Sounds of The South

D E S T I N AT I O N

SOUTH CAROLINA/GEORGIA

Sounds of the South

Spice up your cruising stories and meander off the
beaten path into these backwater areas, if you dare.
A sound is typically found where the river and the sea
converge. Its larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and

captains buried treasure; and the Great White shark, Mary

Lee, whose fin might be poking up above your wake.

wider than a fjord. The sounds in South Carolina and Georgia

The St. Helena and the Port Royal Sounds are in the

are estuaries, prolifically vibrant habitats that are as diverse as

southernmost coastal region of South Carolina. They are

they are intriguing. One is a confluence of ten rivers; another

unique because all their creeks and rivers are sea fingers

is part of the largest undammed river east of the Mississippi;

their only source of fresh water is from natural runoff or

and two are the Holy Grail for marine biologists.

groundwaterand offer salty estuaries that are a bonanza for

The resplendent scenery of coastal South Carolina and

Georgia is filled with pristine sea islands and rare and

all sorts of interesting wildlife.

The Port Royal and the St. Helena Sounds are the only

exotic creatures such as the leatherback sea turtle and the

two verified inshore spawning grounds for cobia on the East

American oystercatcher. With boundless beauty right in

Coast. Prior to the 2012 Cobia Study conducted by marine

front of your eyes its easy to miss the sounds, magnificent

biologists from the South Carolina Department of Natural

waterways that separate the barrier islands from the

Resources (SCDNR), the belief was that the fish spawned far

mainland. But if you take the time to get off the beaten path

offshore and spent its entire life in the open ocean.

of the ICW, the sounds will share their fascinating stories

the mysterious island of monkeys; the lost H-bomb lying just
off the coast of Savannah; the Ghost Ship that guards her

68 SOUTHERN BOATING N ovember 2014

Tiger and white sharks have a fidelity to the sounds as well.

By DaviD KuczKir

CRUISER RESOURCES
DOCKAGE
Bohicket Marina & Market
Seabrook Island, SC
(843) 768-1280 bohicket.com
-200 slips with max LOA 155'

Dataw Island Marina

Dataw Island, SC
(843) 838-8410 datawmarina.com
- 80 slips, 500' floating concrete face dock; max LOA 200'

OPPOSITE: ANNE MCQUARY/SCPRT; LEFT: SAVANNAHVISIT.COM

Downtown Marina of Beaufort

Opposite: Shrimp boats docked in McClellanville, SC

Above: When docked in Savannah, explore the
hidden gardens throughout the city.

Beaufort, SC 29902
(843) 524-4422 downtownmarinabeaufort.com
-100 slips, 1,000' transient floating face dock; max LOA 150'

Harbour Town Yacht Basin

Hilton Head Island, SC
(843) 363-8335 harbourtownyachtbasin.com
-South Carolina Clean Marina,100 slips, max LOA 160'

Isle of Hope Marina

Savannah, GA
(912) 354-8187 iohmarina.com
-4,000' new concrete floating docks, 600' deepwater face dock;
max LOA 220'

Morningstar Marinas Golden Isles

St. Simons Island, GA
(912) 480-0266 morningstarmarinas.com/golden-isles
-137 slips,1,100' transient dock; max LOA 160

DINING
The Old Bull Tavern
205 West St., Beaufort, SC 29902
(843) 379-2855 facebook.com/theoldbulltavern

Garibaldi Cafe
315 W. Congress St., Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 232-7118 garibaldisavannah.com

Biologists speculate that the Port Royal and St. Helena

Sounds are prime birthing waters for sharks in general.
Currently, biologists are monitoring seven tagged tiger
sharks including Mary Lee, the 3,500-pound, 16-foot,
mature white shark. She visits the sounds so regularly
that she now has three sponsors. Researchers have
learned a wealth of information about the white shark just
June 2014 she returned to the Port Royal Sound to start
her family.
Monkey Island is the Area 51 of barrier islands in
Beaufort County and doesnt exist on many charts, yet
the stories about it are something out of a sci-fi movie.
Monkey Islandaka Morgan Island, in the St. Helena
Sound amid a 350,000-acre nature preservehas
over 3,500 free-ranging, Indian-origin, rhesus monkeys

Map data 2014 Google

inhabiting it living there quietly on the island since 1979.

