port. This is also what brings the shark teeth up for collectors to find as they stroll the beach of Shark Tooth Island (in the background). 

The crew is working to clear the dredge head. It looks gnarly, aye?

Okay captains. Where in "the pecking order" (rules of the road) does a dredging
vessel lay. By virtue of what characteristic? (answer at the end). You can see
a big electric motor used to turn the dredge-head. The Dredge Vessel Savannah!

Dan: I wrote a bit on the Facebook page that goes with this blog about collecting specimens at Savannah's Shark Tooth Island. This sits adjacent to the Savannah River, and it is one of the locations where the spoil from dredging the river goes. As bottom that has lain undisturbed for hundreds of thousands of years is sucked up and deposited in a pile; lots of shark teeth see the light of day. Even megalodon teeth that are as big as your hand. If you go, take care that your boat doesn't get swamped or even flipped when a ship motors by in the river. The water goes out. Then it comes back--hard. It's a thing. Be careful.

The dredge barge gets pushed around. Charleston style.

If you have flown low over these spoil areas, you have seen the berm or dike that
surrounds the perimeter. Here you can see the pipe emerging from the river to
take the spoil up and over.

If you ever approach a dredging operation, slow down and see what's happening before proceeding. A dredging vessel displays day marks and special lights at night. Black diamonds or green lights indicate the clear side for passage. Black balls or red lights indicate the side that is not clear.

 Dredging operations are detailed in the Notices to Mariners Publication, along with any restrictions to boating activity. The pipe is lit at night and marked with buoys. According to NAVCEN, a dredge must maintain a listening watch on channel 13. Don't hesitate to coordinate passage if you are unsure of what to do.

Back in business! Floating pipe marked with white buoys.

Leo: I just want to say that I love this boat. Today was so much fun, and I love Maggie and Billy for having this wonderful new boat ready for our ride.

Chance: You cheeser.

Dan: We had a fantastic day, and rode the tritoon much further that we normally do. It just felt good to be back on the water after being cooped up for a while. Thanks to Freedom Boat Club for putting procedures in place to get folks back out on the water. If you decide to check them out, tell them SavannahBoater.com sent you, and most importantly;

Have fun and stay healthy!

Jeanne approved.

P.S. A vessel "restricted in her ability to maneuver" (RAM) is second on the "pecking order" list. She must give way to a vessel "not under command" (NUC).  All other vessels must give way (alter course and speed so as to avoid a collision) to a RAM vessel - such as the working dredge vessel in the pictures above. 

The End of the Road

Are you familiar with "The Fall Line?"

When Europeans came to America, they used the rivers of the eastern seaboard as highways and lines of communication for people and goods. Moving overland was difficult and dangerous. There were few roads until the early 1900s, and what roads there were became muddy slogs when it rained. Most often, any cargo was limited to what a pack-horse could carry. Boats, on the other hand, could float tons of cargo with relative ease, even upriver as long as the downstream current wasn't too extreme.

By Unknown author - http://www.wqed.org/erc/pghist/photos/PHLFarch/keelflatboats.jpg - originally Pittsburgh History & Landmarks, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1219600

The picture above shows two types of riverboats using three different forms of propulsion. In the foreground, we have a Flatboat or "flat." These were built upriver to carry many tons of cargo and a crew. Flats used the current for primary propulsion, with sweeps and a long rudder for maintaining position. They were built to float downriver to a port city like Savannah, where their cargo would be trans-loaded to oceangoing ships. Having served its purpose, this Flat would be sold for its lumber. There are probably some old wooden structures in Savannah incorporating planks that floated down the river in the form of a flat; carrying cotton, rice, or lumber.

Next to the Flat is a Keelboat or Poleboat. These boats were designed to go upriver against the current. This was hard work and required strong men wielding long poles and searching for a bottom to push against. When the rearmost man reached the stern, he lifted his pole and walked back toward the bow to repeat the push. The gent sitting on top of the cabin appears to be playing the fiddle, for entertainment perhaps, or to keep a rhythm to the work being done.These boats were narrower than Flats, so as to present less drag against the current. When poles could find no bottom, the boat could be pulled by the men on the bank hauling on lines. Hard, slow, work. Cargo pushed or pulled upriver would be much more expensive than that floated down. In the distance, a Keelboat with a square-rigged sail is shown.

So that's how cargo got moved on the water highway, but the highway had its limit. Up each river, there is a spot where the Atlantic coastal plain rises up and becomes the piedmont (literally "foot of the mountain"). At that place, there are waterfalls, and the river is no longer navigable by larger vessels like the ones pictured above.

On all the big rivers, a city sprang up at this "end of the road." In the case of the Savannah, that city is Augusta.

