ICW Trip 2001 Leg 21-22 Jekyll to Jacksonville Beach 744 MM

Wednesday 21 November 2001 - leaving Jekyll

The guy from ERIN D gave us some help getting underway (we are very close to the bridge and have to get out against the current). The big power boat that came in last night, and two sailboats have already left

Sunk shrimp boat beside Jekyll Island

Several guys with big power boats at Palmer Johnson indicated that they wanted to spend Thanksgiving at Fernandina, so I am a little nervous that we won't have a space available. Bob put up the jib, but pulled it down again when we were in the lee of Little Cumberland Island.

The waves in St. Andrew Sound are one or two feet - Bob rigs the whisker pole.

Jekyll/Cumberland inlet

The current is with us - the GPS says we are doing 6.5 knots or 7.4 mph. But Bob has a brain fart and takes us down the wrong side of the river (there is a high spot in the middle). We could possibly get through at the end as there is a reported 5 feet there, and the tide is coming up, but he elects not to try and turns around, backwinding the jib.

KNOCK OFF passed us while we were working our way back to the channel against the wind and the current. The CG came up and tried to pass CONSORT (a sailboat which was behind us). CONSORT didn't slack up, so they eventually just passed and let them deal with the wake. We had a good pass. Did not see any wild horses on Cumberland Island.

Barrier island beaches from the ICW

Went by the Kings Bay sub base but did not see any subs. Mustard and white signs on the beach said "Waterway Closed, Stay Back 500 feet". We did see the degaussing range again.

DeGaussing Range at King's Bay sub base

I took some pictures, although Bob said I should not. It is marked on all the charts, so it's not as if it is a big secret. Apparently the nuclear subs pick up a magnetic signature which can be detected, so they need drive through the range to be de-gaussed.

De-Gausing range

We came down across the St. Mary's River,

Fort Clinch

past Ft. Clinch and into Fernandina

Tugs and a Rusty hulk

and asked for an inside berth on the north side - it got confused because they call the south piers A, B, C etc, and the ones on the north 1, 2, and 3. I asked for B when I meant two. Also they wanted us to turn and tie up pointing north, so Bob did that although he wasn't too thrilled about turning against the current. We were tied up by about noon at MM716

RosalieAnn getting fuel

Since the beginning of the trip in the Potomac, we have traveled 745 nm (nautical miles) in 20 actual travel days - an average of 37.25 nm or 42.9 m (miles) per day. The boat costs (dockage, fuel and parts) have averaged about $1.72/nm. We have 373 miles to go to Miami. Based on our current average miles per day, we will be in Miami in nine days - we are going to have to slow down or we will be in Miami (MM 1089 - Mile Marker) before Dec 7.

Visitor's Center which is the old Railway Depot

We found that the 27 North coffee shop had closed and the new place wasn't open (or no one was there), so we ate lunch at the 1878 Cafe. The literature says that there has been a restaurant here since 1878, and hence the name.It was very expensive at least for lunch - lunch cost as much as most dinners we get a reasonable restaurants

1878 Cafe

This is mainly a place that caters to tourists. I felt it was very precious (not in a good sense). We were there for lunch late, and the place was still crowded - people hanging from the ceiling - mostly because the service was so poor that it was hard to get waited on, you waited a long time for your food, and then an equally long time for the check. I didn't think the food was worth either the price or the wait. Poor service affects how I think about the place. For lunch I just want something good to eat fairly quickly, I don't want a 'dining experience'. Very expensive.

This place was formerly the 1878 Steakhouse, and it changed names and ownership and chef in 2001 near the time that we were there, so maybe the problems have been ironed out by now.

We also find that there are NO restaurants open on Thanksgiving except Shoney's which is some 4 miles out of town or a closer restaurant which has been taking reservations and has no more spaces and in any case is $47/person.

I bought a bird book to replace one I'd been looking for but couldn't find and then found the one I was originally looking for a couple of days later.
Also got fudge and pralines at the candy shop. TRUE LOVE came in and tied up behind us. We ate dinner at the Marina Restaurant (not connected with the Marina) which is not only closed tomorrow but also on Friday.

I tried to call B (our daughter the pilot) because she said she wasn't working Weds, but apparently that is another Weds. Our grandson answers and I ask him where she is and he goes and I hear him ask the nanny where she comes from. The nanny is confused at first (says she came from her house) - finally he asks her where she came from in the beginning, and she answers Guatemala. So he comes back and tells me that B has gone to Guatemala.

