Boating with Sunset Delight: 2026 April: arrive Cumberland Island GA

13 April 2026

Depart: Daytona Beach, FL anchorage 8:20

Arrive: St. Augustine, Tolomato River / Ximanies Creek anchorage 2:50

Distance: ~ 51 nm

Clark figured we had about 6 hours of travel time today, so we were in no rush to get underway. I managed to catch a glimpse of the sunrise

Sunrise near St. Augustine, FL

as well as some of our sailboat neighbors.

One bridge where I enjoy the view is under a bridge in the Daytona area where the supports are decorated with sealife.

The scenery along the ICW changes drastically from passing through cities to passing marshland.

Some of the trees along here looked to have seen better days. A lot of the trees have no greenery at all.

As is frequently the case as we travel the ICW, we saw some of the same boats today that we saw yesterday moving north including M/V Oyster (a slow-moving trawler) and S/V Gypsy (an even slower sailboat). Clark had a nice chat with "Gypsy" over the VHF radio regarding the ICW and our destinations. We thought perhaps we would end up in the same anchorage tonight as we both targeted landing north of St. Augustine to drop anchor. (we did not see them.)

We manage to "squeeze" under many bridges or fold down our antennas and mast for some others, but today we had one bridge that we needed to have opened -- the "L B Knox" bridge. As we approached form afar we could see the bridge was already open but it closed as we got closer. The bridge tender waited until a boat behind us got closer and then opened right up again for the two of us.

A 10' clearance means only the smallest of vessels are going under that when closed!

As we approached Flagler Beach, we passed a sailboat sitting a little bit too high on the waterway. He must have dropped his anchor near a "shelf" and found it at low tide. It looked to be a nice boat with good canvas. Hopefully he can find a way off the shelf with the next high tide!

Oops!

Shortly after I wondered if the sailboat would be able to find a tide high enough to get off, I wondered if the nearby homes would flood if s/he did so!

Water right up to the top (almost) of
the bulkhead!

Flagler Beach Water Tower

I have come to the conclusion that sailboaters have nerves of steel. Watching a sailboat in front of us, it looked like it would be impossible for the boat to get under the bridge. I watched closely and practically held my breath as the boat approached the bridge.

Looks impossible!

But there's lots of clearance!

Staying alert at all times is important. Up ahead Clark could see something coming our way that did not look normal. A boat approached and appeared to have something being towed "on the hip" i.e. on the side of the boat. "What is that?" The crew on this boat had several large logs they were giving a ride down the river.

Next, since we have passed through here numerable times, we came to a very familiar sight ...

Bridge of Lions; St. Augustine, FL

As it turned out, the water level was such that we did not need an opening of the bridge. However, the bridge opened at 2:00 for other vessels, and the bridge tender held it for us to go through as well.

South of the bridge

Fort north of the bridge

We never fail to see the scene below when we pass the inlet at St. Augustine.

No matter the day of the week, we always see trucks parked on the beach here.

The Vilano Beach Pier is another familiar sight.

Boats docked near the pier

We passed under a highway bridge and it was back to a more rural view and time to decide which anchorage to choose for the night.

Clark knew he would drop anchor in the Tolomato River. The only question was which spot on the river would he choose. The anchorage he picked was called the "Ximanies Creek" anchorage.

Of course looking it up on Google Maps is misleading as it tries to find a road to the requested spot. It did give me some idea of how much further we had to travel though.

We ended up dropping the anchor with a clear view of the airport tower across the waterway.

Airport Tower across the way

I decided to sit in the cockpit and
watch the clouds go by.

and a sailboat passing by as well

At one point I looked over the side of the boat and got quite a shock. At precisely that moment a cormorant decided to shoot up out of the water right next to the boat. We were both startled and the bird flew squawking away as quickly as possible while I tried to get my heart to stop racing!

The sunset tonight was a good one. It more than made up for the so-so sunrise we had today. Each time I looked it got more and more interesting! The pictures were taken only 4 minutes apart.

14 April 2026 - Tuesday

Depart: St. Augustine, FL anchorage 8:05

Arrive: Cumberland Island anchorage, Georgia 3:45

Distance: 54.5 nm

Today we needed to get fuel so our target destination was Fernandina Beach, FL for their more-reasonably priced fuel than other vendors. Clark said we needed to get moving early to be sure Port Consolidated was still open when we arrived there. Even so, it was after 8:00 before we were underway. The sunrise today was even less impressive than yesterday. At least that one had a sailboat as an accent!

Good morning St. Augustine!

Yesterday, I was not really excited about the scenery as it was all very familiar. Even though today's route was no different than the many times we have traveled here before, but today I found objects of interest along the way.

The first category to catch my attention was birds! Lots and lots of birds! The first group to catch my attention was a "convention" being held on the marshes. All around here the land was free of birds as they were having a "town hall" meeting in this one spot.

Except for the guy below who apparently missed the memo!

Sentinel on a marker

A while later we passed an island that had another congregation in attendance.

