Shared Photo – Saturday Sail

Saturday Sail – St. Marys, GA
Saturday Sail – St. Marys, GA
This artificial reef is on the northwest shore of Jekyll Island, just east of the Waterway and north of the Waterway’s turn into Jekyll Creek. Advise staying well west of ICW lighted buoys 21 and 1.
GEORGIA – ST. SIMONS SOUND: Inshore Artificial Reef deployment
Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) intends to deploy 120 concrete oyster balls and 10 fish aggregating devices (FADs) at Henry Vassa Cate Reef. Oyster balls are prefabricated concrete structures that weigh 50 lbs each and FADs consist of a concrete base and PVC tines.The Henry Vassa Cate Inshore Artificial Reef site footprint (3.67 acres) is located along the northwest area of Jekyll Island, St. Simons Sound, Glynn County in the vicinity of 31-06-13.680N/81-25-30.660W (31°6.2280N / 081°25.5110W, 31.103800 / -81.425183) . Deployment dates are weather dependent and subject to change, but is anticipated to
occur between July 9 -16, 2020. (0°16.0000N / 2020°0.0000W, 0.266667 / -2020.000000) For further information, contact GADNR Habitat Unit, Cameron Brinton at (912) 280-6926 or cameron.brinton@dnr.ga.gov. Chart 11506 LNM 27/20
Our thanks to Fred Braman for this excellent report and chart from Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island National Seashore is a National Park on the east shore of the Waterway’s passage through Cumberland Sound south of Jekyll Island. There are only dinghy docks on the island, which extends over 16 NM from St. Andrew Sound to the Georgia State Line. The Park’s website is https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm. Anchorages may be restricted by Georgia legislation.
Just a note that may be of interest. I visited Cumberland Island last week. The island is as delightful as ever. Only open to private boaters who can get there. Dinghy docks are open at Sea Camp anchorage as are rest rooms and showers in the camping area. No ferries are operating and tour boats are prohibited. The Ranger Station is closed as are attractions like the Ice House Museum and Plum Orchard tours. But the beaches and trails are open, mostly why we go to this delightful place anyway. Happy to answer emailed questions at fredbraman@hotmail.com.
Here is a chart for the Cumberland Sea Camp anchorage. Note that on older chart packs and chart plotters (like mine), Red 34 is Red 40. This series of markers were renumbered years ago. As soon as you turn inside Red 34, look for a shoal marker to port heading in. It marks a sandbar that comes off the tip of the island to the north. Once you spot it, give it plenty of room to port and pick up the first dock complex on shore near a little white building. That’s Dungeness Dock. Head right for it and once near it, follow the shore up to Sea Camp. Don’t wander too far from Cumberland’s shore. There is a sandbar to the west of the main anchorage area. If it starts to get too shallow for comfort, turn towards the island where the deep water is. It sounds more complicated than it is. It’s really straight forward. Plenty of room for dozens of boats. I try to anchor a little to the north of Sea Camp Dock where it gets a little shallower. Depths in most places around 18 ft. Hope this helps.
Fred Braman
Photo by Sonny Reeves
Historic Jekyll Island is home to Jekyll Harbor Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, lying along the easterly banks of the AICW passage through Jekyll Creek, immediately south of the 65-foot fixed bridge. See More Praise.
Jekyll Island, Georgia Is Where You Can Get a Taste of Gilded Age Glory
Yahoo Lifestyle
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, Jekyll Harbor Marina lies along the easterly banks of the AICW’s passage through Jekyll Creek, immediately south of the 65-foot fixed bridge. Our thanks to Richard Houyoux for these good words for Jekyll Harbor Marina.
Stopped in for a couple of days while transiting north in January, 2020. Can’t say enough fine words for the cooperation and friendliness of the staff while servicing this newbie cruiser. Completely met all our needs and provided excellent advice. Adjoining restaurant offers fine fresh fish and burgers. Be sure to check in with Jamey if you want rides into town. Otherwise, Uber is available.
Richard Houyoux
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Our thanks to Bill Weeks of Jekyll Harbor Marina, A Cruisers Net Sponsor, for this critical Local Knowledge regarding safe passage of this ICW Problem Stretch.
Jekyll Creek was dredged last spring. The catch is, that only half of the 150’ channel width was dredged. The COE did a 75’ swath from the centerline of the channel to the EASTERN edge. In this part of the creek you will have 10 feet at mean low water. Boaters should be advised in transiting this part of the ICW that they should stay to the seaward side of the centerline. otherwise they will be in very shallow water even though their chart plotted sales they are in the “channel”. Anyway you guys could help get this word out? As you say, the sailboaters are still coming in good numbers, and this knowledge is very critical to them.
