Tuesday, November 13 – Jekyll Island (Mile 685) to Fernandina Beach (Mile 717):

            (Note:   Ha, ha, ha, ha – the Sea Gods didn’t get us, but the Internet Gods did – that’s why this blog is late!)

            Woke up to flat, flat, calm water and no wind – ideal conditions for heading to Amelia Island, which was our intended destination. 

            Oh yeah, we had to go out in the ocean – it was no big deal – as a matter of fact, it was kinda nice, and the Sea Gods blessed us with great weather – but - they didn’t ignore us all together.

            Upon leaving Jekyll Creek, you end up in Jekyll Sound and because you have to avoid Raccoon Key Spit and Horseshoe Spit, you have to go out to mark, R 30, which is basically out in the ocean (but I think that’s a bit of a stretch to say you are actually out in the ocean).  If you don’t pay attention to these two areas, you could wind up in about three feet of water – that would not be good.   Once you go around R 30 and come back into Jekyll Sound, you turn left into the Cumberland River.  The water is now flat as a pancake!  The Cumberland River has an eerie appeal to it – I thought some of the previous landscapes we had travelled through were flat, but this was FLAT, and along the edges of the grasses, there were telephone poles and where the channel crossed certain areas the lines would go down into the water and then, I suppose, up again on the other side.  We have been informed that one of the markers is missing which is a definite cause for concern because, as usual, the channel is narrow, and there is not much depth on either side of it – not a good place for a missing marker.  Fortunately, when we approached this area, the marker had been replaced.  Much to my complete disbelief, the water is getting flatter, but it is dirty with a scum floating on top.

            It was along about this time that some friends of ours called us who had anchored out and explored Cumberland Island, and strongly suggested that we not miss this Island because of the natural beauty of the place and that there were so many wonderful places there to explore – ruins, wild horses, etc.  Stopping there was not going to be part of our agenda, and we explained to them that we were concerned about the weather turning stormy later and that maybe we would explore Cumberland Island on the way back, but they were so insistent that we not miss it, that we decided to check it out when we got to the entrance to the channel.

            The entrance to Cumberland Island is just past Kings Bay, which is a nuclear submarine base.  I thought the markers in Cape Fear were confusing, but I’ve never seen so many markers, ranges, and various and sundry other strange objects sticking up out of the water in my life.  Plus you have the added challenge that any minute a submarine may go whizzing by you (and I think they probably have the right of way).  Also, several patrol boats with their flashing blue lights are definitely keeping an eye on you.  That’s actually a good thing, because they would stop you in a heartbeat if you strayed out of the channel, but I don’t see how you really could stray out because everywhere you look other than the channel there is a “restricted area” sign. 

            So we get past Kings Bay and turn left into the channel toward Cumberland Island, and it looks pretty nice.  The weather is starting to look a little on the stormy side with a few black clouds up above, but Bob thinks we will be protected, and we start looking for a place to drop the hook.  There are already about a dozen boats anchored, but there is enough room for several more boats.  In order to really see the island, we will have to stay here for a couple of days.  But about this time, the Sea Gods have decided we need something else to think about, and my phone rings.

            It’s our neighbor from home who informs us that our floating dock has floated away – at least it didn’t go too far – it wound up on the beach between her house and ours, but it’s not secured and could float away again and on down the river if it has a mind to.  So I guess we weren’t as unscathed from “Sandy” as we thought we were.  Well, it shouldn’t have, but that put somewhat of a damper on our spontaneous plans.  We decided then that we would not anchor out by Cumberland Island, and we wouldn’t go on to Amelia Island, but we would try to get a reservation at Fernandina Beach, which we did.  So then after several calls home Bob contacted his son who, hopefully, will be able to rescue the floating dock. 

            So on down Cumberland Sound we went then turned right into the Amelia River and to the marina.  This turned out to be a good choice as the Town of Fernandina is a very walkable, historic town full of interesting little shops and specialty restaurants and cafes.  We got settled in, went for a walk, and found the frozen yogurt store, and a neat little bookstore, but, unfortunately, the bakery we were told about was out of business. 

Back to the boat, and it’s time to think about dinner.  I think I “shot myself in the foot” with regards to ever going out to dinner on this cruise, as I packed so much stuff in the freezer, we have to cook it up before we leave to come home, and the marina informed us that it would be perfectly fine to use the grill on our boat so we will be eating dinner “in” for most of the time till we head home for Christmas!

            Tomorrow we are planning to head for St. Augustine.  It will be a bit of a hike, but we are both looking forward to spending a couple of days there and exploring this beautiful, historic city.