Cumberland Island to Brunswick, Georgia

We were up with the alarm, usual coffee and up anchor routine and away on the dot of 7am as planned. We do like the lovely morning light and to greet the day before the sun is actually over the horizon.

 Waz is washing the mud off the anchor chain as it comes into the boat. We were out of there as the sun came over the trees.

 We felt lucky to see on of the feral Cumberland Island Horses, as we motored down the side of the island. As we watched, a deer sprang (literally) from the trees at left and exited stage right...the horse stood there and watched it go, very nonchalantly!

 Just up the river is a Submarine Degaussing plant.  For the info on this process...click on the following...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing
The security is high there! Our progress was duly noted and this time they didn't come out to chase us away, like they did last year.

 This was just a frame, a year ago. Progress, I guess. This is at the Submarine Degaussing plant.

 That out there is the Atlantic Ocean, and we are about to enter St Andrews Sound. The water was already choppy and it got worse the further into the sound we went, of course. The sand hills were relatively low, but there is a holiday home on the hill...can you see it?

 There is still a For Sale sign on the beach.

 It is hard to tell how choppy it is, but there was spray coming all the way to the fly deck, as we went into the troughs of these waves.

 

We had to do another quick left turn around the red buoy....shallow water being the same reason, and up the harbor towards the lovely bridge at Brunswick.

 

First, however, we had to go through Jekyll Sound, along the side of Jekyll Island. We also had to go through there at low tide, or almost. It was pretty shallow in places, with 2.6ft being the highest point I noted as I looked at the chart plotter and depth sounder. Ack! We got through the channel though, and it go steadily deeper, thank goodness. The wind had come up as we made our way up the harbor to our dock at the Marina.

 

Along Jekyll Island we found this Airboat tour about to cast off...

....and then as they made their way towards one of the many inlets in the middle of the marshes. Those are Oyster Islands you see directly behind the boat.

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 This wasn't the shallowest we had beneath us, as I said earlier...but this was the only photo I took of the low water, at 5ft 7inches.

 One of the two suspension spans of the bridge...for want of explaining it a better way. The shrimp boat coming towards us needed those arms out in the wind and chop.

 These bridges are fascinating, aren't they! This is the top of one side where the cables are threaded through the concrete pilons, as we are about to go underneath.

 Approaching the marina up the river. It looks quite large from where we are sitting.

 We were given very clear and strict instructions by the lady on the radio, as we approached the marina to dock. Brunswick Landing Marina is run by two women, and you can tell...pardon me for saying so. It is clean and efficient! It is a large marina, and very spread out, with what seems like a mile between our berth and the office waaaaaay down the end. Well, it is down the entry end, and we are up the back, to put it in better perspective....no? There is a 9ft tide different here so we are on floating docks. When we later went walking in the Historic Town, across the road, we found photos of the town under water. That was some flood!

 As you can see, the pontoon seems to go on forever. We haven't walked down that way yet. We were instructed to have our forward spring line ready to hand over, if we were going in stern first, which we were, and then the forward line. We did as told, with the stern ropes being the final tie off. The lady, Sherry, was very efficient and we appreciated the instruction. You can just see our white bimini in this photo, half way down the pontoon.

 

We arrived at 11.24 ( it is in the ship's log) yesterday morning, and promptly walked down to the office at the far end (beginning) of the Marina. We know why they have loaner bikes down there!!

We met a few of the other live aboards on the way and had a couple of chats:) Always nice to have friendly faces, when you dock anywhere.

 

Waz and I decided to check out one of the many restaurants written up in the comprehensive 'guide' to the marina and town of Brunswick. We stopped in at a very busy Wood Fired Pizza place and ordered one piece of  Supreme for Waz and a Spinach and Feta, both with extra cheese, and a cup of water. We were disappointed with the results, so we wont be going back there. We were hungry and the cupboards are bare. Further walking down Newcastle Street elicited more information and photos. What a pretty place, despite there being so many boarded up and empty commercial buildings, many of which are unreinforced brick.

