We left Fort Lauderdale and took a 2-day sail up to Georgia. We had intended on stopping in St. Augustine, Florida – location of a Spanish settlement from the 1500s – but we were going too fast due to the Gulf Stream – at one point we were going 9.8 knots with the help of the Gulf Stream current. That is about 3 times our speed when going against the weather. We made such good time we would have arrived at St. Augustine in the middle of the night – not a good time for dropping the hook in what was supposed to be a tricky anchorage.
So we just kept on going through the night, on up to Cumberland Island National Seashore in St. Marys, Georgia. The Carnegie family used to own most of Cumberland Island but then sold most of the land to the government and now people can camp and take tours of the old mansions. There are feral horses roaming the island along with armadillos and tree frogs, countless birds and other creatures. The giant live oaks are swathed in lacy “air moss” and the creek next to the island (in which we anchored) is bordered by sea grass and its inhabitants. In one of the anchorages we stayed at, we had it entirely to ourselves. At another we met up with another kid boat (which have been few and far between on this trip) so Dante could have a playdate (and Mom & Dad could too.)
After Cumberland Island, we made our way up the Intracoastal Waterway (the “ICW”) about 25 miles to St. Simons, Georgia. What a trip to go up the ICW. There is water everywhere around you and it looks like you can roam freely wherever you choose, but most of the water is extremely shallow so you have to stay in the channel (which is marked). You really have to pay attention in some parts because if you go a mere 50 feet outside the channel you would find yourself with no water under your keel.
Our boat was actually built in Florida and has what is known as a “shoal keel”, which means that the keel is shallower than it would be normally. We “draw” 5 feet, two inches – which means that our boat is under the water feet and two inches. If we are in 10 feet and two inches of water, there is 5 feet of water under our keel. We have been pretty happy to have this shoal keel as we sailed around the Bahamas, Florida and in the ICW.
We left St. Simons and spent several days sailing up to Savannah. We would hop out to the Atlantic to sail up the coast during the day, and then come back into an inlet and anchor in the ICW at night. We found several beautiful and peaceful anchorages with hardly anything around but fishing boats, birds, dolphins, marshes and sea grass around.
Savannah is inland from the coast and accessible via the Savannah River. Savannah is actually a deep water port (dredged) and we therefore shared the river with giant cargo ships, communicating with them about how we would pass each other over our VHF radio. We docked at the city dock, which is right along the Savannah Riverwalk and walking distance to all of the historic places in Savannah. In a funny turn of events, we ended up being one of the tourist attractions. As people strolled along the Riverwalk, they would see “San Francisco, CA” on our stern and ask to take a picture of us in front of our boat. People wanted to stop and talk to us and we were almost constantly under curious surveillance from other tourists. We didn’t mind so much except when we wanted to take a shower and would look up to see curious eyes peering in.
Savannah is a beautiful and charming. It is laid out in a grid (colonial city planning!) with city parks and squares dotted everywhere. We were able to enjoy the city’s charm with our friends Richard, Kelly and Tucker Hall – who drove all the way from Atlanta to hang out with us. We got in a lot of sight-seeing, including a visit to the Mercer Williams House (featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which we watched immediately afterward) and a trolley tour of the city by a tour guide / comedienne (OK, y’all, what’s the difference between a North Fairy Tale and a Southern Fairy Tale? A Nothern Fairy Tale begins with, ‘Once Upon a Time,’ and a Southern Fairy Tale begins with, ‘Y’all ain’t gonna believe this!’”).
After we had our fill of grits and pralines, it was time to head further North in the South…
For more pictures on our trip through Georgia, go to our Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/easethemain/sets/72157645366911242/.