So-called Petersburg Boat, a pole boat of ten tons carrying capacity used on the upper Savannah River between Augusta and Petersburg, Georgia. From Harper's Weekly, February 26, 1887, 159. (accessed at Wikipedia)

River travel beyond Augusta was possible in purpose-built boats from Petersburg, a town situated at the confluence of the Savannah and the Broad rivers. These were called "Petersburg Boats" and their width was determined by a narrow gap in the rocks upstream. They transported a tremendous amount of cargo in their time. Petersburg is now underwater.
Do you know any other Fall Line cities? Do you know the number of the US highway that joined them together in a line, north to south, almost a century ago?

Von Reck Was Here First...

I feel like a Georgian. I came here from Fort Bragg in 1989 and was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield. After retiring from that duty in 1998 I stayed - like many other damned Yankees. Savannah has changed greatly in my 30 years of loving her, but her waterways are mostly the same today as when I first rode on them.

The ships in the river have gotten bigger, but the river is
much the same (albeit deeper) as it was in the 1730s. 

While cruising the river I reflect on the decades of memories; places visited and friendships made. But compared to my favorite local historical figure, Philipp Von Reck, I am a newcomer. Compared to Von Reck, we are all FNGs. He was here first.

Philipp was only 23 years old when he came to Georgia with the first transport of German religious exiles, the Salzburgers. In 1734 he helped them settle Ebenezer - Hebrew for "stone of help" - about twenty-five miles northwest of Savannah on a small creek with the same name. Von Reck went home to Augsburg in the south of Germany and came back with another group of exiles in the spring of 1736.

Upon his second arrival with the third transport of exiles, Von Reck convinced Oglethorpe to permit the upriver settlers to move their town from its initial and unsuitable location on Ebenezer Creek to the place where that creek joins the Savannah River. It's inspiring and indicative of the quality of his character that at such a young age he felt obliged to do everything in his power - to risk life and limb and fortune - for others.

He almost died for his endeavors. If he were alive today, I would be tempted to call him the Badass Baron from Bavaria.

That new town up the river was named "New Ebenezer" and it is part and parcel of Georgia history, even impacting the prohibition on strong spirits in effect during the colony's early years. You can read about the rum-for-timber scheme in the "Rum Runners" post on this blog.

Sidebar:
Along with Michael Neal, owner of Bull River Cruises and pictured here, I do tours up the Savannah River to Ebenezer Creek and the site of New Ebeneezer. The river we traverse today is little changed from its appearance when Von Reck was here. If you are interested in riding through history and seeing these sights - and today's modern Port of Savannah - contact me at:
foulds.daniel@gmail.com
or call 912 657-5222

The Savannah River. It is unspoiled, largely undeveloped, and exceedingly beautiful. Georgia lays to the left and South Carolina to the right. In Von Reck's time, "Indian trade" boats - long narrow-hulled dugouts - plied the river regularly. Paddling or poling upriver was a slog. The return was an easy drift with the current. Larger cargo vessels - flats - were built upriver, floated down to Savannah, and sold off for the lumber.

 Ebenezer Creek, a blackwater stream, was a source of cypress tree trunks; excellent for making dugout canoes and periaguas. The creek was the path for much Salzburger timber to be floated to the Savannah River and thence down to Savannah. Remains of piers and old pilings exist today. This ride is a trip back through time.

Ebenezer Creek is also the location of a civil-war tragedy in which hundreds of newly-freed slaves drowned while attempting to follow a column of Union soldiers as Confederate troops closed in on them. This event led to General Sherman's Special Field Order Number 15 which ceded the barrier islands and lands adjacent to the St. Johns River in Florida to Freedmen. You may remember references to "Forty acres and a mule." This order was rescinded after President Lincoln was assassinated.

Now, back to our story...

There was a flurry of simultaneous activity taking place in Georgia as New Ebenezer was coming to life. Oglethorpe directed the construction of a new church and pier at Savannah. He also sought to establish and strengthen outposts south of Savannah to serve as a defense against the Spaniards at St. Augustine. The Spanish were incensed at the British incursion into - what they viewed as - their lands.  Both Darien, settled by Scottish Highlanders, and Fort Frederica, a military garrison supported by immigrant-settlers, were created for this purpose. 

Learn more about Fort Frederica here.

Fort Frederica when fully developed. Image courtesy National Park Service

Wanting to further coordinate and secure Oglethorpe's support for the Salzburgers, and also perhaps to learn and see more of Georgia, Von Reck became part of a party making a journey by boat from Savannah southward  - in effect he was chasing Oglethorpe who had headed south himself with a contingent of people and supplies, prior to Von Reck's departure on the 19th of May. Von Reck is remarkable not only for his copious note-taking about the things he was seeing but also for his detailed sketches. In an age before cameras, Philipp did us the tremendous favor of creating images with pencil and paper. These images were almost lost to history.

