Southbound ’17 – Travel Day 24: Brunswick, GA to Amelia Island, FL

FROM: The Captain –

Forecast: Mostly sunny.  Winds from the north/northwest 5-10 mph. Seas – 1 – 2′ 

Reality: Mostly sunny.  Winds mostly from the north 15 mph.  Seas 3 – 5′

Distance traveled: 46.4 nautical miles

Time underway: 4 hours 25 minutes

Average Speed: 10.5 kts

Max Speed: 17.7 kts

Fuel used: 88 gallons

“It’s better to be on the inside wishing you were out than on the outside wishing you were in.”  

The references in that quote, one of my boating favorites, are to the protected Intra Coastal Waterway (the “inside”) and the unprotected ocean (the “outside”).  Hopefully you mostly get it right.  Today we did not.  As the forecast note stated above, predictions did not live up to reality.  Boater or not you know that the forecast isn’t always right and you have to use all of the tools at your disposal to make the most informed decisions you can about when and how you travel.  Coming off of our best day on the ocean just yesterday and with the forecast seeming to hold as we prepared for our 7:30 am departure all indications were that we were in store for another great day on the water.  We even spent part of the previous evening looking at options for staying out for an even longer passage.  Then came reality.  As we made our way through the very long St Simons inlet channel – you have to go out several miles before turning south due to shoals – it became clear that the forecasters didn’t get it right.  But we had no idea how bad it was going to be until we were essentially at the theoretical point of no return.  In hindsight, we should have ignored theory and turned back.  It was a very squirrelly following sea with closely stacked three to five footers.  Our stabilizers work best at faster speeds so we deemed it well-worth the expense of extra fuel burn to try to make our ride as stable as possible.  But the boat’s performance has its limitations and for two hours we were tossed and tested.  One of our favorite glass bowls shattered despite its secure spot, furniture tried to move and Jasper was really unnerved.  Once we turned west into St. Mary’s Inlet we should have been excited about finally crossing the Georgia-Florida line, a major accomplishment, but we were then abeam to the sea that was following us which was even less pleasant until we were close enough to shore for the seas to lay down (while sharing the channel with a cruise ship that understandably positioned itself right in the middle).  No pictures from the ocean passage as we were a bit busy.  Easily our worst experience on the water since owning OLOH.  It’s boating.  It happens.  You learn and it strengthens you.  But it sucks.  And that arrival cocktail always tastes particularly good after a run like that.  Onward…

We’re in Florida!  Yay!  The big moment was tempered by our experience and the fact that it was barely 40 degrees when we arrived.  But we are thrilled that we’ve hit this milestone and know that the weather will improve.  It will improve, right?

Fernandina was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Matthew back in 2016 and the main marina there, always a great stopover in this cool little town was destroyed and not yet re-opened for business.  A few miles further along the waterway is Amelia Island Yacht Basin which would be our stop for the night.

It’s a nice facility at the end of a narrow channel off the main waterway that gets super-shallow at low tide.  The restaurant is closed and there’s nothing within walking distance but they have a courtesy car if you need it and are very friendly.  Since we just needed the spot to tie-up and nothing more it was an easy choice.  We wanted to get back to days under fifty miles and after our ocean experience, we were eager to secure the boat as soon as possible.

On to St. Augustine – inside!  See you out there…

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