Walburg Creek to Jekyll Island, Georgia
We woke early to get a away from our overnight anchorage on Walburg Creek in a mid rising tide to travel during higher tides. We were under way shortly before eight to a grey and overcast sky traveling behind one sailboat. We were again traveling through marshlands and small winding rivers, creeks and land cuts/canals. There was not much in the way of photo opportunities today.
The ICW took us through Johnsons Creek to Sapelo Sound westward where we caught up with and passed the sailboat. We entered the Front River which ended with a passage through Creighton Narrows. The names of these rivers, creeks and canals make one want to research how the names came to be. Read on.
Old Teakettle Creek put us into Doboy Sound which we crossed and went into the North River for a short stretch. We soon found ourselves at the cut off to our anchorage site on the Black River at 11:30 in the morning, well ahead of schedule due to favorable tidal currents. We were still at peak high tide making it ideal to pass through the Little Mud River, an area ahead where severe shoaling was reported by several sources. We decided to continue on to Jekyll Island. We were also concerned about Sunday's weather forecast and really did not look forward to an afternoon at anchor with overcast skies.
As
the day progressed, the wind began to decrease and the air became more humid.
By the time we reached St. Simons Sound there was almost a fog beginning to form
as you see in this picture of an anchored freighter near the entrance channel
from the Atlantic. It was approaching low tide and I expected that the
large body of water would not have a strong outgoing tidal current. Wrong.
Our ground speed was cut almost two knots as we headed upstream and across the
sound to Jekyll Creek to continue in the ICW. We found really shallow
water in the creek - sometimes almost touching bottom - as we approached Jekyll Island Marina.
Evidence of dredging was on the western shore where small islands among the
tidal marsh supported what appeared to be clusters of pine and oak with an
occasional palm tree.
We passed the historic docks of the Millionaire's Club and passed under the fixed high bridge connecting the island to Brunswick GA, to arrive at the Jekyll Island Marina run by the state of Georgia. We were docked by 3:30 and almost immediately headed for a warm shower, and then found ourselves near the marina café. A glass of chardonnay and a light dinner was the perfect end to a long day.