We left St Augustine at 8:00 in the morning on April 10th. We were going to go about 60 miles today and check on a couple of anchorages near Fernandina Beach. We got into the area around 3:30 in the afternoon and the anchorages were either full or too shallow. There was a Trawler convention and most of the good anchorages were taken so we called the Fernandina Beach marina and they had a space for us. There was a pretty stiff wind but it was on the bow once we got into the marina and we docked uneventfully. Once docked we went into town to sightsee and get something to eat. After a long day you just want to set down and have someone else do the work.
Leaving St Augustine 7:55 am
Established in 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, St Augustine is the oldest permanent European settlement in the continental US. It is also the earliest example of community planning within the US. Center, twin towers of Flagler College. Right, dome of Presbyterian church.
Fort at St Augustine from the bay
Ground was broke on October 2, 1672 for Castillo de San Marcos. Most completion was done in 1695. It is the oldest and best preserved masonry fort of a Spanish Colonial fortification in the continental US.
Passing a pier under construction
Reminds me of our deck we built around a cottonwood tree at the clubhouse in Hamburg
The shore line is transforming to marsh land
FERNANDINA BEACH on Amelia Island, Florida
Fernandina Beach and Harbor Marina. We were informed to tie the boat allowing for 8 foot tied. The first full moon after spring equinox will result in the highest too lowest tide of the season. Same for fall equinox.
Back in the day under Spanish ownership, runaway slaves and rapscallions hid away on this island.
Nassau County Courthouse
The Lsesne House
Centre street has brick sidewalks with well preserved historic Victorian architecture. This church is another example of preserved architecture.
CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Georgia
We left later the next morning knowing that we were not going too far. We wanted to anchor behind Cumberland island and spend the night. They have wild horses on the island, and we figured that we would walk across the island and let Cindy do some “shelling”.
Cindy’s Observations: John Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette were married in the the wood frame Brack Chapel of the First African Baptist Church on this island. Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew, built a mansion on the foundation of Nathaniel Greene’s mansion built in 1803. Both called Dungeness. Mrs. Carnegie’s family donated the estate to the National Park foundation in 1971, under the terms that all the animal inhabitants be free to roam. The only way to the island is by ferry. No bridges will ever be built from the mainland.
It only took a couple of hours to get to the north end of Cumberland Island. Our first stop out of the state of Florida! Now we need to pay more attention to the tides as they will range up to as much as 8 Ft on the way to Norfolk. A rude awakening if you anchor in 10 feet of water at high tide and wake up setting on the bottom with 2 feet of water around you. We take almost 4 ft. to float safely. I found a spot that was in 14 ft. of water with no one around. There was less than 1 knot of current, but that would change as the tide changed.
Cindy’s Observations: The landscape is changing with more grassy marshes and pine trees. Oak trees are draped with Spanish moss. The bugs called no-see-ums (type of midge) are fierce. They are also referred to as “all jaws”. The south in known for these pesky bugs.
We launched the dinghy and headed to shore. We made several passes up and down the shoreline trying to find a good place to leave the dinghy. There was a dock that looked inviting but it had warning signs posted that it was a “private” dock so we moved on to a spot that didn’t have too many oysters that could ruin the dinghy (the dinghy is inflatable),or too much mud. With the tide change here, if we are gone any length of time we may either need to wade to it, or carry it through the mud down to the water.
It was alooong way across to the other side of the island. It’s a good thing that most of the trip was in the shade. The paths were cut through the forest and only wide enough for a 4 wheeler and hard to walk on because of the ruts formed in the soft sand. There were a few places where the swamp was filled in with dirt to make a path (road?) and it was pretty firm.
Cindy’s Observations: Bless his heart (southern expression). Larry kept on trucking to keep me happy. We always take bug spray, sunscreen and water on our excursions. A 2 mile walk each way seemed to take forever. The sandy road magnified each step.
