Monday, April 20,
2015
Departed Fernandina Beach
Marina 0750
Arrived Cumberland
Island – South
Anchorage at Sea Camp 0945
Total day’s run 8 statute miles (7 nm), 1313 miles total.
Today, we left Florida and entered Georgia as we crossed the St. Marys River. This is a short hop and fairly easy with the current in our
favor most of the way. We took showers
before we left which was the main reason we wanted to stop! Our next boat will have a real stand up
shower. As we came into the anchorage at
the south end of Cumberland
Island I saw “Quandry”
anchored. We met Tom and Vivienne last
year in Beaufort when they stopped at our marina. They had just come in from the Bahamas a couple of days before in Fort Pierce. 
I tried to anchor in shallower water but wound up too close
to a shoal and had to move later. We
dingyed to the dock with our bicycles, rode to Seacamp Beach,
and talked to Tom and Vivienne (about noon) who invited us to supper on their
boat. A line of thunderstorms was
approaching so we returned to Dubhe expecting to go back ashore shortly. The storms held off and seemed to slow down
so they did not reach us until late in the afternoon. When it did finally arrive, it has weakened
but had wind gusts of 25 kts and a steady rain started. We went over to “Quandry” anyway and had a
great time visiting with friends. The
wind continued 15 kts or so against the current which made for a long night.
Cumberland
Island is one of the most
beautiful places we’ve been. It is 20
miles long and looks untouched by man for the most part. Huge Live Oak trees covered in Spanish Moss,
palms, and miles of beach with no development.
Wild horses roam free and they are a sight to see on the beach. The mansions built by the Carnegie’s would
otherwise seem out of place, but here, they seem to fit in a strange way. Dungeness is in ruins but the Peach Orchard
mansion is still there and open to the public (except the day we were
there). We also saw the wild horses and
a turkey in full strut.
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| Add caption |
Tuesday, April 21,
2015
Departed
Cumber Island
- South 1050
Arrived Cumberland
Island - North 1430
Anchorage in Brickhill
River
Total day’s run 17 statute miles (15 nm), 1320 miles total.
Spent the early morning riding our bikes south to Dungeness
and the beach nearby where Brendan took his first steps 31 years ago. We had to leave by 1100 to catch the tide,
which we did.
It is not possible to comprehend how large Cumberland Island
is unless you go from one end to the other on a slow boat. It is about 20 miles long but we wound around
a lot. We stopped for lunch at a dock
for Plum Orchard Mansion. It is hard to describe the size and we could
only see the outside (and peak in some windows) because it was closed Tuesday –
Thursday. One wing encloses a pool. It would be worth a trip back to see it. We continued as far to the north end of the
island as we could, and still have an anchorage. We loaded our bicycles onto the dingy again
and set of for “The Settlement” which also includes the First African
Baptist Church
where John F. Kennedy Jr was married in 1996.
However, the soft sand and distance of 2 miles were too much for us and
we turned back before getting there. Oh
well, we had drinks and a wonderful supper and sunset, anchored in a creek by
ourselves.
Wednesday, April 22,
2015
Departed
Cumberland Island
- North 0730
Arrived Frederica River Anchorage 1100
North End
just off ICW
Total day’s run 31 statute miles (27 nm), 1351 miles total.
We had a quiet night at anchor and made an early departure,
again primarily because of the tide. I
checked the steering hydraulic fluid which is down some but to the add point
yet. Dubhe has been performing very well
and this is our first potential mechanical issue so I am somewhat anxious about
it.
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| About all of Fort Frederica you can see from the water. |
Our crossing of St. Andrews
(Jekyll) sound was much better than the one in January…only a moderate
chop. We cut over to the Frederica River
to take a look at Fort
Frederica. Originally, we intended to anchor just below
the fort where we did 31 years ago but since it was early and we were not going
to go ashore anyway, we continued to the mouth of the Frederica just before it
goes back into the ICW. We anchored near
high tide in 17 feet of water and a strong current, but the holding is
good. I spent the afternoon catching up
on this blog and other chores.
Thursday, April 23,
2015
Departed Frederica River
Anchorage 0730
Arrived Darien
City Dock 1100
Total day’s run 24 statute miles (21 nm), 1375 miles total.
