Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 58)

(Day 2) Fernandina Harbor Marina, Fernandina Beach, Florida:  October 31, 2020

Marc-  Happy Halloween from Florida.  Yes we are still here in Fernandina.  Our departure time came and went since the winds were out of the Northeast at 20 knots with rain on and off today.  We were basically pinned to the dock by our location in a corner of the marina very exposed to the effects of wind and current.  This will pass overnight so we decided to stay an extra day.  Nice place to be stuck.  We are planning on an early start tomorrow with the clocks being set back one hour for daylight savings time.  

A very nice Post Office for our post cards

Waiting at the train station

Sue's new friend who is waiting for fish

Temptation

Halloween in the South

And then on our way back to the marina someone made a wrong turn in front of an in-coming train.  NO harm done but the car sank in the crushed stone and was really stuck.

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 57)

Fernandina Harbor Marina, Fernandina Beach, Florida:  October 30, 2020

Marc-  Today we did the unexpected and made it to Florida.  Our departure from Jekyll Island started fine with leaving the dock at 08:00 at slack high water.  Wind was Northwest at 15 to 20 knots.  This was fine when we headed South from Jekyll but the channel goes out to sea before coming back at Cumberland Island.  The return in just North of Cumberland Island was a wild ride beating into the passage.  The tides helped us out here with favorable currents.  Next was passing the US Navy Submarine base at St. Mary's and we did in deed pass right in front of a nuclear submarine with Naval Security patrolling the ICW right in front of the base.  We sailed down to the Cumberland Island National Park and anchored.  There were several powerboats and one sailboat anchored when we arrived.  We did lunch aboard before going to visit ashore.  The Park Ranger was welcoming to all who arrived even though he had to explain that the park was only partially open (no tours or educational programs).  We explored several trails on the Southern end of the Island including the Dungeness Mansion.  The wild horses are still here and they looked healthy, especially the colts.

Michael suggested that we continue to Florida before dinner (Fernandina Beach is only 6.2 miles from the Cumberland National Park docks). So we pulled up anchor and headed South again arriving at the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 18:00.  The shops and the pizza and ice cream were excellent here.

A submarine base we passed on our way to Cumberland Island.

The Park Ranger's House at Cumberland Island

This buoy is definitely out of place

This guy is really out of place

Great climbing tree eh?  This is a live oak.

Colt following mare.

More horses.

Fernandina Harbor Marina

Florida wildlife?

Centre (Main) Street

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 56)

Jekyll Harbor Marina, Jekyll Island, Georgia:  October 29, 2020

Marc-  We raised the anchor at 07:45 and headed into the wind.  The wind was blowing 20 knots with gusts to 30 knots all day.  This was less of a problem on the small creeks and rivers we spent most of the day on but then we had to cross to large sounds (large bays).  The currents were mostly against us today for some reason and we needed to leave at high tide in order to pass through shallow areas.  We just made it through the last shallow area, the Jekyll Creek, with depth reading of  3.0 feet at one point (our draft is 4 feet 5 inches).  We just plowed through the soft mud and kept on going.  Docking was a bit crazy in this wind and current but we got it done.  

The highlights of today's travel included seeing a bald eagle fishing near the boat, dolphins jumping near the boat, and seeing a variety of watercraft: a sunken car-carrier ship being cut apart in the Brunswick Harbor Entrance, an unloaded car carrier leaving port, a tug boat with long barge, and a large shrimp boat that decided to anchor right in out path with its outriggers down.

The evening highlight was walking over to the historic Jekyll Island Club Village and enjoying dessert in the giant clubhouse.

Thursday morning sunrise

Our speeds today reached new lows

A favorite perch for a few

Car-carrier being cut up for scrap

A new car-carrier leaving after unloading its cargo

Channel anchored shrimp boat

One of the marina inhabitants

Sue made a new friend

Jekyll Island Club cottages

The Clubhouse

An interesting  Fiddler crab.

Full moon

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 55)

Crescent River Anchorage, Crescent River, Georgia:  October 28, 2020 

Marc-  Yet another fantastic sunrise today:

Nothing too exciting today as all we did was travel South to the Crescent River Anchorage and anchor.  We did cross St. Catherine's Sound under sail but mostly we dealt with contrary currents and some helpful wind.   We did experience a engine slowdown for an instant but I pulled the choke and it cleared.                                                                                                                                             

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 54)

 Kilkenny Marina, Kilkenney Creek, Georgia:  October 27, 2020  

Marc-  Today started off well with the marina staff dropping off a box of Krispy Kreme donuts.  We left the dock at slack high water at 07:30 and headed South.  Soon we were crossing Moon River made famous by the song and yes it is "wider than a mile" and we were "crossing it in style".  See the Andy Williams version of Moon River on YouTube.  Our trip was marked by seeing several dolphins and many monarch butterflies.  One butterfly even landed on board for a photo op.  The dolphins are frequently seen but very hard to photograph. We usually see just their fins, sometimes their backs and heads.  They are too busy eating to visit with us.  We passed through many golden colored marshes and even through the infamous "Hell Gate".  This short land cut had recently been dredged and was not a problem.  Our destination of Kilkenny Marina took us five hours of travel.  This is definitely a fisherman's marina but it did have all of the essentials.  I was particularly impressed with their three large bait tanks of live prawns (shrimp).

Nice fish restaurant near Thunderbolt Marina where Ann took us for dinner

Thunderbolt sunrise

Monarch butterfly passenger

Crossing Moon River

Kilkenney Marina

Kilkenney Marina bait prawns

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-2021 (Day 53)

(Day 2) Thunderbolt Marina, Savannah, Georgia:  October 26, 2020  

Marc-  We decided to stay another day to visit Savannah and do a few projects.  We like this marina with its good showers and laundry facilities and large beautiful sailing and power yachts to gawk at (many with professional crew).  We also got to spend the day with Ann who drove us around town, to the supermarket and to the auto parts and marine supply stores.  Most of the day was spent walking around downtown historic old Savannah and visiting a few shops, an ancient cemetery (which is a park in the city), and one beautiful church (St. John the Baptist Cathedral).  The riverfront area is some 40 feet below the main city and is right next to the Savannah River.  It was impressive.  We saw a giant 1000 foot long container ship and later a giant car carrier passing only feet away heading out to sea.  There is a lot of commercial ship traffic here.  It was a warm gray day for walking in the parks and along the old streets with shade provided by very large and old live oak trees with the ever present hanging spanish moss. 

Johnny Mercer who wrote the lyrics to Moon River with a few admirers

This unassuming entrance is the passage to a candy factory

We found an Ice Cream Parlor

Inside the Basilica of St. John the Baptist