“In 1976 a Danish scholar, searching through heaps of manuscripts in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, found an old sketchbook, lost and forgotten for two hundred years, with some fifty beautiful drawings of colonial Georgia. The drawings belonged to and were presumably made by a twenty-five-year-old German colonist, Philip Georg Friedrich von Reck, who came with the Salzburgers to Georgia in 1736. When he died in the 1790’s the drawings were given to the King of Denmark, in whose library they remained unknown for two centuries…Von Reck kept a vivid diary and made detailed pictures of what he saw in Georgia ..." Kristian Hvidt in "Von Reck's Voyage to Georgia in 1736")

After leaving the Savannah River on their journey to Frederica, Von Reck passed through what was then known as St. Augustine Creek (perhaps because it was the beginning of the inland passage to St. Augustine - today's Wilmington River) and passed by what would later become Causton's Bluff.

Von Reck's sketch of 1. An Indian trade boat working up the Savannah River and
2. Mr. Causton's design for a cargo vessel (top and bottom view). Von Reck
derided Causton's design as being unsuitable for the river, but Causton's Bluff
is on a tidal river. Twice each day that river goes each way.

His party rowed, sailed, or drifted past Thunderbolt and "Skidoway," and in the evening passed through "Skidoway Marsh."  He might have been describing today's Romerly Marsh, lying between Skidaway and Wassaw Islands. or they might have taken the Skidaway River past the future Isle of Hope and Wormsloe Plantation of Noble Jones. (Jones was an all-purpose can-do kind of man. He surveyed New Ebenezer and much or all of Savannah and Augusta.)

Skidaway Narrows was not the route used by commercial traffic until the Army Corps of Engineers dug and dredged a waterway there in 1905.  Prior to the dredging, the Narrows were described in a Corps report as being so narrow that a rowboat would have its oars in the marsh on each side. But passage through the narrows must have been possible or else Wormsloe wouldn't have been built where it is,  to warn of Spanish attack ( I have been told that Wormsloe, on the Skidaway River south of town, is situated such that a rider on a galloping horse could warn Savannah of an attacking force coming up the inland passage. Any further south and the horse would collapse...)

Von Reck wrote that after passing through Skidaway Marsh "our boat had gone on a sandbank, so we had to jump into the water and push it until we found deep water." It might please Philipp to know that Savannah boaters still find themselves on sandbanks and have to jump in and push for deeper water. After all, there are two kinds of boaters here; those who have run aground and those who will. Our nutrient and sediment-rich waters obscure the view to a few feet in the winter and inches in the summer.  The swift tidal currents created by 6 to 9-foot tides scour deep holes and create massive bars, and these two features are often located within a few yards of each other.

When Von Reck ran aground  he was probably in some part of Ossabaw Sound, maybe in the area that we now call "Hell Gate." (Or Hell's Gate)  As the inland passage to Fort Frederica (and on to Florida) proceeds southwest from that point, it makes sense that they would have passed through there. In his account of the journey, Philipp next mentions that they came upon a "petiager" - perhaps returning to Savannah from Darien or Frederica - and he drew a picture of it. The name, in all its forms and spellings, is derived from the Carib-language word for a dugout canoe hewn from one or two solid tree trunks. The periagua was the pickup truck of the river and it was as important to the history of "here" as anything ever was.

His sketch of the Sloop-rigged Periagua that Von Reck saw near Ossabaw Island while traveling to Frederica
 on St. Simon's. The establishment of Oglethorpe's southern defenses required a multitude of small-craft capable of navigating the inland passage. Accessed at Google Images "Von Reck's sketch of a petiager."

Passing south inside of Ossabaw they observed the fires of native-American hunting parties, but the "ebb" of the tide prevented a visit. This raises a point worth noting. I think travelers on the inland passage would have made as much of a favorable tidal flow as they could - as I do when I ride the circle-loop around Wilmington, Whitemarsh, and Oatland Islands. While strong-backed men or a favorable wind in the sails could pull against a tide, it makes sense that they would time departures and select routes to coincide with a favorable flow.

They landed at St. Catherine's for freshwater, They passed Sapelo Island and Sound, Doughboy Island and Sound, and shot birds and gathered eggs on Egg Island. They sailed throughout the night and reached Fort Frederica on the 22nd. A "Captain Delegal" was serving on St. Simons, so that explains "Delegal" Creek and Marina on the south end of Skidaway Island.

When Von Reck got to Frederica, preparations were underway for a foray into Florida and action against the Spaniards at St. Augustine. Von Reck decided to join that trip as well. He writes, "I decided to make the trip south together with my brother and the people we had brought along in order to find a convenient occasion to speak with Mr. (General) Oglethorpe."

This young man was determined and fearless!

