Georgia On My Mind

Well, a lot has happened since my last update over 2 weeks ago. Life on a boat stays pretty busy. Not always easy to carve out time for writing. In a nutshell… we finally made it out of Florida, through Georgia, and are now in Beaufort, South Carolina! Due to ongoing winds, we ended up staying in St. Augustine, FL for 5 days. Our friends, Ginny and Mark from our veterinary ski group ( SVMA ) not only hosted us at their home for a lunch of home-made pizza, but they also loaned us one of their cars to help us get around their great city. It was really great spending the afternoon with them. While in St Augustine, we toured the Castillo de San Marcos. This is the oldest masonry fort in the US. There had been other forts at the same location built of wood that were destroyed. This fort was built from Coquina which is a rock formed almost wholly from shell particles. It took 23 years to build the fort but the coquina proved to be impenetrable, even to cannon balls. The fort was never taken by force but was eventually given up by the Spaniards through a treaty with the Brits.

Also in St Augustine…. We walked up the 219 steps of the lighthouse for a great view of the area and visited the Alligator Farm. As interesting as the alligators were… their star alligator Maximo is huge…. The real highlight was the wild bird rookery in the park. With all the alligators there to ward off the small predators that would typically raid their nests, hundreds of egrets, spoonbills, blue herons, green herons and tri colored herons make their nests in the trees… some so close you could almost touch them. It was an amazing site to see.

With all the wind and tight quarters of the marina, we were worried for the entire time we were there about how we were going to get Off Leash off the dock. Well, it ended up being pretty easy… we just let the current and wind help us around. From St Augustine we traveled north to Jacksonville Beach for one night and then set off for Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island where we stayed on a mooring ball for the night. Amelia Island is the northernmost barrier island in Florida. We took a 10 mile bike ride on our folding clown bikes to see the beach on the eastern side of the island and down a tree lined road to Fort Clinch on the northern tip of the island. From this location we could see across an inlet to Cumberland Island in Georgia… Our next stop.

A funny thing happened on our way to Fernandina! About 1 hour north of St. Augustine, the engines suddenly bogged down and we came to a stop. Our props were in mud on an uncharted sand bar! Fortunately, we were going slow at the time and caught it quickly and we were able to back out of the soft, silty mud. Physically we were OK but mentally we were shaken up. I guess we have joined the club. Apparently, along the east coast, there are 2 types of boaters… those that have run aground and those that have not YET run aground. It turns out, 2 of our friends also ran aground in that same spot that day! With much anxiety, we finally tried anchoring again at Cumberland Island. If you recall, our first experience with anchoring in Miami did not go so well. Fortunately, this time there was no drama and the anchor held well all night. Cumberland was wonderful. It is home to wild horses which can often be elusive. We not only saw over 20 of them, we even saw a mare with her very young foal wandering among the ruins of Dungeness Mansion. We hiked across the island with our friends Katja and Swen and Bret and Suzanne. Bret and I took a short swim on the Atlantic side of the island…. The gulf stream waters are so nice and warm compared to what we have at home in LA… but no real waves.

The next day we were off to Jekyll Island. Unlike the mostly deserted Cumberland, Jekyll is a beautiful island that has been a stomping ground for the wealthy. We took a golf cart ride into the town to see the beautiful old homes set amongst the huge moss covered oak trees. We also went to see the lobby of the Jekyll Island Club which is truly magnificent. It was in one of the rooms in this lobby that a group of wealthy men, including JP Morgan, met in secrecy to draw up the legislation for what would become the Federal Reserve Bank. Ostensibly meant to stabilize the economy and prevent future financial panics, once pushed through congress the day before Christmas break, it protected their assets and kept them very wealthy. There is a book about this, The Creature From Jekyll Island, that I intend to read.

That night we had a pot luck dinner with Katja and Swen on Bret and Suzanne’s catamaran, Lucy2. Loopers will tell you it’s the people you meet that make the trip so worthwhile. I know these are two couples we will be able to call friends for life! Below is the Catamaran Lucy2 belonging to Bret and Suzanne and Rykher, Katja and Swen's Mainship.

After Jekyll, Karen and I spent 2 days at St Simons Island, another of Georgia’s barrier Islands. Another bike ride. We noted how much the vegetation has changed since leaving Florida. The sparse Florida landscapes made up mostly of scrub and palm trees has been replaced by lush green trees and shrubs. In particular, the majestic oaks. After St. Simons, we continued northward along the Intracoastal Waterway and then made a 6 mile detour up Blackbeard Creek to The Sunbury Crab Company. In the late 1700s, Sunbury was a major port city that rivaled Savannah. However, the town was captured and later burned by the British during the revolutionary war and later faced further devastation by hurricanes and Yellow Fever. As far as I can tell, the only thriving business there now is the crab restaurant. Accompanied by another Looper we met on the dock, we had a great meal there that night of crab, oysters, shrimp and flounder. We spent the night on their dock and set sail again early the next morning. That morning at Sunbury had a magnificent sunrise with flat calm seas. When the seas are so calm and glassy, it is almost difficult to tell where the sky stops and the water starts. As we prepared to pull away from the dock we were accompanied in the channel by both dolphin and manatees!

Although this does not get us caught up to our present location…. This is enough for one blog. Will catch up again later!