CALIBOGUE SOUND DIRECTIONS, PORT ROYAL SOUND (Chart 571) 173 The channel between the shoals from the entrance of Port Royal Sound out to the bar has maintained its position practically without change since the first survey was made in 1856, the only change noted having occurred on the bar or in its vicinity. On the bar, Northeast Breakers and Southeast Channel have moved bodily southward, nearly 1 mile since that date, the succeeding surveys showing a fairly uniform rate of movement of 100 feet per year. The depths on the bar range from 18 to 22 feet (5.5 to 6.7 m). As the depths on the crest of the bar are subject to frequent change, local knowledge is required to carry the best water, which was 19 feet (5.8 m) in 1931. With the aid of the chart, vessels of about 15foot (4.5 m) draft, with a rising tide and a smooth sea, should have no difficulty in entering during daylight by following the buoys. Port Royal Sound Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy PR, the channel buoys, and the chart are the guides. The boiler of a wreck shown on the chart nearly 5 miles southeastward of Bay Point, is a permanent mark and can be used for cross bearings. The buoys are moved to indicate the best water, the buoyed channel should be followed across the bar. CALIBOGUE SOUND (Chart 571) The entrance to this sound lies 11 miles southwestward of Port Royal Sound entrance and 5 miles northward of Tybee Lighthouse; it is obstructed by shifting shoals through which there are several unmarked crooked channels. From sea the best way of entering the sound is from Tybee Roads, and the depth that can be taken over the bar at low water is about 10 feet (3.0 m). The Intracoastal Waterway affords a deeper passage to the sea via Skull Creek and Port Royal Sound. The controlling depth is 17 feet (5.2 m). Sailing vessels loaded to 162 feet (5.0 m) were formerly towed from Calibogue Sound and its tributary waters through this passage. A swash channel close to Braddock Point, at the southwest end of Hilton Head Island, has a depth of 12 feet (3.6 m) at low water, but it is unmarked and used only by local fishermen. Above the bar the depths are ample. These waters are a part of the Intracoastal Waterway from Charleston to Savannah and otherwise are of little importance. Cooper River empties into the sound from westward about 214 miles above the entrance. This river is only important as a part of the Intracoastal Waterway to Savannah which leads through Ramshorn Creek from Cooper River. May River, which empties into the sound from westward about 51⁄2 miles above the entrance, is the approach to the village of Bluffton, situated about 7 miles above its mouth. A draft of 13 feet (4.0 m) can be carried to the town at low water by exercising care in a changing channel. Boats land at the municipal wharf. A local freight and passenger steamer operating between Savannah and Beaufort stops at Bluffton and frequently passes through Bull Creek en route to Cooper River. The tides meet in Bull Creek, forming flats over which there is about 2 feet (0.6 m) at mean low water. Gasoline and some supplies can be obtained at Bluffton. The river above the town is of no importance. Mackay Creek enters the sound from northward at its junction with Skull Creek and forms an unused and unlighted route to Port Royal Sound. Skull Creek forms the section of the Intracoastal Waterway between Calibogue and Port Royal Sounds. Broad Creek enters Calibogue Sound from the eastward and runs 6 miles into Hilton Head Island. The creek is of no importance. A depth of 11 feet (3.4 m) can be carried into the creek. Hilton Head Island is privately owned. Daufuskie Island lies between Calibogue Sound and New River, which empties into Tybee Roads. The island is privately owned. New River is navigable for a distance of about 10 miles above Ramshorn Creek. The Intracoastal Waterway passes through Ramshorn Creek from the Cooper River and through New River. Wright River has no importance above Fields Cut; the section between Fields Cut and Walls Cut forming part of the Intracoastal Waterway. Directions. From Tybee Roads steer 321° true (NW. 11⁄2 N. mag.) on the Bloody Point range for about 7 mile past Bloody Point Channel Lighted Bell Buoy 13; or, coming down Savannah River, pass about 3 mile southward and eastward of Bloody Point Spit Buoy 1 (black can). Then steer 357 true (N. 14 W. mag.) into the sound. 