Many thanks and best regards,
Bill Weeks
Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
Several route options to navigate St Andrew Sound, especially in foul weather, have been posted on Cruisers Net. Type St Andrew Sound in our Homepage Search window for those reports. Experienced cruisers and frequent Cruisers Net contributors Jim and Peg Healy share their ships log and navigation watches as M/V Sanctuary travels south on the FL/GA Waterway. Thank you Jim and Peg!
Transited St Andrews Sound yesterday March 16. NE wind 20 to 25 knots. I followed the ICW route, it became terribly rough. Steep four to six foot waves with a period of 2 to 3 seconds. In a 31 foot sailboat it was nerve wracking. So of course today I see the alternate route. Lesson learned, check Cruisers Net and Bob 423.
I believe the correct link for Bob423 tracks and routes is at: http://bobicw.blogspot.com/
You meant fleetwing.blogpot.com
Our thanks to James Newsome for this USACE report on dredging in Jekyll Creek which has been a Cruisers Net Problem Stretch for years. The on-going dredging is more than welcome, it is essential! Jekyll Creek is home to CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, Jekyll Harbor Marina.
Click here for Dredging pilot project could be a game-changer for Georgia coast
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Our thanks to Captain Troup Nightingale for this valuable onsite, local knowledge report on depths in Jekyll Creek. His advice is well worth heeding. Jekyll Wharf is on the eastern shoulder of the Waterway north of the bridge and Jekyll Creek is home to CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, Jekyll Harbor Marina.
The worst part of Jekyll Creek is within days of dredging completion. Jekyll Creek has been known as one of, if not the worst, sections of the ICW. On below mean low water, portions of the channel have been at around 3 feet. HOWEVER MAKE NOTE – only the EAST side (green side) of the magenta line has been dredged giving around 45 to 75 feet of channel at best. Local knowledge thinks it will fill back in rapidly. So, you must try to stay just EAST of the magenta line. Dredging started about a half mile north of Green 19 and ended near Jekyll Bridge. Headed South, you come around the Green 19 on your port and then get left of the magenta line towards Jekyll Wharf. The dredged channel is pretty close to the docks, not the Red marker there. Headed to Jekyll Wharf will position you very close to the mud on your left – surprisingly close! After Jekyll Wharf docks, the channel bends in a righthand arc – not straight red to red. Again, at low tide, you will be surprisingly close to the mud bank to port. The channel was suppose to be dug and then the sides sloped upwards. What we see is a very sharp difference between the dredged channel and the non-dredged area. So, you could be zooming along in 12 feet of water at low tide and all of a sudden be in 3 feet—both sides. My knowledge of Jekyll Creek has been for around 20 years; 10 of those as a past TowBoatUS Captain. Currently, I run Dolphin and ECO Tours on 45 foot tour boats from Jekyll Wharf where at low tide, we still have to bow in to the docks to have water for our engines while the dock sits in the mud.
Captain Troup Nightingale
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Our thanks to Genko Ganev for this report of shoaling at the eastern edge of Sapelo Sound, GA.
We are on a catamaran with a 3.2 feet draft and entering the channel through the marked buoys and our chart plotter showing 21 feet of depth we ran aground and spent 30 minutes trying to get out. The shoal must have shifted south. 31 32.021 N and 081 08.692 W
Genko Ganev
Experienced cruisers and frequent Cruisers Net contributors Jim and Peg Healy share their ships log and navigation watches as M/V Sanctuary travels north on the FL/GA Waterway. Thank you Jim and Peg!
Jekyll Creek is home to CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, Jekyll Harbor Marina, one of the best, as Jim and Peg discovered!.
We called Jekyll Harbor Marina for local knowledge on dredging status in Jekyll Creek. The dredge is now working in the shallowest area of the creek, and the advice was to stand down and wait for more water. JHM let us tie up on the face dock, and let us hook up to power at no charge. The mid-day heat was brutal, so I considered that courtesy as above and beyond! Kudus to Jekyll Harbor for their welcome! We enjoyed a nice lunch there, and departed northbound at 13h30 with the tide at +2.3 ft. No issues. From the bridge to the dredge, we saw a steady 9.0 ft up to the dredge. North of the dredge, for about 1/4 mile, it was bad; 5.5 ft. Not passable for most cruising boats at MLW. But, within a couple of weeks – and certainly by fall – Jekyll creek should be fine for a change! Around 6.5 to 7 ft, MLW.
