Southern Shade, Beaufort SC
Palms at National Park Service site, Ft.George River, Florida (our boat in distance)
Dec.2
Beaufort, SC is a great town. We had a late morning wine-tasting, bought some wines, then had lunch at a river-side restaurant. Ken got an appointment with a chiropractor for later in the afternoon and I walked all through the streets, from one water-view to another, since Beaufort is a peninsula. There are also some great book stores here.
Our next stop was Hilton Head which is familiar to us. Amazing how much fun it is to know where you are going and what is coming around the next bend! We also got parts and charts sent to us in Hilton Head from a marine store back in New England. Hilton Head also has great bike trails and I got in two long rides there. After one night in a marina in Hilton Head we next anchored in Bull Creek, the first of four nights in remote creeks in Georgia. The wildlife in Georgia has been great. One night we watched an otter swim across the creek we were anchored in, and that same night I followed the creek in the dinghy and watched a raccoon walking along the edge of the creek. We have seen bald eagles on two occasions and several times have watched fishermen in small boats with either hand nets for shrimp or fishing lines for local fish. The dolphins continue to pop up several times a day and sometimes follow our boat, just a few feet away.
Dec. 8
After this stretch of the ICW (about 100 miles) in the “wilderness” we reached the Sea Islands -- St.Simons, Jekkyl, Cumberland -- and decided to sail outside for a day. Let’s just say it wasn’t my favorite day. We went out to the Atlantic at the South end of St. Simons and had sunny skies, wind (but directly behind us) and big swells. We saw one other boat, in the distance, and no wildlife at all. But we got through it and entered St.Mary’s Sound at Fernandina Beach, Florida, at about 4 pm. We loved the town of Fernandina Beach, a large town with many restaurants, and also many good quality shops and stops. Maybe it helped that the weather turned warm and balmy at this point (although the forecast is for another cold front to come through later this week). In Florida we continued to enjoy different and frequent wildlife. We have seen two flocks of white pelicans, which I understand are only winter visitors to Florida (summering in Canada and California). There are underwater creatures -- krill -- nibbling on our hull in this section of the Waterway, and the noise they make is fairly loud! It sounds like a moderate rain falling on the boat, except it is coming from under the boat. Luckily we were warned about this phenomenon by one of the guide books or we would have been very confused by the sound.
This morning we were in another quiet anchorage off the ICW, Fort George River, and happily the only unusual feature there was a dock with a National Park Service sign on it. I explored ashore while Ken checked the oil and worked his magic to keep our engine running well. The NPS site is the Kingsley Plantation, part of a bigger site that marks the earlier inhabitants, American Indians, Spanish, French, and English settlers. I read that the area also flew the Mexican flag at one point, and the flag of the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Florida.
Today’s travels brought us to St. Augustine, just as the sun was setting. We are at an anchorage near the Spanish fort Castello de San Marcos, which was built from 1672 - 1756. We’re looking forward to seeing the city closer up tomorrow.
From the beginning of our trip in Cohasset to St. Augustine we have traveled about 1,375 miles.
We have been seeing fewer and fewer cruisers in this section of our trip. How are we handling the isolation from other human beings and from the technology/civilization that we are used to?
Ken: “We’re almost out of beer!” “I’m going to try calling GUST O’ WIND on the VHF one more time.”
Heidi: “I’m all set since I got to see a Park Service site that turned up randomly.” “We need to get to somewhere where we can send mail/buy Christmas gifts/send another blog episode”
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