Thursday 22 November 2001 - Thanksgiving in Fernandina

TRUE LOVE left. Bob did some laundry and talked to the Bernadette from WINDIGO, a Canadian sailboat traveling with SWEET SENSATION. WINDIGO has a big gash in their rudder. (A diver looked at it apparently.) They are worried because their sons are meeting them in Nassau for Christmas. Some of the boaters in the anchorage are having a potluck (the lady from WINDIGO went out to the grocery and got a small turkey yesterday), but someone comes around and invites everyone to the Methodist Church for free turkey dinner.

Dinghy dock

They post a sign on the dinghy dock. I decide that we should do that, although Bob thinks that is only for the homeless. I tell him Fernandina doesn't have homeless, only boat people.

We phone our daughter E and talk to my mother who is there for Thanksgiving dinner. As we are walking up to the dinner, we see a CSY coming into the dock. It is HOOT MON, which belongs to Phyllis Fleming, Phillip's mother. (We met Phillip last year in Key West) They (Phyllis, son, DIL and two red haired granddaughters) were on their way to the park at Cumberland Island, and were hoping for one last restaurant meal. NOT. We ask if they want to walk up to the church, but Bill Fleming (Phillip's brother) says that they are all vegetarians 'except Mom', so they will just eat on the boat.

HOOT MON docking with the paper mill in the background

The dinner at the church was excellent, and Bob made a donation.

Friday 23 November 2001 - After Thanksgiving

We walked around the town and went to the museum which is in the old jail.

Museum

There we had a very informative tour by the docent. Then we ate lunch at the Happy Tomato, which was a nice courtyard cafe, but with somewhat erratic service.

Sign

We had sandwiches and soup. A large Canadian power boat comes in to anchor - has two solar panels and also two long poles on the top which Bob thought were wind generators, and which someone else said were anchors. I still don't know.

Model of shrimp boat

A sailboat named ELAINE PAGE with a guy with a Brit accent came in to provision and ties up behind us.

RosalieAnn

We ate dinner at Bretts and it was not very good and was expensive. I remember liking it last year.

Brett's From_the_dock

Leaving Fernandina -Sadockturday 24 November 2001

Sunrise is getting later and sunset is getting earlier and the sun is low in the sky. Sunrise this morning was at 7, and we were underway about 7:15. The power boat from Palmer Johnson passed us.

As we went under the fixed bridge, we saw the fake sternwheeler tour boat was docked there. The water gets a very long lasting foam from people's wakes which sparkles in the sun. We are starting to see white pelicans.

Passing Fort George where we anchored last year

We crossed Nassau Sound (where there is an old bascule bridge across the sound which doesn't open any more) and we go down Sawpit Creek.

Railroad bridge and the Canadian power boat LE BOUCLIER with the two solar panels

A boat named OLD HATT is too chicken to pass in the narrow creek, but they finally pass where it is wider but more shallow.

Following boat

The second SUNACO fuel barge passes going north - or maybe this is the same one again - name is SUN COMMANDER.

Tug

BLUE JACKET, a dark hulled power boat from Oxford MD passed, and also the Canadian power boat LE BOUCLIER with the two solar panels. We go through the first Florida bridge at 11:23 (Sister's Creek).

Sister's Creek bridge

We come out into the St. Johns River.

Shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyard

On the north side there is a shipyard where a giant catamaran hull is being built, plus CAPE COD LIGHT (looks like a small cruise ship) and assorted grey boats and tugs.

River panorama

Riprap with ATON

After crossing the river

We get to Pablo Creek marina after a short trip of 28.4 miles at MM 744.0

Dockage was $1/ft with $3 for 30 amp. They had a maintenance and parts department and boat storage facility (for power boats) here. There were also bathrooms and showers. The dock men were very helpful and knowledgeable.

Since it is Sat, the office where an internet connection is reputed to be is closed, so the dockmaster lets me use the line in his office. I have to use the credit card line as the phone line is some kind of switchboard and I can't get it to give me a line from the computer. Their restaurant Hurricane Hatties is closed (apparently went bankrupt as the employees last checks bounced). This marina is VERY isolated and there was no place that you could walk to or bike to and eat. So we ate on the boat. We had the Brunswick stew saved from Jekyll island and a salad.