Jacksonville Free Dock on Sisters Creek - at a dock

Nothing is quite as sinister-looking as a black nuclear sub

We took the outside route in St Andrews Sound since it was so calm. We saw the usual 9 MLLW by taking the route that cuts inside the red buoy, the same route we've taken the last six years. It never changes in depth.

Don't mess with these guys

As we passed by the naval station, we saw a submarine docked along with a guard boat that paced us as we motored by - complete with a machine gun on the bow! I waved but I didn't see anyone wave back.

Not done yet!

The docks at Fernandina looked good from the water. They look like they've been extended southward at least 1/3 more, perhaps 1/2 more. However, they are still not opened, the gas dock has a lot of work to do.

There are two walkways to the docks from land, one is being replaced - noisy during the day

I saw 9 MLLW in the Fernandina shallows and the least after that was 7 MLLW in the Amelia River in one spot. So if you follow my track, there's really no problem, even at low tide. We took a dock at the Jacksonville free dock off Sisters Creek.

Anybody cruising the ICW south of Fernandina will recognize this bridge

The highlight of the day was an invitation to dinner from Terri and Larry who live in the area. We went to an amazing restaurant that we've all passed by many times. For those who have been through over the years, remember the swing railroad bridge just south of the Fernandina shallows. The current rips through there and we are all fixated on watching the narrow gap that we've all missed the restaurant that is only a few feet away from the bridge! It's the Downunder and the food is so much better than you might expect for an out of the way place. If you're even in the area, be sure not to miss the opportunity to eat at one of the best restaurants on the ICW.

Have a ringside seat next to the ICW and the swing bridge 

On Tuesday, we're headed for St Augustine for two days. Ann wants to see some of the art exhibits and we always enjoy walks through town.

Jekyll Island - at anchor

After the rain, a rainbow!

We passed through Little Mud River without incident but then we had 7 ft of tide! The lowest we saw was 4 MLLW at the southern exit. It gets shallower every year. Mud River is not on the list of areas to dredge since it is so long and the type of mud there is very loose, the type not allowed by the EPA to be dumped nearby. It would have to be taken out to the ocean, too cost-prohibitive.

You can always take a dock if you want but we prefer the free anchorage with a public dock

It's a different story for Jekyll Island. USACE was able to come up with a plan to put some of the dredge material on top of the nearby marshes. They are monitoring how that goes and hopefully, they can use the same procedure for Mud River later on.

A peaceful anchorage, all alone

The weather is still cloudy and rainy but we made it through without a downpour and with no lightning and thunder. We are anchored peacefully at the Jekyll Creek anchorage across from the public dock. I don't know why more people don't use this excellent anchorage. it's true that the NOAA charts show shoal water but it's much deeper and recently, Navionics SonarChart was updated to show the correct depths. The holding is great and the protection is 360 - and you have a public dock to use!

On Monday, it's off to the free dock off Sister's Creek near Jacksonville.

Crescent River Anchorage - at anchor

Seagulls just love shrimp boats - I wonder why?

We've always liked the Crescent River anchorage since it's big enough to accommodate a lot of boats and it's right off the ICW. There's no traveling to reach the anchor site. The other necessity for us is the all-tide-level Hoolie access to shore on a sandy beach. Given those attributes, it's great for us and Hoolie. You'll anchor in 15 to 20 ft of water depending upon the tide level and the holding is very good.

We've never seen as many dredges as this year!

We didn't have any shallows today but we'll go through Little Mud River on Sunday. We will have lots of tide so depth is not a concern but I'll still try to get the deepest path possible recorded for my track which I'll upload later.

Our first sunset of the cruise! What took so long?

We are headed for the Jekyll Creek anchorage on Monday which will give us a good look at the dredged depths in the creek on the way in. I'll post my results on the Facebook page. There's some rain predicted for Sunday so we will try to get an early start to beat the worst of it.

Kilkenny Marina - at a dock

The dredges are headed to Fields Cut!

As we approached Fields Cut, we were worried about getting past the dredges but then when we arrived, we discovered that they had not started dredging yet. With that, it was a clear shot through for 8.3 MLLW using the route we had from last spring. 

