December 6th- St Augustine to Fort Matanzas, FL

I had two choices for today. A long day to Daytona or a short day to Fort Matanzas state park. Easy choice. The day was warm and the water, glass.

The fort was closed due to storm damage from hurricane Dorian. We went over to the visitor center. We’ve met a few people from the National Park Service over the past few weeks. They’ve all been super nice and extremely well informed. I met a park ranger today that used to be a delivery skipper before working for the park. I learned a lot. I also learned Matanzas is Spanish for slaughter. The region has a bloody history. I guess it was the times. It is a big nature reserve now.

They gave me some intel on a good frisbee area where we wouldn’t be harassing the other patrons of the park.

Catalpa anchored at Fort Matanzas.

December 4th and 5th- Sisters Creek, FL to St. Augustine, FL

After leaving Sisters Creek We had to cross the St John’s river. It’s a major port for Jacksonville with some major current. We were with the current so we were moving fast. We flew by some sort of Naval drydock. The boat was moving so fast that I barely had time to figure out how to get back on the ICW.

Most of the day was spent going through some long, straight canals and some rivers.

A forest fire?

I wasn’t sure where we were going to put Catalpa at the end of the day. St Augustine has installed moorings in most of their anchorage area. I was told by another cruiser that you need to make reservations weeks in advance. We barely know where we are going to be from one day to the next, so no early reservations for us. We made a call to the marina on the way. They had a cancellation. We picked up a mooring for two days.

We ventured down to the big fort. We can see it from the boat.

Castillo de San Marcos.

After checking out the fort we were famished. We wandered around town. Lots of nice stores. Everything is decorated with a mixture of Pirates and Christmas. Odd combination. Eventually we made it to the St Augustine Seafood Company. We had Minorcan conch chowder and split a blackened shrimp po’ boy. Both were delicious. I hope I can find more of that chowder along the way.

Some scenes from St. Augustine

The whole waterfront is lit up for Christmas. We are very close to all the night time activity. It is a busy place. Ollie is exhausted from all the activity he’s had today. At one point he was surrounded by a bus load of kids at the fort. He handled it well.

It’s difficult to get a night picture from a moving boat.

December 3rd- St Marys, GA to Sisters Creek, FL

We went back down the St Marys river, crossed Cumberland Sound, and finally entered Florida. If it wasn’t so early in the morning, I would have had a shot of whiskey to celebrate. Coffee instead.

We could actually see Fernandina Beach for about a week due to the big industrial plant on its shore.

The goal was Florida but Florida is a big state. We’re going to keep going. Our eventual goal is the keys. We still have about another 500 miles to put under our keel.

During our passage today we received several pictures of snow. To all of our friends and family up north, I’d just like to let you know that we also suffered with you today. Lynne and I both were unable to wear shorts and we both actually had sweaters on. I won’t miss the snow this year.

Today’s anchorage is Sisters Creek which is in Jacksonville. The ICW goes through a big reserve so the city is distant.

Catalpa in Sisters Creek.

November 29th- Cumberland Island, GA

The original plan was to check out a different part of the island today. Unfortunately, Ollie had some sort of stomach problem. Most of the day was spent dealing with it and resting. We put him on a diet of rice and chicken temporarily. He has since improved.

November 30th- Cumberland Island, GA to St. Marys, GA

We left Cumberland for the short journey over to St. Marys. We had arranged to meet up with my father and wife who were visiting the area. It was nice to see family. Lynne and I haven’t seen anyone we know in months. Oliver was very excited. We roamed around the historic streets of the town. Since the town is right next to a big Navy Sub base, they have a submarine museum. This was a priority for me. It was loaded with submarine pictures, models, books, and equipment. There was a working periscope that goes through the roof of the building. Later, we went out to a local seafood restaurant (Fulford’s Fish House) for a great meal with live music to close out the night.

December 1st- St. Marys

I keep seeing Christmas decorations but it can’t be December. I think it was around 75 degrees today.

We all met up for breakfast in town and some shopping.

The wind started to blow. The St Marys river has a strong current. Between the wind and current, Catalpa started to surf all over the place (again). Once again I was thankful for our oversized anchor. A front moved through with some rain. I managed to get a photo of a rainbow over a neighbors boat.

