In the DOG HOUSE on Cumberland Island

I found myself in the “dog house” this morning. We went exploring the Dungress estate this morning. We dinghy'd over to the Ranger station then walked the ¾ mile trail to the Dungress landing which I thought was private -- no there was a public dock there. Ohhh well unfortunately I had expended ½ my walking distance on my sore knee so Karen and Kourtney went on to the mansion and I remained to view the Ice House Museum. About a half hour later they return and are looking glum. I said – “Hey take my picture against this big ol tree”. If looks could kill I would be dead today. Karen was pissed. They went all the way down there and went to take pictures but the camera wouldn’t work. No battery!!! Oh yeah I charged it this morning and it is still in the charger!!

We returned to the boat for lunch. Afterwards I put the battery in the camera and we took the dinghy all the way to the Dungress dock. The wind had come up so it was a little wet.

We walked to the mansion and grounds. Unfortunately it is all in ruins but you could see the grandeur that it once had. Especially after touring Biltmore a year ago. WOW these rich folks sure knew how to live and this was only a “vacation home”!!

We got a lot of nice pictures and saw areas where the beach was taking over the forest and killing trees. What a place. We also saw a copperhead snake and some Armadillos, and a flock of wild turkeys that weren’t too alarmed to see us. Unfortunately we saw the turkeys when the battery was still out of the camera.

It was a long afternoon walking but very interesting. Back on the boat after a few refreshments Karen tried to teach Kourtney how to knit. What a hoot. That girl is a whiz with the needle when drawing blood or IVs but all thumbs trying to knit.

Not sure about tomorrow yet. The NOAA forecast missed today – 5 knots from the west with a cold front passage. No way I thought but that’s the forecast. About 9:30 it is blowing 12 – 18 from the NW and then blew 15 or better all afternoon from the N – NW.

Ohh well I should trust my gut feelings and previous experience more than NOAA WX.

Enjoy some pics from the Carnegie Mansion at Dungress here on Cumberland Island.

Head over Heels with Cumberland Island

My anchorage in Bells Creek last night was a little problematic. Kourtney didn’t arrive till nearly dark. Once she got here we went out for Pizza at a great Pizza restaurant called Arte – Highly recommend it. Just 3 blocks from the marina. When we left for the boat it was dark. I knew where the boat was (nearly 1.5 miles away!) but unfortunately I tried a different path and we ran aground for a bit – no damage but we were lucky. This morning at low tide I saw were we had run into the mud just before a very ragged looking reef.. That would have hurt the inflatable!!

Cumberland Island – great anchorage and beautiful forest/beach.

Today we utilized Kourtney’ s car and went grocery shopping for some great stuff at a local Publix grocery. Three dinghy trips later and back \on the boat we up’d anchor and headed for Cumber Island Park. We took the short cut across the Fernandina Inlet with no problem. Found nearly 17 boats already at anchor over off Cumberland Island but plenty of room.

Anchor set easily and after some lunch we went into the park. It is an honor system of $4 per head but worth it. It is also good for 7 days so we will stay here tomorrow too.

The forest is almost enchanting and the beach is very nice. Tomorrow we will explore other areas of the island. But today it is just survey and relax on the boat and eat a bunch of fresh food tonight.

Bon Appetite all.

Florida At LAST!!!

Ohhh we had a nice adventure this morning. When we left Brickhill River which is nearly 5 miles long and sort of parallels the ICW we decided to run the whole length and exit back into the ICW. We would see a lot of Cumberland Island too.

There were a few trouble spots but Karen and I coordinated the movement with her viewing the notebook and the navigation chart and offering fine adjustments to me to stay off the shoals. Worked great. No problem until we exited. Then just maybe 25 yds to the ICW I bumped into some mud – ohh that falling forward motion. I knew I was close and on a rising tide so I just kicked the motor up 400 RPMs and bounced over this spot into the ICW.

The rest of the trip into Fernandina was just slow. The St Mary’s inlet was in full flood and we were against it. Speed was only 4.6 – 5.2 knots for about 7 miles.

Once in we called the Fernandina Marina and there was no space at the dock – transients had all called ahead for reservations. I tried yesterday afternoon but received their VM and they never called me back.

We then tried one of their mooring balls.. They assigned us number 13. No big deal. First attempt I tried to lasso the ball which has worked in the past but because of they way they do their pennants the loop slipped off. We tried again and again. Tried to pickup the pennant float with the long antenna – no dice. We are so far off the water I could not reach it. Then back to the boat hook. I finally caught the pennant, slipped my line in, that I had previously cleated off, and watched it all go overboard – I had uncleated in one of the previous attempts. After about 8 attempts we gave up and we headed a short distance away to the Bell River and dropped the hook. Home sweet home.