Green tree frog on the live oak leaves.
Our first alligator by the tree roots in the shallow water.
Armadillo
We met some people riding bicycles and they were having a hard time making it through because of the sand. We saw every kind of wildlife except a wild horse. We know they were there because we took some pictures of them from the dinghy.
Shelling complete, we returned to the dinghy and it turned out we were gone long enough for the tide to be at about the same depth as when we left. We only needed to carry it a few feet through the mud to get it floating and it didn’t have any holes in it.
Cindy’s Observations: Also saw a black snake but was indisposed at the moment to take a picture. Birds were not easy to get a good shot due to the dense vegetation. Shelling was very successful. Added to my collection is a well preserved large horseshoe crab shell and sharks eye shells.
Leaving the island required a lot more energy. We had to carry the dinghy about 8 ft over the oysters in squishy, gooey molten mud that sucked my shoe right off my foot which in turn caused a cut on the bottom of my foot from an oyster. But, it was an island adventure we will never forget!
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Momma and colt, a rare sighting
The wind picked up during the night and kept us facing the same way even though the tide current changed a couple of times. We were also joined by a few other boats but only one anchored near us.
DUPLIN RIVER, GA
We left the Cumberland Island anchorage at around 8:00 the next morning. It’s always easier to leave an anchorage than a marina. No power cords, waterline, dock lines, or ladder to mess with. Just pull up the anchor, wash off the chain as it comes up, drag the anchor at the surface to clean it off and you're on the way.
Cindy’s Observations: Which by the way, are the best mates jobs. The captain pilots the boat. He helps when I do not move swiftly. Since I am a bit OCD about my lines and such, he leaves that to me. Bless his heart.
Leaving Cumberland. Light house at the point.
Our hungry followers, looking for sushi. Crossing the sounds we had multiple gatherings of gulls.
We went across a couple of sounds that had entries into the Atlantic. Everyone of these has the potential to get very rough depending on the direction of the tide and the wind. The wind was blowing today and the sounds were pretty rough. We only went 50 miles and found an anchorage in Duplin River. We anchored down river from another boat and quickly found out why he had gone further up river.
An otter family coming onto the beach
The wind started blowing straight up the river and we were getting bounced around quite a bit. So, after a while when the winds seemed to get worse instead of better, we hauled anchor and went further upstream around the first bend.
The water got a lot calmer and we still had plenty of depth. We spent a quiet night but it was way too windy to grill. I still wanted to grill some of those “Bubba Burgers” that we bought in Miami. Frozen burgers that are supposed to be real good. You cook them while they are still frozen which makes it easy to do at the last minute if you decide to grill or not grill in this case.
SKIDAWAY ISLAND, GA
54 miles today from the Duplin River anchorage to the marina at Delegal Creek. It was a little shallow getting in, but we listened to the dockhand on the radio and didn’t have any problems. A nice quiet marina with cheap (er) fuel and a free golf cart to go into town.
Cart paths on both sides of the road.
Palm tree sand trap planting bed in a course filled community.
Golf cart tunnel, another first
Delagal Creek Marina is in a gated community on Skidaway Island. Large exclusive homes surrounding numerous golf courses. They offered to get us into one of the clubhouses for dinner but it required a coat and tie. I hardly have any shirts with a collar!!! So we drove the golf cart into town to a small restaurant (no coat required) and a quick stop at the local market. Then back to the boat.
Private homes on fingers with shore line or ponds, very nice.
Cindy’s Observations: This island could be called “The Ladue Island” for the folks back home. 8 golf courses all required jackets. Well, maybe that’s why the marina loaner cart was painted gold, to fit in. However, we did find the island to be quite inviting. It was charming and neat as a pin. Ship Shape. So far this is the “first place” we both said we could live, if it weren’t for the no-see-ums, or hurricanes.
Another glorious sunset over the marina office
Next stop Savannah Georga!
