Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Amelia Island to Cumberland Island, Ga - May 18

Another first, we have left Florida for another state by boat.  True, we have been to the Bahamas, another country.



Sunday, we leave for Cumberland Island, Ga.  It is a short trip of about 20+ miles away.  We pull up the anchor with the green flies buzzing around us again.  Beth takes several pictures that i am sure she can submit to get me committed.  She is laughing histerically as I am swatting the flies (of course she is inside).  We finally get the idea to drop the sun enclosure, and most of the flies can’t figure out how to get in, and those that do wish they hadn’t.  We cruise through Fernandina Beach, which has numerous factories along the ICW.  The controlling depth in this area is between 40 and 60 feet to allow for larger boat that us to get in, and the incoming tide does not treat our boat nicely.  We cross the St. Mary’s inlet and head to this anchorage west of Cumberland Island. 


 We anchor and go ashore as we have read that there are several things to see on the island, wild horses, old mansions, etc.  We walk through a canopy of old oaks that cover the path until we arrive at the dunes that front the beach.  There is a wooden walkway so that the dunes are not disturbed and we find the beach nearly deserted, even on a warm Sunday.  We walk on the beach for a couple hours, feels great to get off the boat and walk, and then return.  On the way back we spot a couple of deer, grazing on some trees.  We do not see any horses, though we know they are there as we have run across their poop.  Dingying back to the boat, we finally spot the horses grazing near the sound’s shore.  




And now for some excitement.  When we set the anchor we were in about 14 feet of water so I set out about 100 feet of rode.  Well as the wind shifted and the tide went out, I could see the shoal becoming visible and we’re about 10 yards from it.  I start the engine and get Beth to steer while I raise the anchor.  The chain is covered in mud which gets all over me and the boat.  We reset the anchor about 100 yards from that point. 

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