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| "Georgia is no longer on our mind" We are happy to have this state behind us! The tides and currents are challenging. On our 2nd day traveling in the Georgia ICW, we decided to go to Kilkenny Creek Marina for the night.....about a 1/2 mile off our route. As we arrived, Guy was careful docking the boat while heading into a 3-4 knot current. This place had small shabby docks with a handful of boats on them. Other docks seemed better but they were privately owned. Guy went up to the office to pay a ridiculous fee of $1.75 per foot or $70.00. He returned to the boat with 3 bags of what turned out to be stale peanuts as we watched another boat come in nearly sliding into the trawler in front of us due to the fast moving current. Guy quickly jumped out and helped them dock without too much scraping!. Below is what happened to our dinghy the next morning as we tried to get off the dock to continue onto our journey South. Even though we had pushed the boat backwards away from the trawler in front of us, we still had a near collision with it as our speed forward could not compensate for the strong current. As I fearfully watched our bow come inches from the stern of the boat ahead of us, Guy put our vessel in full force reverse. The consequence was a holed dinghy (it swung from the davits and hit some square posts on the dock) and scrapes along the starboard side of Miss Ellie! You can imagine how distraught Guy was! And me? I was in need a stiff drink! LOL! We came up with another plan and successfully got off the dock and carried on with our frayed nerves! |
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| The damage to our dinghy! Those are Guy's 3 fingers sticking out of the hole! |
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| This damage was caused by the side of the dinghy slamming against the chain plate on our canoe stern! We had our regular stern fender for protection but it also was flying around! |
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Once we got to Jacksonville Florida, Guy got out all that he needed to repair the damage.Guy asked for a spot down at the end of the long dock where we wouldn't be in anybodies way. We figured it would take a fair bit of the dock space. |
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| We lifted the dinghy onto the cement dock. Repair in progress! Guy did a great job.. |
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| The hull also scraped along the dock! Guy can barely look at this pic! LOL! |
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| Plus.......his baby is getting dirty!!! (As I write this blog, a week after the incident and all of this is fixed and cleaned) |
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| This was a dull day on the ICW...at low tide! Challenging with a 6 foot draft! |
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Another low tide pic |
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This is a 100 year old wood, shrimp boat at Jekyll Island, Georgia. |
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This horse is used to pull carriages around historic Jekyll Island |
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The marina we stayed in at Jekyll Island had complimentary bikes we could use to tour the Island! It seems that as soon as we crossed the Georgia/Florida state line, we went from wearing our boots and jackets to wearing sandals and T-shirts! |
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| We biked by the sea and then through the historic "Millionaire's" town! |
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| One of the Millionaire's "cottage"....... |
History: Dating back to the late
1800s, the national historic landmark district on Jekyll Island is a sight to
behold. It includes the former holiday cottages and recreation facilities of
individuals such as J. P. Morgan, William Rockefeller and Joseph Pulitzer, as well
as other notable families of the day, including the Vanderbilts, Goulds and
Astors.
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| We parked our bikes at the bike rack and went to "The Jekyll Wharf" for lunch at Latitude 31. Not the greatest lunch but the beer was cold! |
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As you can see it was "low tide" Tides are 8 to 9 feet high or low! |
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Our shadows at low tide looking at an oyster bed from a small bridge. |
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This is the Atlantic ocean shore at low tide at Jekyll Island. A huge beach backed by dunes and typical dune grasses. Playground to the rich and famous of the day. Jekyll Island was purchased by the Million club for a scant $125,000. The whole Island! It is 10 miles long and 3 miles wide. It used to be a huge cotton plantation before the Civil War. Home to Alligators, Deer, Sea Turtles and Large flocks of migrating Sea birds. |
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| After leaving Jekyll Island, we passed Cumberland Island where "wild horses" run. We were lucky enough to see one as we motored by. Would have loved to stop and dinghy in to see the herds of wide horses but at this point the dinghy still needed fixing! |
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On our way to Jacksonville, we passed by these two huge buildings..... |
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Some type of structure being built! Not sure what it will house! |
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| Egrates, lines up on the shore of a swampy area as we pass by! |
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Sunset in Jacksonville Florida! Finally! |
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Found this "Miss Ellie" in Jacksonville! Yikes! |
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We knew we were in Florida when we saw this go by! |
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| On our way to St Augustine...Monday Jan 14th |
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| A shrimp boat is coming into the St Augustine ocean inlet! |
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| A lift bridge lets us get though to the mooring fields of St Augustine |
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| We took a mooring ball in St Augustine and plan to stay a week. |
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| This town is filled with history....we will tour it, catch up on some boat chores, and just enjoy being on the boat without traveling. As of today, Friday, Jan 18th, we have done just that. At present it is blowing 20 - 30 kts from the NE. We are happy to be latched onto a mooring ball and not worrying about an anchor dragging. This weather front will diminish by tomorrow morning (I hope). Till today, we have enjoyed 75 -80 degree weather......the rest of the week will be high 60's .....we will keep moving south at the beginning of the week..... |
