Georgia
Port Consolidated, fuel supplier for both private and commercial entities, was our first stop on Thurs., Ap 17, after leaving the dock at Fernandina Beach, FL. The man fueling our boat talked about the fisheries nearby, specifically the shrimp processing plant next to Port Consolidated, because sharks come in St. Mary’s entrance to Cumberland Sound to feed on scraps from that plant and the commercial fisheries. I was okay with not witnessing that phenomenon.
What we did see while at the fuel dock was a row boat operated by veterans. Their objective is to raise money for (and awareness regarding) prevention of veteran suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder. When I took the picture they were changing rowers.
Other sights on the way included a fair amount of industry, such as the Westrock plant pictured below, and some large range markers for ships entering from the ocean.
We crossed into Georgia and anchored by Cumberland Island, a barrier island on the southeast coast of the state. It’s Georgia’s largest barrier island and has significant tidal range – from six to nine feet. Part of the National Park Service, it offers views of undeveloped beaches and wild horses. We let Ivy rest and just took Nelson ashore to walk the island, starting along the beautiful trail (pictured below) to the Dungeness Ruins, the remains of a winter home built for Thomas Carnegie (brother to Andrew) in 1884. Fire destroyed it in 1959.
On our way to the ruins, we immediately saw some of the wild horses.
However, we were soon to see many at fairly close range, and though some people approached the horses, we tried to keep our distance. The group pictured below (last) were drinking out of a stream. Because their diet is limited, they consume salt water, and are susceptible to disease and parasites given that they have no veterinary care, many appear quite skeletal, and their lifespan is shorter than most domestic horses, generally around eight to ten years.
The remains of the Carnegie family’s home not only included the mansion …
… but also a recreation building, greenhouse, lengthy pergola, fountains, statues, many other outbuildings (the one pictured below still intact) …
… and a graveyard. In many of the spots we’ve visited in the south, a number of the graves are above ground, likely because of potential for flooding, and this area was no different.
At that point, we were all pretty hot and tired, so we hopped back into the inflatable and went back to the boat for a break. Nelson was really ready to go back, as he got in so fast that he ended up inside Den’s lifejacket.
We returned later to explore some more of the island and noticed these special wheelchairs whose design would allow the user to move more easily through sand on trails and the beach. Pretty nifty concept.
At the end of those sandy trails you find a magnificent beach. Absolutely beautiful.
And, one of the most amazing views on the trip happened here when we saw some wild horses standing alone on the beach, staring out to sea (likely letting the wind keep the flies from bothering them). It was quite a sight. I walked down to get a better picture (first photo below) and meanwhile one laid down (second photo) and another (third photo) was too timid to approach the other two so didn’t benefit as directly from the ocean breezes. As you can see, we had the beach almost to ourselves.
Cumberland Island was a great visit, and we enjoyed both forest and beach.
On Fri., Ap. 18, we left the anchorage and headed to Jekyll Island, passing by the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.
Just past the base, we had to once again ignore the aids to navigation given an update we have on recent shoaling and go on the “wrong” side of what is posted. Makes for a nervous few minutes. The mood was lightened a bit later when we passed a catamaran whose captain was standing on his seat, steering the boat with one foot, and taking videos!
We reached Jekyll Island Marina in the early afternoon and borrowed some marina bikes to ride to dinner on the other side of the island.
In the morning (Sat., Ap. 19), we got our own bikes out and rode to the museum for a quick viewing before boarding the tram which took us on a tour of the historic district of the island plus a walk-through of one of the homes, Indian Mound, the Rockefeller cottage on Jekyll Island.
From the late 1800s to the 1940s, Jekyll Island was a private winter retreat for America’s wealthiest families, such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Astors, and Morgans. The Jekyll Island Club (pictured below) was incorporated in 1886. In 1910, a secret gathering at the club led to the conceptualization of the Federal Reserve System.
Back to the real world, we changed the oil on the left motor later that day! However, we also got to visit the amazing Driftwood Beach, a beach full of striking-looking tree roots, trunks, and limbs littering the sands.
