St. Simons Island, GA Mile 679.4 to Cumberland Island, GA Mile 711
Day 1
We had a good day of no fog so set out early. We traveled by the King's Bay Naval Submarine base and were eyed by a Navy guy through binoculars. Unlike some other boaters, he could see we knew how to get through the particular red and green markers outside of the base so the guy didn't have to radio us and ask us so. We waved from a distance and kept going.
We anchored and rafted next to our Canadian friends waiting for us at Cumberland Island. After a coffee, we set out to explore the island that they had seen already this morning. Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia and is a National Seashore operated by the U.S. Parks Service. No cars outside of those owned by Park officials and few original homeowners such as the Carnegie family of U.S. history. We didn't have a car anyway but took the dinghies over. We set to walking across the Island to get to the Atlantic side and had to ask a passing vehicle the correct path to take. Turns out it was a member of the Carnegie family. (Don asked!)
Cumberland Island is one of those gems that should be on the "things to
see in the United States" lists--maybe it is already! Having never been
on an undeveloped island with no paved roads or walk ways, I didn't know
what to expect but it was well worth the trip. I guess people travel to this particular part of Georgia just to go to the Island. First thing we saw were the wild horses! I guess there are also armadillo but we didn't see any of those. And then as we walked through the meandering path to the beach, it was all live oaks draped in moss and palmettos. Super unique in feel. We got to the beach side and had to go through huge sand dunes and saw the expansive 17 mile beach from one end to the other. The Parks service limits visitors and there were virtually none the day we were there.
On the way back to the boat we wandered by the Dungeness ruins, an old home of the Carnegie family that just crumbled away due to lack of use of something. Pretty interesting to see. Back to the boats now as the sun was going down and we enjoyed a pot luck on Patience.
Day 2
We didn't get enough of Cumberland Island and decided to stay on for another
day of relaxation. The day before, we met a family of four from D.C. also visiting the Island, and on their sailboat named Sea Gypsy, and they accompanied us to the beach. The kids are confined sometimes on the boats with rules and routine and the extra beach day gave them a chance to roam, play and have fun with other cruising kids. We started out at the beach and collected man of war shell remains, seashells and dried palm leaves to create some beach creatures. Lunch time brought us to the picnic tables in the shade where we ate and talked. Other Moms, Heesook and Michelle, stayed on their boats and didn't go on the Island outing today. I had given Heesook my coveted US and People magazines plus a wonderful book, The Rug Merhcant, that I was finished with. The gals wanted a little peace and quiet from their respective kids and husband. For me, the warm sand between my toes was just what the doctor ordered, so I excused myself from the men talking the finer points of sailing and went back to the beach. I took a long walk and saw four wild horses of
various colors. Picked up some shells about the size of the palm of my hand and brought those back to the boat.
Cumberland Island, GA Mile 711 to Jacksonville, FL Mile 747.4
We took a nice cruise and finally reached FLORIDA, our destination. Considering it's taken two months to get here it felt good to arrive. Didn't hurt that the temp was 75 and sunny for mid-December either! For the first time we cruised with our dodger down and had to strip off the layers as we were going. It was getting hot! We stayed at Beach Marine for the night and Patience joined us for a last night together before they headed for Southern Florida and then the Bahamas. I was doing my usual clean up of dishes and the water pump stopped working. Just like that-no water-- and Mattias had just filled the tank! We would have to clean by containers of water and look at this when we got to St. Augustine. I took the kids to the park and after we all had a restaurant dinner at the marina. Don and Mattias were debating about fresh vs. salt water. Not sure who's point came across best but Mattias sure did try to convince Don that there's nothing like salt water! Everyone was tired so we hit the hay early. I think Mattias conked out on the sofa at 9:00 this night.
Jacksonville, FL Mile 747.4 to St. Augustine, FL Mile 779.9
Day 3
The boat was humming by 7:30 a.m. this day. It was our final goodbye to Heesook, Don and Christopher. Such fun we had since we met...so many miles and States ago! This morning our boats were both headed the same direction South on the ICW and we parted seas when we took a right turn into the St. Sebastian River in St. Augustine some four hours later. I got teary-eyed again at this juncture and especially when their
Christopher hollered to Liv and Hanna, "Do you guys want to come on my boat?!". So cute! I hate to say goodbye but hope to meet our friends again. They'd make great boating companions, say in the archipelago of Sweden or canals of Europe--sampling our way through pots of herring, vineyards or cheese caves...
We arrived at a nice, not fancy marina in very convenient part of St.
Augustine. Close to all the amenities meaning grocery, West Marine and
the old historic town. The marina is a quiet place with some live-aboard
folks here too to add to the atmosphere.
P.S. All pictures today are from our trip to Cumberland Island
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