The return from Florida to Georgia went as so, "On the 17th of June we departed Fort St. George and reached Frederica on the 18th and Savannah on the 24th and Ebenezer on the 26th ..." All in all a remarkable journey across the very waters we traverse today. Imagine for an instant coming around a bend in the river and encountering these people in their periaguas.

Von Reck remained in Georgia until he and his brother both became ill with dysentery and fevers. Georgia was a hard place to live for the first Europeans that settled here and most of them died.  On the 18th of September 1736, Philipp Von Reck and his brother were taken to Savannah and cared for by the Reverend John Wesley and Charles Delamotte. This evacuation and care probably saved their lives. They left Savannah for Charleston on the 12th of October. Von Reck returned to Germany, studied law, married Elizabeth Sophie, and became a privy counselor and magistrate. He died on March 13th, 1798, aged 87 years, 6 months, 3 days.

What an amazing man and how I would have loved to have met him!

(information for this post obtained from JStor (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1920702?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents), Google, and of course the fantastic "Tidecraft" by Rusty Fleetwood. Yes, it's that good.)

Scouting the Scout - A Trip Review With Chance and Leo - Seasoned With Safety

Chance: Hi! I'm Chance, a boat-loving dog, and I went on a new and different boat yesterday. It was a nice day on a nice boat and together with my BFF Leo, I would like to tell you about it. Oh! By the way, I have been on boats forever. With Leo and my people.

Leo and Chance - when they were much younger - after a day on the Sandbar at Little Tybee.
The Sandbar is a dog's paradise with a mile or so of wide-open
space to run across. On the weekend there are lots of dogs to play with.
The Sandbar is their favorite boating destination.
Upon leaving - it's nap time. Every time.

Leo: That's right Chance! We have been on boats forever. But never forget, I was here first! I wasn't sure about you in the beginning, but you have been okay, even if you aren't a Boxer.

On a chilly day, Leo likes his comforts. And to be out of the wind.

Chance: Boxer smoxer! Let's see you take a flying leap off the boat and swim to shore. No? I didn't think so. Go back to sleep. Leave the boat stories to me!

Leo: Look! Just because I know enough to wait until we reach the beach before jumping, that doesn't mean I can't swim. In fact, I am one of the few Boxers around who will walk into the water and swim. When I am darned good and ready! Unlike you, I have a mind of my own! I am obviously better bred.

Chance: No offense pal, but you are a mutt.

Leo: Papers? I don' need no stinkin' papers! And besides, people like me better. And you know it. Shelter dogs are the best!

Chance: Are we here to argue about breeding or talk about boats?

Leo: Boats? Boxers? People? I'm game for anything. Okay, what do you think of the Scout?

Dan: Chance and Leo had their first experience yesterday with Freedom Boat Club of Savannah's most recent acquisition, a center-console Scout. While not showroom-new, it's in beautiful condition and the fit and finish are impeccable. It has a Bluetooth sound system, color GPS, and all the bells and whistles we have come to expect on Freedom Boats.

Chance: Well, right off the dock, I love the layout of the Scout. There is plenty of room for us and our people. At ten years of age and after years of doing dognastics I have a bad back leg that slides out from under me on slick surfaces. The non-skid on the Scout helps me keep my feet underneath me. And the oversized padded seat in front of the console is perfect for a big dog or a person or even two little people. Of course, Leo jumped right up on it before I could make my claim.

The console seat is perfect for a big dog or two littles. The wraparound bow seat
is nice for spotting birds, dolphins, and those round floaty things.

Leo: First-mover advantages friend. And you ain't big. Besides, you like hanging your head over the front anyway. Nice how the soft cushy edge that you are leaning against keeps you inside the boat. Remember that time you slid off the bow and disappeared underneath the skiff? That scared our people badly.

Chance: I remember that. It was dark and scary down under, with the boat on top of me. I couldn't get up to the air. I don't want to do that again. I really like how this boat keeps me feeling safe and secure. It has nice high sides.

Dan: Dogs absolutely love standing right up on the bow of boats. But if you are at speed and hit a sandbar, they are going out of the boat. After losing my Lab off the front of a flats boat with no structure to keep him in, I won't let either of them upfront at anything more than idle speed. This caution applies to children too. As a medevac pilot, I have flown a child who went off the bow of a boat after dad ran aground in the Ogeechee. The boat refloated after the sudden stop and got on top of the child. It was bad. (Even with a bow-rail, DNR, USCG, or LE will ticket you for letting kids sit on the bow with their legs over the edge - at any speed.) Story continues below...

Want you car or truck to last forever? Take care of  your vehicle and it will take
care of you! Get superior service while supporting a locally-owned
family-business. Call Mike Thompson at 912 355-6312. They've been in business
for over 20 years and they are an asset to our community!