10. TYBEE ROADS ENTRANCE TO SAVANNAH TYBEE ROADS AND SAVANNAH RIVER (Chart 440) Tybee Roads is the name applied to an anchorage surrounded by the shoals which lie off the entrance to Calibogue Sound and Savannah River, eastward of the northeastern end of Tybee Island. This anchorage can be entered either in the daytime or at night; its general depth is 19 to 24 feet (5.8 to 7.3 m), and the shoals assist to break the sea from any direction. There are two good channels leading across the bar off the roads the North Slue Channel with 14 feet (4.3 m) and the Main Channel with 291/2 feet (9.0 m). Both of these channels are marked by buoys, and the Main Channel by a number of ranges which are easily followed. The main channel over the bar is being improved by dredging. Savannah Lightship, Lat. 31°57′ N., Long. 80°40′ W., is moored in about 8 fathoms (14.6 m) about 10.5 miles 11714° true (SE. by E. 11⁄2 E. mag.) from Tybee Lighthouse on the prolongation of the Tybee range line. The vessel has a red hull with "Savannah" painted on each side; two masts with black cylindrical grating at each masthead. The light is group flashing white showing two flashes every 15 seconds (flash 3 seconds, eclipse 3 seconds, flash 3 seconds, eclipse 6 seconds) shown from an elevation of 45 feet (13.7 m) and visible 12 miles. A fixed riding light on the forestay indicates the heading of the vessel. The fog signal is a steam typhon, blast 2 seconds, silent interval 18 seconds. If the whistle is disabled, a bell will be struck by hand-a group of 2 strokes every 20 seconds. A radiobeacon is installed on the lightship. Tybee Lighthouse, lat. 32°01'19'' N., long. 80°50′45′′ W., on the north end of Tybee Island, is an octagonal brick tower, lower 50 feet (15.2 m) black, middle part white, upper part black. The light is fixed white, 144 feet (44 m) above the water, and visible 18 miles. It forms the rear object of Tybee range. Savannah River forms the boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia and is navigable during the greater part of the year for vessels of 5-foot (1.5 m) draft to the city of Augusta, a distance of about 176 miles above Savannah. The dredging of a channel with a project depth of 6 feet (1.8 m) is now underway. At ordinary summer low water this draft is reduced to 3 feet (0.9 m). Flatboats can be taken up the river about 3 miles farther. There is a dam 8 miles above Augusta; pole boats go from Augusta to the river above the dam through a canal, and the river is navigable for this class of boats from the dam to Petersburg, a distance of 43 miles. Between Savannah and Augusta there are numerous landings, but no towns or villages of importance; several bridges, with draws about 60 feet wide, cross the river below Augusta. The existing channel improvement project provides for a channel 30 feet (9.1 m) deep with a general width of 500 feet from the 30-foot contour in the ocean to the quarantine station, 10.2 miles; thence 26 feet (7.9 m) deep with a general width of 400 feet to the Seaboard Air Line Railway bridge, 16 miles; thence 26 feet (7.9 m) deep and 300 feet wide to the foot of Kings Island, 1.3 miles; and thence 21 feet (6.4 m) deep and 200 feet wide with necessary regulating works to the vicinity of the Savannah Creosoting Co., 2.1 miles, a total length of 29.6 miles; for widening the channel to 600 feet at West Broad and Barnard Streets; for an anchorage basin opposite Fort Oglethorpe by widening the 26-foot (7.9 m) channel to 900 feet and installing mooring dolphins. Dredging operations to maintain the project depth are carried on continuously, and the latest reports on channel depths are given from time to time in the Notice to Mariners. In January 1936 the controlling depths in the Savannah River were as follows: Sea to quarantine station_ Quarantine to foot of Kings Island_. Foot of Kings Island to Creosoting Works_ 30 feet (9.1 m) 26 feet (7.9 m) 22 feet (6.7 m) Anchorages.-The usual anchorage for vessels waiting for a favorable tide to go up the river is in Tybee Roads, about 2 miles eastward of Tybee Lighthouse, or outside the bar near Tybee Lighted Whistle Buoy T. The holding ground is good at both anchorages, but 22 feet (6.7 m) is about the greatest depth available in the roads. Vessels rarely anchor in the river, as there is no room for large vessels to swing. In case of necessity there is a small anchorage off Fort Jackson (Fort Oglethorpe), about 3 miles below the city. This basin has been dredged to 900 feet in width; a set of mooring dolphins has also been installed on the south side of the channel in the same locality. These dolphins were in good condition in 1935. Tides. For tidal data at Savannah River entrance (Tybee Lighthouse), see the tide tables for the Atlantic Ocean, published annually in advance by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, in which the tides are predicted for every day of the current year. On