We stopped in the marina at Fernandina Beach to clean up and to prepare for an overnight passage. After looking at all the charts and talking to several people, it seems best to not go through Georgia on the ICW. Apparently congress has not given Georgia any Corps of Engineers funding since 2005, so there is very little dredging or other maintenance being done. Some areas are only passable at high tide, which really restricts travel time.
The knotmeter is working, but registering 20% low, so the indicated miles are off. I'll put in a compensation factor, but will eventually have to pull it again to see what is wound up in the paddlewheel.
Fernandina Beach, at the north end of Amelia Island, is an old and quaint town that is changing into an upscale resort destination. But shrimpers still use the waterfront, and there are two cranes for container shipping. There is a paper mill, but somehow it does not produce the aroma that we came to know so well in Longview.
We will leave Fenandina about 4 PM today to make an overnight run to Port Royal Sound in South Carolina. This timing puts us on a flood tide and should make going in easier. The weather looks OK with 15 to 20 knots of wind from the SSW. I'll put up the riding sail again to see if it helps at all.
Once we get to Beaufort (prounce "Bew furt" as opposed to the North Carolina town pronounce "Bow fort") we'll probably take a day to see the town before moving on.