Jekyll Island, GA to Amelia Island, FL
Yesterday was another dreary cold day on Jekyll, made more dreary by the departure of Griff, who had to be back in Carrboro for work. I think about my mindset when we were raising our family and am pretty sure I conveniently forgot about the part where your little kids actually grow up and move away. While I'm a believer in giving them roots and wings, I keep saying I was just joking about the wings part. It's weird to be proud that all three of my children are so independent and then simultaneously heartsick for the very same reason. That's life I guess. But while adulting is hard, vacuum sealing is easy, so let's talk about it some more! Want your food to last longer? Want to fit more clothes in your suitcase? Have I got the gadget for YOU! If only it could wash dishes I'd have the ultimate trifecta.
I tend to get up early which is nice because it's typically still dark and everyone is asleep. Everyone, that is, aside from this mysteriously large boat that passed by Jekyll Harbor Marina this morning. Couldn't quite tell what it was but it looked a whole lot like a miniature cruise ship. Or maybe not so miniature.
Ron did one last top-off of our water tanks, took out the trash, got the boat situated, and left Jekyll Island Marina, resuming our trip south around 10:00 am.
KORKZcrew has two 150-gallon water tanks that service our sinks, toilet, and showers. Ron installed a water maker two years ago that has kept us from having to stop at marinas to refill our water, which is a big deal when you're in remote areas like the Exuma Cays and have to time being close to more inhabited islands around when your water tanks might run out of water. A water maker is basically a desalinator, which produces "drinkable" water from seawater. I say drinkable in quotes because we don't drink it without first putting it through our trusted Berkey water filter, recommended to us by good friends. The filtration process takes quite awhile so we have to stay ahead of the process by keeping the upper chamber filled with water, but it's pretty great not to ever have to worry about buying or running out of drinking water.
Today's trip started with a rough ride through a super choppy inlet just south of Jekyll, a phenomenon Ron accurately described as washing machine conditions. Nothing that would make you green necessarily — just not the flat calm you become used to in the intracoastal waterway because you're so protected for most of its span. KORKZcrew is a coastal cruiser and draws a little less than 3 feet, so she’s awesome for getting in shallow spots to anchor, but can’t handle rough seas, especially on her beam (or side). Getting bumped around a bit is the tradeoff for having an essentially flat bottom.
Skeet at the helm in a brief stint outside on the flybridge. Another day of driving from inside — more cold and dreary weather but we're cozy and comfortable in the pilot house.
A fun part about traveling south along the ICW goes beyond the scenery itself, which seems like such an obvious thing to say, but there are always surprises as you go, sort of like that cool orchestra boat we passed south of Charleston.
Around lunchtime we passed by Kings Bay Base in St. Mary's, Georgia, which is the east coast home to Trident nuclear powered submarines. According to Wikipedia, the base covers about 16,000 acres of land, of which 4,000 acres are protected wetlands. It's absolutely massive.
KORKZcrew made her way toward the Georgia / Florida stateline, and as she approached the city of Fernandina Beach Fl, we noticed a large mystery vessel in the distance that looked pretty familiar, at least to me.
Mystery solved! The small cruise ship that had passed us this morning in Jekyll was now docked at Fernandina Beach. Here's a little scoop on the American Liberty from its website:
"At a capacity of just 100 guests, American Liberty offers the best qualities of expedition adventure cruising with the refinement, luxury, stability, and land proximity of river cruising. The design of the ship allows rare access into small ports and ability to travel on almost any river or waterway in the U.S. With land never out of sight, American Liberty is a practical alternative to ocean expeditions, allowing for more time to explore each port in depth."
Ron had decided to top off our fuel tank at Fernandina, and wouldn't you know it he had to maneuver KORKZcrew ***between*** the now seemingly SUPER large cruise ship and another sizeable yacht. Imagine, if you will, trying to parallel park your car with the added variables of the wind pushing you in one direction and the pavement moving underneath you in another. I have done this in a 15' boat with an audience at a crowded restaurant, and while I survived the ordeal, it's not something I care to repeat, and especially not with a 37' boat, steering it between gabillion dollar yachts in front of touristy types visiting historic Fernandina. Ron has a gift for sure, and so do I, because without his gift, this chick wouldn't be on this trip.
Within walking distance from the dock is the historic section of Fernandina Beach which is truly charming. We didn't venture away from the marina this time, but have walked around the town briefly in the past, and it's well worth a visit.
From the Fernandina Beach Website:
"Fernandina Beach is the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry and the only municipality in the United States to have flown eight different national flags. The city's 55-block historic district includes nearly 50 structures that predate the 20th century and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
"Fernandina Beach is located on Amelia Island, which is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands stretching along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is thirteen miles long and approximately four miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island was voted third best island in the United States by Conde Nast Traveler."
Looks like we'll need to do a deeper dive on Amelia, but for now, it's on to more destinations to the south of us, which is only possible because our fearless captain managed to pull away from the fuel dock without skipping a beat.
KORKZcrew ended her day around 4:50 pm, anchoring just southwest of Amelia Island.
Night night KORKZcrew!
6.75 hours underway; approx. 38 nautical miles traveled
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