“North of Cape Hatteras by June 1st”, that’s the boat insurance company’s requirement and what has dictated our end of the season plans. Saint Augustine, Fl – Cumberland Island, GA – Cape Lookout, NC – Cape May, NJ, 700nm in seven days including stop overs.
The trip to Cumberland Island was a 50nm day sail to the St. Mary’s River which marks the Florida/Georgia border. We’ve been having a lot of luck selecting good weather to sail, Makai has been performing great and saving diesel. After a week of running around and enjoying land activities everyone was happy to be at sea, cuddled up with their kindle. Between our library, and ebooks borrowed online from our public library, no one is short of reading material. Everyone has their initial marked with duct tape on the back. I have an ‘M’ for mom in fancy paisley tape.
We arrived in the anchorage after dark but were ready for an adventure first thing in the morning. We only had the morning to tour before getting underway again in the afternoon. Cumberland Island is a barrier island at the southern end of Georgia. Throughout history it was inhabited by native people, Spanish, and English until the middle 1700′s. After the revolutionary war the island was acquired by Nathanael Greene. Today Cumberland Island is a National Seashore under the National Parks system. There are ruins, beautiful foliage, beaches and animals to explore. Visitors arrive on a ferry or private boats like us. The mud flats at the dinghy dock were covered in fiddler crabs. It was hard to tear ourselves away from watching them go about their work.
We walked along a path with a full canopy of live oak trees dripping with spanish moss and palmetto plants. When the path came near the water Roy went down to the mud to check out the animal tracks. He spotted raccoon and deer tracks.
As we approached the south end of the island and the Dungeness Plantation we started walking on cleared lawns. The mansion was first built by Nathanael Greene’s widow in 1803, and in the 1880′s was owned by the Carnegie’s. The island is also home to around 200 feral horses who’s ancestors were thought to have been left here by the English in the 1700′s. These horses are similar to the Assateague and Chincoteague ponies we saw last May in Maryland.
Strolling along the paths, with a little imagination, was a nature walk through history. Can you just see the girls in southern belle dresses and the boys in suits?
The park ranger said the turkey vultures keep the island clean, but I wouldn’t want to be cleaned up by these bad boys.
Flocks of turkeys wander the grounds. The feather was impressive. I could see our family decorating their hats with these feathers.
We ran across this interesting tree where an oak wrapped around a palm.
The Dungeness mansion and out buildings are made of tabby, which looks similar to coquina. In Saint Augustine we saw coquina, a naturally occurring stone made from shells, limestone and sand. Tabby is man made using lime from burnt oyster shells, water, sand, and oyster shell pieces, all poured into molds.
This is all that is left of the Dungeness mansion, in 1959 it was destroyed by a fire.
We returned to the dinghy dock by walking along the beach. It was low tide and the sand was covered with cool things. We saw several mermaid purses, more accurately described as a skate egg case.
We also came across a whelk egg case. A whelk is a large predatory snail common on the east coast.
The weather was warm, the breeze was refreshing, not too many bugs, very pleasant morning excursion.
Make sure that you purchase the appropriate treatment, the particular dosage generic sildenafil that the physician has prescribed, and recognize when to assume your supply at the same time. You can buy this herbal supplement from reliable online stores using a credit or debit niksautosalon.com sildenafil tablets 100mg card. Consult sexologist in Sadar if you want to make and order for buy cialis online niksautosalon.com, you have to log in to the particular site and apply for the medicine. it will reach to you as soon as possible. Just follow the above tips, and enjoy cheap viagra from canada the lusty nights.
The path back from the beach led us through a maritime forest. This wooded area is bordered by sand dunes and consists of plants that thrive in sandy soil and salt air. This beautiful path goes through a camp ground. Tents are tucked in under the trees and bushes, walking distance from the beach.
Next stop is a two day trip to Cape Lookout, NC. We are beginning to see shrimp boats along the coast.
We had a great run through the Gulf Stream. The water temp was up over 80 degrees, the air was perfect, water is clear and blue, and the 2-3 knot current is like getting on a moving walkway at the airport. Makai zipped along at 7-8 knots and the current boosted our speed over the ground to 11 and 12 knots, YIPPEEE!
Roy had his line out and sure enough, FISH ON!
This mahi mahi was almost free. It weighed in at a mere 5 lbs and was only three feet long. We were a bit confused after bringing in the mumbo jumbo king daddy mahi in the Bahamas. Roy pulled this guy right up on the back step where I put a towel on it and picked it up. Wow, no fight, no adrenalin rush, no blood and fish parts everywhere.
Roy went to work cleaning it and Mahi #4 for this season is packed up and in the freezer. Come visit, I’ll make you a nice mahi dinner.
We pulled into Cape Lookout just as the sun was setting and the storm was arriving. The wind whipped up, rain poured down in buckets and temperature dropped. The anchorage is full of locals ready for Memorial Day Weekend fun in the sun, but this poor guy dragged anchor and got stuck in the sand. Luckily for $170/year you can get a SeaTow membership for assistance in such situations.
The beaches were beautiful and the wind gave us a chance to fly the kite the Hill family brought to us in the Bahamas.
Roy did a bunch of fishing, we saw a huge turtle, played on the beach, rested for two nights and then the wind came out of the south again. This south wind is only predicted for two days so we better get going quick.
The first 12 hours didn’t provide enough wind to keep Makai moving toward Cape Hatteras, so we cranked up the engines and motored. At daybreak we said goodbye to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and set the auto pilot for Cape May. The last two times we rounded this cape at least one of Makai’s crew was tossing their cookies overboard, today everyone was smiling and happy with the calm weather.
But, this isn’t the tropics any more. We had our winter canvas windows on, wore sweaters, and blankets, and cuddled up with Topaz.
As the afternoon wore on we approached the Delaware Bay and it happened again. Arrrrhhh! the flies, the flies attacked us. Last year when we went to Lewes, DE at the mouth of the Delaware Bay they came in swarms and it happened again. Inside they swirled around like a tornado over a trash dump, outside they clung to the mast, sail, trampoline, solar panels. It was horrible. As we entered the Cape May channel, just like at Cape Lookout, a huge storm hit us. The only bonus to the storm is that wind, lightning and rain blew the outside flies away. We opened all the windows hoping to get rid of the inside flies, but they were much more comfortable inside Makai than out exploring the beach on their own. In the morning I used a whole bottle of Windex drowning them where they rested and blowing them out of the air. Then Roy followed up with the swatter. Whew, now we only have the acceptable hand full of flies to deal with.
It’s quite chilly for this tropical cruising family. The air is below 70 degrees and the water is below 55 degrees. We are wearing long sleeves and long pants with socks.
This morning we heard Ozzy Ozbourne’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home”. Wow, it’s coming from a Coast Guard ship, USCGC Vigorous was returning from a deployment and we’re anchored a stone’s throw from the base. This morning we all got to put our hand over our heart for the raising of the colors and watch the Vigorous clean up their ship after a stretch at sea. We do similar things like take the trash out and clean up.
It looks like we’ll be here for about a week before the wind comes out of the south again and we can make our way up to NY Harbor.