2023: St Augustine GA to Charleston SC

 3 April 2023

Depart: St Augustine, FL mile 769 anchorage 9:20

Arrive: Cumberland Island, GA anchorage 4:30

Distance: ~ 53 nm

Conditions: No breeze, lots of gnats

We started the day traveling the ICW today. Clark planned to stop for fuel in Fernandina Beach at Port Consolidated, Inc due to their good fuel price.

Passing the St. John's River, by Sister's Creek, we saw a bit ship ...

Further on,  we saw some crane work underway on the waterway

and passed some typical Florida scenery

Clark received a call on the VHF radio from a boater warning him about low water ahead in the channel. As it turned out, the channel had plenty of water. The boater was out of the channel and aground.

Boat aground

Clark offered to hang nearby in case he could lend a hand to help the other boater to get out of his predicament. As we watched, he managed to wiggle himself off and get back to the channel and on his way. He was going south on the ICW, so that was the last we saw of him.

We had a little more excitement when we had a flying visitor come sit on the cord to the VHF radio. 

Since he was stung by a wasp a few years back leaving him in need of hand surgery, Clark is leery of insects with stingers. That left me to chase it away. The bee seemed a bit groggy and climbed onto the fly swatter when I offered him a ride, and I chucked him out the window.

When we arrived at Port Consolidated, Inc, we were quite a bit lower than the dock that is designed for commercial vessels. Clark had to work against the current to get us close enough that I could throw the line up a considerable distance to the awaiting dockhand. The pictures don't really show the height difference well.

As the attendant helped us tie up for fuel, he said we got very lucky on timing. He said that it was the first time all day the dock was empty of boats. We had the dock to ourselves.

Fueling was interesting. The attendant handed us a nozzle and said that it pumped 50 gallons a minute and was the slowest of three choices. We were happy for a fast fill, but the pressure of the flow made the fuel gauge give false readings of fullness. For example, when on it might read 90% full but when Clark stopped pumping, it would drop down to 80%. It made filling a stop-and-go operation as we got near the end of the pumping. 

When we were done pumping, the attendant told us that the boat did well with taking on fuel. He said that some boats have trouble at their dock. In particular he said that Carvers do not do well with the speed of the fill and struggle to get fuel into their tanks. When asked about the 200 gallon minimum, he said that is to keep sailboats away because they are not designed to accommodate the size of the nozzle (quite large) and using a funnel, for example, is illegal.

When the operator made out the receipt, he asked if we wanted to save some money. Of course we said YES! Since we were heading north, out of state, we could fill out a form stating that the fuel would be consumed out of state thereby eliminating the need to pay Florida sales tax. Since we planned to be in Georgia for tonight's anchorage, we readily signed the document and saved $60.

Later, we passed the paper mill in Fernandina Beach and the smell was atrocious. Sadly the wind was blowing our way and the smell followed us for miles.

Piles of sawdust

Continuing on our way, we saw yet more work boats.

As we passed by St. Mary's Inlet, we spied Fort Clinch. This fort was built after the War of 1812 to guard Georgia's southern border.  Construction was completed in 1847 but no cannons were mounted at the fort. During the Civil War the fort was occupied by the south until 1862 when Robert E. Lee evacuated and Union soldiers took possession. During the Spanish American War the fort was used as an ammunition depot and barracks. In 1935, after years of neglect, the fort and grounds became a state park. Then, during World War II, the fort once again became active as an operation center for surveillance and communications.

Several hours later we anchored at Cumberland Island in Georgia.

4 April 2023

Depart: Cumberland Island anchorage 8:30

Arrive: Walburg Creek anchorage 5:50

Distance: ~ 75 nm

Conditions: no wind, humid, buggy

We backtracked slightly today to take St Mary's Inlet out into the ocean. Following seas at the beginning of our trip gave us a rocky start to the day. Seventy or so miles later we had dead calm as we approached St. Catherine's Inlet. 

Clark noticed via AIS that boaters we met at Marlin Bay on "Bad Lad" were following us on the ocean. Given some markers were missing and given we have a 4' draft, we offered to lead the way for "Bad Lad" through the inlet because they need 5.5' of water for their boat.

"Bad Lad" following us in the inlet

We anchored near each other on Walburg Creek. They will be heading north on the ICW tomorrow and we will travel on the ocean, so we said our farewells here.

Sunset on Walburg Creek.

5 April 2023

Depart: Walburg Creek anchorage 9:30

Arrive: Bull River Junction anchorage north of Beaufort, SC 6:50

Distance: ~ 80 nm

Conditions: Calm seas, light breeze, cool temps on the ocean

Given the perfect calm of the ocean, we had no choice but to take advantage and head back out St. Catherine's Inlet for another day of ocean travel.

On the ocean,
the only waves are coming from our wake

Sometimes talking to Clark can be downright painful as we seem to talk past each other. At the Tybee Inlet channel I saw something white off in the distance on the ocean and could not decipher what I was looking at. I asked Clark, "What is that ahead of us?" 

Clark looked and said, "I don't know what you are looking at." I replied, "There in the distance. Two white things sticking up." Clark came back with, "I don't see anything." 

I grabbed the binoculars and took a look. "Oh, it's a freighter. I couldn't see the black part in the middle and thought it was two different objects." Clark replied, "I knew there was a  freighter. I thought you were looking at something else." All I could do was roll my eyes and shake my head.

We exited the ocean at the Port Royal Inlet and then worked our way northward on the ICW. Clark thought about entering via an inlet further north but they looked sketchy, so we opted for the safe approach.

As we made our way along the ICW, we had to cover our ears due to the noise of multiple pairs of military jets taking off from the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. A pair would leave and then a few minutes later another pair, and then another, and then another.

We dropped anchor in Bull River Junction in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. 

Needless to say, it was a quiet anchorage. We basically had it to ourselves. Way off in the marshes I saw a sailboat at anchor. We anchored in 20' of water with an 8' tide change.

Decent sunset tonight.

6 April 2023

Depart: Bull Run Junction anchorage 10:25

Arrive: Stono River anchorage just south of Charleston, SC 4:20

Distance: ~ 43 nm

Conditions: breezy, cool, sunny

Today we traveled the ICW. We got a late start as Clark needed to make some travel decisions and phone calls before we could get going. He found a marina for us in Charleston and made a reservation.

Most of what we saw today were sights familiar to us from previous trips through here.

Marshes ...

and tax dollars at work for dredging ...

I had another "what is that" episode as I saw a metal structure along the riverside. This time, however, Clark knew what I was referring to and said it looked like a "rack and stack". I pulled up Google Maps and discovered that we were looking at "Clark Island Marina".  They are currently advertising space available for dry dock.

As we turned towards the place Clark had chosen to anchor, we passed by Elliot's Cut - notorious for rapid current in a narrow space. This is something to look forward to tomorrow.

We ended our day by anchoring in Stono River just south of Charleston, SC. Having been able to take advantage of ocean travel, we have made excellent progress on our trip north to NJ in a relatively short period of time.