Cumberland Island

Travel Day: 172

Miles today: 10       Total Miles: 3,243

Hours today: 1.2

Yesterday was a short cruise from Fernandina to Cumberland Island, GA.  Mara Beel has now left Florida waters for the first time since December 1^st!  While we love Florida, it feels great to be moving on.

Cumberland Island is amazing! It is part of the National Park System and has a rich history.  I’ll skip over the Native American, Spanish, and American colonial eras which are fascinating, and go right to the (almost) 20^th century.  Andrew Carnegie’s brother Tom and wife Lucy (mainly Lucy) owned most of this 18 mile-long island and built a huge 59-room mansion called Dungeness on the south end.  This replaced a home of the same name built by Nathaniel and Caty Greene on the same spot. (He was a Revolutionary War hero and a friend of George and Martha Washington.)  That home burned after the Civil War.

Tom and Lucy Carnegie had 9 children and Lucy built mansions here for the 4 who wanted to live on the island.  The second Dungeness also burned down in a fire thought to be set by an angry poacher. Hardly anyone lives here now, but a few descendants still own their property and are not excited about selling to the government. The only way to get here is by boat, and a ferry carries visitors here and back several times a day. A few primitive campsites are available. This is the least-visited national park.

Cumberland is synonymous with strong women and wild horses.  The women I have read about so far are Caty Greene, Lucy Carnegie, Lucy Furguson, Carol Ruckdeschel (a naturalist who lives here), and Janet “Gogo” Ferguson, who arranged JFK Jr. and Caroline Bessette’s secret wedding on the island.

Back to the island: there are miles of pristine beaches on the Atlantic side and dense tropical forests in the interior. We dinghied to shore to explore.

Wildlife includes the famous wild horses, feral pigs, gators, birds, and, yes, snakes.

This one refused to leave the area for at least an hour.

These horses are not as cute as Misty of Chincoteague, if you remember that book. They are mangy and muddy from living on their own. Although we saw a few on the beach, they seem to prefer the easy grazing around the Dungeness ruins.

Grand Avenue

 We hiked 4-5 miles with Julie and Andy around the southern end of the island to see Dungeness. It must have been incredible in its heyday.

 Some environmentalists want the horses thinned out because of the damage they cause, and some think the historic mansions should be allowed to crumble.  Some property owners are interested in selling to commercial developers. There is plenty of controversy on this island!

Daytona Beach to Marineland

Hours today: 4.9

Miles Today:  38       Total miles: 3,144

Locks today: 0            Total Locks: 39

The grand exodus of MTOA vessels from Daytona Beach began today. We left earlier than planned this morning after evaluating the weather forecast. As it turned out, the 100% chance of rain did not produce any rain. It was overcast all day, but no precipitation. This area is experiencing an "anomalous summer weather pattern", as we learned in our NOAA weather class yesterday. That means there is a hefty chance of thunderstorms every day. We also learned that Florida is hit by lightning more than any other state. Good to know.

In many areas the Atlantic ICW we traveled today is lined with incredible homes and their docks, each one more spectacular than the last. Now and then we saw undeveloped areas of marsh or trees, but not often. There were no issues with depth, and bridges opened promptly.

 We arrived at the Marineland Marina around noon along with Serenity. Marineland is between Palm Coast and St. Augustine. The marina is small but very helpful and friendly. There is a dolphin attraction of sorts here, but it is mainly a research facility.

After a quick lunch we went for a walk on the nearly deserted beach with Kathy and John. Kathy taught me about a rock type found here called coquina. Coquina is a sedimentary rock composed of shell fragments that have become cemented together by wave action. Interesting!

A coquina specimen

We met another MTOA boat, Carpe Vita, with Dottie and Jack, docked nearby. The guys went to Captain's BBQ in a borrowed car and bought pulled pork and fixins for our supper. Six of us ate on Mara Beel, and I forgot to take a picture- the rock is the best I can do today!

Visitors On Board

Day 140-141

Miles today:    48   Total miles: 2,744

Hours today:    5.9

Locks today: 0.    Total locks: 34

It has definitely not been "business as usual" on our boat. For nearly two weeks we have had company staying with us. Last week our younger son, daughter-in-law, 9 month-old grandson, and our daughter were with us. We had fun visiting Manatee Park, Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, the rookery near Venice, and Cayo Costa, all while consuming as much sea food as possible- and a fair amount of ice cream. Little Thomas loved cruising with us, as did his parents and auntie. The dolphins put in several appearances, to the delight of our guests.

5 adults and a baby on board for a week- and it worked out very well!

This group left Sunday, and Mark's sister and brother-in-law arrived later that night. We cruised out to Cayo Costa and anchored in Pelican Bay overnight. We took the dinghy over to the state park and went to the beach on the Gulf side of the island. It was gorgeous!

We Made It!

We cruised across lake Michigan today, from Sturgeon Bay, WI, to Frankfort, MI. 60 miles, almost 7 hours, and 1 time zone. The weather conditions could not have been more ideal! It was incredibly beautiful all the way across! We had been dreading this crossing for months, but we were blessed with calm seas- waves less than 1 foot.That was an answer to prayer. We left Sturgeon Bay at 0-dark-30. The sunrise was spectacular.

Wait- what's that saying about "red sky in morning, sailor take warning?" Should we be worried?

The sunglasses are hiding the fact that Becky is sound asleep at the helm. No worries.

Love those sparkles!

Smooth sailing

We tied up at the Frankfort Municipal Marina and immediately met new friends and fellow Loopers Wayne and Rhonda on Help Me, Rhonda-  docked next to us. 

We went for a walk around town and the beach. So pretty.

Better than Florida- at least in the summer!

Guess these funny fish on a stick followed us across the Lake- or we followed them.

We ended the evening having dessert with Rhonda and Wayne, and touring each other's boats. More adventures tomorrow!