We are now on the “infamous” Georgia ICW. It gets its reputation due to the high tides here, (often as much as 8 feet!) which combined with the various river currents, create shoaling (shallow spots) which are hazardous to boats that draw what ours does. This means we will be paying very close attention to the tide tables and trying to run on only mid to high tides, preferably incoming. We also talk to Loopers who have just passed through the area and locals to get current knowledge of the conditions. It’s kind of hairy, and I didn’t sleep well Wednesday night.
We left Cumberland Island anchorage at sunrise, 7:15 AM. We planned only a short 28 mile run up to Jekyll Island, GA. This was partially due to the timing of the tides, but also because Jekyll Island is another cool stop with a lot of history. We arrived at the dock at around 11 AM, cleaned up and decided to walk into town. Bad idea. It was hot as hell, and by the time we walked what seemed like 5 miles (it was actually 1.3 according to the Admiral), we needed another shower.
The Admiral, (before the walk)
Instead, we jumped on a trolley that took us around the historical district and explained how Jekyll Island had developed as a playground for the ultra-rich back around the late 18th and early 19th century. It was a “hunting club” with a little over 100 members,
with names like Rockefeller, Astor, Vanderbilt, Morgan,…well, you get the picture. It was claimed that when all the members gathered, they represented one-sixth of the wealth of the entire world! Imagine that. I think they were pretty snobbish, too. We had heard while on Cumberland Island that Carnegie was rejected for membership at Jekyll Island (new money, apparently) so he and others developed Cumberland Island instead.
Fred, Julaine and me on the trolley
We got to tour through a couple of the “summer cottages”. One, Rockefeller’s, was 10,000 or so square feet. The other was a mere 8,000 square feet. They both evidently considered this “roughing it”.
The first cottage we toured, 8,000 sq. ft.
Rockefeller's "cottage", 10,000 sq. ft
The Clubhouse at Jekyll Club
After our trolley tour, we had lunch in a little café in the main clubhouse. Then, after trying every other way we could think of to beg, borrow or steal a ride back to the marina, Fred saved the day. He called the marina and found out they had loaner cars, (which had we been smart enough to ask about earlier would have saved a lot of sweat), and they would come pick us up and return us to our boats. There is a God!
We spent the evening pouring Margaritas and pouring over our charts and waterway guides. We have only about 500 miles and a month or so left in our one year adventure, and it was time to roughly lay out our path and desired stops. We still have some very fun and interesting things in front of us, Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC to name a couple. But, when we got to Morehead City, NC in our planning (where we started the Loop on May 2, 2011), my First Mate and I both paused and reflected how quickly the past eleven months has gone, and how quickly our trip is coming to an end. With deference to Gone With The Wind, we decided that like Scarlett, “We’ll think about that tomorrow”.
We had planned to leave Jekyll Island this (Friday) morning. However we will be at anchorages for the next two nights, between here and Savannah. The weather service issued severe weather alerts for the area for Friday night, predicting sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts to 40. The anchorages along this part of the ICW are in lowland marsh, with little wind protection. So, at 6 AM, captain Fred from Boreas and I made an executive decision to let our Admirals sleep in today. We will spend one more night here before moving north.
The wind whipped up and sent waves crashing into the dock
My personal reward for letting my Admiral sleep was not anything near what I hoped (get your minds out of the gutter). She plied me with a great breakfast…and then ordered me out to scrub the decks, clean up the dinghy, and do a few other boat chores on our list. But, as always, my First Mate was right there with her rubber gloves working away as hard (or harder) than I, so I guess there is no use in complaining. It is late afternoon now, and we are relaxing and catching up on little things.
Saturday the weather calmed down, and we were able to get to our first of two anchorages between Jekyll Island and Savannah, GA. It is on Teakettle Creek and was a distance of about 39 miles from Jekyll Island. The current is pretty strong, there is not much if any wind protection, but we and Boreas have the place to ourselves today and tonight.
This gives you an idea of the landscape of the Georgia ICW
Cute little shrimp boat we passed called Adventure
Our Easter Sunday will be spent anchored at “No Name Creek”. I am not sure if we’ll be able to post from there, so Carrie and I would like to wish all our family and friends a happy and holy Easter. God bless you all.
PS As we were firing up the generator for lunch we seem to have fried the inverter again! Remember, boating is fun!
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