Bob423 Tracks to Brunswick (#106)

Sparkling Star
Mar 21, 2025
3 min read

We heard about Bob's tracks when we first started the Loop. Bob has been tracking his route all the way down the east coast several times a year to determine the best route not to get stuck on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Luckily for us, the Sparkling Star only has a draft (bottom below the waterline) of 3ft. Most of our fellow Looper friends have boats that are 4ft or more. Because of our shallow draft, we need to worry less and are also more comfortable going where our 4ft draft friends go.

One of our tasks in our Orange Beach stopover was to figure out how to get it loaded in our navigation software so we could figure out how to follow the tracks on the East Coast. Now that we are entering Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, Bob's tracks are vital to our success.

We left on Laura's favorite super calm day.

And then we heard the coast guard state we had to move back 500 hundred yards from the approaching naval vessel leaving the inlet. But, we didn't know where it was or where it was coming from.

Our friends on Emily B called for more instructions and didn't hear back. We both pulled out of the channel as far as we could to let the submarine go by.

After that we realized we were going to pass Jeckyl island a few hours before low tide. We called the marina by Jeckyl island and the dockmaster said that at low tide the passage is as low as 3.5 feet just after MM 19.

We got out our Bobs423 tracks as a backup and we traveled carefully. Right after we passed MM19, a helicopter was landing on Jeckyl Island, a center console decided to pass us on plane, and another boat was also behind us. We looked to be in the clear, then then depth went to 1.9 and then 0 for a second, and then 24ft. After that, we were in the clear!

Another beautiful full moon.

There was a Peaches to Beeches fair that turned out to be a big garage sale. This picture with the candy for sale and a treadmill in the middle made me laugh. We came back and walked around with our friends on The Perch and the treadmill was moved.

This building was made with a local rock quarried nearby.

We had lunch with Kim Russo the next day at Artes Pizza since everything else was closed on Monday. She was staying for a few extra days and we were leaving the next day for the fabulous weather window.

Laura spend the day planning and working on boat sale stuff. Work days require the Get Ship Done shirt - Laura's favorite shirt.

The second day we were there our friends on Dream Looper connected us with their sister who was staying at her house on St. Simons. She met us and we had a wonderful lunch and then she took us on a tour of the island.