I have the best sleep I have had for ages and am on my second cup of tea when Mike comes in and gives me the good news that we are leaving in about 15 minutes. Having checked the weather, the alternative routes, the currents and the tides, we are definitely going outside as far as the St Andrews Inlet. If we go the ICW route, we would arrive at the first bridge right on high tide and have to wait for hours for the turnaround and not get anywhere before dark.
This means that we will miss out Brunswick and Jekyll Island but I am getting to the point that I just want to get down to St Augustine and get the boat ready to put away for a few months. Then I can go home!
It is yet again freezing bloody cold when we leave and Mike dons full wet weather gear, more to keep the wind off him than the damp. The wind is probably only blowing at about 10-15 knots but it is coming from the north east and across cold water. Poor Mike. At least my job at the chart table keeps me in the relative warm.
We leave the safety of the ICW and head out to sea. The waves are small but short and choppy, just what a cat does not like but it’s only about 30 miles outside and I can endure that. Mike plays dodgems with the shrimping fleet which seems to be out in force today, waiting in line at the point the shallow and deeper waters meet.
The charts do sometimes make me laugh. The names of some of the places can be hilarious. The other day there was a creek called Runaway Negro Creek. Only in the south!
While I sit, I read the dreaded book – the ICW Guide. I know I shouldn’t as it always puts the fear of God in me. It makes everything sound so much worse than it is. For instance, on one page it states that “St Andrews Sound should only be attempted with local knowledge” and on the very next page says “Use only with great caution. While this is a reasonable inlet in calm weather, it kicks up in any sort of opposing wind or tide and isn’t a good choice in deteriorating weather".
Having sat inside reading while we jolt up and down, and now feeling distinctly sea sick, this inlet now sounds like a very bad idea, but Mike insists we are fine, and ultimately we are. I lie down for a bit then make some lunch and the act of focussing on something else makes me forget about the sickness. I’m not happy about the salt water sloshing over my boat again though and hope that this 30 miles isn’t going to make it feel slimy as I have got used to it feeling all clean and nice. Mike manages to have the genoa out for a while but it isn’t enough help to go without one of the engines being on as well.
We approach St Andrews Inlet with a good degree of caution. Mike is cold through despite hot soup, chicken and spicy beans and I just want him inside but he has to stay at the helm. I guide him through a couple of miles of shallow water that we have timed just right to cross at high tide and although the current is against us and the wind behind us, the current has only just turned and is weak.
Once into the deep channel we can relax as we pass Pelican Spit (nice) and Cumberland Island. You can’t land here as the island has been left as a wildlife sanctuary. Wild horses regularly gallop across the beaches but none are here today. For the first time in ages I see sand dunes along with an abandoned house and a lighthouse.
We follow the island around into Cumberland River and then into Brickhill River eventually finding our little anchorage by the trees on a nice wide bend. The books helpfully says that alligators can be seen swimming around in the anchorage – I do hope they can’t get out onto the back steps of the boat! Anyway, the anchor bites nice and tight and after going down his nice warm black hole (engine rooms) to do the oil thing, Mike comes inside and gradually thaws out.
We really are out in the middle of nowhere tonight – and there’s no internet to be had. I stand outside watching the water go down as the tide goes out. The mud banks gradually appear and I look for slither marks that could have been made by large man-eating alligators, not sure if I am disappointed when I see none.
The weather forecast was better for tomorrow when we looked this morning so we will probably go outside again until we get to Jacksonville, Florida. Mind you, it will all probably have changed by then and we will have no way of knowing. Maybe we’ll catch a few radio signals on the way.
Position: 30 deg 53 min N, 81 deg 26 min W
Distance so far: 3495 miles
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