December 3, 4 - Interlude

Check back later - St. Augustine

December 2, 2014

830 – Leaving Ft Georges Creek anchorage following young friends from Maine (Jon and Ashley) in an Allied Ludders – ‘Baby Blue’ – same company that made Flicka but a different designer. Jon and Ashley looked to be in their early thirties – came all the way from Maine – bound for the Bahamas, Windward Islands and eventually South America.

Jon and Ashley on Baby Blue

 

Winds WNW temp 68 slight chop – typical salt marsh habitat. Great Egret in tree to starboard. Vigorously attacked by no-see-ums.

0900 – Entering St Johns River – major shipping route between Atlantic and Jacksonville just to our west. Passed several big boats and docking facilities.

0930 - Leaving St Johns with a strong contrary tide – doing 3 knots and – OH NO – ran up on a shoal – visions of Beaufort dancing in my head but fortunately quick thinking and probably mostly luck we were able to back off. Whew!!

1000 – Passed under fixed bridge at Salamander Landing fighting a very strong current creating standing waves -down to 2 knots. Dangerous passage, best done at slack tide which it definitely is not right now – note to self – on the way back through – do it slack.

1030 – First BND (bottle nose dolphin) of the day. Just made reservations at River’s Edge Marina – ain’t our devices grand.

1100 – Passing Mayo Clinic of Florida.  

1315 – Cruising down Tolomato River toward St Augustine through beautiful salt water marsh – low tide – extensible oyster reefs, great blues, groups of white pelicans, many shore birds, BNDs.

 

 

These reefs remind me of what I have read about Chesapeake Bay oyster reefs of yesteryear when apparently they were so extensive they were considered a navigational hazard – but we took care of that – we just scrapped (dredged) them all up over the past 50 years or so. A combination of naturally occurring diseases is oft blamed for the oysters demise in the Bay but pollution, primarily excessive sediment deposition, and over harvest have in recent years (along with the diseases) contributed to the lowest recorded population levels of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, ever in the Chesapeake Bay.

Not only did we over fish but we did not put back the harvested oyster shell – the very substrate that oyster larvae attach to in their normal life cycle- the very foundation of their tenuous homes. Seeing all these oyster reefs down this way gives me hope, but this is a very different sort of salt water environment. Strong tides create a constant washing out effect here, probably contributing to pretty good water quality. The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary with many large fresh water rivers providing hugh inputs of sediment and other pollutants. I suspect there is not the same ‘flushing’ effect in the Bay as one finds here.

Of course there are oysters coming out of the Bay – farm raised – which is not a bad thing certainly – but the simple, inescapable fact is that conditions are not yet ideal for robust natural recruitment of the native oyster into its native habitat. Thanks to lots of people involved in a broad range of ecological restoration activities there might be a day when the American oyster may find its old home in the Chesapeake Bay more hospitable. This subject may not be of interest to those who can’t stand the thought of a slimy raw oyster slithering down your throat but try to look at the larger picture - the impact of human activities on other species that are - like us - trying to make a living. 

1400 – Port side – derelict sailboat high and dry in the marsh with a bald eagle sitting atop the mast

1500 – Crossed inlet and coming into St Augustine.

1622 -Tied up at River’s Edge Marina where Paul came out to help us get steeled in. Gave us an ‘all day’ happy hour discount card for Hurricane Patty’s – the local watering hole. Gave us shore power free. Provided a complimentary bike for me to get to and fro and pointed us toward the showers, washing machines and ships store.

We came from Fernandina Beach at mile 716 to St. Augustine at 779 for a 61 mile day. Gonna stay here for a couple days – need supplies, few hardware items and various hints suggest showers might be appropriate. St. Augustine awaits.

December 1, 2014 - Welcome to Florida

1100 - Bright sunny, WARM day. Wind E moderate. Temp 68.

Flicka Tied to the Dock in Fernandina

Anchored just off the fuel dock at Fernandina Harbor Marine. Leaving after a visit to the fuel dock to leave off some trash. Had to avoid 4 dolphins fishing next to the dock.

Anchored Near the Boat in Fernandina

The Floridians, at least some of them, take their marine mammal conservation seriously. These signs are posted in every marina and at all town docks.

 

 

 

 There are only 200 - 300 Atlantic Right Whales left in the world and their calving grounds are right off the coast of Florida precisely at this time of the year. Hope we see one.

1200 - Passed through the Kingsley Creek RR bridge and entered the land of the white pelican. Browns, which we see more commonly in VA waters, are one of my favorite birds. They can be found pretty much in coastal waters from Jersey southward. They are remarkable flyers, sometimes gliding along just inches above the water for long periods. They dive into the water clumsily – it actually looks like they are ‘falling’ in – but they always seem to come up with a fish – which they deftly gulp into their ponderous throat pouches. The white pelican seems to always be in groups of 10 or more. Much larger that the brown, it is – well – white. Groups feed cooperatively, working together to ‘round up’ small fish in tight groups. The white, much larger than the brown, is not as common in east coast waters until you get to Florida.

