Day 213: Friday, April 5, 2013

Port to Port: Fernandina to Jekyl Island Anchorage

Underway: 10:45 am      Motor Off: 5:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 31       Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 716 to Mile 685: By 11:27 am, we had left Florida behind and entered Georgia – our first new state in over 5 months. We enjoyed our adventures in Florida – there were many – by we are excited to be starting a new phase of the Loop. Surprisingly, the terrain and scenery changed quickly. Many large sounds (openings to the Atlantic) to cross over and if we saw 5 houses today, that was a lot. The shoreline reminds us a little of the vegetation along the Mississippi. We have 685 miles of ever changing waterways before we reach Norfolk Virginia where our next big waterway will be the Chesepeake Bay.

The day dawned wet, gloomy, cold and windy – not a day in paradise. But our spirits brightened considerably when Dave (from Sea Bird II) made a special delivery of a loaf of fresh, homemade, still warm banana bread (baked first thing this morning by Doris Ann). What an amazing treat on this misty morning. Made us think of home. We had it half finished before we crossed the Georgia border (which was really quick). Thanks for everything Dave and Doris Ann – safe travels. We’ll meet again somewhere on the Loop.

Today we paid our dues to get those 31 miles. We had originally thought about stopping at a nice anchorage at about 19 miles but we were doing okay – a little cold – but we were making progress. The on the nose north wind died a little so we kept going across a couple sounds but by the last one rollers from the ocean mixed with wind driven waves made the crossing a little lumpy and we were glad to finally tuck around a point of land and find an decent anchorage. The sun made a weak appearance as we cooked up a big batch of chili allowing us a few minutes to enjoy a little warmth before going below to relax before nightfall. We weren’t cold or hungry anymore but we were tired so it will probably be an early night.