Leo: I like this boat. And yes, I am smiling. There is lots of room for our people and us. I like going slow during cool weather. This boat goes fast but I don't want to. Going slow is fun. Do you have to pee yet?

Dan: Freedom Boat Club Savannah has over thirty new or almost new boats to choose from. They are a sister-program of Freedom Boat Club Richmond Hill, so membership at one location makes you a member of both. At both of our home clubs, you can go boating as much as you want. You can keep a boat overnight. You can also reserve a boat four times a year at each of the 200-plus other locations in the United States and Europe as a guest ( a "reciprocal reservation" ).

Chance: LEO! There's a dolphin right there!

(Leo jumps up onto the bow seat and begins to whine. It's the "I want to play with her" whine.)

Most dogs like dolphins. Situational awareness check - how long is the newest member of the Freedom fleet?

We rode at 7 knots for three hours and burned 3.7 gallons of gas. It was wonderful.

Dan: "Stay in the boat boys! Geez, I may as well pee while we are stopped to look at the dolphins."

The Coast Guard finds boats minus their solo captains fairly regularly. And then they find the captain's corpse. They look first at the captain's zipper, and it's usually down. If you're alone and you are going to pee - stop and put the engine in neutral. Don't EVER walk away from the helm with an engine in gear. Don't be caught dead with your zipper down.

Leo, Chance and Dan ALL love Freedom Boat Club. We are often the first members on a new acquisition, and we give the Scout two thumbs and all paws up! 

Safe boating, friends, and may harm never find you. 

That's Julius. Leo loves him tremendously. Dogs know about people.
At Freedom Savannah, you are surrounded by beautiful boats; clean and fueled and ready to go. 

At the end of the day, turn in the boat to Billy, or Maggie, or Dickson, and walk away. It's a Freedom thing!

"Leo! Did you have fun today?"
"Yes. Do you EVER stop talking?"

Georgia’s Oyster Farming Industry – Positioned For Growth

This article was originally published in the October 2019 issue of Southern Tides Magazine.

Pictures and Story by Dan Foulds

Rob Hein, (L) and John Pelli prepare to get underway for a day of
data collection and research. 

On a fine Fall morning, I arrive at the University of Georgia’s Shellfish Research Lab on Skidaway Island to learn more about their project to create an entire Georgia industry from scratch. As I speak with Emily Kenworthy, the public relations coordinator, it quickly becomes apparent that I have much to learn about oyster farming and mariculture  - aquaculture in a marine environment.

Emily walks me down to the docks and introduces me to Rob Hein and John Pelli. These are the extension specialists working with the Shellfish Research Lab on the oysterculture project for the benefit of the nascent industry. These guys are where the rubber meets the road, so-to-speak, and the farmed oysters placed in the natural environment are their babies. (story continues below)

This  story sponsored by Freedom Boat Club, Savannah/Richmond Hill
All the fun with none of the hassle. Call 912 691-2628, Tell them Dan sent you. 

In the same manner that states and universities send “agricultural extension agents” into the field to help farmers produce more crops, so the University of Georgia provides mariculture extension specialists to help maritime farmers do the same. The mission of the Shellfish Research Lab on Skidaway Island is to determine how best to farm oysters in Georgia, and then to provide oyster “seed” [or “spat”] to Georgia’s future oyster farmers.

These future farmers will purchase bottom leases for $50 per acre and use floating or stationary oyster cages with a fee of $1 per cage.. They are well into phase one, and phase two, commercial farming, will probably begin (this) summer. While the harvesting of wild oysters in Georgia is currently on a relatively small scale and is limited to collecting the bivalve mollusks from beds, reefs, or “rakes;” in the very near future, it’s going to be a much larger industry, thanks to the activities going on at Skidaway.

At present, commercial farming of oysters using floating or bottom cages is not permitted in Georgia. A bill passed (last) year in the Legislature provides for the sale of leases to farmers. The legislation created controversy over the details, which are being worked out by a stakeholder’s advisory group.


Farming of oysters is a multi-step process. As the oysters grow from fertilized eggs through to adulthood, they must be protected, fed, and provided with a steady supply of clean oxygenated water. The first steps take place indoors at the University of Georgia's Shellfish Research Lab located on Skidaway Island. Upwelling water systems provide aerated water to the juveniles which are kept in place with fine-mesh screens.

Juvenile oysters are nurtured and nourished at the shellfish lab. This device
allows water to flow up through the screen and out the top.

Researchers test various means and methods for raising oysters

As the oysters mature and grow they are moved to progressively larger containment equipment and eventually they are put into floating cages and placed into an estuary or sound. The floating cages lay either just under the surface - or when flipped on top of their floats - just over it. Cages must be flipped for one day a week in summer and a day every other week in winter to protect the oyster shells inside from becoming a habitat for free-swimming wild spat searching for a surface to attach to and grow on.

