I have not mentioned much about boating in the ICW so far as it has been pretty easy—just connect the numbered red and green buoys and stay in the channel. It got a little more exciting today with shallow water due to 7 foot tides and even with our draft of 3’9”, we bumped 3 times in 5 seconds at red buoy # 43 in the Little Amelia River section. That definitely got our attention. We’ve been doing 50-60 mile days, leaving at 6:30 am so that we could do the most distance which would also allow us time to visit towns if we could dock by 2pm. The tides have been cooperating so far but not with the upcoming section of GA—stay tuned for our strategy.
Amelia Island with quaint downtown Fernandina Beach is right on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and is also a good entry port from the Atlantic through the St. Mary’s Inlet. With its deep harbor, it can even accommodate submarines headed for base at King’s Bay. The downtown historic area is a 4 by 10 block area filled with registry homes, restaurants, parks, a museum and unique shops—how about a Trailer Park Collectible store? We walked 2 miles to the Amelia Island Lighthouse only to learn that it is only open on the first and third Wednesday of the month. There were some serious “No Trespassing” signs so this is the best picture that I could get.
The town is recovering from last weekend’s 100,000 visitors for Shrimp Fest where everything had a shrimp on it. If you are in the area the weekend of May 15-17, you can go to the Wild Amelia Festival which features nature tours. The wild horses of Cumberland Island are right across the Inlet. We did not get to the southern part of Amelia Island which features luxury resorts, Amelia Island Plantation, Summer Beach Resort and the Ritz-Carlton, where you can get pampered and spoiled –not for me this time as I am a working boater and might stab myself with those fancy nails.
Amelia Island with quaint downtown Fernandina Beach is right on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and is also a good entry port from the Atlantic through the St. Mary’s Inlet. With its deep harbor, it can even accommodate submarines headed for base at King’s Bay. The downtown historic area is a 4 by 10 block area filled with registry homes, restaurants, parks, a museum and unique shops—how about a Trailer Park Collectible store? We walked 2 miles to the Amelia Island Lighthouse only to learn that it is only open on the first and third Wednesday of the month. There were some serious “No Trespassing” signs so this is the best picture that I could get.
The town is recovering from last weekend’s 100,000 visitors for Shrimp Fest where everything had a shrimp on it. If you are in the area the weekend of May 15-17, you can go to the Wild Amelia Festival which features nature tours. The wild horses of Cumberland Island are right across the Inlet. We did not get to the southern part of Amelia Island which features luxury resorts, Amelia Island Plantation, Summer Beach Resort and the Ritz-Carlton, where you can get pampered and spoiled –not for me this time as I am a working boater and might stab myself with those fancy nails.