 

Walking towards the Marina Office, finally. It is a floating office and a fast boat came down the river towards us, when we were there, and Sherry went out with her air horn to tell them to slow down, as they hadn't responded to a radio call to say as much. They didn't slow, but did a wide arc turnaround, which, of course created even MORE wake. We rock'n rolled for a bit. Bah! ignorant people...there were slow wake signs everywhere. Do people REALLY not see them??

 

 

 Our first glimpse of Newcastle Street, Brunswick, in the Historic Town

 Gorgeous old Oak trees and pretty squares. We were very grateful for the shade. We might take advantage of the tranquility of these places, in the weeks to come.

 Huge Crepe Myrtle trees in flower...I do have a penchant for white flowers.

 This building has been rejuvenated, but is typical of the kind of building in the district.

 A large and very healthy looking Gardenia. I thought I smelled it, some distance away, and had to go and find the source.

 There were little squares like this ...maybe 5? down Newcastle Street.

 The clock tower of City Hall.

 The top left photo shows the street under flood waters. I forget the date. And, as it was in days gone by. Too bad it doesn't look that prosperous anymore.

 Oglethorpe was the founder of Georgia. A Brit, of course. This monument in one of the little squares was rather nice.

 City Hall is quite impressive, isn't it!

 And we would be remiss if we didn't include a photo of a Magnolia Grandiflora bloom. There are HUGE trees down the main street and in the little parks.

 Of course, as we have done before, we went searching out the coffee shop. The instructions we were given said "Specialty Coffee", and we have learned that usually means Barista kind of coffee, and we headed there poste haste.  We were delighted to find that they would make a Flat White, once they knew what it was...a medium sized one for Waz, and a Medium sized Latte for me. No sugar, or syrup, though they were offered. We were DELIGHTED with the results and will be back there for more, no doubt.
The lovely pressed tin ceiling got our attention straight Way.

 This building with the coffee shop in it has been well restored, or they look like new bricks?

We arrived back at the boat, from our wanderings, about 2pm. I was pooped, so went downstairs to take a nap...I usually have to be sick to take any kind of daytime nap, and to tell the truth, I was just plain exhausted. I didn't sleep, but just totally relaxed in the room with the aircon on and the blinds drawn closed. I got up a couple of hours later feeling like Crap! Seriously!

 

Our new kiwi friends Colin and Dawn had arrived in the meantime, and we invited them over for a cuppa...what was I thinking?? at that time of the day.? They arrived with brews...Dawn with her wine and Colin with a beer. We sat up top and enjoyed the rest of the day and the company, with the windows open. Grey clouds approached and we closed up a bit. It did look threatening, but rain didn't eventuate before sundown. The sunset was a pretty one, across the marshes to the west.

 

I had enough pork curry to feed the lot of us, so reheated that and cooked some cabbage, much the same as the night before. We had strawberries and blueberries with ice-cream and cream, for dessert...the ice-cream, Colin had to retrieve from their boat, three slips down. We certainly didn't go hungry:)

 

Nice to share a meal and information, and we enjoyed the company. They are taking a day off today (Saturday) to gather themselves. Their plans are rather ambitious....the complete the loop this year...and they are a whole month behind what was our schedule last year for the same purpose. They will be going fast, we think, to complete the travels this year.

 

Well, the day ended in the same way...showers and bed. Shower off the back was a little tricky, with so many neighbors, but it happened, and the laundry was hung out back around 10.30pm.

Bed was a blessed relief, and today I feel a bit beaten up. Waves will do that to you...and you feel as if you are rocking, when you walk. We didn't have waves for long, but going through any large body of water that is driven by tide and the ocean is right there, as it were, is going to be rocking.

 

We are off to the Farmer's market to get a few supplies. Ciao for now.

 

St Augustine to Cumberland Island

A Loooong day!

We didn't want to rush off the dock at the River's Edge Marina, as the tide was low at 5am, and the longer we hung out, the higher the tide would be for some of our narrow and shallow passage.

We took our time having breakfast, taking the power cord and the water hose off the boat, making the lines ready by removing chafe guards etc, and suddenly we were ready...nothing else to do.

