Day 220 – 221

Late Sunday morning, 04/18/21, we took an Uber from Thunderbolt Marina into historic Savannah, GA, to catch a Red Trolley tour. Historic Savannah is stunning and a haven for someone who loves gardens and old, restored homes and buildings. Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia, and was originally designed and established in 1733, by General James Edward Oglethorpe. Savannah’s downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District, and (22) park-like squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States. Downtown Savannah largely retains the original town plan (squares of housing and/or shops surrounding centralized parks), known as the Oglethorpe Plan. At the time of the Civil War, Savannah, a prosperous seaport throughout the nineteenth century, was the Confederacy’s sixth most populous city and the prime objective of Union General William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea. Early on December 21, 1864, local authorities negotiated a peaceful surrender to save Savannah from destruction, and Union troops marched into the city at dawn. It is also believed that General Sherman found Savannah to be far too lovely a city to burn and pillage. Naturally, we didn’t have enough time to explore all (22) of Savannah’s squares, so quickly realized we should’ve planned to spend more days there. After our visit, I decided that Savannah would be the perfect destination for a girls’ trip!

Though our choices were endless, we ate a late lunch at the Cafe At City Market, where they serve some amazing Peach Sangria. The service was very good, despite the labor shortage that continues all over the country. Food was delicious, but the best part was the restaurant’s sound system played disco-era music during our entire meal, which was much to my delight, but to Steve’s dismay. Aww… After lunch, we walked around much of the historic district, with me constantly falling behind Steve, snapping my pictures.

On Monday, 04/19/21, the weather in Savannah was absolutely stellar, which only served to make the city that much more beautiful. We Ubered in again from the marina for haircuts and groceries. It is difficult to get Uber and Lyft rides here in Savannah, just like we’ve encountered in previous cities. Thankfully, we’re retired, so have ample time to spend waiting for drivers to become available.

Post errands, we continued exploring and it dawned on me that we’re progressing far enough north now that we can see the change in seasons. Over the past few months, we’ve been down in Florida, where the foliage is all pretty much the same, dark green color for most of the year. But here in Savannah, I was seeing the brilliant neon greens of springtime that I’m used to and love so much. We visited the highly-recommended Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist (Catholic church), which is most stunning, as well as spiritually-stirring.

We walked along Oglethorpe Boulevard to Savannah Seafood Shack for a late lunch, where I ate fried shrimp and Steve had a sizeable low country boil. After lunch, we walked to the Victorian District and then to a bar called Hitch for late afternoon beverages. I, of course, took tons more pictures. We both fell in love with historic Savannah and plan to return here again soon and spend more time.

We were surprised to see our friends, Scott and Shelley Johnson, aboard Mona Gee, arrive at Thunderbolt Marina on Monday evening. We hadn’t seen them since we crossed the gulf with them last summer. We tried to talk with them out on the dock, but the thick Noseeums eventually drove us all back inside our boats. The Johnsons were staying another day at Thunderbolt, but we were leaving first thing in the morning, so we didn’t have a chance to go for dinner or even do a dock-tails with them. Oh, well – hopefully we’d get a chance on down the line.

Position: N 32° 01.497, W 81° 02.827

Total marina nights: 198

Total nights at anchor: 22

Day 219

The morning of Saturday, 04/17/21, Steve went outside the salon and quickly returned, cursing about the clouds of No-seeums he’d encountered.  He strongly suggested we both coat ourselves in bug spray, and even dawn our Covid masks to keep the hoards of tiny terrors out of our noses and mouths.  UGH!!  At 8:45 am, we felt our way through the fog of insects and pulled away from the dock in slightly warmer, humid weather conditions and glass-smooth waters on Blackbeard Creek.  The sun worked hard to make an appearance that morning, as we headed back down Blackbeard Creek out into St. Catherine’s Sound toward the Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean, to our east, looked so placid and peaceful this morning, compared to what it looked like yesterday afternoon.  Like an entirely different body of water!  We turned to port, from east to north, into the Bear River, which separates the mainland from Ossabaw Island and the Ossabaw Island Wildlife Management Area.  The sun finally succeeded in coming out about an hour into our trip, and felt amazing shining down on Legacy and her crew.  We opened the two front flybridge windows to cool things down and to blow out the rest of the bugs we’d picked up in Sunbury last night.  The water continued to be like glass and dolphins were suddenly everywhere around us.  Life was GOOD.

As we cruised along, enjoying the sights and scents of the southern Georgia coast, it finally occurred to me that if it’s a coastal river, it’s most likely a WIDE river (often resembling a lake).  I felt quite proud of my little epiphany, and mentioned it to Steve, who replied with a DUH…  We continued traveling through endless marshes; very sparsely populated and isolated-looking areas.  We traversed the entire western side of Ossabaw Island up into the Ogeechee River, going around Raccoon Key on the Little Ogeechee River, heading toward Green Island.  Past Green Island, we cruised northward up the Vernon River.

