Jekyll Island GA to Fernandina Beach FL
We woke early to find a partly cloudy sky. The wind predicted for the day had already arrived
and was quite brisk and cold out of the northwest. Any fog that might be ahead should be blown
out to sea by this wind. We did our usual preparation for the day in addition to pumping out the holding tank and taking
on fifty gallons of fuel. We sadly said fair well to Jekyll Harbor Marina at about 9:30. The tide was midway to
high and the wind was blowing steady from the northwest.
We traveled south in Jekyll Creek and entered St. Andrew Sound to rougher water after leaving
the shelter of the creek. With 20 knot winds from the north created 2+ foot following seas were
easy to handle. The waters of St. Andrew Sound are fed by three rivers and is
notoriously shallow from shoals as the rivers merge on the northern edge.
The ICW route took us out into
the Atlantic Ocean off the tip
of Jekyll Island to avoid the shoaling and shallow water.
After rounding the eastern most buoy marking the last shoal and heading south
west we experienced the full effect of winds on the beam. It was time to
rock and roll for about 45 minutes until we fully entered the protected waters
of the Cumberland River. Surprisingly, we were being followed by hundreds
of seagulls. It
looked like they were having fun keeping up with Surprise and they were back there for quite
a while.
As we entered the Cumberland River we saw huge rectangular buildings in the distance with some type of crane adjacent to them. We first imagined it could be shipping warehouses, but finally figured out they are buildings at the Kings Bay US Navy Submarine base near the St. Mary's River.
The Cumberland River eventually became Cumberland Sound. To the west is the St Marys River
which runs through Cumberland Sound and out to sea. It is a very busy and well
maintained channel. Our course took us south east into the channel and we were
for the first time in Florida. We turned south into the Amelia River along side paper mills and shipping
ports for a few miles before coming to our stop for the
night at the Fernandina Beach Marina. After securing the boat, we took a walk to check out the town.
The guide books describe Fernandina Beach as a Disney-Like town. We found
it to be an older late 19th century town that has been renovated along with the
development of Amelia Island Resort. Most buildings along the main street
have been restored, and we found
just about every
type of restaurant or store one could want except a drug store and grocery store.
I counted 14 restaurants, everything from fine Italian, to Pizza carry out, to
an Irish Pub. We stopping in an upscale coffee
shop for a cup and an apple pastry, and found a wide range of patrons.
Lots of retirees. We eventually found a variety store that sold groceries, but
few drug store items. The sun was out for a few minutes making a more pleasant
walk as we returned to the boat for an afternoon or reading and relaxing
watching the sunset over the Amelia River anchorage.
We later returned to and Irish Pub and had a beer, Joe enjoyed a beef pot pie and I had the chicken. The were served hot from the oven, real comfort food for the chilly walk back to the boat.