In the lab, ground-up oyster shell or "cultch" (culture?) is provided for spat
to affix themselves to. 

Whereas a perfectly formed “single” farm-raised oyster might fetch seventy to ninety cents at the market, one that has been colonized by other spat and turned into a cluster will only fetch about a dime.  For reasons not completely understood, spat show a propensity to anchor on oyster shells over other surfaces. Flipping the cages also prevents other marine growth from taking hold, and keeps the oyster shells clean.

John Pelli (L) and Rob Hein  are working to bring Oyster Farming to Georgia.

The view from the office.

Our task today is to flip the cages placed just off the UGA's shellfish research lab dock, and then to ride out the Skidaway and Wilmington Rivers and through Tybee Cut to the cages situated in the old fish habitat at the opening of the Cut into the Bull River.

After they drop me off and have lunch, they will return to the cages and painstakingly empty each mesh bag onto the front deck of the boat. They will count and measure every oyster in every bag in every cage. They will also count and remove oysters that have died – hopefully a small percentage. There are subtle variations in how the oysters are prepared and placed – some of the cages are situated on the bottom. The objective is to determine which methods yield the best results, and they are using the scientific method to derive results.

Rob is a native of Athens, Georgia and a graduate of UGA with a degree in Ecology. His background includes middle-school teaching, and he confides that while teaching was okay he missed doing research and was glad to get a glowing recommendation from a past-colleague which led to a job at the lab.

Rob is very knowledgeable and explains as much of oysterculture as I can digest. He tells me that there are diploid and triploid oysters in the cages we are working with today. Triploids cannot reproduce, and do not spend energy on creating sperm or eggs for reproduction.

Rob emphasizes that there is no genetic modification taking place. He explains that triploids will grow faster and therefore come to the market sooner and be more profitable. Nevertheless they are growing both varieties in the cages to see which ones do best.

As we ride out the river and I listen to Rob and John, I begin to realize that there is a whole world of oyster consumption beyond anything I have experienced.  My oyster eating and knowledge is limited to the typical low-country backyard oyster roast. All over America, people go to restaurants and sample oysters from every coast, with each region of origin having its own taste and characteristics.

Rob explains to me that an oyster from a specific region might be described as “a well-balanced combination of sweetness at the start and a buttery soft brine finish.”  Who knew that oysters could be a component of fine dining? Not me, but I am excited about the prospect of eating my way to better understanding. I can imagine tucking into a sampler platter with oysters from east, south, and west. No cracker, no cocktail sauce, just the oyster speaking for itself. Getting hungry yet?

One notable aspect of oyster aficionados is their willingness to spend real money for the object of their desire. That translates into opportunities for those who are willing to dive into the business. And that is coming soon. For now, the objective of the lab is to learn how to produce oysters with the perfect shape, shell, taste, and texture, and then to pass on that knowledge - and the spat - to replicate the production on a large scale.

John Pelli is a former Union Camp managing-engineer who has traveled all over the world. Of the three of us on the boat, he is also the only person who has actually engaged in commercial mariculture. He once operated a clam farm close to where the floating oyster cages are situated in Tybee Cut.

John's background makes him an obvious choice for extending expertise and practical skills from the University of Georgia and the Shellfish Research Lab to the future oyster farmers who will create the harvest. When I ask him if he is any kin to my friend and boat-mechanic Terry Pelli, he laughs and says, “he’s my brother.” As my friend Julius Bennett often says, “Savannah is really just a big one-stop-light-town!”

John Pelli operates the hoist used to haul the cage while
Rob Hien manhandles it into position for investigation.

As we pull up on the cages and Rob and John begin to flip them, I can see that it is hard work. Our boat has a winch motor and a swing arm to provide mechanical assistance, but as Rob points out, flipping 500 cages would be tough. If the water is the right depth you can flip baskets while standing in it, and John is working on other forms of mechanical assist as part of the project. Even so, like shrimping and crabbing, oyster farming will be hard physical work.
As the legislation to permit oyster farming was being created, there were differences of opinion as to how much of the year should be allocated to harvesting; cooler months only, or all year long. Another point of contention concerned how the bottom leases should be distributed; by lottery open to all, or Georgia residents only, or to the highest bidder. While the extension specialists are undoubtedly aware of these issues that will be ironed out by the advisory group, they aren’t concerned with them or the results. Their only concern is how to create the perfect oyster, using a method that is sustainable, repeatable, and predictable.

All Georgians will benefit from their labors, and I am grateful for what they and the rest of the team at the UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant Shellfish Research Lab are doing. Here's to Oysters everywhere!

