The Umbrella Cut Route northbound takes you from Mile 696 in Cumberland River through Floyd Creek, across the Satilla River and into the Little Satilla to rejoin the AICW at Mile 686 in Jekyll Sound. This is often considered the route of choice when St. Andrew Sound is kicking up.

We used Floyd’s Cut to bypass St. Andrew Sound last spring in 2010 when the seas were predicted to be nasty. We left Fernandina in time to hit the cut just about at high tide so it was still rising a bit. It took about 45 minutes to go through and we were out before the tide started to go down. The least amount of water we had under our keel at one point was just under 6 feet. The depth sounder did read .9 at one point, but for a brief second, nothing we didn’t see on the ICW channel in spots. We draw 4.7. The most water under our keel was 25 feet! We asked for LOCAL KNOWLDEDGE BEFORE WE WENT.
It is a very pretty ride, saw deer and wild boar, and would definitely do it again, only when the tide is right!
Barbara and Jim Benjamin aboard M/V Golden Lily – Nordic Tug 42

And, a clarification from Captains Jim and Barbara:

In regards to 6 feet under our keel: We WERE in 6 feet of water at the lowest point with just under 2 feet under our keel. The route was well marked with buoys and on our chart and GPS.
Barbara and Jim

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