12/09/2011, Cumberland Natiuonal Park Island
Jim did a nice job relaying our experience but he failed to tell you about MY missing a red buoy and heading for a 4-foot shoal!! I insisted I simply was making a wide arc turn at the corner going from red to red; however, he is insisting that I missed the buoy altogether!! Since the jury is out on that one, we won't mention anymore except that we arr'd in Cumberland Island River safely!! For thousands of years people have lived on Cumberland Island, but never in such numbers as to permanently alter the character of the landscape. Spanish soldiers and missionaries were here in the mid-1500's. No signs remain of the forts built to protect British interests. Revolutionary war hero Gen. Nathaniel Greene purchased land here in 1783; his widowed wife constructed a 4-story tabby home she named "Dungeness" in the 1890's. The settlement was established for black workers at the north end of the island. The 1st African Baptist church was established in 1893, is still standing, and was the site of the wedding of John Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette. The steel magnates...the Carnegie family...began building on the island. For decades, housing developments, marinas, etc, etc., were attempting to be planned, but in 1971, the Carnegie family (who now owned most of the island) donated their land to the National Park Foundation. Therefore, the island remains very much unspoiled and natural. The few remaining land owners have contracts that will ultimately transfer their property to the Foundation. In Mrs. Carnegie's will, she specified that her horses, upon her death, were to remain on the island and roam free!! Hence, there are presently over 200 horses running free, along w/wild hogs, turkey vulchers, wild turkeys, deer, and today we saw an armadillo!! Jim and I tried to bike the island yesterday, but the "roads" are sand and difficult. Today, we took an 8-hour tour w/the park ranger...well worth it, and every minute was filled w/sights and stories! This is the last of Georgia's barrier islands, and has no man-made or tidal bridges linking it to the mainland. The only access to the island is by boat...and what an experience it has been for us to visit!! Tomorrow we are off for ??Amelia Island, Florida!!...Stay tuned...
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12/09/2011
Photo crossing St Andrew Souind (Cumberland River Ahead)
Timing the trip from Jekyll Island was a tough call-from several sources of advice we had conflicting inputs. Some said always go into Cumberland's winding shallow channel at mid tide rising so when you run aground you can wait to float off. Others advised going at dead low tide so you could see the shallow banks on the side -and if you went aground you would soon float off. Well both sound very good but the time of the tide did not cooperate. Low tide was at noon on Wednesday Dec 7th. We really didn't want to miss the day waiting for the tide--so I opted to get going two hours after the 5:30 am high tide! I also had to decide about running directly out into the main channel which has direct ocean exposure or taking the inside creek route. Well with the tide choice made the logic was ocean channel -it all worked perfect. The only major issue was a miss charted set of buoys that you had to follow -that on the chart lead directly through a swamp marsh island. I attempted to use common sense and stay in the deep water on the chart and ignore the obviously miss placed buoys. After several depth sounder readings of 5'4' (aground in mud) I opted to follow the buoys that on the chart seemed to go across the island--in reality it was the new channel and the water there was deep 20 some feet. WE made it around the rest of the creeks and rivers to the Cumberland Island anchorage and dropped anchor in 20' feet of water at 11 am. Off to visit the island==Dede's turn.
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12/07/2011
What d delightful island! Yesterday we left St Simon to go up to Brunswick for fuel and a short visit, then head over to Jekyll Island. We timed our departure to allow us to arrive in the creek just after low tide so we could ride the flood current and if we grounded (the creek is known to be very shoaled --everyone grounds some place) we could wait a few minutes and the incoming tide would lift us off (8 foot of tide can get you off a high and dry grounding). As we departed Morningstar Marina at 10 am it was warm and sunny---when we went 5 miles south toward St Simon Sound the fog came rolling in like a cotton ball. Haven't seen that kind of fog since Long Island in September. With zero visibility it did not seem real prudent to head up a VERY busy shipping channel into Brunswick -just to look around. Brunswick is the largest car import port for MB and KIA cars in the East Coast--ie, three or four car carriers a day!!! With that sort of traffic we opted to heads directly to Jekyll Creek. We were only making 2-3 knots in the fog so our timing to get into the ditch was still pretty good. We avoided any collisions with shipping and arrived in Jekyll Creek just as the fog lifted. Had a safe trip down to Jekyll Harbor Marina and tied up at 1 pm. Stay tuned for Dede's take: Jekyll Island: The island's present day prominence as a beloved vacation destination was prefaced by an era of unrivaled status and prestige. Beginning in 1886 and continuing for over four gilded decades, the island was an exclusive domain of the renowned Jekyll Island Club...the winter retreat for some of America's most elite families. Club members included men such as JP Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, Wm Vanderbilt and Marshall Field to name a few - they built their "winter cottages" like the mansions in Newport. The Club was where they met every nite for dinner, having brought chefs from NY to cook. History was made on Jekyll Island - in 1910 the framework for the Federal Reserve Act was drafted in the clubhouse, and in 1915 the 1st transcontinental phone call was placed from the island by Theodore Vail, the then president of AT&T!! (it has been said that, when these club members were together, 1/6 of all the money in the world was together!!)..
