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JEKYLL ISLAND A WALK Larry hosed the boat down in an attempt to get the salt off after today’s choppy ride across one ocean inlet after another as we surprisingly crossed several. It was late in the afternoon. The sun showed itself from the cloud cover for the first time in days so we were in the mood for a walk. So how far could the Jekyll Island resort be from the marina? We were going to find out. We bundled up as it’s still chilly. We found a short cut under the grand new bridge that connects the island to the mainland and dwarfs the original old picturesque bridge that used to serve the millionaires that vacationed here in days gone by. Now it serves as nothing more than a useless road sawed off just as it abruptly peers over the ICW waterway. Its only function if you could call it that these days is to be a make shift pier for the occasional few fishermen that prop their gear there. We contemplated making a short cut through the swamp brush but thought better of it, as after all, we might meet up with an alligator or snake I thought, so we played it safe and followed the main road. We then made a big left following the signs to the “Historic District”. Ziggy was really happy to go on a walk for a change until…..OUCH, he found himself in a patch of painful stickers while checking out a good smell. He came to an immediate halt, showing us his predicament by lifting one paw up, and giving us a disgusted look saying, “Better come rescue me.” Poor little guy. We picked him up and cautiously plucked out the several stickers as he snarled and showed his teeth at us but never biting. He tolerated the pain while we plucked them out one by one. He avoided being so inquisitive by staying to the concrete and asphalt after that. JEKYLL PIER We headed for the little Jekyll Pier right by the old hotel. We passed several old mansions owned in the old days by famous rich people that we didn’t bother looking up the names and which they are now serving as conference meeting rooms, business retreats, museums and hotel rooms. We were hoping that we’d find a place to get a warm drink somewhere to help brace the chill. We luckily found the “Rah Bar” on the pier and got a cocktail. Zig of course wasn’t allowed inside so we had to sit out on the deck trying to bear the cold wind and hopefully soak up some warmth from the small amount of late afternoon sun.
The tide was out exposing an amazing
amount of mud lined shoreline providing an incredible view. We watched as
several egrets and one stately blue grey heron hunted the great mud flats
for morsels. The exposed tidal mud clearly showed us how shallow this
area was along this stretch of the ICW. We came in by boat at high tide
and guessed where the deeper areas of the channel were but now we can see
clearly that it’s pretty darn narrow. In fact we saw a sailboat stuck in
t We decided to try some peel and eat shrimp too for a snack as the bar tender claimed they were the best you’ll ever eat. Boy, he was right as they were delicious! We decided we’d come back tomorrow when we could leave Ziggy on the boat and have a real sit down meal inside where it was warm and comfortable. It was just too darn cold to sit out here again. We got to talking to the owner who
came out to check on us. I tried to find out what he put in his sauces
that made them so good but he declined to tell me because he said if he
told me he’d “have to kill me”. We laughed and said we’d be back tomorrow
to have some more and perhaps figure out his secret sauce. As we were
heading back on that long cold walk to the boat, barely enduring the
freezing cold wind in our faces, a car pulled up alongside us. It was the
owner of the Rah Bar. He offered us a ride back to the boat! What a
great guy. We really appreciated the lift as it was soon dark and that
last stretch really would have been too cold to bear! We thought we’d have dinner at the marina restaurant that night but when we walked up and saw how limited and unappetizing the menu was we decided we’d rather stay in the boat and cook. That restaurant was pretty bad and did have not much selection. It’s too bad as it’s such a great location and so convenient for the boaters. They’re not even open for breakfast and don’t even sell a cup of coffee or muffin in the morning. There’s nothing else close so you are just stuck. It was the pits. So I rustled something up on the boat for dinner and instead enjoyed the great view out over the marsh. IT’S STILL FREEZING!!!! We woke up the next morning again to
freezing weather. Here we are in Jekyll Island with great things to see
and do and we’re too cold to go outside the boat and enjoy it. The people
on the boat behind us have been traveling down the coast in their sailboat
from Toronto, Canada for several weeks now. They said it’s been difficult
as the weather’s been terribly cold. They decided to leave Jekyll Island
this morning after a five day stay here. I had to take a picture of them
as they left because they were literally dressed in full winter gear,
complete with double jackets, knitted hats, mufflers and gloves.