Jim and Peg Healy aboard Sanctuary
Monk 36 Hull #132
See also Shallow Depths in Jekyll Creek
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Numerous route options to navigate St Andrew Sound, especially in foul weather, have been posted on Cruisers Net. Type St Andrew Sound in our Homepage Search window for those reports. Experienced cruisers and frequent Cruisers Net contributors Jim and Peg Healy share their ships log and navigation watches as M/V Sanctuary travels north on the FL/GA Waterway. Thank you Jim and Peg!
We crossed St. Andrews Sound between 08h45 and 09h15, with the tide at Jekyll Creek at 1.8 ft. We crossed the tip of Horseshoe Shoal with 7.5 ft of water. Conditions were dead flat, so I would not recommend that route near low tide with any significant seas on St. Andrews Sound. With only 5.5 ft, +/-, some cruising boats would potentially have problems, and certainly so with 2 ft seas.
Jim and Peg Healy aboard Sanctuary
Monk 36 Hull #132
See also Comments on St Andrew Sound
Experienced cruisers and frequent Cruisers Net contributors Jim and Peg Healy share their ships log and navigation watches as M/V Sanctuary travels north on the FL/GA Waterway. Thank you Jim and Peg!
Problem Stretch Cumberland Dividings at the intersection of the Waterway and Brickhill River has been a Problem Stretch for several years due to constantly shifting shoals and an erroneous magenta line on many chartplotters.
The Cumberland Dividings were fine as marked. Floating R”60″ has been moved slightly north again. We cleared R”60″ at 08h30, with tide at Crooked River at +3.5. We saw at least 9.0 ft, so at least 6.5 ft at MLW. We did not that we needed to stay north there, close to the shoreline. The south side is shoaling. Creates anxiety, but doable for most cruising boats except at celestial lows.
Jim and Peg Healy
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For the Cumberland Dividings
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
As Richard Ross warned in early May, Caution Still Needed, Sean Foley reminds us that, despite ongoing dredging in the creek, a sharp eye on your depth finder is a wise choice until the dredging project has been completed. And like TowBoatUS, mid to high tide is Cruisers Net’s recommendation for safe passage.
If you draw five feet or more, enter Jekyll Creek from the north only at or very close to peak high tide. Our depth finder showed less than 6 feet of water at Marker 17 an hour before the afternoon peak high tide. We draw 5 feet so we had less than a foot of clearance. The ongoing dredging operations will greatly improve this situation, but until the project is completed use caution and time your entry properly. The dockmaster told me it will take another few weeks to complete the project. I had called TowBoat US for local knowledge before entering the Creek and he suggested a mid-tide or higher entry would be ok. He was correct, but I’d say make it closer to peak high tide.
By the way, after I submitted my comment I spotted a couple of skeptical responses to the early May advisory from two other skippers. The answer here is that the dredging equipment is by necessity occupying the Jekyll Creek channel around markers 17 and 19, forcing boat traffic into the western shallows. The dredging crew has advised Tow Boat US to tell deep draft vessels to pass as close as safely possible to the west side of the dredging barge/equipment.
Cheers,
Sean Foley
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net AICW Problem Stretches Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
AREA SPONSORING MARINA
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
This long overdue dredging is very welcome, but as Richard Ross confirms, the dredging has not been completed so GO SLOW and KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE DEPTH FINDER! Because the channel through this Problem Stretch seems to shift with each tide and until the dredging proves otherwise, Cruisers Net still recommends mid to high tide passage.
By now everyone cruising the ICW should know that Jekyll Creek is being dredged.
We came thru there today (May 2/19) near high tide and saw 2 ft MLW near the infamous marker 19. The dredge is at the north end and will be working its way south. Completion is scheduled for June 15. So don’t strike this off your list of Georgia problem stretches yet.
Richard Ross
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
AREA SPONSORING MARINA
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
In reply to Dave and Bob. Sorry it took so long, we have been out cruising.
MLW depths mean the water depth at low tide. Of course the water was much deeper at close to high tide when we went thru (We draw 5 ft), but I subtracted the tide when calculating water depth. The bottom line is that until the dredging is finished, most boats will not be able to pass this section at low tide.
