Jacksonville Beach - Day 25

At rest.

We departed late in the morning to catch the ebbing tide on the St John's River and said goodbye to Edward's Marina. It was a 10 mile run down the River to the intersection with the AICW. A turn south for a 7 mile stretch to Jacksonville Beach and Beach Marine. The current was as fierce as we had seen on the Waterway, so progress was slow.

After refueling, Julep got a well earned rest after 150 hours of running. She was tucked away in a lagoon at Beach Marine that has minor current and well protected, so we will feel good about leaving her. See pix.

Lots of projects and provisioning face us for the next few days and when we return in January. She needs a thorough cleaning and waxing to begin with.

Dave unlimbered one of new folding bikes and will use it to visit the local West Marine store for some needed items.

Data: 10:40 to 13:15. Engine hours 1023. Refuel at 16 gals for 8 hours or 2 gal/hr.

Dave's cousin Randy and his friend Julie visited on Saturday. It was great to see them and we planned to stop over in Palm Coast on our way south in January.

The Illini beat Ohio State (sorry John) in a great football game. Nice way to cap off a month of traveling.

Cheers - Ruth and Dave

Jacksonville - Day 24

Squeeeeze

The winds built again overnight, so we expected a brisk ride to Jacksonville. But first we had another bridge to contend with at Kingsley Creek 3 miles below Fernandina Beach. This bridge is another of the ones the Army Core missed the 65 ft clearance. It runs about 64.5 ft and with a spring tide at 08:00, we had to wait till 09:00 to leave the marina.

When we arrived, the tide board was in the center of the passage way and could not be read unless you moved under the bridge. Real useful. Called a passing boat and they said the board read 63 ft and a few inches. We then turn around and anchor upstream to wait out the tide. That is always irritating because you get to run the shallow stretches further south heading into low tide. The good news is that we Skyped Yvonne and Ashton and had a video call. Just marvelous. After an hour another boat reported 64.5 ft at the bridge, so we weighed anchor and cleared the bridge.

The winds abated late morning and the run through the marshes of north Florida was enjoyable. We made the Sister's Creek bridge at 13:00 along with Tally Ho, a Hunter from Annapolis. They had been traveling with a group f three boats. We first encountered them on Walburg Creek. They chatted constantly on the radio and rode out the storm at St Mary's on the anchor. Needless to say they did not get much sleep for two nights.

Throughout the morning we listened to the Navy planes and ships trying to keep southbound boats out of a live fire missile practice off shore. When you hear "you are entering a live fire missile exercise and unless you change course to the north or west you could suffer harm", folks got real interested. Of course some folks never think they are the ones being called, so the plane flies right over them and says "do see a plane above you?" There was so much activity on Channel 16 that we could hardly have an opening to hail folks.

We left Tally Ho at Mile 740 and hung a right turn up the St John's River toward our marina 8 miles upstream. It was a nice run through a commercial shipping area before Jacksonville.

We had a nice deal lined up at Edward's Marina on the Trout River before Jacksonville. This small 25 slip marina has some live aboards and the manager lives right by the marina. Well, Charles about had a heart attack when we called on the way in and reminded him we had a 14 ft inch beam. They moved a boat out of their largest slip that had a 16 ft breadth and he had us come in. As we backed the Julep into the slip it became obvious that their tape measure did not match ours. Julep looked like 10 pounds of sugar in a five pound bag.

It was clear Edward's Marina could not accommodate the Julep, so we called a few marinas and chose to head back to the AICW to Jacksonville Beach. Edward's was close to the airport, so we will have further to travel next week when we fly out.

A small shrimp boat docked at Edwards and we enjoyed fresh shrimp cooked in Gullah rice for dinner. Quite a treat and worth the diversion.

Data: 09:00 to 14:45.. Engine hours 1020.

Fernandina Beach, Fl - Day 22 and 23

Oh, Florida

A slow start in the morning as we had to wait until 09:00 for the tide to drop at the Lanier Island Bridge at St Simon's. This put us in harms way since now we had to run on a mid-low falling tide through some shallow areas in southern Ga.