They told us they have friends waiting for them in Martinique but they said at this rate they’ll never make it in time before hurricane season. They also surprisingly said they are absolutely scared to death of the Intracoastal, afraid of going aground.
The husband confided in us saying his wife had crossed the Atlantic in a sail boat having braved that experience but strangely is terrified of the Intracoastal. He said she needs to stop reading the cruising guides because they scare her. I can understand that as sometimes those darn cruising guides, though full of good information, kind of over exaggerate I think a bit and causes some of us to worry. So, because of that, I just don’t read them anymore and I’ve become a much happier person for it. I just watch the markers, check the charts, read the depth sounder and listen to what the weather report says. After all, do you think those shrimp boats are reading those cruising guides? No way. They are watching the markers, checking the charts, reading the depth sounders and listening to weather reports. Period.
CORMORANTS AREN’T SO DUMB AFTERALL
I can’t believe we’re saying this but we’re a little tired of seeing all these cormorants. They are everywhere and there are so many, just an incredible amount. We see them in every port and along every mile of the ICW. Yep, there they are as there’s no escape. They aren’t much to look at either
and seem so darn useless and just plain stupid. There’s always at least
one, but more often two or three, just lazily sitting on top of all the
ICW markers like a dunce. It’s hard to find a marker or post without
one. They watch you go by, staring blankly back at you. You’d think
they’d make themselves useful like warning you about a shallow area up
ahead, but no, they just spend their time staring at you all the while
knowing you are heading towards trouble. They could care less with their
nonchalant attitude as they preen their feathers or stretch their wings
out drying them off in the wind which looks more like drying out their
armpits. Well, now I’ve got to take it back, all of it, as we don’t think
they are so dumb after all. I never would’ve thought they were smart if it wasn’t for Larry. This morning as I huddled inside the boat freezing to death, he was sitting on the back of the boat watching those useless cormorants. He said they were acting strangely. They were flapping the water vigorously with their wings for what at first seemed like no good reason. It was unusual behavior. Larry said they worked in a team of three, two would swim around slapping the water aggressively looking quite silly and the third cormorant would hang around watching and then when the slapping was right, would fly over the area between the two slappers and suddenly dive right down into the water coming back up with a mouth full of mullets. They would trade positions and jobs, each had a turn diving in coming up with a bounty of food in their beaks and each had to do the slapping work. They were intentionally corralling the fish by scaring them with the slapping. They herded them like cattle into a scared dense ball, creating an easy catch of food for these clever cormorants. I doubted it at first when Larry said that’s what they were doing but then I saw it myself and we took pictures. So they have some sense after all, more than I would have ever given them. I laughed too when I saw one sailing down the ICW in the water with his wings stretched out wide like sails on a boat. He was going faster than his mates who hadn’t figured out this new mode of travel. It was so comical. BOTTLENOSED DOLPHIN ARE JUST AS CLEVER Well, if you think that’s pretty interesting, wait until you hear what the bottle nosed dolphins were doing near the marina. We were just getting back from a walk and the sunset was so beautiful that I went back up the dock to take a picture of some egrets at low tide hunting along the mud bank as they were beautifully reflected in the sunset pink water. Suddenly I heard a gigantic splash and thought the couple that were on the pier near me had jumped or fallen in the water. I ran to see what happened, but they were still standing on the pier but staring down into the water below. “What happened? What was that big splash?” I asked. “It’s the dolphins feeding” they said. They (several of them, including babies) were circling and herding the mullets in close to shore and once they had them trapped between the mud shore and the barrier made by ganging up and herding them, they attacked. Some of the dolphin literally came out of the water making the huge splash in the frenzy of feeding and others were seen actually coming onto the shore to feed. I didn’t get to see it actually but did see several dolphins swimming in unison circling in a purposeful way, herding what could seem to be fish and then they just suddenly left. WHALES DO IT It was such an amazing thing to see them and hear what they were up to. It’s much like what whales do. We’ve seen them circle herring in much the same way, herding the fish by circling them and blowing bubbles to create something like a fence that forces the herring to gather close together into a large dense ball. Once they are in this dense formation the participating whales then come together and feed. They frequently all come to the surface and breach simultaneously out of the water. It’s a spectacular thing to see. We have seen it in Alaska and the Queen Charlottes many times. if you just take time to watch and
observe animals you find they are darn smart and do some really incredible
things. The more that we observe them the more we have become amazed at
their intelligence, their miraculous genetic makeup that creates this
intelligent survival instinct, to plan, to organize, to communicate.
