May 14, 2000 -- A Very Good Day Gone Bad

Today, we had plans to visit Cumberland Island with Bob and Joanne on Timonee, as well as Mike on Sweet Dreams. We also considered heading to the north side of Cumberland Island to visit Arcturus and Cetus, but quickly nixed that idea because of the distances involved. Throughout the morning, we tried to hail Sweet Dreams, but could not raise him. At 11:00 AM, EDT, we decided to head over to Cumberland Island, hoping to meet up with Mike and some of his friends. After comparing notes about what we were each bringing, we picked up Bob and Joanne and headed north into Georgia (all of 2 miles). None of us had ever been to Cumberland Island, so it was a bit of a feat to figure out where the 'public' dinghy dock is; we found out later that we never did. After stopping at the first dock and asking around, we were told the second dock was where we wanted to go. We passed the second dock and asked the folks on China Moon where the public dock was. They were headed to the beach, so we followed them back to the second dock. We tied up the dinghy and began exploring Cumberland Island. We walked a path south to a renovated ice house turned museum. The walk along the trail was nice. We enjoyed the BIG trees, spanish moss, lack of bright sun, and a view of the water (as if we don't get enough of this cruising). We came out at the first dock we had tried to come into in time to see a navy submarine being towed out of its pen towards sea. (Pictures will be forthcoming.) We got sidetracked by a group of horses, and took several pictures of them, along with some deer. Then, Joanne wanted us to pose so that we could be a 'nice backdrop' to the tree she was taking a picture of. The trees are REALLY big here; the one she got a picture of was about 12 feet in diameter. We wandered through the museum, which was OK. It did a fluff history of Cumberland Island from pre-Columbus times to present day, in about 20 pictures and maybe 50 sentences. After cooling down in the shade of that old oak tree (isn't that a song?), we headed toward the ruins of Dungeness, the oldest building (now ruin) on the island. We arrived at the ruin in time to catch the tail end of the history of the island and how it became a national seashore. We also learned that Dungeness was the original burial place of Light Horse Harry Lee, father of Robert E. Lee. We wandered around for a bit before heading down the trail again. We passed by several ruins made of wood, past a collection of old cars that have rusted out, and down to the cemetery of Nathaniel Greene, his wife and where Light Horse was buried until Virginia moved him up there. Bob thought he heard an alligator splashing down the hill in the swamp, so he had to investigate. We let him. Mike and I bravely watched the rear quarter as he went toward the sound. He never did see anything. After the alligator/fish noise identification procedure was officially placed in the X-Files, we decided it was time for a change of scenery and headed towards the beach. Big mistake, well not really, but after trudging for miles in deep sand, at least a couple of hundred yards, we decided we had all seen beaches before and turned around. Almost delirious with thirst, we staggered out of the raging Sahara Desert to sit at a picnic table in the shade of another old oak tree. We broke out snacks and soda, cooled down and munched and talked. Finally, we had all had our fill of Cumberland Island, so we headed back towards the dinghy. Along the way, we saw and photographed an armadillo! Never having seen one in person, I thought they looked rather like a cross between an opossum, rat, and a turtle. When we got back to the dinghy, there was a little note in it that said that the dock we were tied to was for loading and unloading only. You would think they would have signs for this! We piled in the dinghy and headed back for the boats. We dropped Bob and Joanne off, making plans for cocktails at 6:00 PM, EDT, then went back to our boat and had an early dinner. Bob and Joanne came over and we spent the majority of the evening talking, not really drinking. We were all tired from being in the sun all day. Rain started falling around 9:00 PM, EDT. You know, the regular Florida rain shower that happens almost every day. At 9:30 PM, EDT, everyone in the anchorage was blasted by winds of 60+ knots! The winds didn't build to that, they just hit. One second, we had winds of 15 knots, the next, we were heeled over by 20 degrees with the boat rounding up into the wind as sailboats are designed to do when they get over-winded. The winds blew for about 2 hours, we fired up the engines to help take the strain off the anchor while we deployed a second anchor, shortly followed by a third. By the time we could see again, the anchorage was slightly rearranged. Several boats had moved, both voluntarily as well as kicking and screaming. All in all, the harbor came through fine, if a bit shaken. Almost every boat suffered some kind of cosmetic damage from ripped bimmi tops to broken antennas to paint scraps and bent stanchions; though there were no injuries. The boats at the marina faired worse than those at anchor. Many people stayed up for several hours conversing on the radio and generally reassuring each other, while keeping an eye on weather and anchor. Mike crashed from his adrenaline rush about 1:00 AM, EDT, while I stayed at the radio until almost 3:00 AM, EDT. It was a night we could have done without, but we came through it OK, and helped develop our confidence in the boat, knowing that it handled it fine. Though, all in all, this is not an experience either of us wants to duplicate, inshore or offshore. What a day!