We turned to starboard off the Vernon River onto Moon River (yep, it’s THAT Moon River…😊) to travel on the western side of Skidaway Island, and began to see the outskirts of Savannah, GA, bedroom communities.  As we proceeded, we passed more and more coastal Georgia water-front homes.  Some are grand and some are humble.  The closer we got to Savannah on the Skidaway River, the more stately and palatial the water-front homes are.  We cruised past Skidaway Island State Park and passed the Isle of Hope Marina, where Steve had tried to reserve us a space, but they were already full when he called.  We’d heard good things about Isle of Hope, but did note that it was a ways out from Savannah, and so would mean a much more expensive Uber or Lyft ride in and back from town.  (Yes, that’s something we always have to consider in this new lifestyle.  Something that was never an issue when we lived land-based and had our own vehicles at our disposal.)  Nevertheless, Isle of Hope Marina appeared very beautiful from our vantage point out on the Skidaway River, and we discussed possibly staying there when we come back down this fall.  Speaking of pretty, we both loved the outskirts of Savannah, as the area is beautiful!  We passed the impressive Savannah Country Club, we then turned to port and headed westwardly on the Wilmington River.

We arrived at Thunderbolt Marina, in tiny Thunderbolt, GA, just south of Savannah proper, at 2:30 pm.  After fueling up (a long, tedious process – since we have three separate tanks – where we dawn our headsets to communicate, and I control the diesel pump handle from above, and Steve goes below into the engine room to watch the gauges and let me know when to stop fueling to prevent overflow.  We’ve learned the hard way that we do NOT want diesel overflowing onto the decks), we tied up on the inside of the transient wall to spend several nights.  The bugs were more sparse in Thunderbolt than in Sunbury, though still annoyingly present.

After a boat washdown and a good inside boat-vacuuming, we showered and then walked up the street to Tubby’s Tank House Restaurant for dinner.  Huge Live Oak trees draped with Spanish Moss continued to abound all around us.  We marveled at how so many people seem not to mind the Noseeums that incessantly surround their every outdoor move.  People just sit around outside, unconsciously scratching themselves non-stop.  In fact, when we got to the restaurant, we realized more people were eating outside rather than inside!  (We elected to dine inside, of course.)  What was humorous, though, was the cans of Off! bug spray that graced every outdoor table as a kind of centerpiece.  😊  Lovely – the perfect accompaniment to any outdoor dining experience!

Position: N 32° 01.497, W 81° 02.827

Distance traveled:  45 SM

Total distance traveled: 3141 SM

Total marina nights: 196

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 218

We left Jekyll Harbor Marina at 7:15 am on Friday morning, 04/16/21. The skies were gray and overcast, the temps were chilly, and the Noseeums were HORRENDOUS! Steve sprayed himself with bug spray before going outside, but I didn’t, and paid the price dearly. My poor scalp must’ve gotten a zillion bites on it that morning. UGH! As we cruised along, we noted that Georgia seagulls seem to like our boat more than Florida seagulls. We had an entourage of seagulls this entire day! We decided it must have something to do with the shallow waters we were cruising through, which Legacy’s two propellers kept perpetually stirred up, resulting in lots of fish at the water’s surface. A perfect smorgasbord for water foul! The cut connecting Jekyll Sound with the East River is extremely shallow, due to frequent shoaling. Many Loopers elect to run outside in the Atlantic to avoid it, but we were feeling frisky and decided to just go for it. Depths got down to less than 2 feet beneath our keel (7 feet deep overall) in several spots, but we lucked-out and did not run aground. The East River is another really wide one in places. We’ve cruised so many rivers that look more like lakes on this trip!

When we passed the north end of Jekyll Island, crossed a narrow inlet, then began cruising west of the south end of St. Simon’s Island, we saw a large, strange-looking object off in the distance in St. Simon’s Island Sound. As we got closer, Steve realized we were seeing the wreck of the Golden Ray, a half-sunken cargo freighter owned by Hyundai that had capsized in the sound almost two years earlier. The ship had been carrying 4,300 newly-manufactured automobiles from Asia to the US, when suspected over-loading and top-heaviness caused it to capsize. It has taken this long (mostly due to COVID delays, of course) for salvage crews to remove the ship and it’s cargo from St. Simon’s Island Sound. In fact, the ship is having to be cut up into individual pieces that are being removed from the water one at a time. What a mess!

At St. Simon’s Island Sound, staying on the AICW, the East River becomes the Mackay River for many miles past Wymberley-On-The-Marsh, Sea Island, Little St. Simon’s Island, and the tiny Lanier Island. I had thought, earlier in this blog, that we’d come too far north to continue seeing palm trees, but I was wrong. We were still seeing them, but were beginning to think these were planted by humans, rather than in the wild. Palmetto palms are still thick and wild. The weather was COLD! Once again, we were dressed in our long pants and long sleeves. The clouds were so thick the sun could not come out. It just teased us intermittently the entire day. We passed marshes, marshes, and more marshes! We did see some farms and houses every now and again, but they are far off the sides of the river, once the marsh turns into solid ground and woods.

We passed the Fort Frederica National Monument, and the Mackay River changed to the Altamaha River. In fact, we were cruising through the Altamaha Wildlife Management Area. Soon we passed the Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge and up into Doboy Sound, at Sapelo Island, where the Sapelo Island Wildlife Management Area awaited us. Eventually, we realized the Mackay River had changed to the Crescent River, and that’s where we started to see dolphins all around our boat and riding our wake. Always the best sight! They only stayed for a short time, though, and we decided they were teasing us just like the sun was.

We traveled up Blackbeard Creek, west of Sapelo Island, and entered into the very large Sapelo Sound, between Sapelo Island and St. Catherine’s Island, north of Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge. For quite some time, we’d been heading east in Sapelo Sound, but eventually turned 90 degrees to port and began heading northward on up Blackbeard Creek, which meant the waves off the Atlantic Ocean were hitting our starboard beam and rolling us considerably. Thank goodness for stabilizers!

