One of the local places we found was Killkenny Marina on Killkenny Creek in Georgia. Georgia AICW is traveled down wild rivers joined by man made cuts. The Killkenny Marina is located on the site of the old Killkenny plantation founded in the early 1800's. The same family has owned the land since then. The marina is a local fisherman/waterman stop. We needed fuel. I called and asked if they had diesel. The said sure and come on over. He told me not to bother with the radio because they were real busy and would be on the docks, off we went. As we entered the creek, I ran aground. Got off and found the deep water and progressed toward the marina. Looked up the creek and saw a floating dock constructed of wood with 2x4's sticking up near the water edge side. A man was waving and pointing toward the dock. Matt looked at me and said...this must be it, take it in slow. We pulled in, dock master helped us tie up and looked a bit perplexed. He said, 'why didn't you use your fenders, you wouldn't have scraped the rub rail?' Matt replied, 'that teak is sacrificial, fenders are expensive'. The dock master laughed.
We filled up and went up to the office to pay. The marina operates a sling lift to launch small boats. A family was getting into a just launched boat. An older gentleman walked up and extended his hand. Matt shook it and wished him a great time on the water. The man said he had never been on a boat before. We told him that we hadn't been off our boat for two weeks. We had a nice talk about boats and living aboard and waved to them as they sped off. At the top of the ramp, there were two tanks. What are these? Bait, was the reply. There were shrimp and little fishes swimming around. ' Are these snapping shrimp?' The dockmaster shook his head and told us that he had heard about those snapping shrimp all is life but never saw one. He said he thinks the noise you hear on the hull is from the reaction of tides and tempertures. He pointed to the office and said his brother would ring us up.
The office was a great little store. Must have biting bug problems because they had lots of kinds of insect repellent. Got some sodas and some beer and went to pay. His brother was a bit cool to us until I said, 'this is such a beautiful place' he smiled and started telling us about the store and the marina and his family. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. His first impression of me must have been as a stuck up yachty. I complimented him and his family on their good choice to make this beautiful part of Georgia their home and business. He rung up our purchases on an adding machine with a tape. He told us we were welcome back anytime. We were tempted to stay. They have a restaurant next door that cooks up what the local fisherman bring in to the marina. They have live music and everyone just sits around and enjoys. What a concept...people enjoying and talking and being neighbors.
At Marineland yesterday we met a fellow boating couple from Germany. They have been traveling up down the east coast of the USA on their way to Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Walking back on forth to the laundry, Matt was stopped by a family walking around the docks. They said, it is so peaceful here. He agreed and said this was one of our favorite places. The father shook his head and replied,' we are from Israel, and the USA just always feels so peaceful and calm. The people are kind and generous. You all seem to get along.' 'We try' , Matt said. As the family walked toward the beach, Matt and I were a bit overcome by their statements. We had just finished one of the most contentious elections in our memory. It seemed that our country was torn up and at each other throats. When you look around, you see that we are ok. The parts of the world that are in turmoil look to us as a place of peace. We are lucky. We should be thankful.
Ok Finally caught up with your blog. Sounds like you are making good time and all is well.
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