Rage as seen from Man O War

Don’t Rock Instead of The Whale

The crossing

Box car derby

Saturday Dec 4

We are back in the swing here at Boat Harbour. I have been running or walking everyday. Paul has been walking most days and we both went to Yoga -boy I am sore -can’t be because I am out of shape. I did run 5 miles and felt comfortable –it is the Yoga…

Golden Isles to Fernandina Beach

Ah Yes!! After having a chilly but beautiful evening at Golden Isles….. 

Sunset at Golden Isles

We were going to have an easy cruise today. Well, not so much.

We did plan to leave at dawn again which was about 1.5 hours after flood tide. The winds had settled some to 15-20 knots out of the north, but we were able to get through the St. Simons and St. Andrews Sounds (where Georgia’s big rivers run into the Atlantic Ocean) without incident. We knew that this timing would get us through the much-warned-about Jekyll Creek portion of the ICW approximately 2-3 hours after flood. Even so we were surprised at some areas and had to search a little right or left to find more comfortable depths. Other than Jekyll Creek there were no more “warnings” online of shoaling or shallows along our route for the day. Even local knowledge knew of no other concerns.

But then we came to a portion of the ICW called the Cumberland Dividings at about one hour before ebb tide. And there was plenty of water in the very narrow channel, so we proceeded slowly and carefully. However, there were also trap markers IN the channel and while Mark was dodging one of these traps suddenly there was no water under Grateful and we ran aground. During that time, I was down below fixing drawer runners in the V-berth. To those of you who know what would have been my reaction to this situation last year, would have been amazed (as was my husband) that I continued to work on the drawers. Yes, I did….. and I prayed a little – a lot! But I knew that the tide would be rising in an hour, and we would most likely be on our way. And I also knew there wasn’t anything I could do or say that would help Mark at that moment. Well, the good news was that the ebb tide was strong enough to push Grateful off the mud flat and we were on our way within moments.

I came up after finishing my chores, and found out that Mark wondered if I was injured or had passed out down below when we went aground. FUNNY. Anyway, the rest of the Cumberland Dividings was nerve-wracking, and we came upon markers that were not in our charts. In order to follow them, our GPS and charts showed us cruising over an island! Mark found the following online post yesterday that was an account of that very same area just the day before (December 1st)…….

Subject: Severe shoaling Cumberland Dividings
Dear,
Thank you for speaking with me. I have attached a pdf with photos and chart segment. I came through this area yesterday, an hour before low tide. When I came on the scene, a 48+ ft Sea Ray was sitting to the East of the Red 60 completely out of the water and partially spun around at the base of the marker. They WERE in the channel according to the markers and the chart but there was no water. Tow BoatUS was on the scene and guided me around thankfully. From Green 59A to Green 63 stay well East (at least 25 yards) of the Reds and almost to shore on the green side. The small little island that is shown on the charts east of Red 60 is NOT there. In fact that is where you need to be. My chartplotter showed me driving right over it as I followed the Tow BoatUS around safely. There was 10ft of water close to shore at low tide. Coast Guard MUST put drop aides here, this is a serious risk to boaters.
I was extremely disturbed when I discovered this significant discrepancy which has the potential to end with tragic consequences. I have since discovered that there are multiple groundings in this spot each week, there are no Securite calls warning of the hazard (until I called Jacksonville yesterday), no mention in the LNM and this problem has existed for at least a year. I feel drop aides are essential, require minimal effort and should have been placed long ago. I thank you for whatever you can do to correct this problem.
The small island shown on the chart at:
30 50.951 N
081 28.687 W
This island does not exist and is in fact where the proper channel should be.
Current safe water is found by staying close to G 59A and following a arced course over the little island to G 63 . Remaining at least 25 yards East of Red markers. Red daybeacons should be removed and drop aides placed until either dredging can occur or the deabeacon can be properly moved.
Thank you,
John Webster, USCG Master #2851625 USCGAUX 1155849

Mr. Webster,
Appreciate the heads up on the shoaling issue at this turn. Believe it or not, this was the first that we heard of the issue. The same day that we were informed of the shoaling I dispatched my crew and established 2 temporary red buoys to help mark the inside turn a little more adequately. We also discovered that the #63 had been knocked down, we set that temporary buoy further outside the green side of the channel to hopefully draw boaters to that side.
The Coast Guard cutter Hammer is scheduled to be in that area in early December to restructure the turn. They were forwarded the pictures so they can plan accordingly.
Thank you for your assistance.
Respectfully,
BMC Rob Lehmann
Officer in Charge
Aids to Navigation Team Jacksonville Beach

It would have helped if we had read this notice before we traveled, but we are ever so grateful that swift action was taken by the USCG and the temporary markers were in place when we went through.
The rest of the trip was great. We passed more shrimp boats and this one was pulling in a net – notice all the birds waiting for a possible meal.

Birds waiting for a meal
This tour boat passed us with this unusual paint job.

Nice paint job

We again went by King’s Bay – a facility where up to 6 submarines can be moored – and this time we saw one being worked on. It is impressive.

Submarine at King’s Bay
Notice the men on the top of the sub
Guardians of King’s Bay

Then as we crossed St. Mary’s Sound and nearing FernandinaBeach we watched this container ship come into port (just north of the marina we stayed in). In a matter of three hours this ship had docked, been unloaded and moved on.

Escort Tug
Escort approaching
Again, we liked FernandinaBeach – a pretty little town. We went out to eat at the Irish pub, and I purchased some fine chocolates to get us through these chilly nights.

Fernandina Harbor Marina
Are we in Florida
Town Hall
Christmas tree in marina
Main Street in Fernandina Beach

Golden Isles to Fernandina Beach

Ah Yes!! After having a chilly but beautiful evening at Golden Isles….. Sunset at Golden IslesWe were going to have an easy cruise today. Well, not so much.We did plan to leave at dawn again which was about 1.5 hours after flood tide. The winds …

Success – We Conquered the Gulf of Mexico

Linda was really worried about the crossing but now it is behind us and will be another memory of our travels. We were up at 5 AM but it was no big deal because we had both been awake for a couple of hours and tossing and turning the rest of the night….

Mile Hammock Bay to Charleston

We leave Mile Hammock at 6:45 am along with the sailboat “Random Run”.  South to Wrightsville Beach, we bump bottom (again!) in what should be 10′ of water in what we believe is the channel. Make a turn to port and out the inlet we go into a beaut…

Ready, Set, GO

I just want to allow everyone to share in our angst tonight and tomorrow. There looks to be a 24 hour window opening on Friday for a comfortable crossing of the Gulf. Linda and I have changed our minds a few times this week on how to do the crossing, w…