It was 12:30pm and we were starved. Dropped the dinghy and went to the dock. Checked in for dinghy landing rights and it was only $2.47 per day.. Not bad.

Went to town and had lunch at the Marina Café. Pleasant place but mostly fried foods. We ate there and it tasted fine but ohhh what a heavy tummy the rest of the afternoon.

This Fernandina Marina is unbelievably busy. Only one fueling area and boats are backed up waiting for fuel. No room for transients tonight.

We are just killing time till Kourtney arrives tonight. Then a run to the grocery store tomorrow morning then back on the boat and will leave to go anchor off Cumberland Island for a day or two.

I don’t know what it is about this place whether it’s just my perception or not but I have never seen so many really large people – I don’t mean tall either. The hair style among many woman here is super short chop cuts. Not very pretty but I guess pretty maintenance free. Thus is the first bit of Americana that differs greatly from the folks back home.

Just trying to GET THROUGH GEORGIA!!

Today we had to face the WORST water areas in Georgia. We had to delay our departure this morning to nearly 8am to have sufficient water depth to cross the Little Mud River – MLLW it is only 4 feet!! Then Dolby sound, Altamaha Sound, Buttermilk Sound.

We did well and never bumped today but it was an anxious time till around 11am where the tide was up enough to accommodate the rest of the trouble areas.

The only problem today was some clueless idiot on a large motor boat called DIRECTOR. We heard him coming up astern calling to the sailboats behind us. “Sailboat I’m coming up on I will pass you on your starboard or port side.” I was just into the fairway of the high rise bridge just as you enter St Simon’s Island. He hailed me and said he would pass me to starboard. I responded that I was already at the approach of the bridge and he should pass after I get through. The dumb ass just comes and is trying to pass me in the fairway of the bridge!! I tell him to back off on the radio!! No response. I grab the Hailer and turn it up -- “Hey DIRECTOR -- no radio???” Ohh to see him jerk upright and drop his mic and swivel his head was worth every penny of that loud speaker. He was still clueless though. He called back excitedly “What’s the problem”. No response from me – Karen was becoming uncomfortable.

We checked out the anchorage at Jekyll Island and it looked okay but it was only 1:30pm. We pushed on and put the worst of the sounds behind us – St Andrews – worst because you actually enter the ocean to get around the shoal area and there was a significant swell running from the storm a few days ago.

Brickhill River is a great anchorage and just 20 miles from Fernandina,. FL – Florida finally tomorrow…

Just through in a couple of pictures from the St Simon’s Island area. Enjoy.

Got to be FLEXIBLE

Longest day run ever!! What a change of plans. Last night when we went to bed the wind was howling and we expected the Gale conditions to just strengthen through the night. Sometime after midnight we heard no wind. This morning it was only blowing 5 –10 kts!! What gives?? I checked the weather forecast and all mention of Gale was gone – only small Craft Advisory but the winds were light. The day was overcast with only a slight chance of rain today.

Hell we can travel today!! Changed our plans immediately – looked at high tide and the clock and decided to leave around 7:30am instead of 6:30am to catch Hell’s Gate near high tide.

The plan worked but we traveled faster than expected. Reached Hell’s gate 2 hours before high tide but there had already been a 5.7’ rise and I need 5.3’. So we did it. No problem – never saw less than 12’!!

We pressed on through the Ogeechee river and St Catherine Sound and hit Cattle Pen Creek (a previous most isolated anchorage) at 1:30pm and were doing 6.8kts over ground! We thought we would try the next anchorage at the Wahoo River anchorage 5 miles further so we pushed on. I didn’t like the look of it – couldn’t find it in the binoculars so pressed on. We had a great run across the Sapello sound and made New Teakettle creek at 4:40pm. Great anchorage. Two boats were already here and 3 more came in after us. Today was a record run for me for a daylight run – 63.6 NMs. Not bad for a day that was going to be spent sight seeing!!

Ohh I have a groupies now. After setting the anchor a small Catamaran with only an EXPO 2012 Korea sticker went by and hailed us. They were two Korean gentlemen. The said they had been following us all day – I know that. They asked if we were going to the Bahamas and I said yes. They gave me a thumbs up and asked when we would leave tomorrow morning – I said 6:30. Another thumbs up and they said they would follow us. Gosh groupies!!

We are whipped!! Will get to bed early and try for the Jekyll Island anchorage tomorrow – a mere 40 nm.

Then on to Fernandina, FL (32 nm) where we will meet with our daughter Kourtney for about a week. This is her first week off as a new RN at Duke University Hospital -- we are very proud of her.