December 2nd- St Marys, GA

The wind continued through the night into the next day. It wasn’t really a problem but then the current started to push Catalpa around. When we’re not pointed into the wind the motion of the boat is difficult. The dinghy started banging into the stern. Every loose rope and object started to make noise. When the wind pipes up, it can get loud. Sometimes I sleep through it, sometimes not. Eventually I went up on deck and tried to get control of the situation. Bottom line: we were both tired today. Tomorrow is another day.

The wind calmed down by sunset. We were serenaded by bagpipes.

The waterfront park is decorated for Christmas.

November 27th- Jekyll Island, GA to Cumberland Island, GA

I’ve never had to think about what to do for Thanksgiving. I’ve always spent it with my family. This year we are spread out over several states and countries.

At some point I heard about the Cruisers Thanksgiving Potluck at St. Marys, Georgia. So that was a logical choice. I’d also heard about Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore Park. It’s one of Georgia’s barrier islands. There are wild horses and the ruins of a Carnegie mansion. Cumberland Island captured my imagination. The weather is supposed to be good for a few days so we decided on Cumberland.

Cumberland Island is big so we spent most of the day with it on our beam as we headed toward our anchorage at the southern end. We passed by the Kingsbay Navy Submarine Base. We didn’t see any subs today.

They must keep the subs in the large hangers.

I think this is a degaussing station. Its purpose is to demagnetize submarines.

Ollie and I briefly explored the island during our evening commando raid. It really is a special place. The wild horses rule the island. During sunset we watched dolphins swimming around the anchorage. We could hear the distant playing of “Taps” from the Navy base. The word picturesque would be an understatement.

November 28th Thanksgiving- Cumberland Island, GA

For Thanksgiving I’m thankful this island was made into a national park. At one point a developer owned a bunch of land but the Carnegie family and several other organizations got him to sell out to the Feds. If you appreciate nature, history, hiking, and happen to be in southern Georgia, this place should be on the list. We hiked around one portion of the island today. We’re going to check out another area tomorrow. My amature photos don’t do it justice.

The dock and the road in. The forest on the island is filled with live oak, magnolia, and palms.

The road in was filled with horses last night but they moved on today. We turned down another lane toward the ruins of Dungeness Mansion.

The mansion and grounds have a long history. The last family to own it were the Carnegies. It burned down in 1959. Allegedly a poacher was shot by a groundskeeper. The poacher survived and lit the place up.

Some of the residents .

More ruins.

Many of the old walls are built from Tabby. A mixture of lime, shells, and mud.

Greenhouse.

These live oaks are unbelievable!

The restroom is in a building that the mansion staff used.

Onward! To the beach.

We had a good dinner. We have some canned turkey but decided to save it for another day (stranded at sea). Instead Lynne made stuffed chicken breast, carrots and mashed potatoes. The potatoes may have come from a box but after hiking for a few miles, they were devoured.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Captain and Crew of Catalpa.

November 26th- Jekyll Island, GA

I thought we’d see more transient boats here. Maybe they’re all in the Bahamas by now. We toured the Beach Village and had lunch at the Jekyll Market. I wonder how many Rueben sandwiches I’ve had on this trip?

Local scenes.

Sometimes this happens. He seems to love it.

We went down to the beach.

Frisbee was on the agenda for the 3rd or 4th time today.

Zoomed in. He really gets some air. That must be 3 or 4 feet.

Catalpa anchored in Jekyll Creek.

Sunset over the marsh.

November 25th- Duplin River to Jekyll Island

Today I knew we were going to cross through the shallowest part of the Georgia Intracoastal. We left Duplin River at high tide. After crossing Doboy Sound we quickly traversed a few creeks/ rivers. This brought us to the Little Mud River. The Army Corps of Engineers has not dredged this area because the bottom is some kind of liquefied mud. The EPA won’t allow it to be dumped on the side of the river. Transporting the spoils out to the Atlantic is cost prohibitive. They have been experimenting with spraying the mud out into the marshes. Hopefully that’s the solution. We hit the Little Mud while the tide was still high. With an 8 foot tide, I didn’t even break a sweat. The next section, Altamaha River, is also described as “depressingly shallow”. With help of the tide and a beautiful sunny morning, we had an enjoyable ride.