N ovember 2014 SOUTHERN BOATING 69

NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES

by monitoring Mary Lees movements, including when in

DAVID KUCZKIR

ARCH BAKER; VISITCOASTALGEORGIA.ORG

Left to right: Spanish moss in Georgia adds a haunting feel to

the sounds; Savannah Belle Ferry Transportation System; The
Altamaha-ha greets visitors to Darien, Georgia.

Very little is known about the island, the monkeys, or why

in the 17th century with the Tama Indians, the first settlers in

theyre even there, although its rumored the monkeys were

the region. They told stories of a giant snake-like creature

originally brought there for scientific research.

who lived in the creeks and rice canals of the Altamaha

The Georgia sounds are estuaries like the South Carolina

Sound. There have been hundreds of published Altie

Sounds, but their seawater is diluted by fresh water from

sightings in the last 200 years, and theyre all consistent with

the five major rivers that flow into the sounds, including the

the Tamas story.

Altamaha. It is massive at 137 miles in length, drains more

The Georgia sounds are a treasure trove of historically

than a quarter of the state, and dumps 100,000 gallons of

significant shipwrecks. A very dangerous Cold War Relic lies

water into its sound every second. Where the river and sound

lost in the Wassaw Sound just off the coast of Savannah, and

meet is the town of Darien, a sea town with no red lights

its story reads like a Tom Clancy novel.

whose town symbol is a sea serpent. The Altamaha-ha, or

just "Altie," is another on-the-fence tale. Alties legacy began

In the early morning of February 5, 1958, an Air Force

bomber carrying an H-bomb 100 times more powerful than

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70 SOUTHERN BOATING N ovember 2014

the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, and an Air Force F-86

for Edward Teach, the British-born pirate known as

fighter jet collided during a simulated bombing mission over

Blackbeard. The lore is that the bearded cutthroat did

the south Atlantic. The pilot of the F-86 bailed and the jet

his banking on the island. His treasureone of the most

crashed. To avoid the risk of a nuclear disaster, the pilot of

sought-after lost treasures in the worldhas never been

the crippled bomber jettisoned the 7,600-pound nuke into

found and some historians believe it does not exist.

the sea. The bomb didnt explode and the pilot later landed

Many locals still seek the treasure. Some, however, are

safely at a nearby air base. It was a common practice on

never heard from again, while still others become lost

simulated runs for the crew to remove the bombs plutonium

in the sound and are rescued by the Coast Guard. The

trigger, the device triggering an atomic blast.

one constant is that their stories are all the same: They

For two months, teams from both the Navy and Air Force

encountered a thick, almost blinding fog, and then a tall

scoured the waterways and wetlands near Savannah, but

ship with oaken masts appears out of nowhere. They hear

the bomb was never found. On April 16, 1958, the Pentagon

the voices of men, their footsteps and the hoisting of sails

deemed it irretrievably lost. The plutonium trigger, however,

but no one is there, yet they follow the ship believing it

is the point of contention. The Air Forces stand from the

would lead to the treasure.

14 10:17 AM Page 1

outset has been that the bomb was incomplete given that

The first sound I ever laid eyes on was the St. Helena.

the plutonium trigger had been removed. But there is sworn

I was awestruck by its splendor and expanse and I still

testimony in Congress that states just the opposite. The

am every time Im in it. The irony is that I had gotten lost

bomb, Air Force officials said, is safer where it is, entombed

in its byzantine network of islands, rivers and creeks, but

in about 5 to 15 feet of silt somewhere in the Wassaw Sound.

instead, I found paradise, and so will you. In all the sounds

Between the Sapelo and the Doboy Sounds is

of the South you will find paradise and thats no tale. Just

Blackbeard Island, a national wildlife refuge accessible

remember to be conscious of their beauty and they will

only by boat. Since 1760, the island has been named

reward you with a magic thats unlike anywhere on earth.

72 SOUTHERN BOATING N ovember 2014