055: The Low Country Part 2

The morning of March 11th the anchor came up clean, but my windlass was struggling, and I had to lift the last twenty feet of chain by hand.  This reminded me that I had neglected to perform some routine windlass maintenance.  (Note that for this portion of the Great Loop you will experience tidal ranges as much as nine feet with the associated strong ebb and flood currents.  We planned our anchoring accordingly and saw 180-degree swings between high and low tides.)

Our next stop was Jekyll Island, most famous for being the site of the former Jekyll Island Club, winter residence of some of America’s wealthiest families from the late 1800’s until the 1942 (it is estimated that the members of the Jekyll Island Club represented 1/6th of America's wealth.)  The Club consisted of a hotel, condominium and mansion-sized “cottages” owned by the likes of the Morgans and the Pullitzers.   Their activities included socializing, biking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, tennis, beach bathing and croquet. The impact of the Great Depression and Word War II greatly diminished the financial viability of the Club and in 1947 the State of Georgia used its powers of Eminent Domain to buy the island from the Club.   Luckily, many of the structures were maintained, and today serve as hotels and meeting facilities.    

We got a slip at the Jekyll Harbor Marina, which isn’t the fanciest marina going but the staff was friendly (as was the marina cat), and the showers and hot tub were hot.  The courtesy bikes and golf carts were also a big plus.   The first afternoon we took the bikes and did a short tour of the Historic District (the Club area) and then road over to the Beach District.

 
Friendly Cat:

Looking for friendly cats no doubt:

The next day we rode over to the museum and took a two-hour tour of the Historical District which was worth the $20 price per person.   Later that day Nancy and buddy-boat crew member Kathy Murphy took advantage of the courtesy golf cart to visit “Driftwood Beach” and stop in at the small market on the Island for a few essentials.  In the meantime, I attended to the never-ending list of boat maintenance items.

The Hotel:

A "Cottage:"

Sunset:

The following morning, we took one of the golf carts over to the hotel for breakfast to experience what it would have been like to dine like J.P. Morgan, though my attire was much less formal than what was required back in the day.   We left that dock at noon and headed north to St. Simon’s Island after a $5 pump out and topping off the fuel tanks at a reasonable, for the area, price for diesel.

There are many interesting things to see on St. Simon’s Island: plantation house, light house and museum, heritage center, colonial fort, “kayakable” marshes, etc.  We had seen many of these sites on a prior visit, so we elected to anchor off the Fort Frederica National Monument area and just visit the ruins of the colonial-era fort.   There is a serviceable dinghy dock at the Fort, and we enjoyed our walking tour of the area and its visitors center.  We had a very quiet night “on the hook” and caught a lovely sunset.

 Colonial Fort:

Anchored out:

The following day we began took our time, traveling slowly to enjoy the unique Low Country scenery.  Traveling at six knots allowed us time to take in the bird and dolphin sightings.  That day we anchored at "Crescent River 2" and then took an hour (against the ebb tide) dingy ride up the nearby creek to the rustic Fish Dock at Pelican Point Restaurant on the Sapelo River.   We had an early dinner to make it back down the creek before low tide set in.  (The trip back took thirty minutes with the ebb tide now helping us.)   The quiet and calmness of this anchorage was almost disconcerting as we have become accustomed to some level of movement while on the hook.

The Boys:

 

The next day we headed north, making a midday stop off the northern end of St. Catherine’s Island for a beach walk. Anchoring just off the beach we took the dingy to shore. The island is privately owned by a foundation that “aims to promote conservation of natural resources, the survival of endangered species, the preservation of historic sites, and to expand human knowledge in the fields of ecology, botany, zoology, natural history, archaeology, and other scientific and educational disciplines.”  It is known for a ring-tailed lemur captive breeding program as they are an endangered species.   Luckily the beach is accessible to visitors, though we did not see any of the elusive lemurs.

 Off St. Catherine's:

That evening found us anchored at "Ossabaw Island-Cane Patch Creek" for perhaps the nicest anchorage of the trip so far.  Not even a passing thunderstorm could disturb the calmness of this anchorage. 

We arrived in Savannah, GA on the 16th of March, too late to Uber in to see the St. Patrick's day Parade, but the thousands upon thousands of visitors that day, we weren't sorry to miss it.  On St. Patrick's day visited the historic area, taking a trolley tour.   We wanted to see any and all things "Forrest Gump" since portions of that movie were filmed here.  Very interesting place and they have done great things with the riverfront area, the lobby at the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District alone is worth the trip to Savannah!  

JW Marriott:

One of the lovely squares in the Historic District:

Riverfront:

We left Savanah and bypassed a stop at Hilton Head because we’d been there before and because my golf clubs were “left behind” for this trip.  We slowly made our way up the ICW, losing count of the number of dolphin sightings and anchored at 'Inner Bull Creek' which was nicely protected and had shore access for exploring in the woods.

 Dave

Odometer: 2,985 n/m