HARBOR REGULATIONS

183

That it shall be unlawful for any person to smoke any pipe, cigar, or cigarette on the deck or in the hold of any vessel while loading or unloading at this port. That it shall be unlawful for any person to have, carry, take, or use any light or lantern in the hold or holds of any vessel loading or unloading in this port, except such light be a closed and locked lantern.

That it shall not be lawful while any vessel is engaged in loading cotton or naval stores, or before her load is complete, in this port, for any person to paint in or about any part of said hold of said vessel.

That it shall be the duty of every master of any vessel while in this port, and while loading and unloading, to see that as soon as work is stopped for the day all hatches are put on and covered with tarpaulin.

That it shall be the duty of every master, captain, agent, or owner of every vessel of every sort and description, propelled in whole or in part by steam, while loading or unloading cotton or naval stores in this port, to place and keep at or near each hatch, a barrel filled with water, to be used only in case of fire, to which said barrel shall be attached two buckets, to be used only in case of fire.

That any person violating any provision of this ordinance, shall, upon conviction before the police court of the city of Savannah, be subject to a fine not to exceed $100 and imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, either or both, in the discretion of the court.

All persons engaged in lightering or otherwise transporting cotton, hay, straw, or other inflammable merchandise (naval stores excepted) on the Savannah River, or other waters within the limits over which the said mayor and aldermen of the city of Savannah have jurisdiction, be and they are hereby required to cover the same, while on lighters or other crafts, with tarpaulins or other more permanent and substantial materials, and that each failure to do so shall be considered a violation of this ordinance, and be punished as hereinafter provided.

It shall be unlawful for any person to make or to use matches in any way in the holds of vessels of any description, or on the decks of the same during the time said vessels may be taking in or unloading cargoes of cotton, naval stores, hay, oil, or other inflammable merchandise.

Ordinance to prohibit discharge of refuse oil.-It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, or master of any ship, to discharge, throw, or dump refuse oil into the Savannah River, in the Savannah Harbor, or into any of the streams flowing therein, or into any of the docks, or alongside any of the piers, or along the shores or banks of said river, refuse oil of any character.

Any person, firm, or corporation, or master of any vessel, violating the provisions of this ordinance shall, upon conviction before the police court of the city of Savannah, be fined in sum not more than $100 or to be imprisoned not more than 30 days, either or both, or any part of either or both, in the discretion of the court.

Speed of vessels.-No steamer shall, while passing along the line of the wharves of this city, exceed in speed 4 miles an hour; and where two or more vessels are moored abreast of any of said wharves the steamer passing will stop her engines and turn "over slowly ", using every precaution to avoid unnecessary suction until the vessels in her immediate vicinity are passed by. In passing near the dredge and dredge flats employed at any point on the river between the western limits of the city and Tybee, steamers must be slowed down and, where necessary, stopped and worked as above specified until the dredge or flats are passed.

No steamer, while passing the line of quarantine wharves opposite the eastern end of Long Island, shall exceed a speed of 5 miles per hour.

Harbor dues.-By each transient brig or schooner, $4; by each transient ship or bark, $6; by each transient steamship, $15; by each coastwise steamship running regularly to this port, $6 per month. By each bark, barkentine, brig, schooner, or sea-going barge engaged in the coastwise trade, $4; each transient tug engaged in towing, $8, payable not more than twice in every year; by each sailing vessel or steamer plying inland measuring 40 feet or more, 2 cents per foot over-all measurements, payable quarterly in advance.

Terminal facilities.-There are 69 piers and wharves at Savannah with sufficient water at them for vessels that are brought to the city. Practically all of the piers and wharves are of wood pile construction. Many are equipped with mechanical unloading devices for handling

bulk cargo; all have direct connection with the railways, and all but those on Hutchinson Island have street or highway connections. There are ample storage facilities available for cotton, cotton products, fertilizer materials, and naval stores.

Supplies. Coal, either anthracite or bituminous, in large quantities, or fuel oil can be had at the wharves at Savannah or from lighters towed down to vessels at the roads. Fresh water is usually brought to shipping by tugs; the river water at Savannah is fresh at any stage of the tide. Provisions and ship chandler's stores can be had in the city or are sent down to the roads in tugs.

Repairs. The facilities for repairs to the machinery of steamers are good. There are several marine railways; the largest has a deadweight lifting capacity of 1,200 tons and will dock a vessel 225 feet long.

Towboats will come out over the bar to vessels making signal. With a fair wind, sailing vessels usually sail into the roads, but a towboat is necessary for large sailing vessels between the roads and Savannah.

