Nov 25-28, Georgia to Florida
We're here in Fernandina Beach, Florida. It is only 2 miles from the border of Georgia, but we have that "I can't believe we made it here" feeling.
Tuesday, the day we left Walberg Creek in Georgia,was one of timing our travels to the tides. The waterway in Georgia is known for some very shallow water, and while our keel is not as deep as some boats, because it is a wing keel, if we do run aground we can't power off the way you can with a fin shaped keel so we are almost as fearful of the shallow water as the deep draft boats. Our route that day had two sections where the water at low tide would mean trouble for us. One was early on and the next was in about thirty miles. High tide was around daybreak so that was great for the early trouble spot but that had us arriving at the next trouble spot almost at low tide. Just before we were to head into the shallow area, a power boat that had been anchored in the same spot as us the last couple of nights, went on and was kind enough to radio back to us the depths they were finding. That helped us decide to turn off and anchor in the mouth of a nearby river, have lunch, do some boat schooling, have a wee nap, then with a couple hours of daylight left, we pulled up the anchor and travelled the last fifteen miles of our route with plenty of water. We anchored for the night in a creek called Wally's Leg, once again nearby our power boat guardian angel.
On Wednesday, our destination was Jekyll Island, which was only 20 miles away, but again would not be accessible according to the guidebooks if we arrived at low tide. So another early start had us arriving at our destination mid morning. We pulled into the marina there only to find half the "Canadian Fleet", a group of seven boats from Port Stanley, Ontario. We had met some of them a few times on the way so it was nice to see familiar faces. We wanted to take advantage of the day there, so we headed out to explore as soon as we could. Just before we headed out we did check the internet and were really surprised to find a note on the blog comments from Lynn Gerrard who said she had just returned from a vacation on Jekyll Island. Wow! How surprised we would have been if we had been there a week or so earlier and run into her. We hiked to the other side of the island so we could explore the beach. Great shells and some facinating formations in the sand formed by the tides that kept Christopher's attention for quite a while.
We were torn between staying longer on Jekyll Island and feeling the pull of Florida being so close. I think the cold weather of the past while and some really long days made us feel if we could just get to Florida we'd be warmer (even though we knew they had been having the same weather). I think it was the psychological pull of being able to say "we're here now, now we can rest for a day or two" that got us going early Thanksgiving morning. Leaving the dock was a trick. We had large boats close in front of us and behind us on the long dock and a swift current going by. Dave and I were discussing all our options for maneuvering out of there unscathed when the fellow who worked there came by and told us exactly what to do and that he would handle all the lines. Worked like a charm and before you knew it we were on our way.
We arrived in Fernandina Beach right around lunch time, just in time for huge free Thanksgiving lunch put on by the Methodist church. I don't know when we've seen so much food. And welcoming, there were lots of people there including most of the boaters anchored, moored or docked in the harbour. We have decided to stay here for a few days. The weather has warmed up (apparently the cold weather is returning on Monday), and besides being a very pretty little town (the shops remind us of Niagara-on -the Lake), there are train tracks with a train running to some industries here which means this is a good stop for Christopher after a recent drought in train sightings. We are enjoying waking up after sun up, until we move on and go back to rising to the 5:30 alarm. The warmer temperatures mean the dingy is more robust which of course has Dave smiling (thank you to all who sent their sympathies over his cold dinghy woes).
We're here in Fernandina Beach, Florida. It is only 2 miles from the border of Georgia, but we have that "I can't believe we made it here" feeling.
Tuesday, the day we left Walberg Creek in Georgia,was one of timing our travels to the tides. The waterway in Georgia is known for some very shallow water, and while our keel is not as deep as some boats, because it is a wing keel, if we do run aground we can't power off the way you can with a fin shaped keel so we are almost as fearful of the shallow water as the deep draft boats. Our route that day had two sections where the water at low tide would mean trouble for us. One was early on and the next was in about thirty miles. High tide was around daybreak so that was great for the early trouble spot but that had us arriving at the next trouble spot almost at low tide. Just before we were to head into the shallow area, a power boat that had been anchored in the same spot as us the last couple of nights, went on and was kind enough to radio back to us the depths they were finding. That helped us decide to turn off and anchor in the mouth of a nearby river, have lunch, do some boat schooling, have a wee nap, then with a couple hours of daylight left, we pulled up the anchor and travelled the last fifteen miles of our route with plenty of water. We anchored for the night in a creek called Wally's Leg, once again nearby our power boat guardian angel.
On Wednesday, our destination was Jekyll Island, which was only 20 miles away, but again would not be accessible according to the guidebooks if we arrived at low tide. So another early start had us arriving at our destination mid morning. We pulled into the marina there only to find half the "Canadian Fleet", a group of seven boats from Port Stanley, Ontario. We had met some of them a few times on the way so it was nice to see familiar faces. We wanted to take advantage of the day there, so we headed out to explore as soon as we could. Just before we headed out we did check the internet and were really surprised to find a note on the blog comments from Lynn Gerrard who said she had just returned from a vacation on Jekyll Island. Wow! How surprised we would have been if we had been there a week or so earlier and run into her. We hiked to the other side of the island so we could explore the beach. Great shells and some facinating formations in the sand formed by the tides that kept Christopher's attention for quite a while.
We were torn between staying longer on Jekyll Island and feeling the pull of Florida being so close. I think the cold weather of the past while and some really long days made us feel if we could just get to Florida we'd be warmer (even though we knew they had been having the same weather). I think it was the psychological pull of being able to say "we're here now, now we can rest for a day or two" that got us going early Thanksgiving morning. Leaving the dock was a trick. We had large boats close in front of us and behind us on the long dock and a swift current going by. Dave and I were discussing all our options for maneuvering out of there unscathed when the fellow who worked there came by and told us exactly what to do and that he would handle all the lines. Worked like a charm and before you knew it we were on our way.
We arrived in Fernandina Beach right around lunch time, just in time for huge free Thanksgiving lunch put on by the Methodist church. I don't know when we've seen so much food. And welcoming, there were lots of people there including most of the boaters anchored, moored or docked in the harbour. We have decided to stay here for a few days. The weather has warmed up (apparently the cold weather is returning on Monday), and besides being a very pretty little town (the shops remind us of Niagara-on -the Lake), there are train tracks with a train running to some industries here which means this is a good stop for Christopher after a recent drought in train sightings. We are enjoying waking up after sun up, until we move on and go back to rising to the 5:30 alarm. The warmer temperatures mean the dingy is more robust which of course has Dave smiling (thank you to all who sent their sympathies over his cold dinghy woes).
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