Totally amazing!!! BIKE RIDE? BRRR, OK LET’S TRY IT About 1:00 PM the next day it seemed to warm up a bit. The wind died down just enough so that we thought we could brave it for a bike ride. We definitely had cabin fever so needed to get out and do something. Luckily we didn’t need to unpack our foldable bikes as the marina had some that were there for anyone to borrow, so off we went. Yes, Zig came along. We just hooked up Zig’s basket on the handle bars of my bike and he was good to go. The island is much smaller than we thought and very rideable. There are great bike paths everywhere and they are all flat which is good for us. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. Some of the trails went through forested swamp areas and others by manicured golf courses. We also took some paths that went right along the beach and all of the paths were protected without the worry of cars or traffic. We loved it! MONEY ON THE BEACH Our first stop was the beach just to see it! It’s a great long stretch of beach and not overdeveloped. It was full of shells too, different from the type of shells we found on Tybee Island in Savannah. In fact the beach was loaded with dollars; you know “sand” dollars. There were no signs to keep dogs out
so we think they are dog friendly as Zig had some great fun running on the
beach, looking for crabs and chasing the little waves and no one stopped
us or said anything. We got back on the bikes after working up an appetite and headed straight across the middle of the island on the bike trail that takes you right by their lush golf course and nearby forest all the way to the “historical district” of Jekyll Island. We sped by the old carriage house where could you hire yourself a horse and buggy for a tour, and then by several shops that were in “architecturally appropriate” houses not taking away from the old historical buildings that this place is famous for. The bike paths took us right by the old beautiful cottages and mansions and under the grand old giant oaks draped with Spanish moss, and still no cars! We passed the beautiful old Jekyll Island Hotel, a national landmark that for years was one of “the” vacation playgrounds for the rich and famous in years long past.
MORE SHRIMP We didn’t stop to gawk though as we were headed for some sustenance and that was lunch at the “Rah Bahr” on the Jekyll pier. It was sunny and warmer and lots of people were braving the weather out on the deck doing the same thing we had in mind, having some shrimp and refreshments. We picked a table and ordered up a pound of shrimp, some corn on the cob and steamed potatoes with some beer to wash it down. Again, the owner came out to say “hello”. I again asked about the sauces and put forth some good guesses of the ingredients but couldn’t quite get it. He finally spilled the beans and told us the secrets. In fact, he even brought out a couple bottles of the secret sauce to take home with us.
We told him this was the best shrimp we’d ever eaten and it was true. Most importantly, they were as fresh as you could get, good sized and had a delicious inherent sweet taste which makes them stand out from other shrimp we’ve had. He said the reason is because of the sugar cane grasses that grow naturally in the area. He said they break down and decompose which the shrimp feed on and that gives them that sweet flavor. We mentioned to him our experience
with the dolphins last night and asked if it was a common thing to see.
He said it was and that sometimes they do it right by the dock near the
restaurant. He said all the animals are wise to the shrimp boat and have
the timing down to know when it comes to the dock to deliver the fresh
shrimp. He said the shrimp boat nets pull up a lot of different sea life
in their nets besides shrimp so the local dolphin, alligators and bird
life make sure they arrive at the dock in time to get the leftovers from
the catch.
I wish that we had more time to see that event but it was time to head on down the ICW. HEADING OUT IN THE MORNING That night back at the dock another boat came in, a 36 foot blue hauled Sabre called TOBA. Surprisingly they were from Seattle and doing the same thing we were. Guess we’ll see them along the way as we head south. The temps got down to 20 degrees that night!