Communications. The port is reached by four trunk lines and is also served by a terminal railway company and two rail carriers operating to local points. The trunk lines are the Central of Georgia Railway, the Seaboard Air Line Railway, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and the Southern Railway System.

There is regular coastwise steamship service, and steamship sailings to foreign and Pacific coast ports.

Aviation fields.-There is a municipal airport situated about 5 miles from the center of the city. The present landing field has a width of 1,500 feet and a length of 3,312 feet. Gasoline and oil are available at the field.

A branch hydrographic office of the Navy Department is located at the customhouse; this office is supplied with the latest information and publications affecting navigation for the consultation of mariners.

Storm warnings are displayed at Savannah and from a signal tower near Tybee Lighthouse.

United States Public Health Service.-At Savannah there is a marine hospital.

11. TYBEE ROADS TO ST. JOHNS RIVER

COAST FROM TYBEE ROADS TO WASSAW ROAD

(Chart 440)

This section of the coast is about 611⁄2 miles in extent and is formed by the shore of Tybee Island, which lies in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction.

This island has a breadth at its widest part of 314 miles, is mostly low and marshy, but has many wooded hummocks with numerous creeks winding among them. On the eastern shore several large creeks come into the sea, but they are of little importance, as their mouths are obstructed by shoals, with crooked channels of 2 or 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) at low water through them. Tybee Beach is a sum

mer resort south of Tybee Lighthouse, and the houses show up well from seaward.

Tybee Creek, with Lazaretto Creek, is used by small boats as an inside approach to Tybee Beach.

The southeast part of the island, separated from the main body by a stretch of marsh, is called Petit Chou Island, and is distinguishable by a large and heavily wooded hummock which marks the northern point of the entrance to Wassaw Sound. Dangerous shoals make off from the shore of Tybee Island to a distance of 42 miles.

WASSAW SOUND

(Chart 440)

The entrance to this sound lies 8 miles southwestward of Tybee Lighthouse. Shoals extend offshore a distance of 312 to 4 miles from the entrance, forming a shifting bar through which there is a channel with a depth of about 14 feet (4.3 m). After crossing the bar there is a good channel with 3 to 7 fathoms (5.5 to 12.8 m) which leads along the southern and western part of the sound and for a distance of 6 miles up Wilmington River. The sound is for the most part shallow, but the channels into its principal tributaries will permit any draft that can be taken over the bar. A considerable number of fishing boats use this entrance, and yachts too deep for the Intracoastal Waterway can enter here and go up the Wilmington River to Plantation Harbor.

Tybee River empties into the sound from northward; it is about 7 miles in length to its junction with St. Augustine and Turners Creeks; by the former it is connected with Savannah River about 5 miles below the city of Savannah; a depth of 9 feet (2.7 m) can be taken through to Savannah River. The entrance to Tybee River is obstructed by a shoal in Wassaw Sound, over which a depth of 10 feet (3.0 m) can be taken into the river. About 2 miles above the mouth of Tybee River it is entered from southeastward by Lazaretto Creek; this creek also connects the river with Savannah River near its mouth and forms a passage with a reported depth of about 7 feet (2.1 m). Turners Creek connects Tybee River with Wilmington River and has a depth of 7 feet (2.1 m).

Wilmington River empties into Wassaw Sound from northwestward. It has a northwesterly direction for 8 miles to the village of Thunderbolt and then turns northward for about 4 miles and, joining St. Augustine Creek, connects with Savannah River. The river is important only as being a part of the Intracoastal Waterway from Savannah to Fernandina. A depth of 7.2 feet (2.2 m) can be taken through to Savannah River.

Thunderbolt is a small village and pleasure resort on the west bank of Wilmington River. Yachts and small craft usually stop here rather than at Savannah and thus avoid the pounding against the wharves caused by the surge from vessels passing in the Savannah River. There is good anchorage in the river, and small wharves with depths of 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4 m) at low tide. An electric car line connects with Savannah. Gasoline, Diesel oil, fresh water, and some provisions can be obtained here. There are boat-building and repair

shops and marine railways of a capacity of about 60 tons and a draft of about 4 feet (1.2 m). The mean range of tide is about 8 feet (2.4 m).

Plantation Harbor is the name given to a part of the Wilmington River between the mouths of Turners Creek and Skidaway River. A hotel and yacht club are open to the public at that place. There is good anchorage in the river and good hotel accommodations ashore, with highway connections with Savannah, about 9 miles distant.