Hope to spend several days with her exploring Cumberland Island and St Mary’s. Maybe sight a nuclear sub entering or exiting the Kings Island Facility -- ohh that would be cool.

Nothing else to report other than this stretch of Georgia is the most DESOLATE!! Nothing but landscape which is very nice.

I attached the photo of that really large Sailboat that lights it spreaders at night – way cool but I could not read it’s name.

Calm Before the STORM

This is the calm before the storm – maybe. It is NOAA making the predictions and they do not have a great track record. But can I afford to try and out guess them in strange waters?? NO. Looks like we will be here another day.
Something else is that all the marinas in the area are full of transients and I haven't seen a single sailboat pass since 1pm. Then again we were approaching low tide then for Hell's Gate!!

They have small craft advisory up till 6pm tonight then a GALE warning from 6pm tonight till 10 pm tomorrow night. We have to transit 2 Sounds tomorrow – Catherine and Sappello oh yes and Hell’s Gate. So we will stick by the wharf tonight. I already ordered up a rental car for tomorrow. Might as well make the best of this.

Oh Yeah -- Enterprise is the agency to work with here. They will pick me up and drop me off at the Marina. Very polite and accommodating. Unfortunately not open on Sunday

Here is something to avoid here in Thunderbolt --- Pizza Hut!! We had a hankering for a delivered pizza here at the marina last night. The brochures said they delivered here – they said they would deliver here. We ordered a Large Super Deluxe at 6pm. They said it would be 1 – 1 ½ hours – okay we will wait. By 7:40pm and no Pizza we called and they said it was out for delivery. At 8:30pm we warmed a can of soup and some crackers. At 9pm we went to bed and turned the phone off – just in case. Well this morning there was no missed message, no attempt to deliver. Just another disappointment here in Savannah. How big a town is this???

Today was a pretty nice morning – I went to the River Supply Marine store down the road here and it is worth dropping in on. Lot’s of good stuff and fair prices. I only bought a spare adapter for my Yamaha fuel hose and some colored cable ties to better mark the lengths on my anchor chain. We tried to locate a folding bike for Karen but not much avaialbe here at the Star Bike shop or the West Marine. How big a town is this???

The rest of the day was just relaxing, reading, minor head repairs, and reorganization of some storage spaces. Even read a little in some manuals to better use the equipment on this boat!!

One awe-inspiring site here after dark is a very large sailboat at a distant dock. It has 5 spreaders on the main mast and 3 on the Mizzen. At night each of the spreaders is illuminated. I’ll try for a picture tonight.

The picture today is a boat by a Celebrity – Country Singer Alan Jackson -- Neon Rainbow. I didn’t know that but Karen told me about it.

Well time to check the lines before the Gale Force winds get here tonight -- but first another very hot and lingering shower here at the facilities. Making up for missed showers..

At Thunderbolt Marina -- waiting weather passage

We battened down the hatches here in Thunderbolt, GA for a predicted severe low pressure that will form off the coast tonight and bring rain and storms tomorrow into Tuesday.

Today has so far been quite nice. We arrived about 10am this morning more or less. I forgot about reverting to standard time. It was only this morning around 7:45am that I knew something was up. I couldn’t hear anyone on the WRCC Net!! I didn’t think propagation was that bad. Then I picked up my cell phone and the time was 6:52 am. Ohhh yeah – fall back an hour -- me bad.

The Thunderbolt marina is nice but nothing is convenient to it. No food stores within 1.5 miles. The reported bus – well the bus stop is a half mile away.

I tried calling the 3 rental car firms here in Savannah and 2 were closed (Enterprise and Economy) and Budget would not pick us up at the marina. For one day I wasn’t going to pay for cab and a rental!! Sundays are very quiet here.

I then undertook a small project to cut some webbing strap bands and install DOT fasteners to it so we can lock the side enclosures up in various attitudes to give ventilation in various wind conditions. Not a difficult project but each fastener had to be measured twice

Ohhh well maybe we will rent a car tomorrow if the weather is not as bad as predicted. If it lingers into Tuesday then we may still be here then and take the car.

The facilities are first rate here. Showers and Laundry facilities are excellent.

This marina is all part of a huge service facility. Look at some of those boats they had pulled out of the water – Mammoth!! Another picture of Temptation at the dock once again surrounded by unbelievable wealth -- boy I’ll feel more comfortable in Florida when we flock with boats more our size or smaller..

And a teaser picture for my Good friend Craig.

Maybe you can get one of those for your boat Craig.

Should be an interesting evening as it gets dark so early now – what 5:30pm?? It will be hard to stay up till Cruiser’s midnight now – 9pm.

Ohhh yes – they do have a nice book exchange here and I found some Clive Cussler I haven’t read yet so I’m set for a couple of days now.