We enjoyed 2 days on this beautiful, small island. We, obviously, did the "touristy" trolley tour - well worth it!!, and visited the Rockefellers "cottage." We went to Faith Chapel, an interdenominational chapel completed for the club members. There were carved animal heads on the interior roof trusses and gargoyles on the exterior steeple. The chapel also has a magnificent signed Tiffany stained glass window!! We took advantage of the beautiful restaurants for our meals (superb!!). We biked about 10-miles arnd the island...pretty much the best way to see everything. A nasty storm came in this afternoon - winds gusting up to 50kts and temperature dropped from 80 to 50 degrees - a new cold front for the next few days!! We arrived back at Lady just after the rain associated with the storm had subsided. We still got wet riding bikes back. Lady was not riding well with such a strong wind on her starboard beam. Fortunately two of Gods little blessings came together. We tied up with the port shroud about a foot ahead of the 20' steel piling and Dede placed a extra fender between the gunwale and the piling. The gusting wind and steady 25 kt wind had the port beam pinned to the dock -fenders compressed hard against the dock and Dede's well placed fender between the gunwale and that piling. Without that fender we would have done some serious damage. If we had not sprung the boat exactly as we did we would have lost the mast! The boat was VERY uncomfortable for me (Dede)w/those winds so I chose to ride most of it out in the marina's restaurant sipping on coke!! As has been our experience, we met a great man who is here teaching w/the customs department. Spent evening exchanging tales, and exchanging numbers!! Southerners are REALLY hospitable!!
Back aboard, wind has quieted down SOME, see the photo above-and we hope to set sail tomorrow am for Cumberland Island. Stay tuned...
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12/05/2011
Got underway from the beautiful anchorage pictured above at Ft Frederica on St Simon Island. We have discussed many such beautiful creeks -but this is the first one we had the dingy down so I could take pictures. WE then wandered down stream to the St Simon's Morningstar Marina for the day. Off loaded the bikes and spent from 11:00 until 17:00 (5pm) looking and seeing the island. Did a bit of shopping and dining on Main Street -I took a nap on a park bench by the sound and Dede did a little more shopping!! Tomorrow probably head up stream into Brunswick SC to visit--not sure if that will be the evening's anchorage yet--depends on time of arrival and what we discover!
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12/05/2011
Since Jim did the last blog, full of history-(his attempt at being a historian!), I decided to attempt this blog and talk a little more of our travels!! (Although, as Jim said we found that true Southerners define themselves and surroundings by "before the war" and "after the war"!). We left Redbird Creek on a rising tide (note: tides are not terribly difficult to determine but currents sometimes cause confusion in and around all these serpentine creeks!!). The creeks are beautiful...some cruisers think they are boring, and choose to go "outside," in the Atlantic but we have enjoyed the sights, sounds, challenges and quiet anchorages w/all they have to offer w/the great outdoors!! We crossed St. Catherine's Sound w/the jib flying in a 20-25kt breeze and 10 degrees off the stern. The dolphin love to play around the boats, and often you will see them in pairs or pods; however, trying to capture a picture has become a challenge for me!! St. Catherine's Island is a research and endangered species rehabilitation site and is off limits to the public. Leaving St. Catherine's, we entered North Newport River, ultimately leading into Sapelo Sound. The creeks are laden w/shallow waters and shoaling...Jim's navigational efforts have been "keen" on this trip!! It is assumed EVERY cruiser will go aground more than once...and just wait for the tide to rise to float off (so far, we have been aground once...but just wait...we still have another 10-days for this leg of our cruise!!). We attempted to anchor at Sapelo Island, but a strong northerly made it very uncomfortable. (Sapelo Island is state owned, w/a restored lighthouse, a Gullah/Geechee village w/70 descendents of the plantation slaves living there, a mansion and plantation ruins.) We continued across Doboy Sound (narrow w/shoaling) and anchored in Back River (between Doboy and Queen, for those following our charts). It was quiet, but sustained winds of 16-20kts...however, seas were comfortable just a little 6" wind generated chop.. Prior to going to bed, we did a quick "look around," and in the vast darkness appeared a shrimp boat lite up like a Christmas Tree, including his draggers!! I never thought of a shrimp boat as being "beautiful," but in the blackness of the night it was striking!! (Thank goodness we have AIS and Radar on board so we "know" what is around us in the dark!!). We continued up the Frederica River, to visit St. Simons Island (PS: I recant my former comment about running aground only once - please change that to twice!!!!, the latest in the Frederica River--mid channel!!). We anchored in front of the Fort Frederica National Monument, brought the dinghy to a dock, and visited the Fort. (James Oglethorpe founded the fort town of Frederica in 1736; he envisioned a place where England's poor and unemployed could make a fresh start in the New World. It became a battleground in which the English successfully defeated the Spanish.) We met another wonderful couple (from North Dakota)...and we experienced the most wonderful evening together! We attended a performance (standing room only!) of Handels Messiah, performed by chorus members from 36 churches!! We went out to dinner and ret'd to the Fort (in the dark--the" very" dark) to get our dinghy. The tide had gone down 6-feet and our dinghy was in the mud (PS: I recant my former comment about running aground twice-plse change that to three times!!). We pushed ourselves off the mud w/our oars and got back to our boat!!!! Tomorrow we will leave this river (hopefully, not go aground!!) and go 6-miles to St. Simons Sound, anchor and go into the "town." Stay tuned...
