Beginning to sound like a broken record…FOG. Up at 0530, checked conditions outside the boat, found dense fog so I climbed back in the bunk and went back to sleep. I awoke when something bumped the boat around 0700. I got up and checked outside and found the newspaper and two muffins had been delivered to the cockpit. A quick brew of coffee and breakfast was served.
By the time we finished the muffins, the fog was beginning to thin out a little so we started getting ready to depart. We got underway about 0830 and headed for the dreaded Jekyll Creek. We arrived at the creek just a little after high tide so passage was not as stressful as anticipated. Skinny water at G19 would have been extremely difficult to negotiate had it been low tide.
Leaving the creek we headed out into Jekyll and St Andrews Sounds. St Andrews was kind to us today. Current was going out and the wind was from the NW so the wave action was minimal. When we reached the turn for the Cumberland River we began a long fight against the current rushing toward the ocean. We did not pickup favorable current until we neared the Kings Bay Navy Base. We did see two of the wild horses on the island.
Approaching Kings Bay, we started getting a few showers and increased wind from the SW. The weather forecast was now calling for 20+ mph winds tonight so we decided to forgo anchoring off Cumberland Island. It’s a nice anchorage in settled conditions, but is totally exposed in all directions. We continued on in hopes of getting a mooring ball at Fernandina.
The showers increased in intensity and the wind piped up considerably. A phone call revealed there were no mooring balls left at Fernandina so we took a slip because of the predicted weather. We're finally in FL.
Location: Fernandina, FL. MM 717
Distance Traveled: 42 miles
Avg Speed: 6.2 mph
Max Speed: 9.0 mph