After following Blackbeard Creek for the entire length of St. Catherine’s Island, the wind and waves began picking up around 1:30 pm, and we were beginning to see white caps, which almost always means uncomfortable cruising. We were both ready to reach our destination! And, just like that, we reached Sunbury Crab Company’s docks at 2:30 pm. We tied to their outside wall on Blackbeard Creek. The weather was still gray and gloomy and, along with those dastardly biting bugs, made for a depressing afternoon, but we got settled in, nonetheless.

That late afternoon, we braved the bugs to walk briskly up the dock to the famous Sunbury Crab Company for dinner. The Noseeums here were the worst we’d seen yet – even worse than the Little Shark River in the Everglades! We opted to eat inside, for very obvious reasons, and ate an enjoyable dinner while being served by a fun and personable waiter. After dinner we ran for our lives back down the docks, to the safety of inside Legacy’s salon. No after-dinner drinks up in the flybridge that night!

Position: N 31° 46.308, W 81° 16.652

Distance traveled:  73 SM

Total distance traveled: 3097 SM

Total marina nights: 195

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 216 – 217

On Wednesday morning, 04/14/21, we got up fairly early and borrowed the marina golf cart to go pick-up the little two-seater Red Bug we’d rented for that day. It was a funny-looking, little electric car that Red Bug instructed Steve to plug in and charge liberally. Fortunately, we found multiple charging stations on Jekyll Island, so that wasn’t a problem.

Our first stop was the Jekyll Mosaic Museum on the island, which provided us with more than enough history and trivia about the island’s amazing past. After centuries of native American, Spanish, and then British inhabitants, General James Oglethorpe established Georgia as a colony in 1733. General Oglethorpe named the island now known as Jekyll Island after his friend, Joseph Jekyll, who had contributed 600 pounds toward the founding of the colony. Oglethorpe appointed William Horton to set up a military post in the area to protect Fort Frederica on nearby St. Simon’s Island. Horton setup permanent residence on Jekyll Island, establishing a plantation that was able to supply the population of Frederica with beef and corn. Horton also developed experimental crops on the plantation, including barley and indigo. After Horton’s death in 1749, his property on Jekyll passed through many hands, until it was purchased by Christophe du Bignon from France in 1792. Until 1850, the du Bignon family expanded and kept the plantation prosperous on the backs of slaves, which du Bignon first brought to Jekyll Island on a ship called The Wanderer. Several other large plantations blossomed on Jekyll Island and proved successful during this time. By 1860, the plantations on Jekyll declined in productivity, as the markets had changed and the soil became exhausted. In 1875, after the American Civil War, John Eugene du Bignon, a nephew of Christophe, became owner of property on the island when he inherited the southern third of the island from his father. John soon purchased the rest of the island from his siblings with a plan to market Jekyll Island as a winter retreat for the wealthy, that came to fruition in February of 1886. A clubhouse was completed in 1888. Fifty-three members purchased shares for $600 each, with a limit of 100 members imposed to preserve the club’s exclusivity. From 1888 until 1942, the club opened every January for the winter season, except for a few years when there were yellow fever outbreaks. It was one of the most exclusive paragons of the Gilded Age, and accommodated some of the world’s wealthiest people. Members and their families enjoyed activities such as biking, hunting, horseback-riding, and tennis, and they frequented the northern beaches. Some of the wealthiest members built their own “cottages”, mansion-sized residences that are mostly still standing in the 21st century. The Great Depression, World War II, and the institution of income taxes finally ended the Jekyll Island Club, and after the war the State of Georgia bought the island. In 1910, the Federal Reserve System was conceived and developed via a secret meeting held at the Jekyll Island Club. A Jekyll Island Authority came to be when the state of Georgia gained control of the island and was restructured in 1957, with an emphasis toward restoration and new development toward pubic use and tourism. Jekyll Island became a premier vacation destination for the US over the following decades and is now under the management of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. In addition to preserving the island’s lovely historic buildings, some of the later construction projects have included a Soccer Complex, a Tennis Center, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The island was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

After the museum, and a fun lunch at Tortuga Jack’s, we took the Jekyll Island historical train tour around the island, one that was led by an entertaining tour guide in her 70s. Not only did she really know her stuff, but she was also comical, and kept the whole train laughing.

After the train tour, we visited Faith Chapel, a nondenominational church built for the elite wintertime residents of Jekyll Island. The chapel is lovely, perfectly maintained, and still utilized as a special event venue. We even saw a couple there who had returned for their 42nd anniversary, after originally being married in that very chapel. SO romantic!

We then drove our little Red Bug over to the Sea Turtle Center and learned all about its origin and current purpose. Naturally, I was in awe of the beautiful wildlife being rehabilitated in this facility. It’s obvious this center is well-funded and run with top-notch ability. While one of the facilitators was speaking to us, she motioned us all over to a particular tank she was showcasing that held an injured sea turtle. As instructed, we were all clad in masks as we moved in close to see the speaker. She then asked us all to “observe social-distancing” during her talk, which was laughable. There was only about 10 square feet in which to stand, and there were at least 15 people trying to observe her presentation! She indicated there were stickers on the floor for us to observe, but when the lady next to me and I both glanced downward, we saw she was standing on one of the stickers. Through her mask, she sternly mumbled, “I was here first,” which started me laughing with disbelief as I squeezed in within inches of where she was standing. She must not have been too concerned, because she stood her ground. Good grief, people!!

