Great Loop & Cruising Adventure Blog

Unfortunately, after our informative tour of Fort Matanzas, we had a little dinghy accident. As we were dragging the dinghy off the sand and into the water we suddenly heard a loud hissing sound coming from underneath one of the pontoons. A sharp shell embedded in the sand had sliced a six inch gash on one side of the dinghy. OPPS!!!

After an initial moment of panic, we were wondering how we would get across the cold water, which had quite a swift current, back to Kismet. Time was also running out since we had taken the next to last ferry over to the island and if we were to solicit help we would have to do it in a hurry as the park staff would soon be leaving.

We walked up to the park office and asked if they could help us out. You would think that these guys were just waiting for an opportunity to help a stranded boater the way they swiftly acted to rescue us and our dinghy. We talked to Thomas first and he radioed the ferry, which was sitting at the fort dock. Linda drove the boat over to shore where our sad, limp dinghy sat grounded. They tied the dinghy up to the ferry and Jim and I climbed aboard and within minutes of our accident we were back on Kismet, safe and sound.Even though we were upset about the accident with the dinghy we felt happy and warm inside that people we had never met before today would go out of their way to help us when they really didn’t have to.

A BIG THANK YOU to all involved.

We arrived in Jacksonville today after receiving some bad news from home yesterday while we were in St. Marys. Jim’s step-dad had passed away yesterday and now we are in a hurry to get our boat settled in Jacksonville so that we can fly home for the funeral and some family time. Our good friends Louis and Diane will keep an eye on Kismet for us while we are gone and have helped us in every way we could imagine. It’s great to have friends close by during times like these.

Today, on our way to Jacksonville, we passed this pair of eagles (above). An amazing sight to see along with the white pelicans (below) that are also a rare sight even on these waterways.

We arrived at Cumberland Island late in the afternoon but with time to relax and watch a “rookery” full of Great White Egrets and Wood Storks (see the tree, on shore to the right of Jim).

Only one other boat anchored with us tonight. We all enjoyed an amazing sunset and a corned beef and cabbage dinner on Kismet.

First thing in the morning we dropped our dinghy to go explore this part of the island which is just in front of the Plum Orchard Mansion, the mansion was a gift of Lucy Carnegie to one of her children as a wedding gift. Nice gift!!!

Last spring we had anchored in a spot north of here where we walked the trails back to the beach and salt marshes.We found Plum Orchard Mansion to be in extremely good condition for its remote location. We all tried to imagine what it might have been like to live in this impressive, turn of the twentieth century, mansion on this remote island when it was in its prime.

Louis said he saw an alligator by this swampy looking lagoon. I was glad I didn’t know that while I was standing right next to it taking this picture.

When we pulled our dinghies up to the public dock we met with a three-day managed hunt group of about 100 hunters. They were hunting wild boar and deer on the island. All of their gear was waiting on the dock to be picked up, along with the hunters, by the ferry boat. We arrived on the right day because during these hunts they close the island to the public for safety reasons.

One more stop together with Bella Luna, Foreign Exchange and Shore Thing, Two-Way Fish Camp in Brunswick, Georgia. This is a rather rustic marina located up the Medway River, north of Brunswick.

Happy Hour was on Foreign Exchange tonight then we all had dinner in the restaurant on site, Mudcats Grill. This will be the last night we will all be together as Shore Thing and Foreign Exchange are stopping in the Brunswick area for the holidays. We will depart tomorrow morning with Bella Luna to head to Cumberland Island.

Bella Luna, Foreign Exchange, Shore Thing and Kismet all left Savannah together today and decended on a really neat stop up the Medway River @ mile 620 on the  AICW, The Sunbury Crab Company Restaurant and Marina.

Elaine, (above right with Louis - and above left with her crew) and her husband, Barney,  the owners, have extended a discount rate for all AGLCA and MTOA members. All of us here can attest to the down home hospitality that Elaine and her crew has to offer. It’s one of those unique experiences like Hoppies (on the Mississippi River) or Bobbies Fish Camp (on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway) except with almost new floating docks. They have a restaurant and bar on sight with a lot of Key West flavor.

We had an excellent private dinner, since they were actually closed on Mondays. They brought a few of the staff in to make us a small menu of seafood and steaks. This was a very memorable stop for us, opportunities like this just don’t come along very often. If you’re an AGLCA or MTOA member and heading down the east coast or when you’re heading up in the spring you should plan on making this a must stop.

Remember the Sunbury CRAB Company and Marina, we know that we will.

Bella Luna and Kismet arrived in Savannah, GA Friday afternoon and were delighted to find room at the city dock on the riverfront downtown right in the thick of all the action. Savannah is another southern town that is rich in history there is something to learn around every corner. The river is very busy with container ships, tugboats, old paddle wheel ships and water taxies.

Also a wonderful walking town, we love to walk around Savannah but getting our exercise here feels more like fun than a workout since the town is so well laid out with all the beautiful squares every few blocks. We like to walk through the parks and residential streets close to the waterfront, absorbing the unique architecture, visiting art galleries and window-shopping. Sunday we had lunch at a local place called Six Pence Pub. Lisa made the comment that she could spend a couple of months in Savannah and I would have to agree.

Saturday we were joined on the dock by Shore Thing, Foreign Exchange and on Sunday, Reel Estate. By Sunday, our five boats took up all but twenty feet of the available dock space. We all, but Reel Estate, met in the fall of 2008 doing the Great Loop so it seemed natural for us to get together for happy hour to share our stories, talk about the current boating season and create more memories.

So here we are, a thousand miles from home sharing a dock for two to three days with friends we’ve met on the water from Connecticut, North Carolina and Toronto. We’ll travel together for a couple of days and then go our separate ways until we hopefully meet up again somewhere on the water. It’s nice to have friends away from home wherever we go.

Saturday we just had to return to Polk’s Fresh Market, a family run market on 530 East Liberty Street. We had visited here on our way north last spring and were very impressed with this establishment. Today they were having a big home cooked BBQ going on with a big cooker outside along with their usual fair of fresh farm produce and other food items.

Jerry, the owner showed us how they boil peanuts in Georgia. We learned that the salt is not absorbed into the nuts while it is boiling, the batch has to cool off and sit in the water for awhile to make them salty. He sent us away with one of his grandma’s fruit cakes and of course we bought a few bags of peanuts.

Leaving Savannah... We exited the dock first, then Reel Estate, who was just behind us at the dock. Brantley and Brenda took off and passed us right away. They travel at a much faster speed than the rest of us and today they are going on the “outside,” they plan to be in Florida later today. Bella Luna followed then Foreign Exchange and finally Shore Thing brought up the rear.

This container ship surprised us just after we left the dock. They move very quickly and in no time was passing all of us. We just pulled over to the side a little and let her have all the room she needed to pass.

Due to the remnants of hurricane Ida, it was too windy to anchor out tonight so we tied up at Port Royal Landing Marina in Port Royal, South Carolina. We got a pump out and tied up in some very rough seas. You can’t really see the waves in the photo but even though we were tied up we felt like we were on a bronco buster. It did finally calm down at night and we were able to get a good night’s sleep.