St. Simons Island and a New Use for a Tongue Depressor!

Video of birds chasing us

3/23
    We traveled 31 miles to our next stop, Morningstar Marina in St. Simons Island, Ga. for an over night stay.  The seagulls followed us almost the whole way! We arrived in time to eat a great lunch at the marina's restaurant and then settled in to watch basketball.  I am happy to say that both FSU and KY won their games and advanced on to the Sweet 16!
 

A New Use for a Tongue Depressor!
See it next to the Compass.

 
          Sometimes it can be very confusing when you are traveling on a busy waterway!  Boats are coming towards you, crossing in front of you, passing you, coming up quickly on your side.  How do you navigate among them?  Who has the right-a-way? How do you avoid a collision?  There are basic rules of the road that boaters need to know.  So many ignore or don't know them! Boaters also need to know how to interpret the channel markers, buoys, beacons, danger signs and even the different horn blasts.  These are referred to as Aids to Navigation. These are also marked on the charts, which give you much more details. To me, nautical charts look like a jumble of  squiggly lines, small numbers, red and green markers, etc.!  I am getting more used to reading them, but so glad Karl is proficient at it. The markers help you stay in the channel and avoid running aground!
          It is complicated and we keep a copy of Aids to Navigation on the helm at all times, with pictures!  Some basic rules: Green markers are square and have odd numbers and red markers are triangles and have even numbers.  When you are on the ICW, and going counterclockwise, the red will generally be on your port side, and green will be on the starboard, but not always the case, depending on where you are. You also have to pay attention to the yellow square and yellow triangles on the markers.  We heard about a very simple trick at the last rendezvous that has proved to be helpful.  You take a tongue depressor and color the ends with green on one end and red on the other.  Then you place it on the helm with the colors corresponding to where you are in the channel, easy to switch when necessary.  A new use for a tongue depressor!  A simple visual to help when things get hectic on a crowded waterway!