Causton Bluff and the Father of Methodism

This story first appeared in Southern Tides Magazine. Whether you are reading it here again, or for the first time, thanks for stopping by. If there is a maritime topic that particularly interests you, let me know in a comment and I will get to work on it.

DCF

Image courtesy Georgia Historical Society, click image to enlarge

As you cruise the creeks and rivers around our region by boat, you glide by countless places, each with its own story. I often think to myself, “if only that place could talk, the tales it could tell!” Part of the fun of living here is learning these stories. As a tour-boat captain, stories are part of my job; I’m always looking and listening for another good one. My friend Jim Hughes, a real no-kidding renaissance man, recently shared a link to the history of Causton’s Bluff in Savannah, and as often happens, there is a distinctly human element to the story. (story continues below)

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I found an article originally published in Georgia Historical Society’s “Historical Quarterly,” Volume 23, No. 1, dated March 1939. Here are some excerpts with personal thoughts and observations.

“Approximately a mile east of the present limits of Savannah and along the Savannah River eastward as far as St. Augustine Creek lie about 2.500 acres of land that at one time formed three outstanding plantations…Brewton Hill, Deptford, and Causton’s Bluff; the last, though farthest from the city… ranks foremost in historical interest.”

Today we refer to the river at Causton Bluff, near Savannah, as the Wilmington, and St. Augustine Creek begins further northeast, connecting the Wilmington and Bull rivers.

Sidebar:

I became curious about how the stretch of water called "St. Augustine Creek" in the image above and "Wilmington River" on today's charts and maps came by its name. A google search led me to believe that it was named after Walter Augustine who operated a sawmill "along its course.".

But when I downloaded the PDF of Kenneth Krakow's (fascinating!) work on Georgia Place Names - History and Origins - listed on that Wikipedia page and available for download here, and read what he wrote about Augustine Creek - "mistakenly called St. Augustine Creek and entering the Savannah River at Port Wentworth" I was confused. What's Port Wentworth got to do with this?

So I opened Google Maps and went finger-cruising up the Savannah River to Port Wentworth. Bigger than life, there it is, a "St. Augustine Creek" entering the Savannah River just west of the Houlihan Bridge and boat ramp. So, according to Krakow, that is the river that is misnamed "St. Augustine." That's where the sawmill was.

So, what about the other St. Augustine Creek? The only thing I can surmise is that this was the path that General Oglethorpe and others took when they rowed and sailed the inland passage down to Saint Augustine - in Florida - to do battle with the Spaniards there. If I am wrong about this assumption and you know better, please let me know in a comment. 

Okay, back to the story!

“In May, 1737 … [Thomas Causton] drew a ‘Bill of Exchange’ on Oglethorpe for fifty pounds… to enable Mr. Causton to settle his new Farm.”

“By 1738, …  Causton had settled at his plantation … Plat 6 and 7 were incorporated as part of Causton’s Bluff … containing 1,133 acres, of which 760 acres were suitable for cultivation while 373 acres, later resurveyed as 580 acres, were worthless marshland.”

This map dated 1779 indicates that Causton's Bluff was a 
"Place of Debarkation"

It’s worth noting that the idea of marshland being worthless was formed back when the cure for any physical ailment included cutting a patient on the arm and letting them bleed. George Washington’s doctor did that to him and undoubtedly contributed to his death. Those early colonists had no idea that the “worthless marsh” was the nursery for most of the bounty they enjoyed from the creeks, rivers, and ocean. Were it not for marshland we would have no Wild Georgia Shrimp to fry.

“Originally Causton’s Bluff plantation was made up of approximately 260 acres lying about five miles east of Savannah … at the peak of its prosperity, Causton’s Bluff  contained more than 3.000 acres extending north to the Savannah River.”

For a time, rice was grown in much of the low areas adjacent to the river, but as time went on and the Savannah River was dredged, saltwater intruded and ended rice cultivation this close to the ocean. When rice was grown and the fields were flooded with standing water, mosquitos bred and spread Yellow Fever.  These epidemics terrified the white people living here, who attributed the disease to “miasma” a noxious gas thought to be emanating from the muddy lowlands. Only when the Panama Canal was dug did we learn the truth about mosquitos and how to control them. Whenever you hear about a “mosquito ditch” in a marsh area, know that it was created to introduce salt water and reduce mosquito infestations.

“In the early part of November 1737 … a comfortable house had been built and was being occupied by the Causton family. The hospitality … was enjoyed by the Parson, John Wesley [the father of the Methodism]. Sophia Hopkey, Causton’s niece … spent many hours in the company of Wesley. The fact that Sophia lived at the plantation may be the reason that Wesley always accepted Causton’s invitation to visit … Causton apparently approved of the friendship and hoped they might marry …”

Alas, The Reverend John Wesley had no interest in marriage.

“Sophia, apparently piqued at Wesley’s procrastination [in asking for her hand in marriage] became engaged to William Williamson and four days later married him.”