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12/03/2011, Georgia Coast
Well we are in the Golden Isles of Georgia; St Simon, Jekyll Island and Cumberland Island. Well, we're not really there but staged to get there in 10 miles tomorrow morning. Tonight we're anchored in Back Creek, a small tributary between Doboy Island and Queens Island (Marsh Islands) that link Doboy Inlet and the Altamaha Sound.. But how did we get here? Well, that is the important part of the journey.
When we were last able to blog on our relaxing journey, we weretoo tired from having fun!! In Beaufort we saw the reliving of the antebellum south -old city homes of plantation owners. It is hard to imagine the wealth that existed in the old south prior to the Civil War. I did read that as the southern states were leading up to succession, the 'confederation of states' saw them as powerful as many foreign countries -such as Britain, Spain, Prussia -all of course based on the wealth created by " King Cotton". The world depended on Southern Plantations for cotton fiber -all of our Northern industrialization (and wealth) was based on the industrial revolutions machinery of the textile industry and cheap immigrant labor. The south was based on large(huge, wealthy) plantation style agriculture and slave labor that supplied the 'raw materials' of rice, indigo, silk and cotton for much of the world's economic industrial base. Being here and seeing the cities, homes and the plantations only begin to approach getting a slight understanding of the perceptions of the South, of their importance and their power in the Union of States... that they were willing to see dissolved to maintain their 'society' which was significantly different from that of the North. (That is a loose history lesson with many missing aspects -sorry)
After our self imposed -interpretation and impression of American Civil War history lessons were completed, we moved on to Hilton Head... a different world from the 'old south"! What were once plantations are now golf courses and expensive housing developments (on the courses) and resorts. Again we were impressed by the wealth of the south. Of course traveling along the waterways we see the wealthiest of the wealthy whose homes abutt the ICW. When we were in Hilton Head we were able to meet with old family friends and relatives for a nice home cooked meal--a belated Thanksgiving Turkey dinner -was well enjoyed. (Unfortunately not one of the wealthy of the wealthy I mentioned above)
Our trip from Beaufort to Hilton Head was as beautiful as one could expect -quiet waterways -bright sun--however -will it EVER get warm! We crossed the state line from South Carolina to Georgia . Crossing the Savanna River brought us from the busy coastal towns to expanses of grass marsh low lands that make up the Georgia Coastline. We anchored out for the night in Redbird Creek, a tidal marsh tributary. We watched the sun set, the tide drop 8.5 feet and the grass marsh become a grass walled canal. In the morning, the sun rose in the mist-the dew hung like rain from the rigging and we were at high tide above the marsh looking across miles of open marsh land. We got underway and traveled about 50 miles twisting and turning in the Georgia lowlands. We saw a few structures but mostly grass lands interspersed with an occasional open sound out to the sea. I mentioned above that we are anchored again in the marsh lands -but I failed to say the big island we passed is called Blackbeard's Island--Yep! this is where he used to hide his booty and his person to avoid capture. We were going to stop and dig for treasure but I assume there are hundreds of people that have looked long before us. As Blackbeard said, "Two people know where I hid the Gold--me and the Devil" -we're neither so we did not waste any time looking. Now that we are in the home stretch for the 1st leg of our journey ( Florida is only a few days away) - we don't want the journey to end. There is a lot-an awful lot-to see between
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