After our visit to the Sea Turtle Center, we observed the dinner reservations we’d made earlier at The Wharf Restaurant on Jekyll Island. The building which houses this restaurant was once used by visitors on boats arriving and departing Jekyll Island during the Gilded Age and the heyday of the Jekyll Island Club. The food, service and atmosphere at this restaurant were all wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The following morning, we returned our Red Bug to its home, utilizing the marina’s golf cart. The weather was overcast and a bit chilly with an 80% chance of biting Noseeums. UGH! We braved the bugs and walked up to Zachry’s River House there at the marina for lunch, since that restaurant was closed for our first days on Jekyll Island. We had to wait about 30 minutes for our table, as Zachry’s is a happening place on the island! Zachry’s has both indoor and outdoor seating, and as we waited for our table, we watched as what we determined to be locals scratching at their scalps throughout their outdoor dinners. We decided the locals must be really tough and used to the Noseeums, as they all behaved as if they weren’t under constant assault! As we were newbies, and not tough enough to handle being eaten alive, we opted to stay onboard Legacy for our dinner that evening.

In addition to our full initiation to the Noseeums on this trip, another interesting discovery during our stay at Jekyll Island was that we had our first experience hearing Red Drum Fish and their strange mating calls, which the males make underwater in the evenings; a sound that was quite audible through the hull of our boat. A simultaneously odd and educational experience, to say the least.

Position: N 31° 02.778, W 81° 25.359

Total marina nights: 194

Total nights at anchor: 22

Day 215

After a peaceful night, we left our idyllic anchorage at Cumberland Island South at 8:15 am in glorious weather – bright sun shining and only a slight breeze out of the north, which made for smooth cruising. The Amelia River changed to the East River when we crossed from Florida into Georgia yesterday. We passed a military installation to our west with two large battle ships in port. Although we were, of course, absolutely no threat, the installation’s security was alert and active, making its presence very known to us via boat. As we cruised, we passed ever-increasing marshlands all around us. We noticed the distinctly pungent odor of marshland as we were walking through it on Cumberland Island yesterday. Very earthy, with just a hint of rot and decay. I asked Steve if he thought it was a good smell or a bad smell, and he promptly replied BAD. 🙂

As we continued northward, we noticed less palm trees on the banks of the ICW and more pine trees. They were Georgia Pines, in fact! Still plenty of undergrowth of Palmetto palms, which I love. We passed a large area called Cabin Bluff, which I Googled online to discover it is a nature conservancy in Georgia. The East River kept getting wider and wider, the further we went until it started looking more like a lake. The sunshine sparkling on the waves was pretty and soothing, even if the water was no longer emerald green, but now a chocolatey brown, instead.

Still on the East River, we headed north into the St. Andrews Inlet, where the ICW opens up wide to the Atlantic Ocean. Google Maps calls this inlet “The Hole”, which sounded ominous to us, and in fact this area can be dicey to cross with its powerful current. We’d purposely planned ahead to cross that inlet at slack tide, when the current is at its least. All this time, we were still cruising just west of Cumberland Island, which is a large piece of land! The wind began to pick-up and we wound up having to go wide to the east around some shoaling in St. Andrews Inlet, which put us out into the Atlantic for a short period of time, which was exciting, and not too stressful, even with the stronger winds.

We continued on into Jekyll Sound toward Jekyll Harbor Marina, where we had reservations to spend the next two nights. We arrived at the marina at 11:30 am and immediately saw Bruce and Linda Higginbotham aboard their little de-masted sailboat, Esther B. They were just getting ready to leave Jekyll Island for Savannah, but held up when they saw us arrive so we could at least talk for a few minutes before they continued on their way. We can’t seem to get together with them for any length of time!

After we got settled on the wall at Jekyll Harbor Marina, we borrowed the marina’s free golf-cart to drive around the island, seeing all the beautiful historic homes and simultaneously being bitten by many no-seeums. UGH!! After being so enamored with the Live Oaks and Spanish Moss on Cumberland Island, I should’ve been ready for Jekyll Island to kick it up a notch with those two things. Instead, I was even more amazed with the trees I saw here. We were only allowed to keep the golf-cart for an hour at a time, so we took it back to the marina before we were absolutely eaten alive by the bugs. I vowed to apply OFF bug spray liberally before I left the boat the following day, as those non-stop bites were maddening!

Position: N 31° 02.778, W 81° 25.359

Distance traveled:  28 SM

Total distance traveled: 3024 SM

Total marina nights: 192

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 214

On Monday morning, 04/12/21, we left Fernandina Harbor Marina right at 10 AM, which was also right at slack tide, which almost completely eliminates current flow. The weather was stellar after such a stormy weekend, though a bit breezy, so the water was not glass-smooth, but as close to perfect as we could hope for!

The only real downside we found to possibly someday retiring to a house or condo in Fernandina Beach is that it’s surrounded by chemical plants, which – in addition to being aesthetically displeasing – can also be unpleasant for the olfactory system when the wind is blowing the smoke stack emissions toward town… Fortunately, our visit did not include too many bad smells!