SAVANNAH, GA
Coming up the river toward Savannah, there was a dredge blocking the river. I called them on the VHF and asked if I could get by. They told me that they were in the process of moving the dredge pipes and that I could pass next to a big ocean going container ship that was docked there unloading. As we went passed, I got a call from another ship that had seen us on AIS. He wanted to know which side to pass on and I told him the “one” was OK with me and he acknowledged. As we rounded the bend, it was another LARGE containership. I gave him plenty of room even though he was going slow.
Dredge and Tug moving dredge pipe
He asked ME which side to pass on!!! AIS is great!
We could have stayed at the city marina on the Savannah side of the river, but we opted to stay across the river at the Westin Hotel Marina. They quoted me a pretty good price but when I mentioned that we were going to stay on the boat, they wanted to double the rate. I told them I could go across the river and get a cheaper rate at the city dock. They checked with the marina manager and gave us the cheaper rate anyway.
We ended up being the only pleasure craft in the whole marina, not that it was very big. They did have a few small cruise ships that docked there and took up the prime spaces.
Below you see the famous gold dome on Savannah’s City Hall next to the Hyatt Regency downtown riverfront.
Sailing cruises available on the tall ship.
Cruise Ship. We are tied up on the inside of dock on the left.
A free water taxi was provided that gave us access to downtown Savannah from Hutchinson Island. It ran on a schedule and went from the Hotel, across to two stops on the Savannah side. It was rainy so we had to use our umbrellas.
Water Taxi
Since we had arrived around noon we had the remainder of the day for sightseeing and dinner. We even went back in the morning for Breakfast and did some more sightseeing, this time without the rain. We walked along the riverfront up into the Historic district.
The Waving Girl, an icon for Savannah is Florence Martus. Waving her handkerchief at passing ships in hopes her departing sailor-lover will return.
During the 1996 Olympics, a bronze Olympic torch was placed to honor the hosting of the sailing competition.
Along the waterfront life preservers are placed for emergency use. This is the first time we noticed so many, housed in these shelters. Great idea.
The Savannah Cotton Exchange set the worlds pricing for cotton.
Forrest Gump made this square world famous.
Founder and designer of Savannah James Edward Oglethorpe, stands in the center of Chippewa Square. He laid out the city in a series of 24 squares. Twenty one still remain as “vest pocket” parks.
The famous bus stop scene was shot here at the north end of the square. Tom Hanks did not get paid for the movie, he took a percentage, which earned him $40 million. The bench, which was a prop, had to be placed in a museum for safe keeping.
Independent Presbyterian Church, where the feather floated across in the opening scene.
Spanish moss draped live oaks lining the city blocks.
One of the sidewalks leading to and from the alley to the riverfront.
Cobblestones can’t get much larger than this. The alley behind the riverfront strip.
Real live Power House
Cindy’s Observations: Guess what is in the hedge house? Utility boxes for the hotel. Isn’t that the cutest thing ever!
For all the ladies: this is a neat town for cutesy shops and restaurants. The town squares are a nice place to sit and relax. Through in all the history, plantations and museums and you have a great girls week end out!
Other movies shot here were, Clint Eastwood’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” written by Savannahs author John Berendt. The famous Girl with Bird in Hand statue on the cover of the mostly true novel, had to be removed from the property were filmed (Bonaventure Cemetery) and placed in a museum for safe keeping. Another movie made here was The Legend of Bagger Vance
If you love old preserved cities, this is one you must visit.
Other facts include: Girl scouts were founded here by, Juliette Gordon Low. Johnny Mercer singer songwriter famous for “Moon River” was born here. The Mercer house, featured in the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” was built by his great grandfather in the 1860s.
We saw what we could despite the weather in a quick 24 hour stop ashore. We are on a schedule (uhg) and must keep moving north.
We used the old arrive early and depart late trick to get the most out of our slip rent. We didn’t depart until almost 1:00 in the afternoon.
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