Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me

5/1 – Our travel today was dictated by the tides. We figured it was pretty risky passing through the Jekyll Creek/Jekyll Island area at low tide, so we had a fairly short run stopping at Umbrella Creek just before the Jekyll Harbor Marina. At this point we were at dead low tide. We were the only boat in the anchorage.

5/2 – We departed early Monday about 7:30. It was not yet high tide, but it was a rising tide and we figured we’d have enough water to get through Jekyll without any problems. We then reached the next shallow area, Little Mud River, on a falling tide but still with enough depth to get through that area. All in all, it was a pretty big run for us to the Big Tom’s Creek anchorage, almost 10 hours. To complicate the issue, we had millions of flies – (not sure the proper name but we think greenhead flies, black flies or horse flies – probably the whole damn family). We’ve heard horror stories about traveling though this area being inundated with the little buggers, however our past two trips had been mostly fly-free. Not so this time! Gerry had sore muscles from swatting at them and Linda was sure she had lots of “fly parts” in her hair – pretty creepy. By the time we got to our anchorage at Big Tom’s they had disappeared, so we were able to open the doors and let the breeze blow through. Tonight, there was one other boat in the anchorage.

5/3 – Our departure this morning was timed so we’d arrive at Hell Gate, another possible shallow water area, at high tide. We had no problem whatsoever and arrived at Thunderbolt Marina, our stop for the next two nights, just before 1:00.

Leaving Fernandina, we saw the local shrimp boats
getting ready for the "parade"

Another boat getting decorated -- gator theme

As we cruised by Kings Bay, we saw a submarine in port

... along with its tenders

We did not stop at Cumberland Island this time.
However, as we passed by, we saw the wild
horses on the shore.

Early morning as we passed by Jekyll Island

The Millionaire's Club at Jekyll Island



A shot of the marsh grass with a bridge in the background



Danger -- shallow water



Pelicans doing some fishing -- ready to dive for the "kill"



Swat Man

.. and the "swatees"

We passed this unfortunate boat that was aground.
We stopped to see if we could assist, but they
had already called TowBoatUS.  Seems
a cruiser had waked them and in so doing, had
pushed them out of the channel and grounded them.

The anchorage was nice after a long day
and we witnessed a very interesting sunset.