On the Water with As You Wish: June 2 Cumberland Island

June 2

Up early for a very short run across the Florida border over to Cumberland Island GA. Wanted to depart Fernandina Municipal Marina on a relatively slack tide to make sure we had no issues getting off the dock and spun around to get out. It all worked out perfectly. Just an hour travel time and then we dropped anchor across from the National Park dock. We’ll stay here at anchor 2 nights so made sure the anchor was set extra good and put out a little extra scope as we’ll swing around with the current which can be significant given the 6-7’ tidal swing. With the anchor set we had a little breakfast. Then Martha took a nap and I finished a book. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore Park only accessible by boat and the park service boat that brings tourists over from St. Mary’s still isn’t running due to Covid-19 concerns. So we pretty much have the island to ourselves and a few other boaters anchored here.

These birds entertained us nightly standing on the dock line and snatching bait fish.

Another cruise ship - this one stuck at the Fernandina docks

Shrimping still popular around here

Couple dolphin greet us as we enter the anchorage

After a light lunch we dropped the dinghy and headed over to the island. Pretty interesting history. Nathanial Greene, the revolutionary war hero, owned the island back in the day as a cotton plantation. In the late 1800’s Thomas Carnegie -brother of Andrew and part owner of their steel empire, bought it and started building a winter residence. He wound up dying in 1886 about the time their home was ready for occupancy. His wife continued to live here and expanded the house, calling it Dungeness. Lived there until she died in 1915. Island was eventually bought by the state as a seashore nature park in the 40’s. House sat abandoned and in the late 50’s it burned leaving just some ruins. You can still feel the scale and grandeur of it just walking around the property.

As You Wish at anchor off Cumberland Island

Ruins of Dungeness - front side

Back side of the ruins - that's me in the foreground giving you a feel for the scale

Current inhabitants - a family of Osprey

Great nature trails around the island for exploring. Centuries old Spanish moss draped oak trees give the feeling of being on a set from one of those Tarzan movies made in the 50’s. A notable item on the island are the feral horses. When the gilded age came to an end and the Carnegies started leaving it’s said they simply let the horses go to run free and they’ve survived as a herd of wild horses ever since. Pretty much anywhere there’s a nice grassy area you’ll find a stallion, a few of his mares and a new colt. They must know the island is theirs as they pay visitors no attention. We passed within feet of several as we walked down some of the trails.

Wild horses at the entrance gates to Dungeness

Feeding on the back lawn

Cute little fella

Got back to the boat late afternoon. Martha took a quick swim. Had a little dinner – reheated some stuff on the grill and then settled in waiting for dusk. We weren’t expecting much of a sunset as there looked like heavy cloud cover on the horizon, but mother nature put on a nice display to end the day. Back to the island tomorrow. We’ll do a cross island trek and check out the ocean. Supposed to be one of the prettiest 18 mile stretches of sand and sea around.

Day 2

Gorgeous sunrise set the tone for the day. This island is almost magical. Again, pretty much had the place to ourselves except for a few other boaters. We dinghied back over and headed for the beach. Again, it's a walk through old growth oaks covered in spanish moss all twisted by the constant ocean winds. Eighteen miles of beach with nary a sole besides us. If this is what a true barrier island is supposed to look like it's a disgrace the way we've developed all the others. Row upon row of rolling dunes after exiting the woodlands with a wide and expansive beach. No real wildlife today except for watching two ghost crabs cleaning out sand from their tunnel. Also saw the telltale markings in the sand where a seaturtle had recently come ashore and laid her eggs. On the ride back to the boat we had 2 dolphins surfacing by us although they never would let us get very close. It's been a relaxing and enjoyable anchorage and visit to the island. Good way to get back in the swing of things after our unexpected delay due to Covid-19.