After spending more than 5 full months in the state of Florida, we crossed the border into Georgia on the water this morning and reached our anchorage just southwest of Cumberland Island, GA, before 11 AM, so we had an extremely short travel day. When we dropped our anchor, three young Devil Rays came to the surface and started swimming around our boat! Steve commented we’d probably dropped our anchor right onto their mother and killed her so that now those Devil Rays are orphans. NOT something I found at all humerous!

For the first time in a long time, we lowered our dinghy down into the water, locked up Legacy, and motored over to the dinghy docks at Cumberland Island Seashore National Park for a long afternoon of walking and sight-seeing. It felt wonderful to be riding in “Digney” again! The park was a beautiful place with tons of very old Live Oaks cascading with Spanish Moss. The trees on that island were some of the largest I’d seen yet. I find them breathtaking, the way their huge branches reach out at 90-degree angles, and extend so far out from their massive trunks. The grounds around the park were freshly-manicured and bright green. It took approximately five minutes for us to see some of what Cumberland Island is famous for. The island’s wild horses were very nearby us and grazing on the mowed areas where all the tender new growth was bursting forth. It was obvious they are not the healthiest of animals, since nutrition on Cumberland Island is not plentiful enough to support too large of a herd, and is not subsidized by humans. The horses there are completely feral and descendants of generations of horses, that it is believed were first introduced to the island back in the 1500s, when Spanish missions were first established in that area. During the early 1800s, several plantations were in operation on the island and horses played an integral role in transportation, work, and recreation for the plantation owners. Throughout the 1900s, new stock was introduced and some horses were taken off the island for sale. Property owners on Cumberland managed horses as free-ranging livestock from the 1940s through the 1960s. By the time the national park on the island was established in 1972, horses had become completely feral on the island, and have been allowed to remain as a mainstay in the park. While once populated with plantation owners and their slaves, as well as other private property owners through the years, the entire island of Cumberland is now owned by the national park. Steve and I were amazed at how at ease the horses were with all of us park guests. Steve was able to walk almost within 10-feet of a horse before it would shy away when he reached out toward it. They were nearby, but always stayed just out of our reach.

While on the island, we walked the grounds of the Carnegie Dungeness ruins, once a 37,000 square foot, 59-room, Queen Anne style mansion and grounds built and owned by the Carnegie family, back in 1884, for an estimated $200,000.00. It was considered a gem of the Gilded Age, as Cumberland Island was once held especially dear by the very famous and very rich. In its heyday, Dungeness was run by 200 servants. The estate was intermittently inhabited or utilized by Carnegie family members up until 1925, and when the stock market crashed in 1929 – even though the family didn’t lose everything – they had to reconsider how practical it was to keep a mansion with all those servants on a remote island in Georgia. It is said the mansion and property appeared to have been abandoned overnight, as there are still shells of old, once luxurious automobiles on the grounds, rusting right where their owners last parked them. The property was abandoned and sat unoccupied until 1959, when a mysterious fire destroyed the home, which was determined to be arson. There are many stories of who started the fire and why, but nothing definite has ever been established. Over time, the site was scavenged of most everything that wasn’t burned or permanently attached to the ground, and what remains today is maintained by the US park service as a permanent part of Cumberland Island Seashore National Park and its history.

After exploring the ruins, we walked the 2.53 miles out to Dungeness Beach and back. Steve was not thrilled with the overall 5.6 mile hike! Even though the weather was spectacular, the sun did beat down when we weren’t sheltered by the canopy of Live Oaks. The beach was amazing and worth the walk, even though I pushed the envelope of my comfort zone by walking on sand with my shoes on, which normally grosses me completely out if sand gets into those shoes, which a little did, no matter how slowly and gingerly I tried to walk. (The reason I didn’t just remove my shoes and walk barefoot through the sand is because there were no facilities for me to wash and dry my feet before I put my shoes back on, which would’ve been unthinkable. Yes, I know I’m OCD – have been since birth – which is why it was such a major accomplishment for me not to have just opted out of the beach walk.) Needless to say, those canvas shoes got a good washing in our Splendide 2100 as soon as we got back to the boat. I did thank Steve several times (and profusely each time) for the Cumberland Island excursion, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially seeing the horses!

Position: N 30° 46.138, W 81° 28.241

Distance traveled:  8 SM

Total distance traveled: 2995 SM

Total marina nights: 191

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Dy 212 – 213

As I stated earlier, both of us were enamored with the town of Fernandina Beach, FL. Saturday morning, 04/10/21, we ate brunch at Brett’s Waterway Cafe, which was literally just a few steps away from our transient wall tie-up at Fernandina Harbor Marina. The weather was glorious as we walked around downtown, exploring. As with many of the stops on our Loop, Fernandina Beach was filled with charming older buildings and houses, palm trees, and mature Live Oak trees whose branches spread out for blocks and were laden with Spanish moss. We stopped at Fantastic Fudge for afternoon fudge and ice cream, where we sat outside eating at a tiny wrought iron bistro table and chairs in dappled sunlight and people-watched. A strong line of storms was predicted to come through later in the evening, so we took advantage of the time we had left in the late afternoon to sample adult beverages on the outdoor patio of PJD’s Beer and Wine Garden. We loved that place! We’ve found that the wonderful weather we so often experience on this trip greatly enhances most of the places we visit.