1300 - Crossing Nassau Sound

 

1400 - Anchored in Fort George River at mile 735. A short 19 mile day. Tomorrow headed for St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied settlement in America. 

November 30, 2014

0800 – 46 degrees – Fredericka River – light N winds fog rapidly clearing low tide – headed for Fernandina, FL

1000 – Slack tide – crossing under Fredericka River Bridge – bellies full of strong black coffee, bacon and supersized cheese omelet.

1038 – Crossed in St Simon Sound 7.5 – 8 knots calm rising temps

 

 

My Mate

 1050 – Jekyll Harbor Creek

1130 – Days first dolphin lots of cormorants

1400 – Kings Bay Navy Base – home of a nuclear sub.

Just heard a Coast Guard secruite’ call – reporting a “run-away’ boat. Yes that is spelled right. Standard lingo when transmitting in the VHF marine band radio. Secruite’ is used to announce important safety information. Anyone can make a secruite’ announcement but it better be important5 – the Coast Guard is listening. It this case the Coast Guard was actually doing the announcing. It goes like this “Secruite’, secruite’, secruite’ – this is the Coast Guard. And then the message. In this case a boater had discovered another boat with two people aboard who had lost an engine – not literally of course – it had stopped running. Apparently they did not an anchor aboard so good Samaritan boater #1 took the two unfortunates (who were probably drunk) aboard which means boat #2 was abandoned and now a run-away – thus a hazard to navigation – thus the secruite’ call. It was fun listening to the Coast Guard trying to get an accurate description of the location of this happening, of the boat and circumstances.

These communications are in fact very serious and were devised to ensure safety at sea.

Secruite is not to be confused with a Mayday call – only used when human life is imperiled.  

 

Lots of Bald Eagles

1500 – Welcome to Fernandina, FL Temp 77 degrees. Fueled up at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and now on an anchor just off channel and mooring field. YEA for us!

November 29, 2014

1000 – Left Wahoo - cloudless sky – entering Sapelo Sound. S winds moderate shrimp boat to port. Rising temps – thank goodness.

1145 – Creighton Narrows – really narrow 50-60 feet wide

1700 – Anchored on Fredericka River mile 675 a 45 mile day

November 28, 2014

1215 – Leaving Vernon River 46 degrees high today 51 NNW breeze 10 – headed to Hell’s gate – waiting for high tide. Narrow shallow passage,

1240 – Dolphins with us

1300 - Entering Odechee – beautiful river miles of salt water marsh punctuated by high areas woody vegetation.  Winds diminishing. Temp on the rise.

1430 – Approaching St Catherine’s Inlet

1500 – Turned into the Northern Newport – against tide

1600 – anchored in the Wahoo River (go Cavs) 33 miles today.

November 27, 2014 - Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day – beautiful weather, chilly, 15 knot W winds steady now predicted to gust to 25 – on our nose of course. Today’s predicted high – 53 degrees. A nice, brisk Thanksgiving days run to Savanna, GA.

0830 – Passing Parris Island – a big salute to all my Marine Corps friends – especially Harry B. – thinking of you today.

Parris Island

 

 

 

0930 – Entering Port Royal Sound – confused seas – winds 25-30 – lots of spray. Upon turning into the sound the tide is with us – doing 5 knots with winds on our nose.

1020 – Crossed into Chechessee River just north of Hilton Head – in protected waters now.

Mark 15 – Hilton Head on Port – first dolphin sighting. Good omen.

1100 – Passing under Hilton Head Island Bridge – HH to port- enough of HH

1130 – Calibogue Sound – west wind makes its presence known again – this time it is serious. Wind meter measuring gusts to 45 knots. The Beaufort scale, devised by Frances Beaufort in 1807 is a relative wind measurement system – a scale from 1 to 12 with one being light air and twelve being hurricane force wind. The 45 knot gusts we were experiencing today are a nine on the Beaufort scale – a strong gale. The winds today were consistently 30-35 knots – 7 – moderate gale.

1300 – High gusts

1400 – entered the Savanna River – welcome to Georgia – go Dawgs

 

More High Living on the ICW

1630 – Welcome to manatee country – in a preserve area check with McKelden and Diana Smith for extensive review of manatee life history. (Inside joke.) No sightings today.

1720 – Mile 600 anchored on Vernon River 10 feet under the keel NW wind – 7 knots. 61 miles – our best day – Thanksgiving dinner - maple sugar grilled pork, homemade bread, mashed potatoes, gravy, chutney, bourbon and gin! No turkey or punkin’ pie for us.

Good night.