Sunday, November 11 – Wally’s Leg (Mile 665) – Jekyll Island (Mile 685)

            Sometime in the middle of the night while we were asleep in our quiet little anchorage in Wally’s Leg, Bob heard a “thump” against the boat and got up to investigate.  I’m usually the one who worries in the middle of the night, but I was sleeping like a rock for once.  Bob thought maybe the current had carried some flotsam and jetsam of some magnitude (like a log) and it had caressed the boat as it floated by.  Well, he didn’t see anything amiss and came back to bed.  I remembered that when we anchored earlier in the evening, I saw “something” large swimming around, but I couldn’t tell what it was.  I didn’t think it was a dolphin, but I don’t really know, but then I got to thinking that maybe it could have been some marine life looking for those darned, noisy, little shrimp.  Speaking of which, since they left us for those mega yachts, I haven’t heard them since.

            So, other than that, the day dawned beautiful and sunny.  The current was running strong as the tide went out, but we didn’t think it would pose any issues.  Bob wanted to look over the charts and check the tide times as we wanted to go to Jekyll Island, and there were a couple of spots that we needed to be aware of.  We had a light breakfast of cottage cheese and fruit, and, of course, one of the pastries Bob likes from Publix.  Bob called the Jekyll Harbor Marina and we made a reservation for this afternoon.  The day was starting out pretty good.

            I should have known, though, that the day was going to go slightly amiss when Miss Kitty Cat had a little tummy upset after breakfast.  I foolishly thought that if I brought a pot of fresh basil on the boat, the cat would not bother it - or if she did, since people can eat it, I didn’t think it would bother the cat.  Oh, how wrong I apparently was.  Suffice it to say, that the cat is now better, but the basil is overboard!

            So, we have everything we need up on the flybridge, and we are ready to go; Bob pulls up the anchor, we turn the boat around and head out of the creek.  So the first thing we notice is that there is another Grand Banks heading down the channel, then along comes another trawler and another, and we are joking about the parade of Grand Banks heading down the waterway – and we are getting closer and closer to the mouth of Wally’s Leg, and I am thinking, “Gee, I hope no one else is coming around the bend as we enter the waterway…”

            …and then comes a huge trawler – like a big Nordhaven!  Yikes!  We are so close to the entrance, and the trawler is so close to us, and the current is moving us along also, and I decide that the best thing for me to do is just curl up into a fetal position on the deck floor and close my eyes.  Well, that worked out ok, because the radio is down there, and the Nordhaven calls us, and both boats, ours and his, have throttled back to idle and thrown the boats into neutral.  So the Nordhaven asks us how fast are we going to go, and Bob tells me to reply about 8-10 knots, and then the Nordhaven guy asks us to go ahead of him.  I consider asking him if he has any Grey Poupon, but think better of it, and then we are all on our way again – the little parade of trawlers. 

            So we all head down the Mackay River together, and I fervently hope we will not have any more near misses!  (Bob read this part, and politely told me that it was not a near miss – but he isn’t writing this.)

            The Mackay River takes you into St. Simons Sound, and you still have to be very careful of shoals.  The current is running like crazy in here, and Bob remarks to me, jokingly, that it would be disasterous if the engines happened to fail.  Aarghghgaag…I have visions of just that very thing happening, and the boat turning into the “Tilt A Whirl” ride at the carnival.  As we come into the Sound, we see a huge tanker coming from the ocean, and we decide to make sure he passes us before we make any maneuvers to cross the sound to go into Jekyll Creek, so we start to head up beside him to go behind him as he goes down the Sound.  After this morning, I am thinking that this will be a great opportunity to get sucked into his stern wake and disappear forever down into the deep blue sea.  We kept going and going, and after awhile I realized that the OCEAN appeared to be right in front of us, but as I was more concerned about the tanker, I really didn’t care if we went out in the ocean and stayed there.  As it turns out, the tanker stopped, and was apparently waiting for instructions as to where to proceed on to Brunswick (or maybe he was just waiting for high tide), so we went on our merry way without any further problems in St. Simons Sound. 

            From St. Simons Sound, you have to go into Jekyll Creek, and since this is off a busy commercial channel, you have to be very aware of the marks and ranges.  In addition, we were warned that the entrance to Jekyll Creek could be dangerous especially the rock jetty on the right hand side, and the channel itself is narrow and shallow anyway, and also the fact that we were entering just before low tide, and the marina had told us to be very careful around Green 19, and I am thinking of curling up in the fetal position again (right after I bite all my fingernails off).  Yikes…

            Fortunately, there is a sailboat and another Grand Banks ahead of us, and we decided they would be the guinea pigs, and we would follow them through here at a very safe distance.  So, the first thing I hear is another sailboat by Green 19 calling an oncoming barge to let the barge know that they were very sorry, but they couldn’t get out of the way, because they were aground!  Yikes!  Then the Coast Guard gets involved, and we are getting closer and closer.  I can see the sailboat in the distance, and I see the barge squeak by.  Then I see a water taxi boat come along and pull the sailboat off of the shoal.  Ok – he’s going again.  Then the sailboat in front of us runs aground!  I’m thinking I wish my waistline was as narrow as this channel!  So that leaves the Grand Banks ahead of us who is driving as slowly as he can, and Bob and I are looking at the banks on both sides of us which make the channel look about six inches across.  The saying goes, that in the waterway, it’s not if you are going to run aground, it’s when, and I’m thinking this is our time!  But the Grand Banks in front of us makes it through, and so do we.  Phew and Thank Heaven!!! (because I don’t have too many fingernails left).

            We are now approaching the marina where we will stay for the next two days and explore Jekyll Island.  So I call the marina on the radio, and they tell us that we will be turning around for a starboard tie up at the face dock, but they didn’t mention that the space Bob had to get into was only about two feet long between two other boats forward and aft.  Well, I go down and get the lines and fenders ready, and there are three dock hands to help us, and, Glory Me, I don’t know how Bob did it, but he slid that boat in between those two other boats as nice as you please.  And there we are – in for the night!  I wouldn’t swear to Bob’s normal driving around, but he can park a car or a boat!

            So after recovering from the day’s experiences, we take showers, have lunch and then borrow the marina bicycles and go exploring.  

            Jekyll Island is truly beautiful.  It used to be a “cottage” resort for the likes of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and other millionaire types.  I think the area went into decline around the time of the depression, but now many of the cottages have been restored.  There are lovely bike trails, some paved and some natural, and some small shops in the “village” including a nice little book store.  The luxurious Jekyll Island Club Hotel, which used to be the “Club House” is open for diners, but you have to wear dress-up clothes if you want to go there for dinner.  Your imagination can run wild as you ride along looking at the magnificent homes and wonder what it must have been like to live in such exclusive luxury so long ago.

            As we were riding our bikes back to the marina we rode along a streambank, and I SAW AN ALLIGATOR – A BIG ONE!  He was sunning himself on the opposite side of the bank, thankfully, and apparently he is quite a fixture on the island.  The lady who runs the marina office, said she was glad to know where he was, as it worried her a lot when he wasn’t spotted.  I don’t think it was because she missed him.

            Well, once again, we are nestled in for the night.  The weather is warm, the sunset is spectacular, there is a guy on the dock playing his guitar and singing softly, and I might just let my fingernails grow a little more!  More about Jekyll Island tomorrow…

Sunset at Jekyll Island