And then there was this guy watching the water all alone.

The water was calm and the sun was in the right position to get great reflections. One of my favorites from today is the silhouette reflection shown above.

This area was all marshland and trees making for interesting reflections.

Reflections of the markers proved interesting as well.

We did have some boat traffic on the waterway today, but it was mostly quiet. Some smaller craft were enjoying this area as we passed through.

Fishing from the stern of the boat

Checking fish traps

We heard a boat coming up from behind us hale another boat and announce themselves as "Lake Effect". We met folks on a boat in Marlin Bay named "Lake Effect" and wondered if it was the same boat. Clark mentioned Marlin Bay when we talked to them on the VHF radio, but they did not "take the bait". This one said it haled from a port in New York.

The boat showed a white looper flag, and we, having completed the loop, have a gold flag. I took their picture; they took ours and we exchanged photos over the app "NEBO". Pretty cool!

"Lake Effect" passing us on the ICW

The scenery can change pretty drastically on the ICW, and shortly after all the marshland, we came to houses and docks on both sides of the waterway.

Coming up on a populated area!

As I did yesterday, I found myself fascinated to watch a sailboat approach a bridge. Even as he was right next to the bridge, it looked like there would be no way that the boat would make it under.

S/V Beach Scape approaching bridge

Clark haled him on the radio to ask if it was okay to pass him because he was going slowly towards the bridge like he might be uncertain if his mast would clear. He replied that he was fine and said, "We're 58'. We don't even look up!"

He made it under the bridge just fine. From my point of view, it looked like he had only inches to spare. Clark said it looked like he had a foot of clearance. He made it out the other side just fine, and it still looked like it should not have been possible!

Cleared the bridge!

Shortly thereafter a motorized kayak used for fishing passed us by.

Motorized kayak

That wasn't the only boat of interest in the area. A Greenline boat passed us a short while later. Greenline manufactures solar-powered boats. This one was named "Sunlight" which I thought was very apropos!

M/V Sunlight

A while later someone haled "Sunlight" on the VHF to ask about their boat. From that discussion, we learned that in addition to solar power, the boat has twin Yanmar 250 engines. He could cruise at 6 knots for an hour with batteries powering the electric motor. Wow! With today's fuel prices, this boat is the right one to be operating!

After that the scenery continued to change throughout the day.

Homes on only one side of the waterway

Naval vessels in drydock under repair
at the ICW and St John's River crossing

Back to marshland with
industrial site in the distance

The channel was narrowing up ahead where Clark saw a barge that he would need to pass at some point. He haled the pilot to discuss when to pass. Clark suggested we pass at a marker a bit further along, but the captain of the tug said he was going in reverse and we should go around him now! Besides the channel being narrow, the water was "skinny". We navigated around him and found a lot of turbulence from his engines as we did so.

"Sun River City" Tow

For a while I was lying down in the upper helm reading a book and totally missed seeing any part of Jacksonville. Next I knew Clark was telling me I should know where we were due to the smell in the air.

Aromatic Paper Mill -
must be Fernandina Beach, FL!

Shortly after passing the paper mill, we had to keep our eyes open to spy the fuel dock for Port Consolidated.

Fishing Trawlers - not our dock

As we approached our fueling destination, the Amelia Island River Cruises boat passed us with a load of passengers headed towards the Georgia border and presumably Cumberland Island.

Amelia River Cruises

Up ahead, Clark saw a dock with two boats there and thought they were at the fuel dock meaning we would have a wait. However, he was looking at the wrong dock.

More fishing trawlers - still not our dock
destination

Port Consolidated was the next dock over and, good news, no one was there getting fuel.

Ah, here we are, Port Consolidated!

We took on almost 500 gallons of diesel fuel at a reduced rate of $5.06 per gallon since we paid by check not credit card. Doing the math equals expensive! However, as we were leaving the state, they did not charge state sales tax. It could have been a whole lot worse!

The fellow that works here is quite friendly and told us that yesterday business was hopping but today was quiet. I guess, that since they are closed on the weekend, Monday is popular. We arrived on a good day and a good time!

Cumberland Island, our destination for tonight, is just over the boarder from Fernandina Beach. As we passed over the border into Georgia, Clark pretended to be Ms. Google Maps and said, "Welcome to Georgia!"

I noticed as we were driving today that the upper helm steering wheel had rust spots. Keeping the chrome polished is one of my duties, so after we had the anchor down, I grabbed a bucket, rag, and my Barkeepers' Friend and went to work. I scrubbed the helm and the chrome railings on the upper helm and called it quits up top.

I also took a rag and wiped the railing around the hull of the boat. When I went up to drop the anchor, I got a handful of salt off the railing! The rains in Vero Beach washed the tops of the railings but not the bottoms apparently!

With the DST time zone in effect, sunset comes after dinner. So as not to miss the view, I set a timer to alert me when it gets close to time to look for a picture and turn on the anchor alarm. Last night's pictures were better.