There is nothing more fun than taking your boat to one Georgia's barrier islands and exploring for a while. While this may not be the south Pacific, our islands conjure up similar images of sandy beaches, hot sunshine, cool breezes, and maritime vegetation. Whether your enjoyment comes from sunbathing and picnicking at Williamson Island, or hunting extinct megaladon shark teeth on Bird Island, exploring 20 miles of maritime forest trails on Wassaw Island, or hunting Echinoderms and Gastropods on Ossabaw, you will need to know how to do it safely.
Doing this the wrong way, is something I have some experience with, so let me share with you a chapter from the book of, "Stupid Things I've Done in Life". Years ago, I took a couple of friends to Bird Island to hunt for sharks' teeth. I had a small dingy with a 9.9 hp engine that we drug a few feet onto the beach and secured with a small anchor in the sand to hold it, just in case. We spent a couple of hours browsing the island and managed to find a few good teeth. When we returned, much to our shock, the boat was gone! We suspected thieves, but were chagrined to spy the boat floating several hundred yards away. The only thief had been the tide. My little anchor failed to hold the craft, once the rising tide had it in its grip.
Tides on the beach are deceptive. Our tidal amplitude routinely varies from six to nine feet, but 10 and 11 foot tides are not unheard of. With the gradual slope of our beaches this creates a very large inter-tidal area. A boat anchored near shore at high tide might be found high and dry on the beach some 50 feet or more from the waterline by the time the tide recedes. Conversely, return six hours later to a boat that was anchored next to the beach at low tide and you will find the beach mostly gone and you would have to swim to get to a boat that is now in 6 or more feet of water. So what is a boater supposed to do?
A tempting solution is to anchor at the outer edge of the low tide shoreline and swim back and forth at high tide, thus avoiding the need to adjust your location. The danger here is strong currents. Swimmers risk getting caught in strong mid-tide currents or having a long swim at high tide, so obviously this not an advisable solution.
Knowing what the tides and currents will do is key. Remember to make the proper adjustments to the tide table for your current location. Tide tables around Savannah are based on the tide gauge at the entrance to the Savannah River. You must add or subtract a certain number of minutes for other locations. If you are using an electronic tide chart, make sure it is set to the closest sub-station.
Also, bear in mind, that during spring tides (new moons and full moons), tide levels will change quickly, the currents will be swifter, and the highs and lows of the tides will be greater. There are times Williamson Island has no beach at all at high tide! This is particularly true, when a spring tide combines with a strong east wind.
It is generally best to anchor near the shoreline and wade to shore, unless you are in a boat that is light enough to drag across sand (a kayak, canoe, or a very light dinghy with several people lifting). There are some interfaces that are steeper than other, which usually makes for a better place to anchor.
Stay close to your boat and make adjustments as needed. If the tide is falling rapidly and you are trying to keep it as close as possible to the shoreline, this might mean moving it every few minutes. Otherwise, your boat will be high and dry and you will be stuck until the tidal cycle returns to a slightly higher level than when you got stuck. If it was 4 hours prior to low tide when you got stuck, this usually means you will have to wait 8 hours or more to get un-stuck. (I hope your towing insurance is paid up, or you have plenty of food, water, and sun screen on board.)
When anchoring at the beach, the bow anchor is first lowered (not thrown) in deeper water and the boat is backed slowly toward the beach, lifting the engine to avoid touching bottom. Once you are in water shallow enough to walk in, kill and lift the engine. A second anchor, attached to the stern, is walked to the beach and dug deeply into the sand higher up on the beach. The two lines are pulled tight to hold the boat in position off the beach in shallow water. To adjust for a falling tide, pay out line on the stern anchor (or reposition it closer to the boat) while pulling in the bow anchor line. Vice versa for a rising tide.
These are just the basics of how to safely access our coastal beaches by boat. Each of our barrier islands have laws governing their usage (dogs, campfires, hours, restricted areas, etc.) Make sure you know these requirements, practice boating safety, and have a great time exploring Georgia's wonderful coast!