Here is the Grave Digger , no not the monster truck , pulled up on the railway for repairs . It is a ''tourist '' shrimping boat . Visitors can do a ''sail along '' and observe the workings of a real shrimp boat first hand .
There are still quite a few boats being worked from the local docks .
The round grated devices in the nets are T. E . D . s ( turtle excluder devices ). They allow shrimp to enter the nets while guiding sea turtles out of the nets .
The huge wooden devices are called doors or otter boards . The chains are called tickler chains . They are used to spread the nets as they are being trawled .
Hoisting engines .
The world famous Shellco Shrimp Dock . About this time of season , the only hot action is the soft shell crab market . I was allowed to go up in the loft where they kept their shedding tables to take photos . Crabs are held until they molt , or shed their shells . As soon as they molt , they are ready to be fried and eaten whole . They are way beyond delicious . The going rate at the time of my visit was around $60 per dozen . Most are shipped to northern markets according to the lady tending the tables .
There is a lot of American pride evident throughout this fleet . It says a lot about the folks who are keeping this dying way of life alive . Remember to ask for Georgia Wild at your stores and restaurants .
Another seafood dock , Patterson's , still has an original homestead . Once again I was impressed with the friendliness and willingness of these folks to some of their stories . Georgia Wild and American pride !!!
Wandering around coastal backroads will bring you to some unexpected sights like this tug boat in the marsh .
I stopped in the office to ask permission to look around and got to meet the owner of Gore Marina . He has a first class salvage operation . He shared a little of his story . Some of the tugs came from the port of Savannah but were actually built in Louisiana . In addition to the family's marine salvage , he had a couple of cherry trucks . The black '58 belonged to his father . The blue '55 was his before he started his family . Both had been parked for a while waiting on his grandson who already shows interest in continuing in the business . What kid wouldn't want his own salvage yard ?!
From tugs to barges to cranes to parts , there is a little bit of every thing .
Further up the coast there were a few abandoned places that caught my interest .
I decided to go to Skidaway Narrows and Skidaway State Park since it had been 5 or 6 years since I had been there . This is were we usually stayed on our annual shrimping , crabbing , and fishing trips before grandkids . They are just about big enough to come with us now .
The old draw bridge had been replaced with a new high rise bridge . Bandy's bait shop was still there .
Gotta have a few bird pics too .
This was the first time I had taken the trails at the park . Extraordinary example of a coastal forest and marsh .
A couple of oddities . This palm tree stump looked like it had been peeled like a banana .
The sunlight hitting this freshwater pond really brought out the tannin color in the water ,
Leaving Skidaway headed to Savannah I stopped at the Back River which was renamed Moon River in honor of the song of the same name by Johnny Mercer . There is a statue of him in Savannah but few have seen Moon River . Not only have we seen it , but have pulled many a shrimp , crab , and fish from it . Oddly enough when I was in the 5th or 6th grade in North Carolina , we had to learn to play Moon River on our recorders .
Ain't life strange ?!
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