the bar high and low waters occur about 30 minutes before high and low waters, respectively, at Tybee Lighthouse. Daily predicted tides for Savannah are also included in the Atlantic Ocean Tide Tables. The mean durations of rise and fall of the tide are 6 hours 5 minutes and 6 hours 20 minutes at Tybee Lighthouse, and 5 hours 40 minutes and 6 hours 45 minutes at Savannah. The mean rise and fall of tides at Tybee Lighthouse is 6.8 feet (2.1 m) and at Savannah 7.5 feet (2.3 m). At Purysburg, 20 miles above Savannah, the mean rise and fall of tides is a little less than 1 foot (0.3 m); when the river is low the tides are felt possibly 7 miles above Purysburg, while during heavy freshets the rise and fall at Cross Tides, 31⁄2 miles above Savannah, is 2 feet (0.6 m) or less. Currents. The mean velocity of the strength of ebb current from the jetties at the entrance to Savannah is from 212 to 3 knots. The flood current has a velocity at strength of from 12 to 2 knots. From the entrance nearly to Savannah slack water occurs about one hour after high and low water at Savannah. The time of slack water is considerably influenced by the wind and freshets. For the predicted times of slack water and the times and velocities of strength of flood and ebb at the entrance to Savannah River, see the Current Tables, Atlantic Coast, published annually in advance by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The currents set in the direction of the channel except at the entrance near Tybee Lighthouse, where the flood sets northwestward across the channel. Between the jetties the flood sets 260° true. Freshets occasionally occur in the spring, but do not endanger the shipping at the wharves at Savannah. DIRECTIONS, TYBEE ROADS AND SAVANNAH RIVER From northward.-From a position about 2 miles southeastward of Charleston Lighted Whistle Buoy C make good a course of 22711⁄2° true (SW. 14 W. mag.) for 652 miles passing about 2 miles southeastward of Hunting Island Lighted Whistle Buoy 6 HI, to a position about 2 miles southeastward of Savannah Lightship. Shallow-draft boats from the northward (drawing not over 11 feet (3.4 m)), with a smooth sea and in daylight, can enter Tybee Roads through the North Slue Channel. From a position about 2 miles southeastward of Hunting Island Lighted Whistle Buoy 6 HI make good a 248° true (WSW. mag.) course for 25.9 miles to a position 200 yards southeastward of North Slue Channel Outer Buoy (black and white vertically striped can), from which Tybee Light bears 270° true (W. mag.), distant 4 miles. On this course care must be taken to pass at least 1/4 mile southward of the black can buoy off the southeasterly end of Gaskin Banks, and Tybee Lighthouse should be made and kept on the starboard bow. From the perpendicularly striped can buoy steer for Tybee Lighthouse, pass about DIRECTIONS 177 200 yards southward of nun buoy no. 2, and then head up for Bloody Point Channel Lighted Bell Buoy 13. From southward deep-draft vessels should not shoal the water to less than 6 to 7 fathoms (11.0 to 12.8 m). From a position about 2 miles southeast of Brunswick Lighted Whistle Buoy 2 B make good a 24° true (NNE. % E. mag.) course for 62 miles, passing about 2 miles southeastward of Sapelo Lighted Whistle Buoy 2 S, to a position about 2 miles southeast of Savannah Lightship. Or, in clear weather, when the lightship is sighted, the course can be shaped to pass as much as 3 miles inside. Vessels should expect an inshore set with the tide flooding. See caution, page 153. The channel from sea to Savannah is a dredged cut 400 to 500 feet wide, the tidal currents have considerable velocity, and strangers are advised to take a pilot. The ranges mentioned in the following directions mark the axis of the cut; in addition to the ranges, the channel is buoyed. Courses and distances, Savannah Lightship to Savannah [Abbreviations: Lt., light; Bn., beacon; F., fixed; Fl., flashing; Occ., occulting; W., white; R., red; G., green; Alt., alternating; t., true; dist., distant] (For reverse direction read upward and interchange ahead and astern) 1. Savannah Lightship, bearing SE. by E. % E., distant 1 mile. Steer Tybee Range (front light Fl. W., rear light F. W.) ahead; pass 100 yards N. of Tybee Lighted Whistle Buoy T. (short-long Fl. W.), 125 yards north of channel buoys 1 and 3: Direct_ Reverse__ 2. Bloody Point Channel Lighted Bell Buoy 2 (Fl. R.), bearing NE., dist. 150 yards. Steer Bloody Point Range (front light Fl. W., rear light Occ. W.) ahead; pass 175 yards NE. 21⁄2 E of channel buoys 7, 9, and 11: Direct 3. Bloody Point Channel Lighted Bell Buoy 4. Second Cut Lighted Buoy 3A (Fl. G.), Reverse_ |