2 November 2023
Depart: Bull Creek anchorage (south of Hilton Head, SC) 8:30
Arrive: Walburg Creek anchorage (south of Savannah, GA) 2:45
Distance: 49 nm
When we woke this morning, the temperature outside was 44 degrees, and inside it read 58. A bit nippy and hard to get out of bed in the morning. Clark said we had to time our travels this morning due to a bridge being demolished with restrictive hours for transiting the area. The bridge was the Causton Bluff - Sam Varnedoe and New Island Bridge Expressway. Clark targeted the opening scheduled from 10:00 to 10:30. He calculated that if we left at 8:30, we would get there during that travel window.
As shown in the pictures below, we had a bright sunny day for travel.
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| Our anchorage neighbor last night |
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| This neighbor wasn't doing so well. |
As we traveled we saw a vessel coming towards us, Clark called on the VHF radio to determine their plans. Turned out they were moving to their starboard to dock. Good thing he called to find out their plans. It was a ferry of sorts carrying a lot of what looked like work-related trucks.
We got to the bridge with the long name at 10:08 -- just about perfect timing. As we approached, we heard a fellow boater say, "What's going on up there? Can I come through?" That was at 9:57, and he was told he could come through in just a few minutes. He got real lucky for someone who was apparently clueless as to the bridge construction restrictions.
Anchoring in SC and GA is interesting because of the 7-foot or so tide change. Clark needs to make sure when he drops anchor that he has enough water under the keel that we will stay afloat all night. I have to figure out how much line to put out at anchor to make sure there is enough out to remain anchored at high tide. It yields a nightly math problem that has to be calculated at the last minute when he decides on a place to drop anchor.
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| Tonight's sunset at anchor in Georgia |
3 November 2023
Depart: Walburg Creek, GA anchorage 8:30
Arrive: Cumberland Island, GA anchorage 5:50
Distance: ~78 nm
I was a little late with the camera this morning.
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| Not-quite sunrise picture |
As we traveled the ICW, I noticed a shoaled in portion of the waterway with a collection of birds. At least three species were sharing the space.
Then I saw these birds playing King of the Mountain with one bird on each tier of the marker.
Travel today was unusual from what we have been seeing for most of this trip south in that we had actual boat traffic with folks calling on the radio requesting slow passes, etc. For the second time in as many days, we have been haled on the radio as "Sunset Deli". I guess we have a new name for our boat that I was not aware of.
The very tip of Jekyll island appeared to be barren beach.
After we passed by St Andrew Beach, we entered St Andrews Sound where we got a wild ride to Cumberland Island. We had wind gusts around 25 knots with waves about 5 to 6 feet high with a 7 second period. One of my teddy bears on board got nervous and jumped off the shelf onto our bed to hide next to my pillow for protection from the waves.
The exciting ride was over quickly, but as we approached Cumberland Island, the weather started to get miserable with a thick mist in the air.
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| Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse |
We planned to anchor off Cumberland Island tonight. It is a long distance along the island to the actual anchorage.
We passed an American Eagle cruise ship headed, according to the internet, to Brunswick, Georgia.
A while later, Clark took notice of a submarine in a nearby degaussing station. He said he wasn't sure if, when he took a picture, the patrol boats would object to his photography,
4 November 2023
Depart: Cumberland Island anchorage, GA 9:35
Arrive: Fernandina Beach, FL marina 10:45
Distance: 6.5 nm
DeAnna and Adam whom we know from Marathon, Florida invited us to stop in Fernandina Beach on our way south to visit them and their cute dog Whatley. In addition to visiting them, we had shore chores that needed to be done - groceries, drug store, take on water, receive mail and packages, etc.
Unfortunately, when we called the marina for a reservation they said they had no available space. We would need to use a mooring ball and dinghy into town. They did say, however, that we could use a phone app called Snag-a-Slip to check for cancellations / availability as things change regularly with reservations. I was not too hopeful, but I did try it and eventually got a reservation for Sunday night.
This morning as we were making our way south, I tried multiple times to see if someone had cancelled or left early and was delighted to find that I could get a reservation for tonight as well. Fantastic! Now we did not need to figure out how to get to shore with our bicycles to get to drug stores, the post office, and such.
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| Sunrise at Cumberland Island, GA |
Clark saw this structure out in the water and immediately wondered how workers managed to climb to the top. It seemed to serve multiple purposes as a navigation aid.