Pause for effect; “four.days.later!”

Things deteriorated. Wesley wanted to continue giving Sophia the Sacrament in private. At her husband’s objection, she refused. Then Wesley refused to give her the Sacrament at the next church service. 

“Williamson then filed suit against Wesley, contending that by refusing his wife the sacrament Wesley had cast a reflection upon her character.  The case never actually came to trial, though it was still pending when in December, 1737 a great stir was caused by his flight. 

In his own words Wesley says, ‘about eight o’ clock, the tide then serving, I shook the dust off my feet and left Georgia…” 

We are only human, after all.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

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The World is Your Oyster!

This article first appeared in the October issue of Southern Tides Magazine

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster” [Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745] 

October means three things are happening in our region. First, the brutal heat of summer is easing into the more user-friendly climate of fall. Second, many of us are watching College Football on Saturday afternoons if we aren’t out fishing or hunting. Finally, on many weekend evenings we gather with old friends and new around an Oyster Roast; engaging in the time-honored low-country tradition of shucking and shoving these tasty morsels straight into our mouths.
The term “roast” is something of a misnomer. Roasting involves dry heat, and most of the time we are cooking oysters with wet heat in the form of steam. Whether we steam them in piles covered with hose soaked burlap on a metal shelf set over a roaring fire, or in a purpose-built propane-fired oyster cooker, or in a boil-pot with an inch or two of water at the bottom and a brick under the basket; the objectives and results are about the same. We don’t want to “boil” our oysters in water as this would wash much of the flavor out of them. Rather we want to cook them gently with steam, over several minutes. Steam keeps them from drying out and reduces shrinkage.

As the shells “pop,” or open slightly thanks to heat and moisture, we dump them in a pile onto the serving tables and belly up beside each other. We might stand shoulder to shoulder with a complete stranger, shucking and sharing and laughing at our great good-fortune; the wonder of living a low-country life.
Some purists eat them naked. Some dredge them through hot sauce and melted butter. Some like them covering a saltine - the only oyster cracker worth its salt.  And then folks like me sandwich them between cracker and cocktail sauce and cram the whole assembly inside at once. It ain’t pretty but it’s fun.

An Oyster Roast is a great equalizer. It’s a supremely egalitarian thing. You might have a congressional candidate on one shoulder and the lady who cleans houses for a living on the other.  The three of you will stand there, enjoy each other’s company, and solve the world’s problems as you harmoniously fill your bellies with this naturally salt-seasoned bounty from the sea. Should you and your table-mates deplete your pile, you will patiently stand and swig your beer or iced sweet tea until another bucket of the steamy bivalves arrives.

Crash! Onto the table they go! “Slide in right here friend!”
Etiquette? Grab oysters from the pile in the middle of the table, one at a time. Only take what you will eat. It is okay to shuck for a friend, but don’t expect anyone to shuck for you. Don’t show off your speed-shucking skills at a table populated by casual shuckers, it will make you look inconsiderate. Don’t forget to enjoy the social component of the experience as well as the gastric, in other words, speak with your neighbors between mouthfuls. I mean after all, you do want to be invited back, right?

Invariably, while eating, some bits of oyster will get lodged between your teeth where they hang tenaciously and evade capture.  It’s a good idea to have a roll of floss in your pocket for a discreet oysterectomy. It’s also a good idea to bite down gently on each new arrival a time or two to make sure no shell fragments entered your mouth as stowaways. When its tooth or crown or filling versus shell, the shell wins. The number one rule is that there are few rules. Just have fun and be friendly.

This annual event is a great chance to enjoy some deliciousness!

Purpose-built tables will have a hole cut in the middle with a shell-bin beneath for easy tossing. The table should be kept cleared for action.  Another option is a folding plastic table with a shell-bin on either end. Don’t put anything in the shell-bins but shells, as any trash has to be picked out by hand when they are dumped for one of the myriad shell-recycling options available. On Talahi Island where I live, we dump our shells on the community-dock access-road to fill the wheel ruts for a level driving surface. They crush under tires and make a fine free road-bed. There are many takers for any leftover oyster shells, as long as they aren’t mixed with trash. Check with your city or county for recycling options.

The future of the oyster industry in our area is bright. From production to consumption, they are already part of our culture, traditions, and history. Thanks to the work of the scientists on Skidaway Island, progress is being made on increasing the harvest from right here versus having to buy them shipped in from elsewhere. You can get delicious clusters from the May River Oyster Company in Bluffton now, and “Single Lady” oysters from Lady’s Island Oysters in Seabrook. There are other local sources for wild-harvested oysters if you look.  If you are adventurous and licensed you can even do some harvesting for yourself in selected sections of our waterways. Here’s to oysters everywhere!