Sapelo Island Anchorage to Skidaway Island, GA

Sunday, April 26, 2015

On Sunday morning we left Brunswick in the lead of a group of four Looper boats, Serenity, Fruitcakes, Mara Beel and Sweetwater. After going back through the sound we were on the ICW again. We went through more of Georgia’s grassy lowlands and several shallow channels. Again, the captains timed it right transiting these channels when the tide was up so there were no problems.



Helen of Troy and Capt Dock are hard working boats at Brunswick

Bald eagle finding a place to roost along the grasslands

 

About the only house we saw all day - just north of Brunswick

Our anchorage for the night was in the Duplin River next to Sapelo Island and the National Estuarine Sanctuary. The river is just off of the ICW. It was wide and had good depth so each boat dropped anchor. The night was very quiet until the wind came up at about 3 a.m. and the tide was rushing through, so between the howling of the wind and the slap of water hitting the hull it got pretty noisy. John checked and we weren’t moving so we went back to sleep.

Captain’s Log April 26, 2015

Departed: Brunswick Landing, GA 10:10 a.m.
Engine hours: 5.2 hrs. – 634.1 total for trip
Actual hours: 4 hrs 50 mins
Miles covered 38.42 - Total for trip: 4458
Arrived: Duplin River Anchorage, GA - Left at 10:10 am to time high tide to go through Mud River. Timing was perfect. Warm day with west wind 5-10 mph. - Anchored in Duplin River at high tide with 20 feet of water. Got hot that afternoon. Wind still westerly but changed to north early in the am. Cool temps high 60’s. Nice cruise, with Mara Beel, Fruitcakes, Sweetwater.  No issues

Monday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 29, 2015

It was early departure from the Duplin River and it was a very gray and overcast morning. At the entrance to the river we passed the America Cruise Ship the Independence, which carries passengers on the ICW from Charleston to Jacksonville. We decided that if it can make the narrow places, like Hell’s Gate, we could too!

American Cruise Lines ship the Independence

Our home for the next three nights, due to the weather forecast, was at Delegal Creek Marina on Skidaway Island. This Island is home to The Landings, a planned community with lovely homes and manicured golf courses. The marina staff was very friendly and helpful. The dockmaster, Billy, even drove us into the Village three miles away to join the others for dinner – our friends drove/rode in the courtesy golf cart.

Rainy weather was moving in so we were glad to stay– not a bad place with lots of walkways for an afternoon stroll.

We were all watching two dolphins in the Delegal Creek to see if they
were mother and baby - it was hard to tell because they rarely
came to the surface

The observation tower and screened deck at the marina

Colorful kayaks to rent

Great Blue Heron looking for fish

Someone had fun making this fairy village in a hollow tree

 

Captain’s Log April 27

Departed: Duplin River Anchorage at 7:25 am.
Engine hours: 6.8 hrs /total on trip 640.9
Actual Hours: 6 hrs 25 minutes
Miles covered: 51.02 total for trip 4509
Arrived: Delegal Creek Marina, GA
Left anchorage early for 7 hr cruise to destination. Cruised with Mara Beel, Fruitcakes, and Sweetwater. Cruised at 1800 turns with Serenity in the lead.  Timed high tide at Hell Gate went perfectly. Pulled into slip and met with Looper catamaran Phatcat and crew, Dave and Di, last seen in Apalachicola.  Replaced generator battery while here.

 

Cumberland Island to Brunswick, GA

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Seemed like a lazy morning because we didn’t plan to leave Fernandina until 8 A.M. The tide was low but we had sufficient depth and just stirred up a little mud. The ebb and flow of the tide certainly affects our cruising much more than it did in the Gulf or in southern Florida.

We traveled up the north end of the Amelia River into Cumberland Sound where submarines enter from the Atlantic Ocean to go to King’s Bay Naval Station. We got a nice push in the sound with the tide coming in. We were now in Georgia! It was just a short trip up to an anchorage off Cumberland Island. We even saw a few of the feral horses grazing by the water’s edge. Cumberland Island is Georgia’s largest barrier island and was officially protected as a national park in 1964. It is a natural habitat for numerous plants, animals and marine life and also many wild horses which are not native to the island. We took the dinghy ashore and walked the trail to the beautiful wide beach – so pristine with very soft sand.

 

Trail to beach under live oaks and Spanish moss

One of the wild horses meanders along the gorgeous beach

One thing we look forward to, almost every day, is the social time as boaters gather in the late afternoon. Call it docktails, cocktails or mocktails, the word goes out to every looper about the time and place to meet. This is when we go over the adventures of the day and study the charts for the next day’s travels. Everyone brings their own beverage and some nibbles to share. The fare is usually hearty enough that no one is hungry for dinner afterwards. Our daily meals have been consisting of breakfast, lunch and hors d’ oeuvres – saves on a lot of planning!