Can someone please verify this? Seems to be an exaggeration
With all due respect, it is hard to believe that there was 2 ft mlw in Jekyll Creek today near high tide. These kinds of reports are useless to cruisers and actually are detrimental because they do not potray a complete picture. Exactly where near green 19 were you when you saw 2 ft? I suspect you were quite far off G 19 and which direction were u heading, north or south? I travel through here several times a year and have never heard of 2 ft at mlw except if you are out of the channel, off course or have not paid attention to the many tracks and routes posted online to easily traverse this area.
This long overdue dredging is very welcome, because the channel through this Problem Stretch seems to shift with each tide and, until the dredging proves otherwise, Cruisers Net still recommends mid to high tide passage.
Below is a link to information about the dredging of Jekyll Creek off Jekyll Island set to begin April 10 (date revised March 11, 2019). Crews will arrive Monday for staging. This has been a long time in the making. Jekyll Creek is one of the most shallow points in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Georgia and has not been dredged since 1998.
Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be using two new techniques to manage dredge sediments. You can read all about it in the link below. Please don’t hesitate if you have questions. I’m also working on putting a short video together about this with some drone footage showing the locations referenced on the website. I expect to have that available tomorrow for TV stations and anyone else who’d like it.
You can read all about it here: www.coastalGADNR.org/JekyllCreek
Tyler Jones
Communications Specialist
Coastal Resources Division
(912) 262-3140 | M: (912) 230-9709
Follow us on Facebook
Buy a fishing license today!
Click here to sign up for CRD news delivered to your inbox
—————————————————
A division of the
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
3/12/19 Jekyll Creek dredging pilot project set for April
Brunswick News
GEORGIA
Dredging in Jekyll Creek begins this month
News4Jax
Jekyll Creek Dredging Information Video
Dredging in Jekyll Creek begins this month
WJXT News4JAX
Big dredging project underway in Jekyll Creek
WJXT News4JAX
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
AREA SPONSORING MARINA
Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Our thanks to Sonny Reeves, an experienced cruiser and photographer, for this photo essay on Jekyll Island where he, his wife, Jean and their rescue Dachshund, Suzsea, lived for a number of years on their boat at Jekyll Harbor Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR.
Click here for Jekyll Island, 2011-2014
Suzsea
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Our thanks to Richard and Jill Spurlock for granting permission to share their excellent description of Cumberland Island as posted on AGLCA’s Forum. Cumberland Island National Seashore is a National Park on the east shore of the Waterway’s passage through Cumberland Sound south of Jekyll Island. There are only dinghy docks on the island and one of Claiborne’s favorite side trips along the south Georgia coast was to leave the Waterway at marker #34 and cruise up the Cumberland Island channel to anchor off the west side of Cumberland Island and east of Drum Point Island. See Anchoring off Cumberland Island and the Park’s website is https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm.
If you would like to explore a great island park stop at Cumberland Island National Park just North of Fernandina Beach, Florida. Cumberland Island is the first barrier island you see [northbound] after you cross the Georgia line on the ICW. There is a long anchorage area that is protected except from the south and southwest. There were boats from 22 feet to 55 feet anchored in this 1/2 mile long anchoring area while we were visiting. There is a lot to see and do here if you like the outdoors. There are the Dungeness ruins, remains of a huge mansion and outbuildings, wild horses, Plum Orchard Mansion still intact with tours. You can also walk a half a mile to the Atlantic side and have a beach that goes as far as you can see. We only met two people walking the beach the day we were there. If the weather is nice you can easily spend 3 days here walking and enjoying the outdoors. There are 2 docks where you can tie a dinghy on the southern end and one on the Brickhill River where the Plum Orchard Mansion is located. This is a national park so there is a $10 per person entry fee for adults. Check it out on the web.
Richard and Jill Spurlock
Jill Kristy
MacGregor 26 X
Cumberland Island Beach, photo by Sonny Reeves
Such a beautiful place.
In this Facebook posting on Bob423, Tom Hale describes his recent St Andrew Sound passage. St Andrew Sound can kick up nasty conditions in the shallows of the Waterway’s magenta line east around infamous Marker 32. Alternative routes have been explored and suggested as long as I can remember. See Robert Sherer’s alternate route for more on this often challenging sound.
In this Facebook posting, Tom Hale is referring to Dredging to Begin, Jekyll Creek Problem Stretch, GA AICW Statute Mile 683 on Bob423’s blog.
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For Jekyll Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
AREA SPONSORING MARINA
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Georgia Marina Directory Listing For Jekyll Harbor Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Jekyll Harbor Marina
Be the first to comment!