Jacksonville FL to Albemarle Sound NC

Total Miles Traveled 3367 since departing Green Turtle Bay, KY

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What a change leaving the busy shipping channel of Jacksonville Florida and continuing north on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.  We have now entered miles and miles of salt marsh and low country leaving Florida and entering Georgia. 

We departed our anchorage at Gunnison Crossing on May 1^st and continued 47 miles to a marina on Jekyll Island Georgia.  The history of this agricultural island goes back to the fifteen hundreds, but in the late eighteen hundreds the island was converted to a winter retreat for the wealthy with a membership limit of 100 members to preserve the club’s exclusivity.   Some of the more well know members included J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, William Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt.  In 1910, a secret meeting was held on the island to plan the country’s monetary policy and banking system, formulating the Federal Reserve.

The island has awesome walking and biking trails, we covered about 12 miles on our scooters.

Faith Chapel windows by Tiffany, truly amazing how the windows come to life with different angles of the sun.  The windows face to the East and West to capture the rising and setting sun.  Installed March 1921 on Good Friday and dedicated on Easter Sunday.

Driftwood Beach is a tree laden landscape due to the effects of 120 plus years of erosion from wind and saltwater.

Root system of a palm tree.

On May 3^rd we traveled 26 miles to Two Way Fish Camp marina near Brunswick Georgia to visit John, a friend we met at Marathon.  John purchased a few acres of land and is building a camp for travelers and friends traveling through the area.  John invited us to his first annual Derby Day Party.  We had a great time visiting John and his friends and touring his property. 

Yep, we're still in gator country.

Garage with two bays, a lift, and a shop.

Guest cabins with heat and air.

Shower house and restroom.

Elevated gazebo above the utilities building.

Outdoor kitchen

Awesome pool

It's been quite awhile since we've sat around a camp fire.

After visiting John, we traveled 55 miles to an anchorage at Lincoln Creek.

We traveled 31 miles on May 7^th to Thunderbolt Marina near Savanah, Georgia.  We took an open trolly tour of the city, which is a hop on, hop off daily pass throughout the city. 

There is an eight foot tide in this area of Georgia.  This marina has floating docks allowing us to rise and fall with the tide without having to adjust our lines.  We must know the tide level when anchoring to compensate for the extreme water level changes.

High tide at our dock.

Low tide

We departed Thunderbolt, Georgia on May 11^th and traveled 53 miles to an anchorage at Pleasant Point, near Beaufort, South Carolina, then 46 miles on May 12^th to an anchorage at Church Creek.  With severe thunderstorms forecasts in the area, we decided to stay at a marina in Charleston, South Carolina.   As luck would have it, the storms bypassed us, so we continued 55 miles to an anchorage at Minim Creek. 

On May 18^th, we traveled 13 miles from our anchorage to Georgetown, South Carolina, the third oldest city in U.S.  This is another historical town along the waterway and the Harborwalk Marina is located in the heart of the historical district. 

This guy has an awesome dinghy.

We departed Georgetown May 20^th and traveled 64 miles to an anchorage at Calabash Creek, then 64 miles to an anchorage near Figure Eight Island in North Carolina.  On May 22^nd we traveled 33 miles to and anchorage at Hammock Bay, located near the 246 square mile Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base.  The base has 14 miles of beaches and is a major area for amphibious assault training.  The base has 32-gun positions, 48 tactical landing zones, and 80 live fire ranges, we could hear live fire during our stay.

The waterway is closed during live fire operations. 

The Onslow bridge is about 5 miles from the Hammock Bay anchorage and new replacement bridge is being constructed.  Starting June 1^st, frequent waterway closures will begin lasting through September, so we wanted to get past that bottleneck before closures. 

On May 23^rd we traveled 86 miles to RE Mayo Seafood Dock.  This was our longest cruising day for quite a while, but we had severe thunderstorm forecasts for the next couple of days and we wanted to get the huge open bodies of water of Pamlico Sound and the Pamlico River behind us.  The seafood dock is not a marina, but the seafood facility that allows boaters to tie up to the south docks not used by the shrimp boats.  There were six shrimp boats at the north docks when we arrived, and another shrimp boat came in the next morning, unloaded fresh catch, then departed.  Yes, we had fresh shrimp scampi for dinner, and purchased fresh shrimp and scallops to go.

 It's hard to avoid eye contact with pirates when you're docked next to them......argh!

We continue to be threatened with severe thunderstorm forecasts, so far, we have been very fortunate and they have missed us.  Another band of storms is predicted for the Memorial Day weekend, so we traveled 27 miles on May 25^th to Dowry Creek Marina, near Belhaven North Carolina.  We also try to avoid traveling on the weekends, especially a holiday weekend.  Dowry Creek Marina was a great stop.  They have a courtesy car to get supplies, a pool, laundry, and a very nice on-site restaurant.  We have also seen a few stingrays swimming around in the marina but were unable to get any pictures.

We kept watching this formation as it raised and lowered in the sky...we only had a sprinkle at the marina all weekend.

On May 28^th we traveled 49 miles to the Alligator River Marina, we had planned to anchor out, but more thunderstorms were issued in the afternoon, so we decided to play it safe.  

On May 29^th we entered the Albemarle Sound and traveled 38 miles to Columbia, NC starting the Albemarle Loop.  The Albemarle Sound is a relatively shallow body of fresh water west of the Outer Banks.  The Albemarle Loop links marinas and historical waterfront towns on a loop of nearly 200 miles covering 450 square miles of water.  Our plan is to visit seven coastal towns around the loop before continuing north to the Chesapeake Bay.

Columbia N.C.

Unfortunately the marina was full so we anchored out and took the dinghy to town. 

Plymouth NC is located about 7 miles up the Roanoke River.  The largest black bears on the planet are found in eastern North Carolina.  The highest concentration of black bears in the world are located around the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula.  The museum director says its not uncommon to sight one in town.  We didn't see any bears during our stay, or the 14 mile round trip on the river.

Edenton N.C is located on the north shore of the Albemarle Sound.  We took a trolly tour and were amazed at the history and condition of the buildings.  

The Chowan County Courthouse was built in 1767 and remains the oldest government building in continuous use in North Carolina.  Amazing, 257 years old!

We have a few more towns to visit before continuing north and enjoy visiting the small towns and the unique history each one has to offer.  The residents are the friendliest people you'll ever meet.