We got in relatively early in the day and found a perfect spot to anchor off the Sea Camp dock. The current runs hard through much of Georgia, and it’s typical for boats to hang into the flow of the current rather than into the wind. In places where this is the case, like at Cumberland Island, we never fully trust our anchor set until we’ve had at least one current switch and therefore stay with the boat until that happens. I watch people anchor and then race off in their dinghies, and it always makes me nervous.
Once the current switched, we launched Squall and headed into the island. Our outboard was acting up, but we were able to make it to the dock, and we had a beautiful walk down the Sea Camp trail to the beach and back. We found an armadillo (see also: battle rat, opossum on the half shell, redneck speed bump (the last two courtesy of a couple who happened to be passing by as I was taking photos)). The beach was beautiful, and it was good to feel sand between my toes again. On the return, the late afternoon sunlight filtered through the Spanish moss-draped live oaks, and as I paused to take some pictures, a pair of wild horses came walking down the trail past us on their way to the camp.
The next morning, we tried to go ashore but the dinghy died about 100 yards from the dock. While we could have rowed that last bit, the wiser thing was to turn around and row back to the boat. It was a bit of a last straw for me. We had only planned to spend a couple days before hopping over to Fernandina Beach because weather looked icky, and I was furious that yet another boat issue was going to keep us boat-bound. It turns out that the new fuel hose we bought to replace the last one that was leaking didn’t fit securely on the engine, so it wasn’t getting enough fuel. Fortunately we had a new fitting and were able to switch it out – but that didn’t give me back the missed opportunity for a morning walk.
We watched the weather and determined it would be a little bouncy but tolerable, so we decided to stay at Cumberland for the week in hopes of getting a little more time ashore – plus Cumberland has a much nicer view than the anchorage in Fernandina Beach. We did have some bouncy nights with wind against current, but it wasn’t too bad.
Our friends Margi and Chuck on V Twin ended up anchored right near us, so I reached out to say hi and coordinate a catch-up. They invited us to their boat for dinner, and we spent a really nice evening sharing food and stories. Chuck introduced us to the WKRP Turkey Drop episode, which somehow neither of us had ever seen, and I think that just got added to our list of Thanksgiving traditions.
Thanksgiving was really special this year. We started the morning with homemade cranberry orange muffins and coffee, and then we headed to shore where we walked the 4 mile loop from the Sea Camp dock to the Dungeness ruins and back. While we saw more people than we expected (and less wildlife in the beginning of the day), we still nearly had the island to ourselves. There were only four other people on the beach with us, and they were all walking the other direction. On our return, we saw 8 wild horses at Dungeness and a few armadillos. Instead of taking the waterfront trail, we took the parallel trail that follows the main “road”. It clearly doesn’t get a lot of use as there are little palmettos growing up in the middle of it, but it was absolutely stunning and peaceful. It felt like being in a whole other world. When we got back to the boat, I had a call with my family and Chris called his parents. We had a fantastic dinner of grilled turkey leg and thigh, garlic asparagus, green chile corn pudding, and cranberry sauce (I added cinnamon and clove), but we decided to hold off on making the pumpkin pie – there was already so much food and there was no space in the refrigerator for another thing!
Cumberland Island has truly become one of my favorite places on earth – it feels like being transported to a fictional world it’s so different than any other place I’ve been. We wish we could have stayed longer, but weekend weather is not looking good for a passage, so we’ll be off in the morning headed for Saint Augustine! Knowing what St. Marys Inlet looks like when conditions are iffy, we’re not going to tempt the fates.
