April 28-May 11, 2018
14 days. 57 days since start.
103 nautical miles. 486 total since start.
St Augustine Mooring Field to Little Marsh Island St Johns River Jacksonville
35 nautical miles. 418 total since start.
5.5 hours motoring
Favorable current through this stretch so we were moving along good. Monitored a diesel leak that seemed to be getting worse around the injector lines coming from the high pressure pump. Approaching St Johns River we watched for any large ship traffic in this busy shipping port area but didn’t see any. We opted to come up the St Johns a couple of miles toward Jacksonville to anchor out of the current rather than just anchor on the ICW in a tight area with current.
Anchored 1 night
This was a nice wide open anchorage on a small river just off the St Johns in between Blount Island and Little Marsh Island. As soon as we entered the anchoring area, we noticed the current disappeared. Nice evening except that I made the diesel leak worse rather than better when I tried to tighten the fittings. Oh well, the diesel was still running fine, and I decided to have a mechanic look at it somewhere in the future.
Little Marsh Island to Fernandina Beach Mooring Field
22 nautical miles. 440 total since start.
5 hours motoring.
We were motoring into a pretty strong current during most of this transit, and I was running a little lower RPMs as I kept a watch on the confusing diesel leak. We started to realize that motor sailing was going to be less and less an option as mostly we are paying attention to increasing currents, the ICW is becoming more curvy, and the summer winds are lighter. The lightly populated area was very pretty though, and thanks to Holiday’s shallow draft, we did fine through some typical problem areas that we had read about with shallow water.
Moored 2 nights.
Fernandina was a really cool town. There were tons of awesome local restaurants and shops in the historic district which bordered the mooring field. We spent one evening and a full day exploring around. We had some great food and also saw a really great local jam band. This would be our last bit of time in Florida for a while since Georgia waters would be only a few miles away upon heading north.
Fernandina Beach to Cumberland Island
5 nautical miles. 445 since start.
1 hour motoring
Just a short little jump today, and we brought Holiday for the first time across the St Marys River to mine and Lindy’s home state of Georgia.
Anchored 2 nights
This was a stop I had been thinking about and anticipating for a long time. I traveled to Cumberland Island as a kid and had really great memories of this preserved natural island that can only be reached by ferry or by dinghy from the anchorage. Lindy had never been, and I was excited to show her. With a short transit from Fernandina, we had a whole day to explore on our arrival day. We took the dinghy in and hiked from the visitor’s center all the way to the ruins of Dungeness where the Carnegie family had a vacation home in the 1800s. One of the coolest things on Cumberland Island is wild horses roaming around everywhere. From Dungeness, we hiked out across the dunes to the beach and then all the way up the beach to the area we had started. The hike back across the island from the beach to the visitor’s center goes through a forest of giant oak trees with low twisty branches and an unbroken canopy among them. This loop we hiked was the same loop I had done with my Boy Scout troop back in middle school. I even climbed the trees like I had done some 25 years earlier.
The next day my parents rode the ferry over for a visit. We rented bikes and toured Dungeness again, had lunch on Holiday, and then Dad and I headed back to the climbing trees to relive those past days again (Dad was our Scout Leader when we were kids) while Mom and Lindy napped and relaxed on Holiday. Cumberland Island was just as awesome as I had remembered.
Cumberland Island to Brunswick Landing Marina
31 nautical miles. 476 since start.
5.5 hours motoring
The end portion of this trip was around Jekyll Island (a popular vacation spot from my youth) and then up the Brunswick River. A very pretty area. Again, thanks to using the tides and Holiday’s shallow draft, we made it through some shallow areas of the ICW here.
At dock 7 nights
Brunswick is where Lindy was born and lived through elementary school, so we were looking forward to seeing places she remembered from her youth. We used the marina bikes and toured the beautiful historic homes area, saw the Lover’s Oak (900 years old!), and historic Glynn Academy where Lindy’s dad was a teacher. The marina is also near a downtown area with some nice shops and restaurants as well as a “First Friday” street party we were able to attend. The marina is excellent with a community of boaters who have a “happy hour” get together 3 nights a week at the cruiser’s lounge. Everyone brings an appetizer to share and enjoys complimentary beer and wine. All included with the stay at the marina!
Brunswick is also where I contacted a diesel mechanic to check out the aforementioned leak. Well, after our week’s stay was almost up, and he still hadn’t gotten to us, I decided to have one more crack at it myself. Lo and behold, from a different access panel, I was able to tighten the fittings correctly, and I fixed it myself. Woooooohooooo!
Brunswick to St Simons Island
10 nautical miles. 486 since start.
3.5 hours sailing
With only a short distance to go, the current with us, and having only been motoring lately, we hoisted the head sail and shut the motor off. In light winds from behind, we basically drifted down the Brunswick River with the current (and a little help from the wind) to St Simons Island.
Anchored 2 nights
As we pulled up to our chosen anchorage, I noticed we were right next to Epworth by the Sea where I attended youth Christian conferences as a kid. Fun memories for sure. It was neat to be seeing places that we grew up with basically at every stop and to realize that sailboat anchorages had been right there the whole time. On our full day in St Simons, we tied the dinghy up to the free town dock, then Ubered to the King and Prince resort for a snack at the restaurant there. The King and Prince was a place I had never been but always wanted to go growing up. After our snack we walked the beautiful beach to the downtown pier area where the restaurants and shops are. We did more touring and snacking there for a few hours then headed back to Holiday for a nice dinner at anchor.
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