Five o'clock on MV Fruitcakes with Andy, John and Julie

We all took our dinghies to Andy's boat - with Becky and Mark

We often ask how people come up with the names for their boats. Andy and Julie always say that they named theirs Fruitcakes because they are nutty and half baked!

Thanks, Kathrin, for bringing me the beautiful orchid while we were in
Daytona Beach - it always brightens my day!

April 23, 24 & 25, Thursday through Saturday
Today we went through some of the lowlands of Georgia. We wanted to be on a rising tide because we had some shallow spots to transit and our timing was important. The channels were very pretty with smooth water and no winds. I didn’t take photos because there wasn’t much to see but water, sky and a strip of green in the middle.

Navy ships at the large King's Bay installation

We crossed two sounds today - Jekyll Sound and then St. Simon's Sound (a sound is a large ocean inlet or deep bay) but the water was fairly calm and we only had a little rolling. In between these two sounds we had to go up the narrow channel of Jekyll Creek which is known to be quite shallow. Our timing was great because it was high tide and we were following a sailboat who had a draft, with their keel, which was deeper than ours.



Fruitcakes, Mara Beel and Field Trip following us through Jekyll Creek

When we got to Brunswick Landing Marina it took a while to get fueled up and pumped out, but this annoyance was greatly offset by our greeting from old friends on TA TA, Roger and Mary! We hadn't seen them since the first of December when we arrived at Dunedin, FL and we were so glad to finally reconnect.

We all walked into town for pizza that evening with several new boaters that we hadn't met yet. It was a great group of 14, good food that we didn't have to prepare and vital connections to others in a similar situation as ours.

Women are seated at one end because we don't usually enjoy
conversations about boat engines

Next morning some of us had some time to get together to do yoga at the club house, but then we had to say good-bye to Mary again as they left to head north. They have a long way to get back to Canada but we still hope to see them again!

You can tell that Mary and I were happy to see each other!

 The next day we all rented a car, got some provisions and went to St. Simon Island for lunch. On the way back we had to make the obligatory trip to West Marine - a boating Mecca in almost every port. 

Saturday there was a Farmer's Market nearby and a woman named Earleen was selling homemade crab cakes and slices of sweet potato pie - sweet!

Oops! It is almost 5 0'clock and time to go. My nibbles for tonight are chunks of watermelon with feta cheese and a leaf of mint grown right here on the boat. We will be off on an adventure again tomorrow. 

Captain’s Log April 23, 2015

Departed: Cumberland Island Anchorage, GA 9:10 a.m.
Engine hours: 5.5 hrs. – 628.9 total for trip
Actual hours: 5 hrs 10 min
Miles covered 37.86 - Total for trip: 4420
Arrived: Arrived Brunswick Landing Marina, GA 2:10 pm
Wx: clear, wind light and variable. Cool temps high 60’s. nice cruise, cruised with Mara Beel, Fruitcakes, Sweetwater and Field Trip.  No issues on trip, ran at 1800 rpm to keep up with the others.  On arrival we pumped out and took on 100 gals of fuel at 2.41/gal. Lowest price we have seen on this trip. Changed engine oil and filters.  

MTOA Rendezvous to Fernandina Beach

Thursday, April 17, 2015

The MTOA Rendezvous was lots of fun and we met many wonderful fellow boaters. They had seminars on boat handling for women, boat insurance, weather forecasting and many other activities. We had a good time but didn't take many photos - what happens in Daytona stays in Daytona.

 

Dressed up for the biker bash party - this may be our next adventure!

 On Friday morning it was time to leave and we arrived at the first bridge just in time. The day was a bit overcast but we made the short trip to Marineland, just north of Palm Coast in good time. We arrived just at low tide and were able to get tied to one of their floating docks. The marina was basic but filled all our needs of power, internet and even a washing machine that was free.

Mark and Becky joined us for a great walk on the seemingly endless beach and later John borrowed the courtesy car and he and Mark went down to Bings Landing to pick up some great BBQ pulled pork at Captain Jack's Barbecue.  

