On Thursday we visited Sapelo Island and had a guided tour of the Island and it's history. The most significant owner of the Island was R. J. Reynolds of tobacco fame. Today it is occupied by 37 permanent residents, primarily of Geeche heritage. We struggled with high winds from the NE and rain. There is no dock for private boats to visit the Island, so it is necessary to anchor and dingy in. We spent the night at Hidden Harbor Yacht Club just north of Brunswick.
Friday brought another windy day, with a planned crossing of St. Andrews Sound between Jekyll and Cumberland Islands. St. Andrew can be the roughest crossing along the SE coast. Because of the high winds we elected to take the Floyd Cut alternate rout which winds through some small creeks inland from the sea. This channel hasn't been maintained in years, and the channel has shifted so the day markers no longer represent where the channel is. The good news is we were going through at low tide so we could see where the channel actually is. We made it through and on to Fernandina Beach for the night. About 8 miles from our destination, Southern Exposure experienced engine overheating and ultimately was towed in by Tow Boat US. Once secured at the marina we met up with Perry and Nancy Dukes at Le Clos for dinner. They are returning north from a 3 month cruise in south Florida.
On Saturday morning Jim and I tried to get Southern Exposure running. All symptoms pointed to a problem with the battery circuit. Inspection of the engine revealed a broken drive belt that drives both the fresh water pump and the alternator. No pump, no coolant being pumped through the engine, and no alternator no charging being done to the batteries. Fix the belt and all should be good. With belt fixed, we headed out at just before 1:00 to start our trip back north. With the wind still blowing, several boats who had been waiting for a break in the weather to cross St. Andrews had learned we were going back through Floyd Cut, and could they tag along. Well, we soon learned we had not fixed the engine problems on Southern Exposure and they turned back to return to the marina, so Odyssee and Glory Days, looper friends from way back, proceed north through Floyds cut, with Odyssee stopping at Jekyll Island for the night.
We enjoyed brunch Sunday morning at the Jekyll Island Club, and then continued or trip back north. At this point the prudent thing to do seemed for us to get home so I could drive back down to Fernandina Beach to help Jim get his boat home once he had it fixed and running. So we went into delivery mode and ran till the sun came down each day and then just dropped the hook in a convenient anchorage, and they are plentiful along the ICW as it winds through Georgia. We pulled into our dock after dark on Tuesday, and rather than even going up to the house, spend one more night on the boat.