Saturday evening’s skies began to darken, so we hiked back to the boat post-haste. We were barely aboard when the menacing line of storms comin’ down real slow hit Legacy hard from the west at 5:00 pm. Both of our cell phones went crazy with severe weather alerts, so Steve poured himself a boat drink. (It was happy hour, after all – storms or no storms!) We stared out the starboard windows of the salon, watching the approaching curtain of rain actually sheet across the harbor toward us. 30 to 60 knot gusts were predicted with this line, and our wind gauge proved the forecast to be correct. Lightning was popping and residual thunder rumbling all around us. Legacy rocked against her lines there on the transient wall (Steve had reinforced them earlier that day, thankfully), and the waves bouncing our boat were 2 to 3 feet in height. We were very glad we were tied-up at the marina, rather than being one of the many boats anchored to our east in the harbor on mooring balls. Our friends, Bruce and Linda Higginbotham, were aboard their small sailboat, Esther B, tied to one of those mooring balls, close enough in for us to watch them through the storm to make sure they didn’t sink. They were there for a few days with family visiting them. This was definitely not a good time to have guests aboard! Those rains lasted way into the night, the waves pushing Legacy up against the wall and loudly lapping on the hull, and we remembered why tying up on walls is not always ideal.

On Sunday morning, 04/11/21, we woke up to a red sky at morning, which is sailor’s warning. More storms rolling in across northern Florida from the west again, and basically set in for most of the day. I stayed aboard all morning, since it was raining, and worked on this blog. Steve opted to ride the area shuttle in to Publix and back, getting soaked, cold, and bitten by no-seeums the whole time. (I definitely made the wiser choice…) Mid-morning, I looked out the salon windows, checking on our friends, and witnessed an unusual-looking rowboat full of men rowing right past Legacy. Their boat was marked with the logo, FoarFromHome.com, so I looked them up online. This group is four veterans that are rowing together across America to raise awareness of PTSD and the high rates of veterans’ suicides. I was so impressed with their story that I made a donation to their cause right then, while on their website.

Late that afternoon, and just like magic, the dreary weather cleared-up and the sun came out. The temperatures warmed up just enough for us to walk into town for a delicious dinner at Joe’s 2nd Street Bistro. I ordered chicken cordon blue with mashed garlic potatoes and collard greens, while Steve enjoyed a rib-eye steak, the preparation of which he gave a thumbs-up, which is uncommon. There was a couple at a table adjacent to us who were meticulous about taking pictures of each of their plates almost before the waiter could set them onto the table. First appetizers, then entrees. That immediately made me think of our oldest daughter, Tara, who just despises seeing meals posted on Facebook! (She’s even been known to hide any of her FB friends who post too much food.) But then it occurred to me that perhaps this couple were foodies and kept a blog just like ours, only all about FOOD.

Position: N 30° 40.280, W 81° 27.965

Total marina nights: 191

Total nights at anchor: 21

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 211

On Friday morning, 04/09/21, Mike and Marilou helped us throw off our lines as we left the Marina at Ortega Landing at 9:00 am.  We waved goodbye to our new friends, with the usual promises to meet back up somewhere down the line.  It was a cloudy but calm morning, with temperatures in the mid-60s.  We headed for Fernandina Harbor Marina at Fernandina Beach, FL, on Amelia Island.  This destination came highly-recommended by fellow Loopers and non-Loopers alike.  Turns out, those recommendations were well-founded.  We loved it there!

As we cruised the St. John’s River through Jacksonville, we passed what seemed like miles of container ships and shipyards.  We also passed the famous Gold Looper, Grumpy, on the St. John’s River, as well as fellow Loopers, Salty Dreams.  I snapped and posted pictures of both boats on the The Great Loop Facebook page for them.  (It’s the Looper thing to do!)

We cruised past The Hills and Little Marsh Hill communities of Jacksonville, just before turning north back onto the ICW at Clapboard Creek.  We encountered a lot more river current in this part of the ICW!  As we traveled, the current calmed and we were suddenly back into wide marshy areas, on both sides of the ICW.  We saw an occasional house here and there, but mostly we saw lowland wilderness.  We followed Clapboard Creek past Fort George Island, and then through Timocuan Ecological and Historical Preserve.  On up the ICW, we went past Big Talbot Island State Park and Black Hammock Island.

Eventually, Clapboard Creek meets the Amelia River South, which is the inlet to Nassau Sound and into the Atlantic Ocean, continuing on up the ICW, now on the Amelia River.  With the inlet connecting with the Atlantic here, the waterway widens, the wind increased, the current regained strength.  Steve could feel that current trying to take over Legacy’s steering from him!  On our starboard side, we could see out into the ocean, where the waves were really kicking up.  Once again, we were glad to be traveling inside on the ICW, rather than fighting the elements on the outside.

We passed the Amelia Island State Recreation Area, where the Amelia River is wide as a lake in places, and shallow.  As with many others in Florida, the Amelia is lined with large, expensive waterfront properties, but they’re so far out from our cruising channel, I couldn’t get any good pictures of them.  We eventually passed by Amelia City, and arrived at Fernandina Harbor Marina at 2:00 that afternoon.  We tied-up to the transient wall right next to the fuel dock (which was temporarily out of fuel).  Luckily we arrived during slack tide, so were able to dock without having to fight current. 