Sure enough we caught a shoal just 50 ft off a turning mark on Jekyll Creek. Since we were traveling at 7.5 mph we were stuck good. We called Sea Tow and they flew over from St Simons in 15 minutes since the tide was dropping. He was able to pull us off in short order. Apparently the channel through this section only exists due to the tug boats that plow the bottom as they run behind Jekyll Island, thus a very narrow channel. So there goes the streak of ca 2000 miles on the AICW without getting stuck.

We cleared St Andrew's Sound below Jekyll. This can be a rough stretch in high winds, so we wanted to beat the strong front that was due late in the day. This section runs along the Cumberland River behind the island of the same name. This spring we saw wild horses along the northern shore, but none this year.

Running at low tide, we heard many reports on the radio of folks having issues or concerns about the shoals. We made it through safely to the river at King's Bay where the huge submarine sheds can be seen from 10 miles way. In the far distance a submarine and its escorts could be seen heading for the open seas.

As the afternoon wore on, we made the St Mary's River and passed a Homeland Security guard returning from escorting the submarine to sea. On the south side of Cumberland Island, wild horses were roaming along the beach. A turn south past the old fort that guards the entrance to this border between Georgia and Florida and we entered the Amelia River that forms the western side of the Island.

With strong winds forecasted for that night and all day the next, we elected to enjoy the comforts of Fernandina Beach and the city marina. This side of Amelia Island is more industrial as evidenced by the paper mills and shrimp boat docks. The old town is very nice with many shops and restaurants. An excellent stopover spot right along the Waterway.

Data: 07:30 to 15:30. Engine hours 1018. Fuel 48.7 gals for 29 hrs or 1.7 gal/hr.

A good decision to layover on Wednesday as the winds were fierce. Many boaters came in early and were beat up from the cold northern winds at 20-25 mph. The marina had many very large 80-100 ft powerboats along the dock on Wednesday. We were surprised to see Fancy Bread, a Freedom 40, from our marina in Rock Hall along the dock that evening. Wally Kraemer from our marina has a crew take her to the Bahamas each winter. We are looking forward to seeing him in March at Marsh Harbor in the Abaccos.

Frederica River - Day 21

Oh those Shoals.

As noted earlier the south end of Walburg Creek re-enters the AICW. At low tide the shoals were only 3-4 ft deep. A pre-twighlight rise was required to catch high tide. Enough light was gathered before sunrise to discern the creek banks and the favored channels. Skirting along the north side of the channel avoided the shoaling on port. Julep ran into the AICW with no less that 9.5 ft of water under her toes.

Now we were headed into some skinny patches of water with a falling tide, so prudence was required. We passed the only sailboat encountered around 09:00 and caught some great currents for a fast run to the Frederica River. This run in Georgia is re-known for its switch backs and hairpin turns. The many range markers were indicative of narrow channels and shallow bordering waters.

The bright and clear day accentuated the marshgrass swamps and blue waters. As we approached the stretches above Bruinswick Ga the waters turned brown on Little Muddy.

The north end of the Frederica River junction with the Waterway on the Mackay River is shoaled on several sides. This past spring we found the guidebooks to be wrong about the recommended passage and were shown the way by a catamaran. This time we entered just before low tide and easily cleared the entrance.

Some might remember that Frederica was a fort built by the British in the late 1600's as they battled the Spanish for control north of Florida. As in April we anchored below the fort's ruins situated on Little St Simon's Island.

So an afternoon bathing in the sun was required to stage the run into Florida on Tuesday ahead of a strong cold front slated for late in the day.

Data: 06:30 to 12:40. Engine hours 1006.

Walburg Creek - Day 20

A short day was planned to enjoy one of the nicest anchorages on the AICW, Walburg Creek. This broad stream runs four miles inside St Catherine's Island from the Sound on the north to the North Newport River on the south. As some may remember, St Catherine's is home to the NY Zoological rare and endangered species program.

Coming in from the north requires that one passes north of the shoal in the middle of the Sound and enter the Ocean, round a sea buoy and turn SW below the shoal and along the north side of the Island. With mild NW winds behind an ebb tide this made for a sweet run into the creek. Along the way we saw several shrimp boats working the coast and the Sound.