There were around half a dozen houses located out on islands in the marsh. No water. No electricity. They must be self sufficient (like a boat). We also saw a group of bulls on one island.

Bird tree. All the white dots are birds.

The current was the same 50/50 mix, with and against us. It would be better if this buoy were leaning the other way.

Around lunch time we entered St. Simon sound. The Brunswick River empties into it. Brunswick is a busy shipping port.

We have a VHF radio in Catalpa with a very long range. I keep it on during the day (per Coast Guard regulations). Since it picks up a lot of radio chatter, I don’t pay much attention to it. I also have a really good handheld radio in the cockpit. It doesn’t have the range of the other radio but if I need to communicate with another boat or bridge, it works well. If it picks up something I listen.

When we entered the sound I heard a panicked voice calling the Coast Guard over the main radio. I turned on the handheld and it picked up the call. The problem was near. The Coast Guard responded. The captain’s response, “There are bodies in the water.” He gave his location which was a few miles from where we were. The radio lit up with CG station Brunswick, a tow vessel, and EMS. I could see the boats shooting across the harbor from various directions. A few minutes later the man came back on the radio and said that he was performing CPR. The CG radioed back some questions but there was no more radio response. He was busy. It made us sad that all this was happening on a nice, sunny, afternoon only a short distance away. Things go wrong sometimes. The sea can be a dangerous place. So can the highway. Upon further research I found out it was two men in a 17′ jon boat. One was resuscitated, the other deceased. A sad story.

Totally unrelated to the previous narrative, there is a capsized ship in St Simons Sound. It is the car carrier, MV Golden Ray. I read about it a few months ago. All of the crew were rescued. I believe they cut a hole in the hull to get the last few guys out.

MV Golden Ray

We next had to go down Jekyll Creek to get to our anchorage. It is shallow. I was told not to attempt it at low tide. One of the guide books says not to traverse it without local knowledge. By now it was dead low tide. I was in no mood to screw around, waiting for the tide to come in. We did it. At one point the depth sounder was reading just over 4 feet.

Jekyll Island Bridge.

We are anchored off of the Tidelands Nature Center. It’s a great spot to bring Ollie to. There is a marina close by for showers and exploration. We are going to rest here for a day. Still not sure what our Thanksgiving plan is.

November 22nd- Beaufort, SC to Turner Creek, GA

We probably could have spent another week in Beaufort. We preferred having Catalpa in Factory Creek over the Beaufort River but the downtown area is very cool. Oliver made many friends over at Lady’s Island Marina. See you in the spring.

Further down the Beaufort River is the Paris Island Marine Base. Paris Island is where they train new recruits. I visited the base many years ago with my Grandparents. The Marines are a big presence in this area. We often saw jets from the Marine Corps Air Station flying overhead.

Paris Island.

We passed another dredging operation in Fields Cut.

They have to pile it somewhere.

We packed some miles under Catalpa’s keel today and made it up Turner Creek around dusk. Turner Creek is on Wilmington Island which is near Savannah. While we were only there for one night we did a little reconnaissance of the area. Very good stop for provisions. There is a grocery right next to Hogans Marina. It can be difficult to get groceries without a car so we’ll keep this stop in mind for future reference. I walked up to the gas station and filled a couple of jerry cans with diesel. There aren’t many places to get fuel on the next leg of our journey.

November 23rd- Turner Creek, GA to Kilkenny Creek, GA

Our goal was the Wahoo River but we decided to cut the day short and get into an anchorage. Today it seemed like the current was running against us most of the day. We went through another Hell Gate. This was a notoriously shallow spot. It was recently dredged. It’s just a narrow channel dug through the mud.

We anchored on Kilkenny Creek off of Kilkenny Marina. If there was an award for rustic charm, it would go to Kilkenny Marina. The shower functioned. I also managed to get another can of diesel. The area around the marina has old, pre-civil war, homes. It is filled with ancient live oaks. There may have been Pterodactyls living in the trees. The birds seem bigger down here. In the morning there were all kinds of jungle sounds.

The Marina.

The marshes around this part of the country seem to go on forever. They must support a ton of wild life.