The Causton Bluff lift bridge will be no more in the spring

We had no problem with the Causton Buff lift bridge. The bridge tender told us that they opened on demand between 9:00 and 4:30. After that, it's only on the hour. The new high bridge is proceeding apace and is supposed to be completed by the spring. 

There was dry land a short distance from the dredged channel

The big event of the day was a passage through Hell Gate at dead low tide - but after it had been dredged! It was no problem at 12.1 MLLW! The one fly in the ointment was the discovery of an electrical power cable crossing under Hell Gate. The USACE can figure out who owns it. They had to avoid dredging over it for fear of causing damage so that left a 7.1 MLLW spot where the cable passed over the ICW. Still, it's a lot better than it's ever been in the past. 

Kilkenny used to be a plantation. The live oaks are huge!

We are headed for the Crescent River anchorage on Saturday. We are making headway!  

Windmill Harbour - at a dock

There's a big regatta this weekend and there are receptions tonight, lots of activity

We are now just north of Savannah on Hilton Head at Windmill Harbour. This is a first-class marina. The South Carolina Yacht Club is located here and the clubhouse has a great restaurant. This is the only marina I know of where you enter through a private lock. With the lock system, there's no variation in water level in the marina, even during storms. On top of that, it's surrounded by three story houses so it's well protected from high winds. It's a great hurricane hole.

This heron had its own ideas of dinner

We had dinner at the yacht club which I highly recommend, they have a good chef with his own spin on things. The members of the yacht club we knew were away on their boats so we just stayed one day instead of our planned two days.

We will pass through Savannah today and take a dock at Kilkenny Marine for the night. We are still on schedule for a November 1st arrival at Titusville if we have no further weather delays.

B&B Seafood - We take a dock

It's just a dock, nothing extra

A convenient stopover for us is B&B Seafood. It is not for everyone. It is not a marina, it's only a dock and not a very good one at that. There are boards stuck out at odd angles, missing planks, falling off rub rails, etc. However, if you put up with those failings, they have excellent local shrimp. It is not frozen and you can buy a pound for $7. Needless to say, we had shrimp for dinner tonight! Oh yes, the dock is only $25/night for any size boat but there's no electric or water.

It been the same for the last 10 years

Previously today, we passed through Dawho River and Watts Cut. I altered the northern route to closely follow the most recent survey by the USACE of the area. The route is now much straighter than before and the track I uploaded today is the same path. At Dawho River the least I saw was 10 MLLW and for Watts Cut it was 7.2 MLLW. You can see the same numbers if you download and follow today's track.

As I said, nothing special about the docks...

We are only staying here one night and we are aiming for Windmill Harbour for Thursday night. There's rain in the forecast for later in the week so we may only stay one night at Windmill Harbour.

Charleston Maritime Center - Last day

Always an attraction in Charleston

After using the free laundry, our goal was to do all the things we like to do in Charleston. The marina is within 10 minutes of the downtown area. It's the main attraction of the marina location. it's unfortunate that they have all the construction but today it was no problem. They only pounded away for less than an hour all day and they stop by 5:00 pm anyway. 

Ann gets her Chico's fix at the best Chico's store anywhere on the east coast. Meanwhile, I visited the Apple store but didn't see anything more I needed. I had just bought the iPhone 11 but I was up to date anyway. 

We always eat at Hyman's

The last stop was at Hyman's restaurant which is actually more of an institution in Charleston. They've been around since the late 1800s and there's a reason they have been so successful. Do all the tourists go there? Sure. But the food is good regardless. Where else does the owner personally greet every patron at their table? If you're not satisfied, you can tell the boss yourself! We had the shrimp and grits, of course, preceded by an appetizer of fried green tomatoes - a southern staple. Of course, they also served boiled peanuts, done right - not over cooked and soggy like some places. Topping that off with hush puppies made a great meal. We just had the appetizers portions, the full dinners were way too much!

On Wednesday, we're off to B&B Seafood and hopefully, some fresh shrimp. Then it's on to Windmill Harbor the next day. We are heading south!