We waited for the tide to be right. We left Jekyll Marina’s dock about 9:45 with 10 feet below us. The sun was out but it was freezing cold. I didn’t waste a second getting the fenders and lines stowed away because it was so darn cold. The next ocean inlet after we cross nearby Jekyll Sound will be St. Andrew Sound. They are right next to each other. I remember them well from our last trip heading north in the Nordhavn. It seemed like we had to go way out the inlet like we’re heading to Europe before we reached the last marker identifying the end of the long shoals. There were hidden shoals but on all sides. They were the reason boaters couldn’t cross the sound the more desirable way across calm waters to the next leg of the ICW. We had some very choppy seas that day in the Nordhavn and it was hard to even see the markers between the chop. The markers were too few and far between for my liking. I remember it being a bit of a nerve wracking experience. Today though the water is calm so it should be a piece of cake. Too bad it was so cold for our visit to Jekyll Island as it was a fun place. I would’ve liked to have ridden the bikes all over the island to see every stitch of it. SHIP WRECK As we were coming around the end of Jekyll Island, there it was. I’d forgotten about it even though it left such a graphic impression in my mind the first trip. It was a rusting weather beaten mast of a ship sticking up out of the sand, all that was left of a tragic wreck. Even today, a few years later, it’s still there, an unpleasant reminder leaving a strong statement for all us mariners to see. It’s clearly visible on the sandy shore next to us, a reminder of the dangers here. I wonder what kind of boat it was, who were the people and when did it happen. What were the tragic circumstances? We could see a couple on the beach near the wreck walking their dog and nearby at least a hundred pelicans and sea birds gathering at their favorite hangout. They or some like them were there the last time we came through here. They sure are creatures of habit. NO DAYDREAMING NOW There was no time for gawking and
daydreaming as we were now heading out into St. Andrew Sound and we need
to identify and watch the markers so we stay clear of the shallow shoals
surrounding us. The markers are moved frequently by the Coast Guard so
they don’t always match the electronic or paper charts. So don’t think
you can depend on looking at that illuminated screen for guaranteed safe
passage. This leg of the ICW is intimidating if you are on a small boat
because you feel as if you are heading out to sea and if the seas aren’t
calm it can be intimidating.
I’m trying to pick out the markers with the binoculars and the sun is directly in our eyes so it’s hard to see them. They still are placed few and far between for my taste and they mix visually like an optical illusion with markers that go beyond the charts, the markers for those heading out the channel to sea. SOMETHING’S WRONG I look over at Larry and he looks tense. I ask what’s wrong and he says we’ve lost the depth sounder. I look at the screen and it’s a total blank. He said it’s been that way for a few minutes. I guess he didn’t want to scare me by telling me. Luckily we had our eyes on the visual markers so didn’t have to rely on the electronic charts. Now we have no idea what depth is under us or if we are crabbing over into the shoals.
We both are fearfully quiet though continuing steadily on. We are just trying to get around the markers and back into an area south of the inlet where we have more room and no shoals beside us. If we can just get to that wide spot Larry can then fiddle with the depth sounder to hopefully see what’s wrong with it. The depth sounder is a critical instrument for cruising the ICW. You can forget everything else as without it you’re a bit “up the creek” and probably in the mud. Ziggy somehow picks up on the tension of the moment and starts to whine making it even worse. He’s looks at us with wide fearful eyes. He doesn’t know the depth sounder is on the fritz but knows something is wrong. How does he know when we get nervous or scared? He never fails to know. It was a lengthy few minutes
before we safely made our turn and headed back in to the well marked ICW
waters and into an area that was wide enough and calm enough that we could
stop the boat and fiddle with the depth sounder. LAST RESORT, REBOOT IT