November 24th- Kilkenny Creek, GA to Duplin River, GA

We had a strong West wind to help drive us south today. The only actual sailing we’ve done, on this trip, has been in Long Island Sound, the coast of NJ, and the Chesapeake Bay. The rest has been motoring or motor sailing. Getting a sail up with a favorable wind really helps to push Catalpa along. Parts of Georgia seem to be very shallow. I’m really appreciative of our 4 foot draft these day.

After consulting the Books of Bob I decided on anchoring in the Duplin River. It is bordered by Sapelo Island. The main attraction of our next stop is a ferry landing with an easily accessible dinghy dock. This makes it much easier to bring Ollie in. It’s main detriment is that you need some sort of tourism permit to visit it. I obviously don’t have a tourism permit but we look like tourists. The people on the ferry waved to us. We played frisbee in a grassy parking lot. Sapelo Island has an interesting story. We didn’t see much of it but it’s worth a Google search. There is a small community that live on the island. The state manages the rest of the land. There are no city lights out here. The Milky Way is on full display.

The road in.

A mouthful.

You can just make out Catalpa in the background.

Catalpa anchored in Duplin River.

November 21st- Beaufort, SC

We stopped at a bakery this morning and got Catalpa ready to depart Factory Creek. Today’s goal was only downtown Beaufort which is one swing bridge and a couple miles away, on the Beaufort River. We grabbed a mooring at the Downtown Beaufort Marina. Tomorrow we’ll be moving on to Georgia.

The downtown area is filled with various shops and historic homes. Lynne found her rain pants (Bay Street Outfitters). I found my haircut (Harvey’s Barbershop). Ollie got a ton of treats from every shop we went into (except the one we got kicked out of). We needed a treat too. Lynne and I split a fudge brownie Sunday for lunch.

Some Beaufort Scenery. I can’t get enough Spanish moss.

November 17th- Steamboat Creek, SC to Beaufort, SC

The rain finally stopped this morning. It was grey, still cool, and windy. Upon exiting Steamboat we motored back into the North Edisto River. I was quickly reminded that 25 knots of wind with an opposing current can make for a bouncy, wet ride. This part of the Edisto is large with a long fetch, running north-south. The wind was out of the north. We were only on it for a short period of time before turning into more protected waters. Today’s travel had a lot of variety.

The List

• Steamboat Creek
• North Edisto River
• Dawho River
• North Creek
• Watts Cut
• South Edisto River
• Fenwick Cut
• Ashepoo River
• Rock Creek
• Coosaw River
• Brickyard Creek
• Beaufort River
• Factory Creek

With a list that long you would think we traveled 200 miles. I think it was closer to 45 for the day. The strong wind actually became a big help. At some points we had current running against us. For much of the day I was able to keep our jib up. We easily pick up a knot or two with some sail to help our diesel.

We had a couple of options for where to put Catalpa at the end of the day. We decided to go up Factory Creek and anchor near Lady Island Marina. We were thinking about tieing up to their pier but there was “no room at the inn.” They allow us (for a small fee) to use their facilities so it’s the next best thing.

Catalpa anchored in Factory Creek.

November 18th – 20th Beaufort, SC

We chose Lady’s Island over downtown Beaufort due to it being more protected and its close proximity to shopping. We need provisions. There is a huge hardware store. Groceries are not far away. A well stocked liquor store is in walking distance. Lynne also found a Mexican grocery and a real butcher (Ole Timey Meat Market). We had a great steak last night.

Today we ran more errands. Laundry was laundered. I filled up our propane supply. Lynne put an order in with the butcher. We’re going to freeze additional meat for our supplies in the marina freezer. A space opened up on the marina dock so we pulled up the hook and tied Catalpa up for the night. This is our first paid marina stop since Atlantic City (over a month ago). Lady’s Island Marina has a loaner car. We’re going to use it for groceries. Neither one of us has driven in two months. Clear the roads! This is a great marina to spend some time at. They even have a workshop with tools for diy boat projects.

Eventually we’ll get over to downtown Beaufort. It has a large historic area. Lynne is in search of rain pants. I’m searching for a a barber shop.

The marina.

Happy dog. Good frisbee field. Lots of friendly dogs at the docks.

Catalpa at the dock (with guard dog).