After spending several days in Charleston, we left on November 25th and sailed offshore towards the St-Simon's inlet in Georgia. This trip only took us 24 hours however, again, the winds were strong and relentless. More dancing to 70s music.

We arrived at St-Simon's inlet and motored to Jekyll Island. We anchored there and didn't get off the boat. In the morning, we decided to leave at low tide in case we'd run aground and because of the current. We were aground for only about 45 minutes until the tide came up. This was expected. With our center board up, we draw about 4.5 feet so it was pretty shallow in this area.

The very next day we left Jekyll Island towards Saint Mary's Georgia by means of the ICW. We went across St-Andrew's sound against 30 knot winds and it was pretty darn rough....again. I'm certainly getting used to it and our boat handles it extremely well. It fact, sailors do say that most boats handle bad weather better than the crew. That's so true.

We arrived the day before Thanksgiving in Saint Mary's, Georgia where we docked for 4 nights. And what a docking it was. Strong winds made it difficult to get into the dock without hitting the boat but we managed just fine. Being docked meant we had shore power and thus we were able to use our heater. It was quite cold again and finally got some relief from it with our heater. There was no time to waste as the city put on an oyster roast for the cruisers that evening.

At the city hotel, 5 minute walk from our boat, we found 150 sailors swapping stories and getting to know each other over cocktails and oysters. What a feast.
I am realizing that most cruisers are older than us by about 10 years. Some have just begun cruising like us others have been on their boat for 15 years and went all over the world. We made numerous friends and hopefully, we'll meet up with some of them in the Bahamas. However, along our route, we constantly see cruisers we've met in other ports.

I am speaking French more than ever. There are many cruisers from Québec. Almost everywhere we go, I hear French. Apparently, many go as far as Grenada and leave their boats there for the summer while they earn their stay in Québec to keep their health insurance. I believe they must remain in Canada 180 days a year. From what I've been told, the Government does allow them to remain outside the country for a 2 year period every 5 years or so.

Back to Saint Mary's Thanksgiving bash....There were volunteers willing to drive the cruisers to grocery stores, laundromats, West Marine or any other store we required. We took advantage of this and stocked up on provisions on Thanksgiving day. There was a huge Thanksgiving Pot Luck. Since there were left overs, we were able to bring some home for the next day. All was very delicious. Now, do you wonder how do sailors cook a turkey on board ? They don't or they cook turkey legs. Volunteers from the city cooked turkeys and hams for the pot luck and didn't charge us anything although there were tip boxed. There just isn't enough thank yous for all the locals and volunteers who put on several days of celebrating. It didn't stop at Thanksgiving of course. There were happy hours after that and a pancake breakfast.

On our last day in Saint Mary's, we took a ferry (yeah, we could have motored), to Cumberland Island where JFK Junior got married. It was very windy and cold and slightly rainy. We had all the necessary gear on so we stayed dry and warm. Some people were dressed in fashionable leggins and flip flops. Gads, I'm glad I'm old enough now to know better.

In the early 1880s, Thomas Morrison Carnegie and his wife, Lucy Coleman Carnegie, came to Cumberland Island and established the family’s presence, which exists to the present day. They were extremely rich and mostly lived a life of leisure. The island boasts wild horses and smaller wildlife. The Island now is part of the National Parks service.

Next blog: Saint Mary's to Ft Lauderdale