Hey guys,

I'm getting together with some old friends from school down in Tybee Island around New Years. I want to go ahead and bring the 17 down there, and I just wanted to know if there are any other cat sailors down there in Tybee that are on here, and what I should expect as far as temperatures. I'm getting a 3-4mm suit thanksgiving, so I'm confident I'll be nice and warm. Should I be concerned with sand bars, currents, tides around Tybee?

Thanks.
-Tad

Hi -
not from T I ,-but have sailed in , out ,and around that area a number of times .
There is a very shallow mud flat area just North of the Pier and pavilion ,--don't go there - -and tides are pretty severe .I.ve always seen plenty of sea life in the area and particularly hammer head sharks , had about a 10 ftr so close once a could almost reach out and touch it ,---but didn.t
team Tybee website has links to info -tides etc
http://www.teamtybee.com/
they have basic info on the distance race in May also -

Have a great time
always enjoy Tybee Is
Carl

Yeah I've been told about the sharks.... not fun... gives me an extra incentive to not capsize. I've had a run in with a tiger shark before, luckily I won without getting to knicked up, in my experience, they wont bother you if you don't bother them. I'll probably be mostly sailing in the inlet between the north side of the island and Hilton Head. I've never done a beach w/surf landing / launching before, so I want to go ahead and try that out, maybe I should wait until the summer time to do that

Thanks for the input.

*off to go buy shark repellant

I've taken my P19 there a few times and it is a great place to sail. Launching is a challenge but there are a few streets with a large enough beach access that you can roll your boat down to the beach. It will probably be cold so bring a dry suit!

Tad,

I have a home on tybee island and it is a great place to sail catamarans...I have an Inter 20 (again), an Inter 17R, and a Hobie wave. Carl, I've seen the sharks too, but I surf (longboard) there year round and it is not an issue like it is in Florida. Only 8 recorded Shark attacks in Georgia in recorded history, none fatal...Daytona, Fl is a different story...but I surf down there too. More of a chance dying from getting struck by lightning or a bee sting!!! Don't you think the shipping lanes on the night legs are scarier??? Here's the skinny on Catsailing there...Park in the parking lot on the south side of the pier and rig your boat there or on 18th street. I live on 18th street...There is a crossover at 18th street with a access to the beach where you can cat trax your way on to the beach. That time of year you can launch anywhere (stay away from the pier), but in the spring and summer when folks start hitting the beaches it is best to launch within a few hundred feet of the 18th street jetty to keep the life guards and City Marshall happy (Hi Chuck...Chuck Bargeron of Team Tybee fame is the city marshall FYI.)

The sand bars are not a problem from the 18th street jetty North to about where the beach starts bending westward at or just past the lighthouse at the entrance of the Savannah river...catch the wrong tide and opposing winds and you get some pretty impressive piss-ups on the North end. A nice sail is to head straight out about 1/2 mile and then turn south staying clear of the breakers and sandbars on the south end of the island...sail about 2 -3 miles south and head in to little tybee island which is a protected refuge as is 90% of Georgias barrier islands. Beach it and enjoy miles and miles of beautiful solitude and wildlife...really great fun. There is a small sand boat ramp on the south west side of the island you can use to launch into the backriver for a little tamer conditions when it is rockin out on the front side but make sure you have enough breeze to counter the strong current caused by the 9 ft. tides in this area.

email me if you have any further questions...maybe I'll see you guys out there... conte3@aol.com

FYI, both the Worrell 1000 and the new Tybee 500 use Tybee Island as a checkpoint because of its Cat friendly beaches.

The water will be in the mid-fifties that time of year so make sure that new wetsuit is a good one!

Good luck and fair winds...

Hey Jim, thanks for the response. I think I'll try the ramp on the backside at first. I don't have any beach wheels presently (I know, blasphemous) and I've gotten good at launching from non-beachcat friendly areas. I've only been to Tybee once before, and didn't get to see much of it. My friend lives in the house right next to Sandra Bullock, which is right on the beach, so chances are when I actually do pull up to that beach, I'll have the cops called on me (would make it two years in a row that she's called the authorities on me, the first time was for saying 'hi' to her as I passed her property on the pathway to the beach)

I'll have a Tybee native on board to help guide me. He's an active kayaker but he's never been on a beachcat before. I don't want to lose sight of land or get myself so lost in little rivers that I don't know the way home!