Jekyll Island, GA to Fernandina Beach, FL

On November 13th, we delayed our departure from Jekyll Island until 9AM when the temperature was three degrees higher than the dew point, thinking that would mean the fog had lifted along our route as it had at our dock. The AICW route through St Andrews Sound took us almost out to sea. Visibility was about 0.5 mile. Apparently, the dew point and temperature in the ocean were still within three degrees. John and I both heard an unusual noise ahead and looked at each other wondering what it was. About five minutes later we heard a blaring HAAAAAUUUUOOONNNNNNK! and found ourselves heading for a large barge whose captain was not deviating from his course to avoid us – as if he could! John remained calm and steered us to safety. Then, he peeled me off of the bimini. Once my heart rate got below 200 bpm I got back to spotting channel markers.

Soon, the fog lifted and we relished the beauty of Cumberland Island. Dolphin swam alongs our port side, leaping in the waves. As we approached Kings Bay, GA where the U.S. Navy has a submarine base, we decided to bypass St Marys, GA and go straight to Fernandina Beach, FL. Fernandina Beach is not far from St Marys and is just across the Florida border. Psychologically, that day we felt the need to say we were finally in Florida! We have heard wonderful things about St Marys and how friendly the people there are to cruisers. Perhaps we will stop there on our way home.

Our fellow cruisers had told us what a lovely city Fernandina Beach is, so my hopes and expectations were high. As we crossed Cumberland Sound and the Florida state line we could feel our excitement building. We turned into the Amelia River with visions of more quaint shops and fabulous restaurants. What we saw was industrial sites and more paper mills, not what I would call breathtaking scenery. Surely we were in the wrong place. And then we reached the Fernandina Beach Marina and found the wonderful city we expected.

We enjoyed Thursday and Friday (13-14 November) in Fernandina Beach. The theme of our stay was outer space. On the first evening, the moon was full. We stopped at an Irish Pub for early sustenance. At 5PM we took a taxi across Amelia Island to the beach to watch the moon rise over the ocean at 5:40PM. As we walked along the beach watching the moon emerge from the vast ocean, we felt like we were totally removed from civilization. Hearing the waves crash on the beach, feeling the breeze off the ocean on our faces, seeing the giant glow of the moon rising up out of the water awakened our spirits and made us feel connected to the universe and at peace. After about an hour, we decided it was time to rejoin civilization and took a taxi to the Crab Shack for a round of gator tails. I thought they tasted like chicken.

On Friday evening, we dined at Espana (on Fourth Street), a Portuguese and Spanish- style tapas restaurant. My vocabulary is failing me for the words to accurately describe how incredibly delicious the food was. We finished the meal by sharing a serving of Tiramisu – ecstasy in a glass! I’m still thinking about it. And, when I say “sharing”, I use the term loosely. That was our original intent. It is possible that I had more than my share.

We walked back to the boat by 7:15PM and tuned our laptop into the NASA channel to watch the Space Shuttle launch countdown coverage. We set up the laptop in the cockpit so we could see the shuttle lift off, and then look into the night sky to watch it soar by. John spotted the glow in the clouds first. The clouds parted and the Space Shuttle raced like a giant roman candle across the horizon. Spectacular! It was the first time I had seen the shuttle take off. What a thrill!

We relived the moment with others on the dock for a few minutes, and then went below to prepare for moving on toward St Augustine on Saturday.