Jacksonville Free Docks at Sisters Creek - at the free dock

 

At $3/ft, not many takers at Fernandina, FL

No surprises along the Bob423 track but I wills still modify the track for more leeway in avoiding growing shoals. Docking at Sisters Creek was exciting as always. We were able to secure the mid cleat but the forward line fell in the water. Ann powered forward and with the midship cleat secured, Fleetwing came to the dock and I grabbed the forward line. 

There’s no reason to go around at Cumberland Divides (MM 703.5), like this guy. Just follow the Bob423 track!

Everything worked out in the end and we are now securely tied up for the night. We met another couple that came in later and traded stories, a great pastime on the ICW. Later on, Terri came by who has been our weather guru for the trip. She watches all the wether reports and alerts us to upcoming weather to avoid. With her advice, we made it to Jekyll Island a day earlier than planned and weathered the high winds at a sheltered dock. 

On Tuesday, we’re off to St Augustine for  a day. We had planned on staying two days but the marina there is still repairing their docks and can’t allow boaters to occupy at slip for more than one day since the slip may need repair minus any reservation for that dock. 

After that, it’s two days to Titusville and our December home for Fleetwing until we return in January when we’ll move on to Key West. 

Jekyll Harbor Marina - last day

 

Jekyll Island has outstanding beaches! There’re mostly empty in the off season.

We took one of the golf carts today to the mini-supermarket, the only grocery store on Jekyll Island. It’s a cross between a general store with everything and a small supermarket. The selection is quite wide with tastes to fit everybody. We stocked up on milk, eggs, orange juice, and other staples We won’t have to shop again until Titusville.

No shortage of very large powerboats!

One would think that there wouldn’t be as many large powerboats given the high diesel costs but you wouldn’t think that by looking at what’s in the marina, several huge boats. There’s always been enough diesel wherever we’ve been, albeit at a high price, currently at $5.40 here. 

I guess I could look up the name of the type of grass - it’s been planted alongside many of the sidewalks.

We saw the sun today for the first time since Friday when the storms came through. The temps peak out in the 70s and since we’re close to Florida, the lows don’t get below 60 anymore. We will leave early to get a  good start for the Jacksonville free dock on Sister’s Creek, hopefully, there will be room. We are due to meet up with friends for wine on the back of Fleetwing, fun!

Jekyll Harbor Marina - at a dock

 

There must be a world of smells that we are totally unaware of - but to a dog… 

The winds picked up today and we didn’t even see the sun, kind of a raw day. Ann painted in the cockpit and I worked on a presentation I’m making to the Great Harbor association of powerboats and to AIWA, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association, meeting in Norfolk in November. We kept the small heaters going all day to keep the chill away - it got down into the 60s!!

In addition to the free golf carts, the marina also offers free bikes

With all our homework done, Sunday will be a day of exploring Jekyll Island. We’ll take advantage of the free golf carts that the marina maintains and see what the island has to offer. We know there’s a small supermarket in town for odds and end and then there’s the beach we’ll want to see. Ann has a list of necessities we need for provisions, hopefully the “supermarket” will have what we need. 

After our mini vacation, we’re off to the Jacksonville free dock on Monday. We will be skipping Fernandina since we’re so close here in Jekyll. We plan on arriving in Titusville on Thursday if all goes according to plan. 

Jekyll Harbor Marina - at a dock

Every dog needs a good resting place after a hard day of guarding the boat!

 The marina has two washers and two dryers, very modern front loaders so we took advantage of the feature and did a laundry today. I was trying to track down a small leak but wanted to rid the bilge of stray water first. The primary pump for the bilge doesn’t dewater the entire boat. For that I use an extension from the aft shower but that decided not to work today, for some reason. I think it was just being ornery. 