Coming into Fernandina Beach, we passed the container ship unloading areas.
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| Fishing Fleet at Fernandina Beach |
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| Approaching the docks at Fernandina Harbor Marina |
We were given a space on the opposite side of the dock from a huge 168' boat with a foreign flag on the stern.
We got checked in and decided to make use of the head on land. When we asked at the dock master's office for directions to the restroom, he sent us across the street to the visitor's center. He said it was closer than the marina heads.
As we soon learned, Fernandina Beach has a rich history. Below are statues outside the visitor center where we went searching for the "comfort station" as they call it.
The marina is located at Front Street and Centre Street.
The store below is called "Front & Centre" which I thought was a clever name given the military history in town.
We planned to get together with our friends on Sunday, so we made today our work day. The places we needed to go were located near each other but not near the marina. It was a 3.5 mile each way bike ride to the store. Going was no big issue, but loaded up with groceries for the trip back proved to be more than my legs and back wanted to deal with. I was pooped by the time we got back to the boat, and I still had to put away the groceries before I could rest.
Clark took a few pictures on the bike ride to / from the stores.
Late afternoon we got some surprise visitors. It turned out that our friends on "Daybreak", that we connected with at Re Meo on the way south, was docked here in the marina. They came over to say hello. We chatted for a while and decided that we should get together for dinner tonight. They planned on eating at the Salty Pelican and invited us to join them.
Later still, while I was taking a shower, our friends DeAnna and Adam brought their Utah friends over to the boat to say hello. I missed that visit completely. However, when Clark saw them, he asked about the packages that we had sent to their home in anticipation of our visit. They made a special trip back to give us the packages and give me a chance to see Whatley!
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| My buddy Whatley and me He remembered me from last winter! |
We agreed on a late dinner time with "Daybreak" and met up at 7:15 to walk to the Salty Pelican - they do not take reservations.
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| Sunset at the Fernandina Docks |
Nighttime pictures of Fernandina Beach and the Salty Pelican.
After dinner, three of us were too full to contemplate eating anything more, but one of us wanted ice cream - Clark! So, we walked through town to an ice cream shop that Jeannie recommended. On our walk through town, we saw a cool, old car.
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| 1950s Bel Air Convertible in excellent condition parked on the street in Fernandina Beach |
After our dinner, walk, and Clark's ice cream, we came back to the boat where Clark serenaded us with some guitar music until it was time to say goodnight.
5 November 2023
No boat travel.
We started the day today with a much-needed pumpout of the holding tank. Other than disposing of last minute garbage, that was our last job that needed to be done onshore. After we had that out of the way, we went for a walk through town to see the historic district.
I took a couple of pictures in the shopping district.
When we came to the ice cream shop where Clark ate dessert last night, I decided it was my turn and had a scoop for breakfast. This time he passed on the treat.
Clark took the rest of the town pictures as we explored.
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| Near butterfly garden at the visitor center |
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| Visitor Center grounds |
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| Palace Saloon |
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| Tree-lined streets |
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| Historic Buildings |
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| Fish pond in front of a store |
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| Statue on Centre Street |
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| Old-fashioned book store with paper, colorful leaves in window |
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| Getting ready to get that ice cream! |
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| Picnic area behind Island time |
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| Late 19th Century Courthouse |
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| Fernandina Beach Water Tower |
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| One of many older homes in town |
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| U.S. Post Office, Customs House, and Court House dedicated in 1912 |
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| Art Gallery on a side street |
After wandering around Fernandina Beach, we returned to the boat to await meeting with our friends for the afternoon. They arrived to pick us up in a golf cart and took us on a bit of a tour of town.
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| Older home with sides of building made from oyster shells |
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| One of the two paper mills in town. |
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| Container Docks |
We enjoyed lunch on Adam and DeAnna's porch.
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| Adam and Eve |
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| Adam and Whatley |
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| Clark, Whatley, and DeAnna |
After lunch, Adam suggested we take a golf cart ride to the beach for a look around. Clark took some pictures from the back of the golf cart. It was challenging to say the least.
Today was the Right Whale Festival in town. We saw a Coast Guard boat and lots of vendor tents.
After our trip to the beach, Adam dropped us off at our boat to say goodbye until next time we are in the area. I was sad to say goodbye to them and was tempted to steal Whatley to take with me.
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| Ev and DeAnna |
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| Whatley! |
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