"2003 November 22 0vernight to St. Mary's Inlet" Top 5 Page for this destination Cumberland Island Travelogue by grandmaR

The next day I heard a funny story about this inlet. We were talking about the current. Someone said that a friend was out fishing and not paying much attention to where he was. He drifted back and forth with the current and tide. When it was time to go home, he headed for the mills that he could see. But the inlet didn't look familiar to him. It turned out he had entered Brunswick Inlet farther north in Georgia

10:54 a.m. Range Marker

Bob notes that the range markers have us outside of the channel.

11:05 Shrimp boats

We played chicken with a shrimp boat trailing nets, but "let him" win. There shrimp boats all over - north of the inlet - south of the inlet - converging - diverging.

Paper mills in Fernandina Beach south of the inlet

The St Mary's River inlet is a Class A inlet. Even though it is quite rural, they keep it dredged for the submarines from the sub base.

11:55 - buoy in the channel

They've renumbered the buoys in the inlet and the one marked #16 on the chart is now #10. This doesn't make a problem for us, but for cruisers on the ICW who are turning at a certain buoy number, rather than going to a location by GPS, it means that they might end up in St. Mary's Georgia instead of Fernandina Beach, Florida.

1225 Sailboat by Cumberland Island side

There is a LOT of current in the inlet channel. It takes us about a hour and a half to get in the inlet because the current out against us made our progress so slow. This sailboat is being helped by both wind and current.

Tug in the St. Mary's River

Hear a boat repeatedly calling a Navy vessel. I think it is a tug. Don't see any Navy vessel and never hear the Navy vessel answer. But we do see a tug.

12:35- Range marker in the channel

We finally get to the marina in Fernandina after 187 sm or 163 nm. Tomorrow, my sister is flying in to meet us at Amelia Island