Larry punched a bunch of buttons and nothing was resolving itself so he resorted to the last resort and what seems to be the usual quick fix for everything in the world nowadays and that was is to turn the system off and then “reboot” it. Moments went by as we silently stared at the completely blank screen and then suddenly it was all back, the depth, the charts, the whole shamoo. “What was wrong?” I asked. “Not sure.” “I don’t like it when things like that happen.” “I’ll check it when we get to St. Mary’s and see if I can figure out why it did that.” Nothing more said. CUMBERLAND RIVER Back into the protection of the ICW we head down Cumberland River and traveling about 12 knots. We’ve got about 2 knots of current pushing us and we’re just sitting back taking it easy, not pushing it. It’s a beautiful area. We see a white Selene anchored up Brickhall River next to Cumberland Island. They are people that have emailed us from reading the website. They said they would be anchored there and invited us to drop by for coffee if it worked out. They must be pretty adventurous anchoring up that river as it’s not very deep but looks like fun. We’ve always wanted to anchor out by Cumberland Island but let’s face it…it’s just too darn cold. We were on a schedule now, a schedule to get warmed up. We were going to keep moving. If we anchored we’d have to run that generator constantly to keep us warm and that wouldn’t be fun. We’re about half way down the Cumberland River now and you could feel the current changing. The current had switched and now was on our nose. It must be water coming in from the next inlet south of us. We see some big white birds on a sandy area in the marsh. It’s the first white pelicans we’ve seen. They’re amazing looking. There are a lot of pelicans around here. They hang out with the cormorants or at least all seem to like the same patches of beach. We are always impressed and delighted to watch the pelicans glide by the boat just an inch off the water, flying motionless. How do they do that as they are pretty big and bulky? They just soar by like they are light as a feather. They can float for an what looks like an amazing 100 feet before they have to flap those gigantic wings again. ENDANGERED RIGHT WHALES Every so often the US Coast Guard comes on the radio with an automated announcement on channel 16. It’s loud and clear and you can’t miss or avoid it so there are no excuses for not knowing was the message is. It’s an ALERT message for the protection of right whales. You are requested to switch to Channel 22A to hear about it. The right whales birth their babies all along the coast here from Georgia to Florida. They are endangered and everyone seems to be chipping in trying to protect their breeding sanctuary. They are doing a great job I think informing boaters about the whales and how and where to stay away. There’s no excuse getting too close as it’s on the radio frequently all along the coast and signs are posted at almost every stop. Maybe we should think about doing something like that in the San Juan’s for the Orcas? If the announcement was coming on the radio every so often from the Coast Guard there would be no excuses for abusing the Orcas. HATE TO HEAR SEA TOW ON THE RADIO Now we hear someone hailing Sea Tow. I never like to hear that as I always think there’s some shallow spot up ahead and we might get stuck too. It always makes me nervous. We’re just passing the other end of Brickhall River. It’s the south entrance. I sure wish it was warmer so we could have anchored at Cumberland Island. Wow, this leg of the ICW is a mess. None of the markers are readable. 62A is not in the same place as on the chart and you can’t make out any of the numbers until it’s too late. We suddenly had a shallow 4 feet under us at one point and its high tide. We’ve had good depths this whole leg so something is shoaling there but luckily we didn’t rub bottom.
SUBMARINE BASE We see strange big structures ahead. They must be for the submarine base nearby. We see what looks like huge airplane hangars but they are probably for subs. We pass a huge cage like structure that Larry says they use to demagnetize the subs so they don’t show up on the radar or something like that.
UP RIVER TO ST. MARY’S It’s a short trip today. We were
already heading up river to St. Mary’s which is going to be our last stop
in Georgia. On our next leg we will cross the nearby state line and make
our way finally to Florida. I always think of Florida as being nice and
warm so I want to get there in the worst way and a soon as possible.
We see a red hulled trawler up ahead. They’re heading to St. Mary’s but at a snail’s pace. We follow them up the river for awhile. The name on the stern is Two by Two. As we wind around the river through the marsh lands they seem to slow down even more, almost to a stop. If we go any slower we’ll lose steerage so we hail them on the radio and ask to pass them on their port side. They answered back quickly and said to come on by as they moved over for us. We waved as we went by and noticed their Noah’s Ark cartoon on the side. The trawler is tall and in certain respects with a stretch of the imagination I guess does resemble a Noah’s Ark. They were flying a British flag I think and spoke with a British or Australian accent on the radio. ST. MARY’S MARINA As we neared the harbor we hailed the
marina a couple times but got no answer. We then called them on the cell
phone but still no answer. Two by Two was trying to hail
them also but got no answer. We guessed that the harbor master was out
lunch. We saw a long pier with lots of room and decided to tie up there
on their West dock. The wind was blowing like crazy and the water was
getting really choppy. We weren’t too happy about the location as it was
going to be a choppy night if the wind continued. I was imagining a
disruptive sleep listening to waves loudly slapping the bow all night.