Originally we had intended to just make it to the Free Dock at Jacksonville, at Sister's Creek...more on that later.

The view down the river as we set sail

 Over the marshes to the bridge we came under, two nights before.

 We had about 2 nautical miles to travel back down the river to the bridge, and had to pass this other marina where there were LOTS Of liveaboards on the dock.

It was 9.36am when we dropped the front rope and moved out into the river, doing a 180 degree turn.

Another glorious day as you can see. A little cooler, for which we were grateful.
We came around the corner at five minutes to 10 to see the Bridge of Lions rising for a yacht to go through. We were a bit late getting there, but Waz assured me we would clear the bridge without needing an opening. It is always difficult to look at a bridge and estimate how much clearance we will have, but the gauge on the side of the bridge support usually tells us how much clearance. This one has 23 feet and we top off at 19ft. We didn't need an opening, and sailed under her easily! phew!

 It is always a little bit 'hold your breath!' because it never looks high enough to get under.

 El Galeon sits at the end of pier 1, at the St Augustine Municipal Marina. She is open to the public...paying, that is.

Looking left to see the last of St Augustine as we move northward towards Jacksonville.

 We are almost at the Atlantic ocean, and have to make a sharp left turn before the sand bar to go up the ICW, vs out to sea. Lots of fisherfolk out on the sand, this morning.

 On the chart, we have to turn sharply between the red and green, just ahead of the boat symbol in the center of the photo, and go up under the bridge on the left. As you can see, the turn needs to be sharp because, per usual, off the beaten track, the water is very shallow!

 There was a strong current we had to push against, going towards the ocean. Not all fun, and this is the first time we have had an incoming tide to deal with.

We think this fire must have been started by lightening.

 It was still smouldering!

 Out of St Augustine, along the barrier Island, we passed through some lovely residential areas...and pricey homes, but lovely too:)

 Lots of new construction of some HUGE homes! Like this one.

 We liked this one in particular:)

 ...and this boat dock seemed to have it all!

A long day with plenty to look at, and at times a bit boring once we hit the marshes. It is so nice remembering the places we have been last year and the incidents that accompanied some of them.

Lots of bird life, and dolphin, again.

Crossing over the main shipping channel into the Port of Jacksonville, we have to go alongside the working dry dock, and found this approx. 200 ft superyacht in for some work. She is huge! about 7 decks high.

What a beauty she is!

 The free dock at Sister's Creek wasn't full, but the spacing of the boats helped us make up our minds to carry on as far as we could today.  There would have been room for us if they had shuttled cloeer together. It was only 2pm, and we didn't want a 7 hr day tomorrow, so we kept on going to Cumberland Island, making for a much shorter journey. We were already tired after being on the go for so many days on end.

 We weren't quite sure if this guy was waiting for the time to turn in his favor, or he was just left high and dry with his airboat!?

 Coming up to Fernandina Beach, the northern most Marina in Florida. We were to cross the border into Georgia very soon! yay! The dotted line on the fuzzy photo (sorry!) is our course.

 Looking across the top of the Fernandina Marina to the old buildings. The Atlantic is behind them.

We finally arrived in the long sound alongside Cumberland Island, about 5.40pm. It was glorious there. We could hear voices coming from the island, so still was the air. Plenty of people in the vicinity, it appeared. We parked a little way up the water from the main shipping channel, and glad we did, after hearing from Colin and Dawn about their rock'n roll encounter with a submarine making its way up the shipping channel! aieee!

I had gone downstairs, about 4pm, to put a curry of pork on the stove to cook. We were pretty tired, after doing 30 more miles than initially intended, and I didn't think I would have the wherewithal to do the cooking later! How right I was. We set anchor, and the food was ready to eat. We ate on the fly deck with the sun still high, at 6.pm-ish. It gave us time to rest and enjoy the end of the day in peace.
The curry with red cabbage instead of rice. Much healthier, and delicious! Apple, raising, peas and broccoli topped off with mushrooms. Yummy!

Our neighbors parked just off the jetty and the island. Lovely place to stop!

We were in bed early, and decided to make a run for our destination in the morning at our usual early hour of 7am.