A nice sunset and a pretty boat in silhouette   

I couldn’t easily fix the issue so nothing was done today. I’ll tackle the slow leak Saturday morning. I think it’s coming from the swim platform locker which is below the water level when motoring, connected to a drain that’s underwater. I bought a fiber optic scope attachment form the iPad so I can place the end of the scope to see where the leak is coming from, at least that’s the plan.

We had dinner at Zachry’s Riverside Restaurant which was packed as usual with a waiting list. However, at 5:00 we got in without a wait. They do a good job on fish sandwiches but they have a wide variety of items on their menu. 

I’ll try out my new toy Saturday morning to, hopefully, fine the leak.

Jekyll Harbor Marina - at a dock

 

We’re the fourth boat from the right

There’s a storm coming on Friday and Saturday so we decided to make a run for it to Jekyll. That involved leaving at 7:00 am before the sun came up, an early start that we’re not fond of. Nevertheless, we got off on time and headed south. 

I promised Ann a night out at Zachry’s River House, a great local restaurant

We passed through Little Mud River and the shallowest I saw was 5.6 MLLW on the Bob423 track. Jekyll was a little shallower at 4.7 MLLW, less than what I saw in spring at 6.2 MLLW for Jekyll. The weather was once again perfect for traveling so we made good time, arriving at Jekyll by 3:30 pm. 

At least the lift bridge is long gone. Why are all ICW bridges this way?

We are beat! Jekyll Harbor Marina is full! We got an inside dock since that’s all that was available. I have a list of chores to do which includes tracking down a persistent leak in the aft section of Fleetwing. I got a fiber optic scope attachment for my iPad to try finding out where exactly the leak is coming from. The fiber optic extension can snake into small areas that I couldn’t see otherwise.

We’ll be here until Monday, a mini-vacation in an area that’s fun to explore with the free golf carts provided the the marina. Hopefully, I can find that leak!

Kilkenny Marina - at a dock

 

A walk for Hoolie on a wooded lane

We were motoring along with the intention of spending the night at Kilkenny Marina, then at the Crescent River anchorage before moving on to Jekyll Island. We received a note from our weather expert, Terri, that a storm was coming on Friday so we changed our plans. Now we’ll make it a long day on Thursday and get into Jekyll late so we’re secure for the expected high winds from the coming storm.Many thanks to Terri for watching out for us. She described it as a “mini nor’easter”. 

It’s the huge trees I find fascinating - with the horizontal branches

So here we sit in Kilkenny as the only boat on the docks. Where is everybody? We didn’t need diesel but the price here is $5.30/gallon. The prices along the ICW are all over the place. It pays to shop around.;

All alone on our dock

This whole area used to be a plantation and the huge live oaks shows are still around. I marvel at the long branches that extend horizontally instead of at an angle upwards. The woods is purported to be very strong and was sought after for building ships in the early days of the Union. 

We will need to be on the water and moving by 7:00 am, before the sun is above the horizon. It’s a “get up and go” day for us.

Along the way, we saw a rare green and white buoy with a green bottom and a white top. I’ve got to look up what it means… 

Savannah Bend - at a dock

Good morning! Where’s land? (we’re on the end at far left)

 We woke up in Maine this morning! Perhaps the fog was not quite as thick as in Maine but we could barely see shore from our boat dock. We didn’t have all that far to go so we could afford to wait until it cleared, somewhat. It wasn’t until noon that it was completely gone. I turned on the radar which worked perfectly (surprise, surprise). We were all alone in the fog (no other idiots out!)

We spotted a moving bird resting place on our way

After the fog lifted, it was another fine day with calm winds and temps in the 70s. There were no surprises along the way as far as the Bob423 track was concerned. We reached Savannah Bend by 3:30 and tied up to the fuel dock. The marina here is fine. I had wanted to dock at Thunderbolt but they were full.

The Causton Lift bridge has been left in the up position - but not all the way! Be careful! 

We’ll just spend the night and move on to Kilkenny Marina in the morning, only 22 NM farther south, passing through Hell Gate in the process. 

A nice sunset in Savannah, a peaceful end to the day