Anchored half way down the creek in 20 ft across from the northern most houses which were few. By the end of the day there were 7 other boats in the creek. As the wind abated at sunset, the porpoises slowly cruised the waters, as though they were on a Sunday stroll. Oh yeh, we even saw, albiet briefly, antelope scamper along the beach. No lions, tigers or bears.

Being along the coast, the skies were dark and a shooting star was reported. However, we were not that far from civilization to see the Patriots do in the Colts.

Data: 08:45 to 11:10. Engine hours 1000. Wow.

Redbird Creek - Day 19

Hell Gate.

The forecasters continued to underestimate the influence of Noel. The NE winds were brisk as we departed Port Royal Landing with the tide. Julep zipped by Parris Island and around into the Broad River and Port Royal Sound which are the northern boundary of Hilton Head Island. We were trailed by four sailboats which left the Beaufort area at the same time.

We continued to make great time inside Hilton Head and around Dafuskie Island heading toward the Savannah River and Georgia. Running at low tide created a few skinny moments but it was perfect. We crossed the Savannah River just before the Coast Guard shut down cross traffic to allow a huge gas carrier to leave the terminal just north of the AICW crossing at Field's Cut. With hot bratwursts on the luncheon cuisine, we caught an opening at the Causton Bluff Bridge as a shrimp boat cleared the way heading north.

A few dolphins were spotted and for the unbelievers, a picture of one was captured. With a nice run past Isle of Hope we turned into the Vernon River with the wind trucking from behind.

Hell Gate is this notorious 1/2 mile stretch of shoals the connect the Little Ogeechee River and the Ogeechee, both of which drain into Ossabaw Sound and the Atlantic. At low tide this stretch is about 6 foot deep and one mistake with the fast perpendicular current and you are calling the towboats. So it is with no coincidence that we make the passage one hour before high tide. Finding the markers hidden by the glaring sun, a 20 mph cross wind and a 3 knot current required attention.

So we survived Hell Gate one more time and made the last 4 miles to Redbird Creek just north of the Florida Passage. We stayed on Redbird this past spring with Kim on our way north from St Mary's. It is a deep and swift stream that provides good swing room for a boat our size. The extra rode is needed to allow for the 6 ft tidal range.

We enjoyed shrimp and grits using the Gullah mix that is popular in the low country and a clear sunset. We are entering a section of the barrier islands where there are no houses so we enjoyed the dark skies and stars.

Data: 07:40 to 15:45. Engine hours 997.

Port Royal, SC - Day 17 and 18

Return.

A relatively short day is in store as we run the Ashepoo and Coosaw Rivers southeast of Charleston. This a natural section of the Waterway that dissects vast marshgrass regions interspersed with clumps of trees.

We caught the tides perfect, running down the South Edisto and catching the rise on the Ashepoo and Coosaw. Without pushing it we made 8-9 knts on a bright day. The clouds running along the coast were likely related to Noel which gained hurricane strength.

We cleared the Lady's Island swing bridge at 12:30 and docked at Port Royal Landing Marina at 13:00. We were greeted by the great folks at this marina where we stayed last winter along with Chris Haupt. Tom Wilson and some of his family, his daughter Leigh and son-in-law Rion, along with Larry and Donna run a very customer friendly place. We have lots of fun with them. Pix of Tom and Ruth, Rion and John and Larry are shown.

John and Marge Barber stopped by to say hi. They are fellow Tartan owners who sailed with us last winter on the Julep. The Barber's live in the development adjacent to the Marina. We will go out for dinner with them Friday night and share stories.

After our arrival, Ruth heads to the laundry and Dave to West Marine and hardware store. An hour was spent assembling our new folding bikes. We had to have cheeseburgers at the Landing Restaurant Thursday night. They are the best along with the shrimp jumbo.

Data: 08:15 - 13:00. Engine hours 989. 17.8 gals or 1.6 gal/hour.

On Friday the winds picked up from the north due to the influence of Noel. Julep bounced around on the outside of the docks. Grocery shopping and a lunch at the local BBQ buffet, Duke's, were on the docket. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and scrubbing the dirty Julep,

We joined John and Marge Barber for drinks at their house in Port Royal Landing. Dinner at Saltus Restaurant was fantastic including the sushi. We shared sailing stories and talked abut their trip to Key West this spring. They will be heading for the Chesapeake next summer.