Skidaway River empties into Wilmington River from southwestward about 2 miles southeastward of Thunderbolt and 534 miles above Wassaw Sound, and with Skidaway Narrows and Burnside River is a part of the principal Intracoastal Waterway passage between Savannah and Fernandina. In June 1935 the controlling depth was 7.8 feet (2.4 m), obtainable in the narrow channel through Skidaway Narrows. The current runs swiftly in Skidaway Narrows. Isle of Hope is a pleasure resort on the north bank of Skidaway River. It is connected by electric railway with Savannah. Gasoline and provisions are obtainable, and there are railways for small craft. A suitable anchorage for small boats is near the west shore about 1/4 mile below the town. No wharves have greater than 3 feet (0.9 m) of water at low tide.

Romerly Marsh Creek enters the western end of Wassaw Sound at the mouth of Wilmington River and with Romerly Marshes and Adams Creek forms an inland passage to Vernon River. This passage is only good for shallow-draft boats and is practically abandoned. There is another passage, used to some extent, through Old Romerly Marsh Channel, Parsons Cut, Warsaw Creek, Odingsell River, and Adams Creek to Vernon River. This passage has shoaled to less than 3 feet (0.9 m) and is also practically abandoned.

Savannah pilots will take vessels into Wassaw Sound.

Currents. The tidal currents in Wassaw Sound have considerable velocity and must be allowed for. Advantage may be taken of them on the flood to beat in or on the ebb to beat out; but no vessel, however smart working, should attempt to beat against them.

Tides. The mean rise and fall of the tide varies from about 7 feet (2.1 m) in the sound to 8 feet (2.4 m) up in the rivers.

Directions. There are no prominent landmarks that can be readily recognized by a stranger when approaching the entrance. Wassaw Island, which forms the southern side of the entrance, is heavily wooded along its seaward side, and presents a level, unbroken appearance, while Tybee Island, on the northern side of the sound. shows lower with scattered wooded hummocks. Tybee Lighthouse, 8 miles northward of Wassaw Sound, shows well from off the bar and is a good mark.

Approaching the entrance, vessels should keep over 5 miles from shore in a depth of over 6 fathoms (11.0 m) until the Sea buoy (black and white vertically striped nun) is sighted. This buoy lies 247° true (WSW. mag.), 11.7 miles from Savannah Lightship, with Tybee Lighthouse bearing 8° true (N. 34 E. mag.). The channel over the bar is buoyed, and these buoys are moved, if necessary, to mark the best water. In entering, no detailed directions are necessary except to follow the buoys and use the latest charts,

OSSABAW SOUND

COAST FROM WASSAW SOUND TO OSSABAW SOUND

(Chart 1241)

187

This formed by the shore of Wassaw Island, which lies in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction between the two sounds. It is triangular in shape, having a length of side of 434 miles and an extreme breadth of 33% miles in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction. It is for the most part low and marshy, the strip of firm land forming the coast line being only from 14 to 34 mile in width. This is heavily wooded and has a broad sand beach backed by sand hills. From this beach dangerous shoals make off to a distance of 4 miles. The marshy portion of the island inside this strip is cut up by numerous creeks, with numberless branches winding among heavily wooded hummocks. The island is separated from the land to the westward by Romerly Marsh Creek and the Odingsell River.

OSSABAW SOUND

(Chart 573)

Ossabaw Sound, is a broad opening in the coast 15 miles southwestward of Tybee Lighthouse. The greater part of the sound is shallow, but the channels to the two river entrances have a depth sufficient for any vessel that can cross the bar. Shifting shoals extend seaward off the entrance for a distance of 32 to 5 miles, through which two channels lead into the sound. The North Channel has 13 feet (4.0 m) at low water and leads to the Odingsell and Vernon Rivers. The South Channel has 11 feet (3.4 m) at low water and forms the approach to the Ogeechee River. There are no aids, and the Intracoastal Waterway. For detailed description, see Inside pilot.

Vernon River enters Ossabaw Sound from northwestward. Burnside River enters Vernon River from northward about 31⁄2 miles above its entrance and with Skidaway Narrows and River is a part of the Intracoastal Waterway. For detailed description, see Inside Route Pilot, New York to Key West.

Montgomery is a post village on Vernon River, 111⁄2 miles above Burnside River; it is connected by road with Savannah. Little Ogeechee River enters Vernon River from westward about 2 miles above its mouth.

Adams Creek enters Ossabaw Sound from northward about 234 miles above its entrance and with Odingsell River, Wassaw Creek, Parsons Cut, and Old Romerly Marsh Channel forms an inland route to Wassaw Sound with a depth of less than 3 feet (0.9 m). Odingsell River enters Ossabaw Sound from northward at the entrance to the sound.

Ogeechee River enters the western part of the sound and is the second largest river on the coast of Georgia. It drains an extensive area, is subject to flood conditions and alters its channel with each succeeding flood. It is navigable for those possessed of local information to the highway bridge approximately 25 miles above the

20712°-36-13