We are Jonathan and Jayne, a live-aboard couple with our dog, Bella. Jonathan writes the blog of our adventures and I take pictures and add captions.
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Georgia is often considered by Intracoastal Waterway cruisers as more of an ordeal to be endured than a treat to be savored. And it does have its challenges – big tides and their accompanying strong tidal currents, muddy marshes with no place to go ashore, difficult anchorages, and carnivorous horseflies. But on the other hand, there is quite a bit of wilderness to be enjoyed along the way.
Our first stop in Georgia was an all-time favorite spot, Cumberland Island National Seashore. Just across the St. Mary’s River from Florida, this beautiful coastal island was once the playground of the uber-rich and is mostly unspoiled, with spectacular maritime hammock forests, wild horses, and endless miles of deserted beaches. We spent two nights here anchored off the park service docks at Dungeness and had plenty of time to walk the trails and see the sights.
Heading over the dunes to the beach side
The oak covered drive from the dock at the Ice House museum to the Dungeness ruins
Thousands of fiddler crabs on the mud flats at low tide
These wild horses ran right by us!
The boardwalk section of Dungeness trail
This foal was resting in the field while the other horses were grazing
BellaGatto at anchor near the Sea Camp dock
A bonnet head shark sighting along the shore from the dinghy
From there we had a pretty short day to a marina stop at Jekyll Island. Certainly much more commercialized than Cumberland, it also has a history as a winter getaway for the titans of capitalism, who would gather at the Jekyll Island Club and try to out-rich each other. The Jekyll Island Marina was definitely a bit on the pricy side, but we took advantage of their loaner bicycles and golf carts to explore the island, which has a great network of bicycle trails meandering through the woods.
Bella's first ride in a golf cart
You know you're in the south when you can get a BLT with pimento cheese
Miles of beautiful bike trails
The Jekyll Island Club
The Jekyll Wharf waterfront restaurant
Which way should we go?
After that little civilization break, we were ready to get to get back out on the hook, and our first stop was a spot about 35 miles away on the Duplin River at Sapelo Island. We always pick our anchorages based on the shore access for Bella, and this one was not too bad in that respect. We could land the dinghy at the ferryboat landing and walk along deserted little roads through the woods to Bella’s hearts content. The anchorage itself has a ripping tidal current and we had strong winds that night, but the holding was excellent, and we did just fine.
Rainy day underway as we pass a "sleeping" shrimp boat with the Brunswick bridge in the background
Not a great photo but...ROSIETTES!
Bailing out the dinghy
Approaching the ferry dock in search of the dinghy landing
Found it! We think...
Low tide landing
Lots of hermit crabs on the landing
Great dog walking spot
Iconic salt marsh
The next day we went 40 miles to Kilkenny Creek, bypassing our planned stop at Walburg Creek and also passing up a stop at Sunbury Crab Company. Maybe we will hit those spots another time. Kilkenny Creek is a quiet little spot just off the Intracoastal with a small marina and a nice restaurant that offered spots to land the dog. We anchored just upstream of town and dinghied in for a cocktail and some appetizers at the Marker 107 restaurant, surprisingly sophisticated and upscale for the middle of nowhere. We spent a nice quiet night in the company of one other boat.
BellaGatto at anchor in Kilkenny
Marker 107 restaurant's dinghy dock
Such a surprising find in this otherwise rural town
Dirty martini straight up on Kilkenny time. Socially distancing in a restaurant for the first time in a long time. Very clean and not at all crowded. https://www.marker107.com/
From there our last planned spot in Georgia was Turner Creek, just off Wassau Sound and not too far from Savannah. Here we ran afoul of Georgia’s recently enacted and infamous anchoring law. We had picked a spot in the creek a respectful distance from the nearby marina and had just got the anchor down when a voice over a bullhorn from shore told us we could not anchor there. The voice belonged to a Georgia DNR officer, and when we contacted her by cellphone she explained we could not anchor within 1000 feet of any dock or other structure on the shoreline (we later found out that was incorrect, we only needed to be 300 feet from the marina’s docks). We proceeded upriver and found a spot where we would not offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities and dropped anchor 1200 feet from a launch ramp and park where we could land Bella. So it all worked out, but it left a bad taste in our mouths, and rather than going into town and reprovisioning there, we resolved to vote with our wallets and wait until South Carolina to do our shopping.
Underway to Turner Creek
Spent all his money on the boat
The red circle shows the offending anchorage and the purple is where we settled
After completing our great loop cruise in February when we crossed our wake in Vero Beach, we took a breather for a while with plans to re-group and re-provision for a long trip to the Bahamas beginning in April. Like just about every other plan made for 2020, our plan hit the dumpster with the Coronavirus pandemic. We spent a month at the Sebastian Inlet Marina and Boatyard getting our generator overhauled, replacing our anchor windlass, and doing major heavy-duty provisioning for two months in the Exumas. But during that time the Coronavirus storm clouds were brewing on the horizon. On March 18, we left Sebastian with the plan of heading south to Boca Raton and waiting there for a weather window to cross to Lucaya and then south through the Berrys and Nassau and finally the Exumas. We got as far as Peck’s Lake in Stuart. There we heard a US State department advisory against US citizens traveling abroad, and a day or so later a notice from the Bahamas that they were closing the border to new arrivals. We stayed at Peck's Lake for three nights mulling over what to do.