Captain’s Log April 17, 2015

Departed: Daytona Beach, Halifax Marina 7:20 a.m.
Engine hours: 4.7 hrs. - 610.9 total for trip
Actual hours: 4 hr. 30 min
Miles covered 48.28 - Total for trip: 4294
Arrived: Marineland Marina, FL 11:55 p.m.
Wx: overcast, cool , N wind 5-10, traveled with Mara Beel

Saturday, April 18, 2015
We got underway again and cruised further north to St. Augustine, FL 

Lots of houses with tropical colors just north of Marineland

 

Every piling on this bridge had this mosaic design
 

We passed Catcall - a catamaran gold looper we hadn't seen for a while

 We stayed for an extra day in St. Augustine because of a severe thunderstorm watch. It rained and we had quite a light show both evenings but we had good weather during the day to walk through the historic old city.

Mark and John deciding which way to go in old St. Augustine

 

Arched door on the Oldest House

Becky is a talented photographer!

 

We visited a rather new distillery

Mark, Becky and Kathy waiting for a taste of the spirits

Captain’s Log April 18, 2015

Departed: Marineland Marina, Palm Coast, FL 8:15 a.m.
Engine hours: 2.9 hrs. – 613.8 hrs total for trip
Actual hours: 3 hr.
Miles covered 18.5  Total for trip: 4313
Arrived: St Augustine Municipal Marina, FL 11:30 a.m.
Wx: wind calm, clear, became hot in afternoon, nice short cruise, no issues, traveled with Mara Beel and caught up with Catcall as we arrived in St. Augustine

Monday, April, 20 2015

This was one of the earliest departures we have had since the long summer days up in Canada. We were planning for a long day of cruising to get to Fernandina Beach FL. We figured this would take us 8 hours or so.  So we left at first light and watched the sky turn a soft pink at sunrise.

Serenity leaving St. Augustine in the pre-sunrise      Photo by B. Mather

We passed by many homes which ranged from villas to ramshackle cabins

Can you spot the topiary of a golfer?

As we neared the St John's river we passed under several bridges where the tidal current was very fast and turbulent. Then as we crossed the St John's river the weather forecaster issued a thunderstorm warning for the afternoon. So the Captain decided to stop just north of the St John's River at Sisters Creek where we could tie up to the Jacksonville City Dock. The dock was a good secure place but didn't have any power or water available and was far from any shopping, stores, etc. Then soon after we got tied up and settled in our friends, Andy and Julie, on Fruitcakes and Dave and Margo on Catcall  showed up looking for safe harbor as well. There wasn't enough room on the dock for everyone so we invited Fruitcakes to raft up with us and found a spot on the backside of the docks for Catcall.

Fruitcakes and Serenity - twin Mainships

Captain’s Log April 20, 2015

Departed: St. Augustine Municipal Marina 6:40 a.m.
Engine hours: 6.4 hrs. - 606.2 total for trip
Actual hours: 6 hr. 15 min
Miles covered 48.28 - Total for trip: 4259
Arrived: Sisters Creek Jacksonville City Docks, FL 1:15 p.m.
Wx: clear, wind calm on departure then picked up in late morning, left at sunrise, nice cruise, due to a thunderstorm warning sought safe harbor at these docks.

Tuesday April 21, 2015

Today we continued our journey north, leaving Sister’s Creek in much more pleasant and calm conditions than we experienced after our arrival yesterday. We were a caravan of three boats for most of the trip – Mara Beel, Fruitcakes and Serenity. We initially got quite a push from the incoming tide until we approached the Nassua sound which put us against the tide until we crossed it. Then as we got near our destination of Fernandina Beach and the Cumberland sound we were again slowed down from the incoming tide.

Some buildings along the Fernandina waterfront reflecting the sunset

Captain’s Log April 21, 2015

Departed: Jacksonville Docks at Sisters Creek 8:00 a.m.
Engine hours: 3.1 hrs. / 599.8 total for trip
Actual hours: 3 hr. 30 min
Miles covered 22.3 / Total for trip: 4373
Arrived: Fernandina Beach Marina 11:30 p.m.
Wx: cool, clear, wind N-NW 5-10 kts.
Traveled with Mara Beel and Fruitcakes

Patrick AFB to Daytona Beach

March 23 - April 6
Boat at Patrick AFB -  drove home to The Villages

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

We left the boat docked at the marina at Patrick AFB in a very protected spot while we took some time to drive home. It was a nice change to have a week off the boat at our Florida home to see friends and make sure the house was all closed up for the summer. Our place felt like a palace after living on the boat for so long!

Mark and Melinda are always so much fun to be with!
They appeared on our blog before when they visited us by RV in
Brewerton, NY.

 

Ron and Kathrin with us at our favorite BBQ spot.
We will follow their boating blog as we travel up the East Coast!
They were on our first blog page.

A pair of sand hill cranes walked across our lawn and on to our neighbor's.

