Day 7 Whew!!! We made it!! Fernandina Beach, Fl - Duplin River, Ga

April 21st -  67 Miles! Long day for us! Woke fairly early in the morning and decided that we'd play today by ear. The temperatures have been unseasonably hot reaching the low 90's and today wasn't going to be much different. Except,,,, There was a front coming across from the west promising cooler/wetter weather. April showers bring May flowers right? Or is that only in the north? Unfortunately the weather reports weren't just for rain,, many states have been experiencing tornados which means high winds.
We raised the anchor and soon we crossed the St. Mary's Inlet and said good-bye to Florida. Crossing the inlet was a breeze, or should we say, there was no breeze. Infact we had all the vinyls rolled up searching for a breath of air, it was very muggy and still. The calm before the storm perhaps.
We passed along Cumberland Island and reminisced over the wild horses we encountered and wouldn't you know we spotted a few grazing in the grass by the shore. Turned towards Jekyll Island and found plenty of water for an area that is notibly shallow. It was high tide and we were having a great cruise. Enter St. Simon's Sound and noticed that yes clouds were definitely building but we wouldn't worry quite just yet. We passed our favorite anchorage at Fort Frederica and planned where we would drop the hook for the night. Our first choice had been Tea Kettle creek but after reading the reviews we felt it was a little exposed to the winds. We decided we would seek a little protection with trees to stop the winds,, just in case. So our next choice was the Duplin River. What appealed to us was reading about the protection from East/West winds having trees on both sides. It's amazing how much trees block the winds. Georgia is mostly  flat marsh land with tall grass and there are many great anchorages but when you need wind protection,,, you definitely would like to have tree lined shores.
There was a small Formula boat that had been following us throughout the day and we were talking on the radio with them. It was their first time travelling through Georgia so they decided to follow along.
Shortly around 5 pm we entered the Duplin River and we discovered several boats all snuggled down for the night. Amongst the boats were our friends Elaine and Bud Lloyd aboard Diamond Girl. We said a quick ahoy via radio but they knew we wanted to get our anchor set for the night. Well, we put plenty of chain down, just in case the winds really picked up. Less than an hour later we could not only see the storm but hear it very close. The skies went very dark and the lightening was absolutely amazing with claps of thunder that shook through the boat. We were happy to be anchored, and secure for the night.

Horses on Cumberland Island

 Heading towards St. Simons Sound

 building clouds in the Sound

The last ray of sunshine before the storm