Fernandina Beach to Charleston

As we were leaving St Augustine, we passed this beach with cars lined up in the sand. People were fishing on the shore.

We stopped overnight at Sister's Creek, just outside Jacksonville.

Once we got to Fernandina Beach, Andrew radioed the marina, asking about the mooring balls. They were first come first serve if we could find one. We saw two, one was very close to an anchored speed boat, and the other was a bit further away. As I was about to take over from Andrew we touched the bottom! It is the worst feeling, hearing the boat scrape the bottom and jerk to a halt. We had been so busy looking for a ball he took his eye off the chart and he didn't see the shallow patch! We managed to reverse off it, thank goodness! Andrew tried twice to pick up the ball but the rope seemed to be wrapped around it. I was so worried about the depth and didn't want to go around again, so we just drifted back towards the ball with the tide pushing us in the right direction. After the second failed attempt, we decided to scrub that and anchor. 

Andrew checked in and out, all via email. We went ashore for some exploration and a walk. The shop was quite far away so we got an Uber. 

This photo was for John Henshilwood

After stocking up on all the essentials, we got an Uber back to the old town. Andrew needed to replace the drill bits that broke while making the struts for the new solar panels. We found the hardware store. It looked like a jumble store. It was a mess, with bits and pieces all over the place. Andrew found what he needed though.

Hardware store

We had a lovely walk through the town. It has a rich history which dates back to the 1600s.

The Lesesne House (Le Sane) was built by Dr. John Lesesne. He did not survive the civil war and the house was left to his 13 year-old daughter. She sold the house to Judge John Friend for $3 000 in 1868. It has remained in the same family to this day making it the oldest continuously inhabited house in Fernandina Beach. 

The Lesesne House

Nassau County Courthouse

David Yulee - first Jewish senator in USA

It boasts the oldest saloon in Florida, which during the Prohibition was the last pub to close and only sold ice cream. Sounds a bit like some pirate business happening there!

The island has been governed by several different countries and people, including Louis-Michel Aury, a French pirate who took control of the island in 1817. The name of the island as well as the flags changed every time. So much so that now it is known as the Isle of Eight Flags. 

The picture below is Team Couples Therapy. They were training for the 2026 Talker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. They will row across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canaries to Antigua! Rather them than me!!

We didn’t stay in Fernandina Beach long as the weather was in our favour for a change. We motor sailed all the way to Cumberland Bay. 

There were quite a few boats anchored here. When I say quite a few, there were probably about seven!

We went ashore later that afternoon as it was too hot to go earlier. We walked to the ruins of the old house, avoiding the wild horses along the way. Apparently there were alligators, but we didn’t see any. We were also looking for the armadillos, but sadly couldn’t find any either! I think we were there too early as they forage in the evening and early morning.

Cumberland Island is a small island off Georgia’s southeast coast. The Dungeness Ruins can be found on the island. They are the ruins of a mansion built by Thomas Carnegie, brother of steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie. The main house was in complete ruins but the other houses which used to be staff houses, were occupied.

The pond

Where's the spider?

When we got to Brunswick, we didn’t go up the river but stopped at Lanier Island, St Simons. Andrew phoned the CBP office and the officer said that the guy who deals with it had gone home - this was well before 4pm - and he would only be in the following morning. We said we were leaving in the morning. He assured Andrew that it would be fine.

Dredging

We went out of the ICW, into the North Atlantic Ocean, at Brunswick River which was wide and calm. I think Andrew was a little worried after our entrance into Fort Pierce. 

Passage Sunset

The sail to Charleston, South Carolina was a 150nm, 26 hour, overnight journey. We wondered if we remembered how to do the sailing part of this with all the motoring we have been doing over the past few weeks. But it is a bit like riding a bicycle, thank goodness!

We had good sailing with strong winds, albeit from behind, which as you know is not our favourite point of sail. We had to motor for quite a few hours while we waited for the wind to pick up. 

If you remember the water maker stopped working in Fort Pierce. We thought it was broken so hadn’t tried to make water again. We had been filling the tanks with municipal water, which definitely tasted different to our water. It was always a worry about where we would be able to get water. 

I suddenly thought that we should be making water now that we were out in the open water. Andrew changed the filthy, stinky filters and, drum roll please, it worked and we filled our tanks with beautiful clean water! 

We had filled our jerry cans which are on the deck, before we left St. Augustine, so at least we have 100 litres extra if needs be.

One overnight passage is not my best. We don’t get much sleep and I end up feeling slightly nauseous. Not seasick, its just tiredness.

After supper I went to lie down, which was around 8pm but it was still light, the sun hadn’t set yet! Very weird to go to bed before sunset.

I managed to get a little sleep and woke at 10 to take over from Andrew who had just radioed one ship and they had both agreed to changed course slightly to avoid a collision. Of course with our change of course the sails flap wildly in the wind. A few tweaks were necessary before going back to our original course.

I had to watch out for a few ships that were at anchor, miles off the coast. At around 11:30 we were hailed on the radio by another big ship. He asked me to change course to that we could pass each other starboard to starboard. I asked if he would change his course as well. He said he would but from his track which we could see on the chart plotter it didn’t look like he had changed course at all. 

Andrew took over from me at 1am. When I came up at 4am he said that there had been a massive lightening storm ahead of us. We are not fans of lightening due to the mast which is an attraction. 

By the time I came up on watch it had dissipated. My last watch was uneventful and I enjoyed watching the sunrise.

It took two hours to get to the anchorage through the inlet. We anchored next to an aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown. After we were certain the anchor was set, Andrew phoned the CBP office. In the next installment I shall tell you why Andrew got rapped over the knuckles and why he had to see the CBP officer in person!