Jacksonville, Fernandina, Brunswick, Sunbury, Isle of Hope and Hilton Head- July 6

Happy Anniversary to Tim and me!  Today marks 21 wonderful years together.  When we started the adventure of marriage all those years ago, we knew boats would be a huge part of our future.  I’m just not sure that we envisioned this.  We met racing Hobie Cats, got married on a boat, and have never been without at least one boat our entire marriage.  I guess it only figures that we would choose boating as our entry into retirement.  Our life together has truly been a wonderful adventure and I’m looking forward to continuing that.

My last post left us in St. Augustine.  Our next stop on our journey north was in Jacksonville.  Because we knew we needed high tide to get into Fernandina, we had to stay in Jax and time our departure the next day so we could arrive Fernandina at high tide.  We chose the Ft. George Island Marina for our overnight stay.  My oh my!  What a night.  This marina is right near the mouth of the St. John’s River.  So close in fact that from the dock we could see the massive freighters waiting outside to enter the Mayport Basin to load or unload their cargo.  Add to that the effect the full moon had on the already huge tides and current and we were in for a rocky and rolly night. We were tied up to an outer T head and thus getting the full motion of wakes from tankers, pilot boats, shrimpers etc. as they traversed the inlet.  Let’s just say that it was not a pleasant night.  The marina itself was OK, staff was helpful, but …. anyway, you get the picture.

Fernandina was our next stop.  Initially, we were unsure if we’d be able to get into Fernandina because the marina there was practically destroyed by Hurricane Matthew last fall.  We heard that they had a few slips available and upon calling, found they would have one for us.  We’ve read and heard many great things about Fernandina and were so glad we’d be able to check the town out.  I’m so glad we did.  Fernandina is a quaint, historic town that seems to be doing pretty well for itself.  There are many bustling shops and restaurants in the old downtown area.  Since it was just a short jump up from Jacksonville, we arrived in time for lunch.  Tim had a hankering for Mexican food and we found a great restaurant with outdoor seating so Maggie could join us.  This is a town I could easily come back to and wander.  Tides are a concern here.  We have to come in and leave on a high tide because of the shoaling in the area.  This meant we could sleep in a little while the water filled in enough for us to leave.

Before I move on, I think I need to explain why we are having such short travel days.  First, we are in no hurry.  But second and most importantly, we have to very carefully time our departures,  and arrivals with the tides.  Being in the Bahamas gave us just a taste of how important knowing when high and low tide was.  Here, it is essential.  There is no sleeping on the job as we travel up the ICW in Fla, Ga, SC.  There are so many “skinny” spots that we have to traverse that it is all hands on deck.  We usually have 3 devices going as we travel now.  We are using the RayMarine chart plotter, Garmin Blue Charts on Tim’s IPad and Charts and Tides with Active Captain on my iPad.  We both prefer the visuals on the Garmin over the RayMarine.  It give a clearer view of the magaenta line and the channel.  We keep it zoomed in to help us be sure we are staying in the middle of the channel.  My iPad is used for a bigger view of where we are heading.  I use the Active Captain on it so I can read the comments aloud to Tim as we approach hazard areas.  The comments are written by boaters who have gone through the hazard areas prior and they advise us about shoal areas, missing marks, etc.  Because the channel is shifting in many areas, paper charts just can’t give the up to date info that we can get from Active Captain.  I can also make comments in AC based on what we see as we go through certain sections.  This crowd sourced information is invaluable to us.

Brunswick Landing was our next stop, only 36 miles (about 5hrs) north of Fernandina.  We stayed 2 nights in this historic town.  While Fernandina seemed to be active and prospering, Brunswick seemed to be struggling to renew its once grandeur.  We took a long walk through the old residential area near downtown.  We strolled streets lined with beautiful old live oaks with stately homes.  One tree is said to be 900 years old.  Unfortunately many of the homes seem in danger of falling apart from disrepair.  While there we ran into JohnWetzel, 48 DeFever, Nomad, who we met at the DeFever Rendezvous last March.

We untied from the dock around 7 and continued our trek north.  Our next stop came about 4pm at the Sunbury Crab Co. Sunbury is a small town 7 miles up the Medway River from the ICW.  The extra hour was well worth the trip.  This is the Deep South, folks.  I loved the miles of low marsh lands decorated with wading cranes and egrets.  The shore is lined with overhanging live oaks dripping with Spanish moss.  Just loved it.  The motto of Sunbury Crab Co. is “Key West just got a whole lot closer”.  So you can get a feel for the place.  Tim and I had some of the best fried shrimp and fried flounder we’ve ever had.  Great spot and I wished we had another day to wander the area, but we wanted to keep the schedule we set up.  So we were off the next morning to Isle of Hope.  Oh my, this was Sunbury ratcheted up a notch.  Here were these amazingly beautiful antebellum homes on the shores of the Skidaway River.  The town in on the National Register of Historic Places and certainly deserved more than one night.  This is the downside of planning.  We will definitely spend more time here when we head south.  Tim and I did head out for a long walk, but storms were threatening and we left our phones on the boat.  There are so many photos waiting to be taken there.

I will end this post with Hilton Head.  This will be our home for about a month.  We’re staying at Windmill Harbor on the northern side of HH. We chose this marina mainly for its security and safe harbor.  The entry into the Marina takes you through a narrow channel and lock.  The lock minimizes the effects of tidal changes.  The marina is tucked in the middle of a ring of 2 and 3 story homes and townhouses.  While other marinas in HH sustained significant damage in Hurricane Matthew, Windmill Harbor was virtually unscathed.  Our time here will be spent hunting the source of a pesky water leak and touring Savannah and Beaufort, SC.  I will also leave Tim and Maggie while I spend a week with my brother in Maine.  We also have been so fortunate to be able to spend time with old friends, George and Jacola Bolger, and with new DeFever friends, Earle and Lynne Yancy, Aries.

And just for fun:

What did we do to pass time while tootling down the ICW in Georgia and South Carolina- swat at the swarms of horseflies that dared to invade our helm.