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.
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