It’s just amazing how fast these weeks go by! We had a great trip up the ICW from Vero Beach accompanied by Lamb Chop and Suzy Q. Sun Cat is now at Hilton Head where she will spend the summer.
We spent 3 days at Vero Beach doing some shopping and boat projects but also managing to get in a dinghy expedition to the park and several long walks on the beach. We were joined one evening by Bob and Allie from Bali Motu whom we had traveled with for over a week from Chicago down to Kentucky. It was great to catch up with their adventures after they completed the loop in December and we had a nice dinner with them and Tim and Jan from Lamb Chop. We also found (with some help from George on Time Out), a new restaurant on the beach that had a great happy hour which turned out to be dinner a couple of nights. In addition we went to the “cruiser’s breakfast” one morning. The cruisers turned out to be mostly folks who had moved ashore in Vero as the four of us were the only ones from the marina. It appears that we are somewhat behind the bulk of the cruisers headed north as there were no boats rafted at Vero and lots of empty moorings.
From Vero Beach we went up to Titusville and anchored just above the bridge for the night. The next day we pushed up to Daytona where we spent 3 days at Seven Seas Marina. The marina facilities there are pretty limited but its two blocks to Daytona Beach and we enjoyed walking the beach and swimming in the warm Florida waters for several afternoons. After Daytona, we continued on up the ICW, passing St. Augustine and anchoring at Pine Island for the night, There were a handful of other boats there as well.
The next morning we delayed our start to try to time the bridge opening at Jacksonville Beach. The drawbridge there was replaced with a high level bridge and they had a work barge blocking the ICW channel that opened for traffic only between 1200 and 1300 each day (or 1800 to 0700). However, when we got to the bridge they were a day ahead of schedule and they were no longer blocking the channel. We proceeded on to Cumberland Island where we had a rendezvous with George and Miriam on Time Out, Fred and Judy on Amarse, Pat & Pat on Salty Dog and Larry and Sue on Suzy Q IV. We had not seen George and Miriam since early December and it was especially good to see them again. Amarse and Salty Dog left the next morning after a party on Time Out and the rest of us had a great four boat raft up for a couple of nights and a nice tour of the island starting with a long beach walk and then a tour of the ruins of the Dungeness mansion.
Time Out left the next morning to go to Brunswick. We had really enjoyed traveling with them last summer and had hoped to travel some with them as we headed north but the timing just wasn’t working. The rest of us went south again to Fernandina Beach so Tim could pick up a package. While there we visited with Tom and Jerry of Sea Night and had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant that Tom knew. The following morning we took a walk around town, admiring the fine Victorian houses and visiting the farmers’ market. Then the three boats headed back to Cumberland Island.
While underway, Larry called and informed us his dinghy motor was missing. It apparently had been stolen in Fernandina Beach the night before while the boat sat on a mooring. Sue and Larry went back to fill out a police report and the rest of us went for another long walk on the island, mostly on the beach.
Cumberland Island is one of our favorite stops on the ICW. It has beautiful roads and trails for walking, a beach that goes for miles, the ruins and a small museum. It also has lots of wildlife including several hundred wild horses and armadillos. It is the only place we know of on the east coast to see these latter animals and we saw quite a few during our visit there.
From Cumberland Island we went to Jekyll Island where we used the courtesy bikes to go to the historic district and tour the “cottages” which were built by the multi-millionaires of the early 20th century as well as the Jekyll Island Club itself. Our tour was cut short by a threatening storm which dissipated by the time we got back to the marina. We consoled ourselves with a trip into the hot tub! Tom and Jerry drove up to join us for dinner and they also loaned Suzy Q and outboard to replace the one that was stolen.
Our trip out of Jekyll was a bit tense. The channel is very shallow there and we were met by a tug and barge just as we got to the worst part. We communicated with the Tow operator and made it through ok but not without kicking up a fair amount of mud. We then went to the Frederica River where we anchored off of the fort. There was no water at the dinghy dock so we set up the deck chairs on Sun Cat’s foredeck and relaxed for most of the afternoon.. The six of us then had our own “howl at the (full) moon” party, complete with Bahamian music, dancing and rum drinks. The next morning the tide was up enough to get to the dinghy dock so we toured the fort and the ruins of the village that surrounded its land side. The history was very interesting as they did a good job explaining how people lived there as well as the military activity that stopped Spain from claiming part of Georgia.
From there, we went up to the Duplin River where we anchored behind little Sappello island. We tried to take a dinghy expedition further up the river but the wind was too strong and that made the river too choppy. After a quiet night’s sleep, we then proceeded up to Walburg creek where we anchored again for the night. On the way there, Sun Cat was boarded by the Coast Guard for a routine inspection which we passed with no problems. We were traveling between Lamb Chop and Suzy Q so why they picked us is somewhat of a mystery. The anchorage at Walburg was good and we had another quiet night’s sleep there, accompanied by only one other cruiser.
After that, we proceeded through Florida Passage, Hell Gate and the Skidaway river to Turner Creek, which is just before Thunderbolt, Ga, a Savannah suburb. We’d never been into Turner Creek but it turned out to be a good anchorage and we rafted once more. That evening, we went into the marina with the dinghy and walked ashore on Wilmington Island, checking out the various restaurants as we wanted to have a little celebration as it would be our last anchorage together.
The six of us must have been a strange sight as we walked (with no sidewalks) down one side of the street and back the other, checking out menus as we went, because as we approached the last restaurant a car stopped and asked if we were looking for something and could he help. He reviewed what he knew about the various places and recommended a Greek restaurant down the street. We thought that sounded good (and it was) and then he gave all of us a ride to it! We had a very nice meal there and later saw him there dining with his wife. Apparently she thought it was a good idea also!
The next morning we said goodbye to Tim and Jan as they were going to take the bus into town that day and tour Savannah and would then be picking up their pace considerably to get back to Ontario. We had been traveling with them for over four months and we had had a great time together. We set out with Suzy Q across the Savannah river and through Field’s cut to Hilton Head where we also sadly said goodbye to them as they headed toward Beaufort and points north. We had been traveling with them off and on since last summer also.
Our docking at Hilton Head went well and we proceeded to prepare the boat for an extended stay. It seemed strange to be preparing a boat for summer storage! I understand what I have to do to winterize a boat but this is different. We cleaned, ran fresh water through the generator, engines and outboard, lubricated metal parts, polished and coated the stainless steel and packed up the things that we hadn’t used in a year or were duplicates, or that we needed on Trader. Saturday afternoon, we were joined by Pat and Pat from Salty Dawg and we all took a break at the pool followed by a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant we like.
The boat projects went well and we were able to take some time off for another trip to the pool and a bike ride. Today we left the boat for the first time in over a year and half and started our drive back to Maine where we are looking forward to seeing friends and family. For the record, we’ve traveled over 7000 nautical miles in this time, visiting three countries and 17 states in the process. We’ve also made many new friends and learned a lot about the history and geography of the places we visited.. The adventure isn’t over however, as we plan to sail Trader for much of the summer and then return to Sun Cat in the fall.
Included with this update are pictures mostly from Cumberland Island showing the beach, an island road and our crew. In the picture Larry,Sue, Steve & George are in the front row and Jean, Jan and Miriam in the back row. Also included is the layout of the original town of Frederica. Blow this one up to read it better.
Best wishes to all for a pleasant summer!
Steve & Jean