Like other marina’s we’ve experienced, Fernandina Harbor Marina was positioned right beside the lovely Fernandina Beach downtown area and attractions.  A little later into the afternoon, we walked over to the Salty Pelican for an early dinner, as the Spykman’s had recommended it.  I ordered the Mac n’ cheese with pulled pork, which was delicious comfort food, but very filling, and enough for (4) people!  Needless to say, we took a good portion of it back to the boat for future meals.  After dinner, we strolled over to The Palace Saloon, which is the oldest bar in all of Florida that is still operating.  It originally opened as a bar back in 1903.

Position: N 30° 40.280, W 81° 27.965

Distance traveled:  47 SM

Total distance traveled: 2988 SM

Total marina nights: 189

Total nights at anchor: 21

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 207 – 210

Even though we would’ve rather they stayed longer, we helped Rick and Rhonda to throw off the lines of R&R, around 10:00 am on Monday morning, 04/05/21.  They were bound for their next destination, which was a marina in Fernandina Beach, FL, on Amelia Island.  Marilou Zachary and Mike Bell, on Inshallah (God Willing), were slipped next to R&R during their stay at Ortega Landing, so Rick and Rhonda introduced them to us before they left out.  We were all on hand at their slip to wish them bon voyage, even Mike and Marilou’s cute little dog, Sinbad.

Mike and Marilou had their car with them there at the marina, so Marilou graciously drove me to and from Walgreen’s to pick up my prescriptions and some other supplies.  While we were out, she turned me on to a nearby used book store called Bookmine, that’s within walking distance of our marina.  This store is one of the largest used book stores I’ve ever seen, with hallway after hallway winding around and around a maze of attached buildings.  I could’ve spent an entire weekend in that store and still not have seen everything.  I did notice some used paper chart books of the Great Lakes that I thought might interest Steve, so I noted in my mind where they were located in the store, in case he and I made a return trip.

As seems to be common place on this adventure of ours, the weather for our stay at Ortega Landing was very near incredible.  NO humidity, only light breezes, blinding sunshine, and highs in the mid to upper 70s.  Paradise!  I walked around the Lakeside neighborhood, which is adjacent to our marina, ogling and taking pictures of the huge Live Oak trees draped with Spanish moss.  Steve stayed back on the boat, wrestling with the Clay County, FL, taxes website, attempting to pay this year’s boat registration fees.  Even after multiple phone calls, it wasn’t working, so we contemplated taking an Uber up to Green Cove Springs, FL, (about 20 miles away) to just go old-school and pay the fees in person. 

The next day Marilou chauffeured me again, this time to Publix and ABC liquor for staples.  Later that evening, Steve and I rode with Mike and Marilou to dinner in the Avondale area of Jacksonville at Brick Restaurant.  I had the most delicious grilled salmon with kale salad I think I’ve ever eaten.  I kept exclaiming and exclaiming all through my meal.  Steve took a chance and ordered prime rib, which he said was close to perfect.  As with all fellow loopers, we traded hilarious boating stories with Mike and Marilou and had a great evening together.  After dinner, Marilou and I partook of some Whit’s frozen custard, which was just up the street from Brick, before we all returned to the marina.

The following day was the third Chamber of Commerce weather day in a row!  Steve and I walked up to a recommended nearby restaurant called Hightide Burrito Company for lunch.  I ordered a Hightide Burrito with fried Cobia fish and thoroughly enjoyed it.  After lunch, we stopped at Bookmine and Steve bought the paper charts of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Area that I’d seen earlier with Marilou.  (This chart book new would’ve cost well over $100, but because it was a couple years old and used, this book cost us only $30.00.)  We walked back to the boat and – since the weather was perfect for it – we decided to start sanding down the weathered places that have started appearing on Legacy’s teak.  We started with just the port side and soon found out we didn’t have course enough sandpaper to do the job.  Fortunately, Marilou helped us out with some sandpaper, so we completed the sanding, but then had to stop because it turns out we didn’t have all of the Awl-Brite ingredients needed to successfully recoat the sanded places.  Steve contacted the nearby West Marine to see if perhaps they had some of what we needed in stock, but sadly they did not, so we had to put the brakes on that project until we could acquire what we need.  Ugh!

Wednesday, 04/08/21, proved to be another stellar weather day, and the Marina at Ortega Landing happens to supply courtesy bicycles for its patrons to use whenever they like.  Steve decided it was now or never if we were ever going to find out if I could still ride a bicycle.  Being the klutz that I am, I’ve been leery of jumping back on a bicycle at 63 years of age, but I put on my big girl panties and decided to attempt it.  Well, folks – it turns out it IS possible to forget how to ride a bike!  ☹  Even though I’d spent my entire childhood on a bicycle, and could still ride in my early adulthood, something apparently happened over the past several decades!  As I tried to mount my bicycle, it soon became obvious that the seat was way too high for me.  So, Steve lowered it for me.  But then, it slanted too far forward, so I just slid right off of it.  Ugh!  On top of that, the handle bars had WAY too much play in them, so I could not keep what smidgen of balance I do have left to even get started!  Of course, Steve hopped right onto his bicycle and rode blithely away from me, leaving me to flounder alone.  I rolled my bike off of the asphalt pavement and over to a grassy area, in case I fell down.  Sure enough – after stumbling about for a few seconds, I fell right over to my right, onto my tush!  And – of course – I’d elected to wear white shorts that day, so why not promptly take a seat right in the mud?  I’m sure you picture Steve gallantly riding (or even running) back over to help get the bike off of me so I could stand back up.  Well, you would be WRONG!  When I looked up, he was still on the other end of the parking lot, shaking his head at me.  Gee, thanks, my gallant knight in shining armor!  So, I struggled out from under the bike, got it and myself into a standing position, and tried to dust off my mud-covered bottom.  My pride hurt even more than my posterior, I told Steve it would NOT be at all wise for me to continue in this vein.  I think he was embarrassed to have a wife who’s actually forgotten how to ride a bike, but I was crushed.  Something I’d done and loved for years, had apparently escaped me.  ☹  But, perhaps it does answer the question as to whether we should purchase folding bicycles for our boat, like so many of our fellow Loopers have!