Difficult start this morning. When raising the anchor, there was a lot of
resistance before there should have been, but I continued and pulled up an old
crab trap tangled in the chain. Having
the anchor hang up on an In the worst case where the anchor itself is
hooked on an object, the chain would be cut and the anchor abandoned. Fortunately, this was not nearly that
bad. I could not bring it on deck, so I
had to use the dingy to get to it. After
some untangling and cutting of the trap buoy cord it fell away fairly
easily.  |
| Dubhe in lower center - Darien, GA |
The trip to Darien
was pleasant, with favorable tide much of the way. Darien is not
a routine stop on the ICW, because it is almost 8 miles up the Darien River
from the ICW. I timed it so that we
would have the current with us and it was a very nice ride. We docked at the Darien City
dock which is free and provides water and electricity…but no showers! I did wash down We biked to Bi-Lo (a store which I detest but
that is another story) for a few groceries, looked around town, and had had
supper at Skippers restaurant. The happy
hour beer was cheap and the food was good.
When we returned, the extreme ebb tide current was jerking Dubhe around
so we had to move her back and add more spring lines. I haven’t seen current like this in a while.
Dubhe, which she needed after
so many anchor retrievals, and we generally cleaned her up.
Friday April 24,
2015.
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| Hydraulic fluid reservoir, note four site "glasses" |
It is nice to stay put for a day, sleep late, and have a
lazy start. Our hydraulic leak continues
to be a concern, but the rate of fluid loss does not seem to have increased. Today, I added almost ½ quart of fluid and
repressurized the system. We did a little
more sightseeing by bicycle, had lunch at the new Mexican Restaurant, filled
our water tanks, and did happy hour at Skippers again. As usual, when we have been in one place for
a couple of days, we are ready to go, especially being so close to home. Thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow but we
will go on to Sapelo
Island in the morning
anyway.
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| Site of hydraulic leak - steering ram. |
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| View from Skippers |
Saturday, April 25,
2015
Departed
Darien City
Dock 0645
Arrived Blackbeard Island Anchorage 1205
Sapelo
Sound
Total day’s run 32 statute miles (28 nm), 1407 miles total.
We got an early start to catch the ebb tide current, under
overcast skies. I was a little
apprehensive because of the speed of this current and the large patches of
debris floating, mostly reeds and logs.
All went well and we anchored behind the south end of Sapelo Island,
a couple of hundred yards north of the ferry dock at 0920. We were too late for the tour and there was
no other way we could see the island in a few hours…so based on that and the
fact that our anchorage was wide open to the S and SW, we decided to move on to the north end of the island which is actually Blackbeard Island. We have wanted to come here for some
time. The thunderstorms that were
predicted to arrive after 1700 came upon us as we were entering Sapelo Sound. At times, visibility was near zero and I had
to steer to a waypoint with the GPS. The
wind picked up but only to about 15-20 kts and there was some lightening. We were able to pick up the green daymark at
the mouth of the creek behind Blackbeard
Island and we had a break
in the rain to get in and anchored before more storms came through. About 1400 the sun came out but it is quite
windy from the SW (15kt). More storms
are predicted to arrive about Wednesday, so we have decided to stay only one
night here and head on tomorrow which will but us home on Tuesday. There is no apparent change in the hydraulic
fluid level today...great news.
Sunday, April 26,
2015
Departed Blackbeard Island
Anchorage 1000
Sapelo
Sound
Arrived Savannah, Herb River Anchorage 1740
Total day’s run 52 statute miles (45 nm), 1459 miles total.
When I made my post yesterday, I thought the thunderstorms
were over, but as it turns out, another wave came through about 2200 hrs with
strong gusts of wind and heavy rain, but not so much lightening. After the storms, the wind picked up from the
southwest so I did not sleep well at all.
Based on our position this morning, it looks like some of the stronger
gusts (maybe 30+ kts) moved us some. The
bottom is shell with some mud so I think we dragged the anchor some 20 to 50
feet…Spooky.
Today it was very windy,
consistent 15 to 20 kts with higher gusts.
Because of the weather, we decided to not go ashore at Sapelo and not to
stay at Saint Catherine’s Island, but to head
home. We were not sure how far we would
get, but the currents were favorable most of the way so we made good
progress. At times the water was quite
choppy. Now we are in Savannah! Oh how I love Savannah and sometimes wonder how things
would be if I had stayed here many years ago.
Cruising makes me wonder about a lot of things and the end of this
cruise makes me a little melancholy.
This is a good anchorage and the wind has died so hopefully, I will
sleep. Tonight is our last night on
Dubhe for this cruise…tomorrow we will be home.
Sunday at the north end of Saint Catherine's Island.
We passed by this beach and anchored nearby
when we cruised 31 years ago.
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