April Fool

At the rate we are moving we should be home next Wed. or Thurs. The last three days have been wonderful--sunny, 80 degrees and calm. The wind is picking up tonight though, SW 11 with 20-23 gusts but we are in a well protected anchorage on the Little Alligator River. Tomorrow we will be crossing the Albermarle Sound to Coinjock NC where friends Bob and Gail from Nags Head will meet us.
We have made stops in Beaufort, Church Creek, Charleston (saw niece Sandy), Myrtle Beach in SC and in NC, Ocean Isle, St. James Plantation near Southport, Topsail Island, Swansboro, Broad Creek off the Neuse River and Dowry Creek near Belhaven. We have only taken one lay day because of weather and that was because of gale wind warnings. We see a few boats that are heading north, usually the same ones everyday.
When Dick called for bridge openings on April 1 one bridge tender didn't believe him at first when he gave his boat name April Fool, but he figured it out and said "Happy Birthday, Capt." The day before one bridge tender said "Sorry, Capt., no more openings today." Dick said "that's not until tomorrow"' and he laughed and said "you're right."

We left Cumberland Island after waiting for the fog to lift, headed for St.Simon's Island. We stopped there on our way south; it is beautiful with many large live oaks. And we liked the Coastal Kitchen near our marina--great food, especially the shrimp and grits. And the marina delivers great muffins to transient boats each morning. The next day, Fri., we were on our way to an anchorage in Kilkenny Creek. Enjoyed winding our way through the creeks and rivers in Georgia that are lined by marshes. Some boaters think this is an uninteresting part of the ICW, but we think the marshes have a beauty all their own. We were the only boat in the creek, very quiet.
Sat. we were on our way to a marina in Thunderbolt near Savannah. We saw a couple of wild pigs grazing in a marsh near Skidaway Island, and many dolphins. As we got closer to Savannah there were many beautiful homes, some quite old.

We spent our first night on a mooring in Fernandina Beach FL after a cool cloudy trip from St Augustine. It was a long day but we wanted to make it to Cumberland Island National Seashore early the next day. We made good progress with only one bridge opening and a favorable current most of the time. We got to the Cumberland Island anchorage at 10:30 a.m. on Wed. and soon took the dinghy to a park dock. We spent several hours on Cumberland Island, walking trails to the ocean and to ruins of a mansion built in the late 1800's by a Carnegie. Most of the island is now part of the park. We saw wild horses and turkeys and many shore birds. The only way to get there is by boat; a ferry runs from St. Mary's GA. It was cloudy and cool but no wind so it was not a bad day for exploring. Definitely worth a return trip--there was much more to see.

Tues., 3/18/14: We are leaving today to make our return trek to Annapolis. We have had a wonderful time but are ready to get on our way again. We did go south as far as Vero Beach in early February, looking for some warm weather. And it was much warmer than St. Augustine. We made stops in Daytona Beach, Titusville and Melbourne where we spent the night with daughter-in-law Terri's parents, Pris and Al. It was a treat to sleep in a real bed, and to watch the Super Bowl with them. We then went on to Vero Beach, famously known to boaters as "Velcro Beach" as cruisers tend to hang around longer than they planned to. We liked it so much we stayed for 9 days. We also rented a car and drove to Naples to spend a few days with our friends Harriet and Jim. It was wonderful there too, sunny and 80 degrees, and we had a great time.
We are planning several stops on way back, Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, Savannah and Charleston.

When we got up this a.m., we had a nice surprise, muffins and a newspaper
delivered to our boat, courtesy of the Golden Isla Marina. Our destination today was Fernandina Beach Fl where we had reservations for a mooring ball. We went past Jekyll Island, Little Cumberland Island and Cumberland National Seashore. The sunny warm weather turned cloudy and windy later in the day. There were a couple of places where we had glimpses of the ocean and could see sailboats. After we got to Fernandina Beach we took the dinghy, the first time we used it, to shore to explore this historic town. There were many Victorian houses, shops and restaurants in the historic district. The weather was better so we had dinner on the patio of The Salty Pelican. It was raining and foggy when we left the next morning. The ICW took us down the Amelia River and past Amelia Island, across the St. John's River and through the outskirts of Jacksonville. An interesting stretch was the 10 mile Cabbage Swamp Canal with many very large homes with very large power boats for several miles and then back to marsh on one side and trees on the other. There were more dolphins today, some right beside the boat, and we saw five bald eagles. We anchored near Pine Island off the Tolomato River, a quiet, secluded anchorage. It was a very pleasant evening with a full moon. Very warm and sunny when we got underway today, only 17 miles to St. Augustine. We were very near the ocean along here, and again saw many large homes. We were soon in the heart of St. Augustine, and through the Bridge of Lions which opens on the hour and half hour. We had to push to make it for the 10:30 opening, but the bridge tender kept it open long enough for us to make it through which he didn't have to do. We have learned that if you are nice to the bridge tenders they will be nice to you, wave and wish them a nice day. We arrived at the River's Edge Marina at 11:30 where we plan to keep the boat at last to mid-January. We are renting a car and driving to our house in Duck NC for Thanksgiving with our kids and grandkids, then back here for a couple weeks before we fly to Annapolis for Christmas. After we return we are not sure what we will do; we are thinking about going farther down the ICW, maybe as far as Vero Beach. It has been a great adventure and we have enjoyed it all. We were fortunate to have good weather most of the way, and no major problems with our boats which would have delayed us. Thanks for the comments, and Matt, Dick has had a fair amount of "juice" along the way. Always some new beer to try!

When we left the marina (located on Skidaway Island) the wind was not as strong but there was a 3 knot current to deal with. We made it out of the slip all right, thanks to a permanent slip holder who guided us out. Not so with our friends--they hit another sailboat, but fortunately the damage wasn't too bad, mostly cosmetic. We went on ahead and found a place to anchor for the night in the Crescent River, off of Old Teakettle Creek. Puts 'n Calls caught up with us about an hour later. We are enjoying the Georgia low country of winding rivers and creeks, and narrow cuts. At one point we were close enough to the ocean that we could see breaking waves. We do have to watch for shoaling in many areas, but if we time it to go through at high or rising tides we have no difficulties. It was cloudy when we pulled up the anchor this morning and showers were predicted for most of the day. Again, we were winding through rivers and creeks. We are intrigued by some of the names of the creeks--Old Teakettle Creek and New Teakettle Creek, Cattle Pen Creek, Burntpot Creek, No Name Creek. There was a lot of chatter on the radio today about boats running aground, as one said he was "stuck in the mud." And Georgia has a lot of mud. We saw many pelicans, including some white pelicans, herons and a bald eagle sitting on top of a mark. It rained off and on most of the day so we decided to get a slip for the night. We are between Brunswick and St. Simon Island at Golden Isle Marina. There are many beautiful large yachts here. This is our last day in Georgia; tomorrow we will be near Fernandina Beach Florida.