Once I’d regained my composure, and Steve dusted off my back side, we put the bikes away and walked over a mile to Harp’s for lunch, on Mike and Marilou’s recommendation.  Steve ate one of their gigantic frankfurters and I enjoyed an exotic grilled cheese sandwich containing Greek Kalamata olives.  The walk back to the marina seemed even longer than the walk to the restaurant and we both agreed we should’ve called an Uber to get back to the boat. 

That afternoon, I put on a swimsuit and walked up to the marina pool with Marilou.  We jumped into the pool and talked for almost an hour until we were too cold and switched to the hot-tub, which soon got too hot.  My package of new blouses I’d ordered online from Rotita to ship to this marina still hadn’t arrived, and we were leaving the following morning.  The marina said they would forward the package for me, if I provided them with a pre-addressed envelope and sufficient postage.  Ugh!  Fortunately, Mike and Marilou were staying at the marina for another week, so Marilou graciously volunteered to pick-up the package for me when it arrived and get it sent to our mailing service in Green Cove Springs.  I could request it be sent from there when we got to another long-term destination (probably Charleston, SC).  So far, I’d lucked-out with successfully receiving my online orders, but not so this time.  Thank you, Marilou!

Position: N 30° 16.664, W 81° 42.810

Total marina nights: 188

Total nights at anchor: 21

Day 206

We left St. Augustine Municipal Marina at 7:45 am, with no wind at all.  Water was glassy-flat and the scenery was almost boring, as this stretch of the AICW is so wide, we could barely see the river banks.  There are no houses in this area to see, anyway – just watery wilderness.  This portion of the AICW (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) is the Tolomato River.  We passed through the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estruarine Research Reserve, (try saying that three times really fast!), which is a large, wild area that leads into Deep Creek State Forest.

Next came the Guana River Wildlife Management Area.  All of these places were so very isolated, I kept expecting to hear monkeys screaming from the trees, along with the calls of jungle birds.  (Or worse… BANJOS!)  Civilization began to reappear in earnest as we approached and passed underneath the Palm Valley Road bridge, where we were once again cruising past large, luxurious waterfront homes again.  All through the Palm Valley Landing area, south of Jacksonville, we saw marshy wilderness on the west side of the river, and gorgeous estates on the east (Atlantic Ocean-front) bank.  Every single estate was graced with huge Live Oak trees draped in Spanish moss.  I envisioned a mega-HOA for the area that mandates those trees in each yard, like our neighborhood in Katy, TX, (west of Houston), where that HOA mandated two new Live Oak trees be planted in every single front yard in the subdivision.  That was no problem for me, whatsoever, because Live Oaks are my absolute favorite trees.

As we eased into Ponte Vedra (a very high-end area south of Jacksonville), I was frustrated because we were traveling through that area in the morning, which meant any picture I took of the lovely homes to the east would be backlit by the sun, which ruins the picture.  Darn it!  The homes in this area are just spectacular!

We passed Isle of Palms on our west side, and then passed underneath the I-90 bridge across the AICW.  The shorelines of the river were becoming more and more marshy, the farther north we went, which meant the homes were farther off of the river, since they must be built on solid ground.

The weather today was nothing less than PERFECT.  We cruised underneath I-10 (aka Atlantic Boulevard Bridge) and passed a pretty area called The View at Harbortown, before coming into North Beach, which begins the Jacksonville, FL, MSA.  After we went underneath the FL Hwy. 116 bridge (aka Wonderwood Drive Bridge), we cruised by the sobering US war ship harboring and work area on the east side of the St. John’s River, in which we were now traveling. Just a little farther up the huge St. John’s River, we encountered the imposing Jacksonville, FL, downtown skyline, which was extra-striking on this Chamber of Commerce weather day!

Shortly after we passed underneath the I-295 bridge (there are a ton of bridges in the Jacksonville, FL, area!) and then traversed west on the Ortega River for more than a few miles, we made it to The Marina at Ortega Landing right at 3:00 pm.  We were assigned to slip C84 (seems like we’re always in C84, no matter what marina we go to(?), where Rick and Rhonda Spykman (whose boat was in slip C90) and (brand new friend) Marilou Zachary, on Inshallah, were waiting there to grab our lines and help get us secured in our slip.  Rick and Rhonda stayed a couple extra nights at Ortega Landing so we would all have a chance to connect again, and we made it there in time to avoid missing them!

Just like old times, we laughed and talked and enjoyed ourselves immensely up in R&R’s flybridge for several hours on Sunday evening.  As always, Rhonda served up an impressive spread of food.  In fact, there was so much food, we didn’t even have to eat dinner that night!

Position: N 30° 16.664, W 81° 42.810

Distance traveled:  62 SM

Total distance traveled: 2941 SM

Total marina nights: 184

Total nights at anchor: 21

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27