Serenity was waiting at Manatee Marina and it was good to move back on board and get settled in again. It was also good that the commissary was right there so we could re-provision before we left. After a drive over to the beach where we could have a good walk, John returned the car and we were glad to get back to traveling on the water.

Serenity (left) at sunset docked at the Manatee Marina on the
Banana River, Patrick AFB

We were up early and cast off our lines just as the sun was coming up. We had to go south, back down the Banana River, and met with some Looper friends who had anchored on their boat, Mara Beel, on the river. We hadn’t seen them since they were in Bradenton in January. We waved, called to have the Mather swing bridge open and had an uneventful trip up the ICW to Titusville.

Early morning practice for members of a rowing team - the
boats say Canada

 

The Mathers on Mara Beel passing through the Mathers swing bridge
on the Banana River

 

Remains of a dragon figure on Dragon Point where the Banana River
meets Indian River - both are technically lagoons*

*A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs.

We were joined by dolphins for a little while - so much fun to watch

Happy captain! We both enjoyed the beautiful day on the ICW

Our Gold Looper friends, Gus and Row, on Summerland were right next to us
at their home marina in Titusville and gave us a very warm welcome


Captain’s Log April 8, 2015

Departed: Manatee Marina at Patrick AFB 7:02 a.m.
Engine hours: 7.2 hrs. - 599.8 total for trip
Actual hours: 5 hr. 50 min
Miles covered 46.61  Total for trip: 4210
Arrived: Titusville Municipal Marina 12:50 p.m.
Wx: wind SE @ 5-10 mph, left at sunrise, clear, became hot in afternoon, no issues
Met up with Mara Beel at Mather’s Bridge, cruised with them the rest of the way

April, 9, 2015

It was another sunny Florida day at the Titusville Marina. A couple of other looper boats came in, Charis, Quo Vadimus and Joint Adventure and we greeted old friends. We watched lots of manatees and in the afternoon Mark and Becky drove us to the national seashore at Canaveral and we had a wonderful walk on the beach. There are 26 miles of pristine seashore along this protected area - the longest in Florida.

Ann, Becky, Kathy and Mark at the beach

 We all gathered in the late afternoon to share experiences because we hadn't seen some of our friends for a while...and that is what Loopers do!


Loopers almost always gather at 5:00                                  Photo by Ann S.
Ken, Foster, Susan, Becky, Mark, Jim, Kathy and John

Friday, April 10

An early departure for us in the morning seems to be the norm as we set out for Daytona Beach. We went back out on the Indian River along the ICW Channel. As we approached the short Haulover Canal to Mosquito Lagoon we heard the boaters ahead of us warning to watch for pods of manatees in the canal.

Previously we had learned that this is manatee mating season when they gather in groups and are much more active than other times of the year. We did see a lot of activity ahead of us, but they swam below as we approached. Looking back at the canal we observed them cavorting again.

Manatees surfaced as we entered the canal

We could fit under the Haulover Bridge, but these two sailboats behind
us had to call to have it open

Burgees flying from our mast - MTOA is for Motor Trawler Owners
Association, the second is from the Manatee Marina at Patrick AFB where
we became members, and the RSYC - Royal Savage Yacht Club of Vermont

Anhinga spreads it's wings to dry and warm itself in the sun

One bird we often see is the anhinga which is often called the snake bird because when it swims in the water only it's long neck and head show so it looks like a snake. They do not have oil glands like ducks do to keep their feathers dry and this allows them to swim deeper and longer. However, their wings get wet and they are too heavy to fly so they have to extend their wings to dry them and to warm their bodies...I sometimes wonder what they do on a rainy day. After passing New Smyrna Beach we arrived at Daytona Beach and the Halifax Harbor Marina, one of the largest we have stopped to stay. As we pulled in for some fuel and a pump out, I watched even more manatees up to their shenanigans.

Take a deep breath

Even manatees get barnacles on their hide.

We will be here at Halifax Marina for the next several days as we attend an MTOA Rendezvous. There are all kinds of seminars and events planned and we will meet lots of other boaters - should be a great week!

Captain’s Log Friday, April 10, 2015

Departed: Titusville Municipal Marina 7:00 a.m.
Engine hours: 6.4 hrs. - 606.2 total for trip
Actual hours: 6 hr. 15 min
Miles covered 48.28  Total for trip: 4259
Arrived: Halifax Harbor Marina at Daytona Beach 1:15 p.m.
Wx: left at sunrise, clear on departure, winds picked up by 11 a.m., very pretty cruise, Mosquito Lagoon, ICW through New Smyrna