Leaving the Sebastian River Marina at sunrise to spend 2 months in Bahamas
Dinghy landing at Pecks Lake
Sunrise at Pecks Lake
Miles of deserted beach at Pecks Lake
Bella collecting sand to deposit in the boat 🤣
BellaGatto at anchor at Pecks Lake
We returned to Sebastian with our tails between our legs to make a new plan…we would head up north for Cape Cod or Maine for the summer and return to Florida in November and take another stab at the Bahamas in early 2021. While hunkered down in Sabastian self-isolating, we did some projects on the boat, most notably getting all new interior cushions made to replace our heavily worn 20-year-old upholstery. When we finally started our way north, our first stop was at the free dock at Samson's Island in Satellite Beach to meet up with our friends Bob and Nancy for some a buddy boating visit. After two nights we moved to our friend Jenn's dock just across the Grand Canal to visit and wait for our new cushions. On our way to the Canvas shop at the Eau Gallie Yacht Basin, we developed an odd problem. After running for a couple of hours, the starboard engine would not throttle up in gear from idle (although it would throttle up just fine in neutral). It seemed like a transmission problem, and after adding some fluid everything was OK, and I thought we were good to go.
Sunrise view from the stern at Sebastian River Marina
Buddy boating with the Primacea at Samson's Island
View from the starboard port at sunrise
Getting ready to say goodbye to our friends
Our new home for a few days at our friend's dock in Satellite Beach
We had a 'bird's eye view' of this screech owl's nest right from our pilot house
We love the updated look and comfort of these new cushions!
With our beautiful and comfortable new cushions, we began the long trip north, with our first stop an anchorage near Titusville, where we discovered our transmission issue was still with us. We decided to keep on moving north while we tried to figure it all out. The next night we stopped at one of our favorite anchorages, Rockhouse Creek at New Smyrna Beach. Making some calls from there, we arranged with a mobile mechanic service to meet us at our next stop, Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach. There the mechanic diagnosed the problem as an internal fault in the transmission, and we ordered a brand-new transmission from ZF. While waiting for the new transmission to come in, we went up to Marineland Marina, south of St. Augustine. This marina has very reasonable transient rates and a great location right on the beach and right next to a nature preserve. Heaven on Earth for Bella. We spent a week and a half there enjoying the area. When our new transmission arrived, the transplant went very smoothly, and we were once again ready to go!
Enroute to Titusville anchorage we passed right by the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA
We have to get to cooler weather! Note the time!
This NASA RR bridge has not been used for years and is a great dog walking spot
Sunrise at the RR bridge anchorage
The full moon setting at Titusville anchorage
Bella on dolphin alert at the Haulover canal on the way to New Smyrna Beach (NSB)
Social distancing visit with cousin Sue and David at NSB
Enroute Rockhouse Creek anchorage
Sunset at Disappearing Island, Rockhouse Creek
Rising full moon at Rockhouse Creek anchorage
Sand flat at low tide overlooking the Ponce Inlet lighthouse
Morning walk at Disappearing Island at Rockhouse Creek
Downtown Daytona on Friday afternoon during 'Safer at home."
Halifax Harbor Marina, Daytona
Marineland Beach at sunrise
Marineland Marina at sunset
Marineland Beach at low tide
Marineland Beach at sunrise
Social distancing Gold Looper meet up in St. Augustine
Marineland Beach coquina outcropping at low tide
Marineland Beach
Leaving Marineland $5000 poorer but certain we had licked the problem, we cheerfully started out again and 25 miles later, when we had to slow down and come out of gear for a bridge, THE SAME DAMN THING HAPPENED AGAIN! Replacing the transmission at great expense had done nothing to fix the problem. We spent the rest of the day on the phone with the mechanic trying this and that, but it became pretty obvious he was grasping at straws and was stumped. Shit. Since the problem occurs only after a long run and goes away when the engine cools down again, we decided to keep going north until we get to Zimmerman’s Yard in Charleston. They specialize in diagnosing and fixing tough problems and have a no fix no pay policy. In the meantime, I’ll have to get good at docking with minimal help from the starboard engine. Our final stop in Florida that evening was at Sisters Creek near Jacksonville. This is nice floating FREE dock at a big park right near where the Intracoastal crosses the St. John’s River. We arrived right at slack tide, making my gimpy-engine docking a lot easier. We treated ourselves to the filet mignon steaks we had been saving with cocktails and a bottle of wine to cheer us up after our disappointing day. Tomorrow, Georgia and our old favorite, Cumberland Island!
