St. Simons Island to Fernandina Beach

We departed St. Simons Island at slack tide; however, the wind was really blowing hard and made getting off the dock a slight challenge.  Fortunately, Chick, the dockhand, gave us very detailed instructions on how to use the wind and current to turn the boat around and safely get out of the marina. The winds grew steadily from the low teens to high teens and low twenties.  We cinched down the dinghy and everything below was stowed to minimized damage as we knew the waves in the sounds would be building through the day.

St Marys Oyster Roast

We crossed St. Simons Sound and made our way around the windward side of Jekyll Island without much ado. However, St. Andrews Sound was a bit more challenging.  Waves were 6 footers and we had to take them on the bow for the first 3 miles as we headed seaward to round the shoals.  They were abeam for a short time as we made our turn around the shoals and headed back toward Cumberland Island's northern shore.  After the turn, we had following seas and a more pleasant but still challenging ride.  Carla did a great job getting us across St. Andrews Sound but she was tired after an hour and a half on the wheel trying to manage the waves to keep the boat on a steady course.



Our passage plan gave us enough tidal help to get through the shallow waters of the Mud River and the Cumberland Dividings.  The channel in the Cumberland Dividings had plenty of water; however, if you were not playing close attention you could soon find you were on the lee shore in the high winds.  At one point, we discovered there were birds standing on a shoal only 10 yards or so from the boat.  We did run aground briefly at the south end of Cumberland Dividings.  Despite 4 sequential red aids and a warning during our passage briefing that the navigation chart was inaccurate, we bumped bottom. Fortunately, we had greatly reduced our speed in approaching this shoal area and were able to quickly back the boat off the bar.  We made a big note in our chart guide to remind us of this event so as not to repeat it in the future.

Cumberland Dividings

We saw one submarine on the St. Mary's River as we crossed the sound to enter the Amelia River.

Submarine

Finally, we were in Florida.  We rented a car in Fernandina Beach and drove to St. Marys for the annual night before Thanksgiving Oyster Roast.  The evening was spent shucking oysters, eating, drinking and getting to meet other cruisers.  The festivities continue with the big Cruisers Thanksgiving the following day.