Easter Sunday morning, (Ap. 20), together with Chuck and Kim (“Til You Can’t”) and Debbie and Bill (“Next Wave”), we biked to the Easter Sunday sunrise service held at the park beside the ocean.
The afternoon was spent completing some chores around the boat after which I guess the early morning bike ride caught up to me, proof of which Dennis provided by the following picture. Nelson never passes up an opportunity for a nap, so he joined in support.
Later, we pooled our resources with Chuck and Kim and made kabobs on the marina grill for Easter dinner. Though non-traditional, it was pretty tasty!
Leaving on the morning of April 21, was tricky given that low tide left us with eight inches of water under the hull at our dock and even less at points as we made our way to the fuel dock. Exiting the marina onto Jekyll Creek, we became aware of just how much of a creek it truly was when we could see deep indentations in the mud on the side where a boat had plowed through recently.
Also, the low water made for many visible crab pots.
Jekyll Creek gave way to St. Simons Sound, then Mackay River. Unlike the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Atlantic ICW involves a multitude of small rivers, creeks, plus sounds.
We passed a guy who didn’t answer our radio request for a pass, likely because he was in a lawn chair by the helm with his feet up reading a book! We also passed a shrimp boat that was a favorite with seagulls.
We crossed Buttermilk, Altamaha, and Doboy Sounds. Nelson barked like crazy at one point in there, because he was on the bow, saw his first dolphin close up, and didn’t know quite what to make of it. We joined Little Mud River then North River followed by the uniquely-named Old Teakettle Creek. This led to Front River then Sapelo Sound. On Front River, we saw a herd of donkeys!
Our planned anchorage that afternoon didn’t work out because of strong wind and current from the sound. Through this stretch of the Loop, finding an anchorage is proving difficult because it is now largely marshland as far as the eye can see, making it next to impossible to take dogs ashore; there is no solid land.
We ended up anchoring in Cattlepen Creek – really the only option at that point – which would have been fine had we not needed to find a spot for dogs.
The mud was over the top of my boots. Suffice it to say that the attempt to go ashore was mostly unsuccessful and provided us with a great deal of clean up tasks (involving the inflatable, the dogs, the swim platform, our clothes and boots, and us) upon returning to the boat. We tied stern to stern with “Til You Can’t” in order to control swinging too much on our anchors due to tide change.
We were up as early as possible on Tues., Ap. 22, in order to get the dogs to a relief station asap. They were champs and made it until we reached a small beach area in St. Catherine’s Sound where we could drop the inflatable and take them to shore. Nelson showed his appreciation by running in happy circles on the beach.
Entering Bean River, we continued to see vast stretches of marshland with no sign of homes or towns. Passed through Ogeechee River then navigated what is called Hell Gate (narrow channel) to Vernon River, the latter near the “Moon River” inlet named in honor of Johnny Mercer who grew up nearby and wrote the famous song.
Because we left so very early this morning, we made it to the Isle of Hope Marina by late morning! This left a good amount of time to explore by bikes, so we set out with Chuck and Kim (“Til You Can’t”) and Debbie and Bill (“Next Wave”) to tour the Wormsloe Plantation, established in 1733. The first picture below is taken inside the gate facing back and shows some of the first live oaks that line the very lengthy avenue of oaks. The live oak is the state tree of Georgia and is called as such because it remains green, or “live,” through the winter unlike other oaks that lose their leaves. The second picture shows us ready to turn around and tackle that long avenue.
This plantation has been the setting for portions of numerous shows and movies including “Roots.” While we enjoyed the magnificent avenue of oaks, visitors are unable to tour or even see the plantation house, so we were disappointed by that restriction. We saw a couple very rough outbuildings and paused at an overlook of marshland (below). Having seen enough marshland already, it was a short pause!
Leaving Wormsloe, we did a brief, self-guided tour of parts of the Isle of Hope which is a lovely spot.
On to South Carolina tomorrow.