We were securely tied up and Zig and I headed up the dock to see what there was to see here in this little sleepy town of St. Mary’s. Larry stayed on the boat as Two by Two was still milling around out in the harbor. He said he was going to hail them to see if they needed help with the lines. They answered Larry back saying they just bought the boat and weren’t too comfortable with docking yet. They said they were just trying to get a hold of the dock master as they were going to leave the boat here for a few months and needed to see where he planned to put them. So we all headed up the docks to see St. Mary’s
ST. MARY’S It is a sleepy town that’s for sure. In fact everything was closed. Well, not everything. There were a few places open for lunch and only two that I could find for lunch where we could sit out with Ziggy. The food was pretty bad and the tables and place not very clean so it was not enjoyable at all.
We walked around town looking for a nice place for dinner as it was my birthday today and we planned to celebrate with a nice dinner out. Whelp, so much for that idea as nothing, nope not a thing, was open and that’s when we figured it was the lord’s Sabbath. No big deal as we had a great view from the boat on the outside dock and the wind had died down which provided for a nice evening.
Ziggy and I walked the town that afternoon and it is a lovely place with old time wild streets and some very nice old buildings and houses, some now serving as nice B&Bs and we’d heard nice restaurants. There’s an amazingly big old cemetery to the West of the town with a large section dating back to the 1700’s. One grave stone left a sad story of a family that moved there from Pennsylvania in the late 1700s and within two weeks the entire family had died from yellow fever.
TWO BY TWO Back at the docks we met Pauline and
Ron from Two by Two. They were a really nice couple from
Australia. They readily admitted they didn’t know much about boating and
were afraid to dock the boat so have done quite a bit of anchoring since
they bought the boat which was only less than a month ago. He said his
only experience boating before he bought this was in an outboard!
They were an interesting couple for sure as they have traveled almost the entire US, Canada, Nova Scotia, Alaska and Labrador in a motor home. Pauline became interested in getting a boat when they saw the Intracoasal and that’s when they traded the motor home in for a 47 foot tall wind catching trawler for a first boat. You’ve got to hand it to them as they have already brought the boat from some Stuart, Florida (I think?) to St. Mary’s. They’ve worked their way this far north without any mishaps. They laughed because when they heard
we were heading south. They said they are the only ones they know heading
north so they think they must be doing something wrong. They ended up
docking right behind us on the outer dock as they didn’t like the looks of
where the dock master wanted to put them. We were tired and settled in for the evening. It was a beautiful sunset over the water. We could see the smoke stacks from the pulp mills at Fernandina Beach. We could’ve stopped there instead of St. Mary’s. It’s a charming town and friendly people but if the wind isn’t blowing the right direction it can be a stinky stay. It looks like the wind is static and not blowing towards the town marina tonight. I was looking forward to talking to Pauline and Ron the next day to show them some spots on the ICW to be careful of if they decided to head on up to Brunswick. I don’t think they realize that the Georgia ICW is a much greater challenge compared to the ICW in Florida. THE KNATS ARE BACK! We were up early in the morning and took a long walk. We stopped in a little place for breakfast and began to notice the bugs. Yep, the knats were back, coming out as the temperatures were slightly warming. As we headed back down the dock they were terrible. We were swatting right and left. I said to Larry, “Let’s get out of here!” He agreed and just that quick, we closed everything up, turned the engine on and left the dock.
WE’RE OUTTA HERE! Larry waved goodbye to Two by Two as Ron stood on the dock. Off we went without even a proper goodbye. I wonder what they thought. It was too bad as I would’ve liked to have talked to them more. WHERE TO NEXT? Where were we going?.........St. Augustine. We were again headed down a leg of the ICW that we have not seen before.
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he channel. He put his sail up to steady himself to keep from heeling
over. Be careful!
It was a beautiful time. We pretty much had the
beach to ourselves
GOT THE SECRET 
