Daufuskie Island

We had a somewhat bouncy ride to St. Mary’s. Captain Paw-Paw decided we could make better time if we ran offshore, so run we did. We ran right into a military exercise being conducted off Jacksonville. The weather was a little cloudy and there was a light wind, but the ocean just had those gentle swells that make for such good napping. The captain was cruising along and the first mate decided a nap would be just what the doctor ordered. She had no sooner stretched out, pulled the quilt up to her chin, breathed a sigh and closed her eyes than the radio crackled and a stern voice said something we couldn’t understand about the “white sport fisher off our port bow.” It was a Coast Guard patrol boat and when the captain finally decided they thought we were a sport fisher and answered, they told us to stay off their port bow and keep moving.

We were more than happy to comply and zipped happily along for about a mile when an even sterner voice came over the radio, identifying himself as “Warship 80.” He told us to stay at least one and a quarter-miles away and to speed up. Of course, by this time first mate and captain were nervous wrecks. The last thing we wanted to tangle with was a warship—ours or anyone else’s. So we throttled up and passed him/her with our starboard to his port, and thanked them for being there as we passed by. By then I had the binoculars and what to my wondering eyes should appear but another warship and a submarine. The other warship told us politely to stay away, which we did. We turned toward the ocean and hoped we could stay well out of everyone’s way. We heard the submarine and an army tug discussing staying out of each other’s way, and had no desire to challenge either of them. First mate got no nap that day!

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we eventually found the St. Mary’s River and gratefully tied up at Lang’s Marina in the quaint little town of St. Mary’s. We called my sister-in-law, Paula, and she drove over from Kingsland and we went to dinner at the Old Mill Restaurant, not too far from the marina. We all had a terrific shrimp dinner. Paula then took us back to the boat, where we got a good night’s sleep.

Next morning we were up bright and early and sorted the laundry, which seemed to have multiplied in the hamper. Paula picked us up and took us to her house where we started a load of wash, then we went to Cracker Barrel for brunch. We went back to the house and put another load in the washer before going to Wal-Mart to lay in supplies. Then it was back to the house, where Paula trimmed my overgrown hair and we put in yet another load.

By this time it was time to run to White Oak and pick up Paula’s granddaughters, Laurie and Callie. We were happy to see the girls, check out Laurie’s chickens and the new walk and patio that had recently been added to their house. Then it was back to Kingsland and another load of laundry and a nap in the recliner for the exhausted captain. Then Paula took us, our groceries, and the girls back to the boat so the girls could get a look at it. An extra treat was in store because when we were walking up the dock we saw a school of porpoises feeding in the area near the docks. They fed for quite some time while we stood in the marina parking lot and watched.

Later, when Karla, the girls’ mother got off from work, and Charles, their father, got off from his reserve duty in Jacksonville, we all went out for steak. We couldn’t thank Paula enough for all the running around she did for us. It was great seeing Charles, Karla and the girls, too. After dinner Paula drove us back to St. Mary’s one more time where we bedded down with the happy thought that we had plenty of clean laundry and the “pantry” under the bench was re-stocked.

We had spoken to a dear friend, Mattie Gladstone, and asked if she would like to ride from St. Mary’s to Brunswick with us. Mattie is the wife of the minister who baptized my dad and me, buried my mom and brother, and married Gary and me. Their family have been friends of ours since I was a child. Mr. Fred “Happy Rock” as he was known at Bible camps across the country, was a paratrooper at the D-Day invasion and had been wounded there. He became a Christian after returning to the United States and spent the rest of his life serving his Lord. For many years he attended every World War II reunion he could, and witnessed to any who would listen, including some of the highest-ranking generals. He had been bedridden for several years and Mattie and his daughter Mary and son David had cared for him devotedly. He passed away just a few weeks ago. He was truly an American and Christian hero.

Mrs. Mattie loves the water, having lived most of her life near Darien, Georgia. She agreed that she would like to ride with us and we asked her daughter to have her at the marina by ten on Wednesday morning. They arrived at 8:30 a.m. Mary and her friend Elaine brought their two small dogs with them for the visit. At first the dogs didn’t notice Maggie, who was sitting atop her cage surveying her kingdom. When they did notice her she was not amused. They barked at her a couple of times and she literally dive-bombed them from the top of her cage. Luckily, the dogs were so awestruck that it didn’t register at first what had happened, so I was able to scoop Maggie up and put her in the cage. Lucky for the dogs, too. I have felt the wrath of Maggie when I inadvertently invaded her territory. So have our cats. They don’t hang around her, having been bitten on the tail once too often.

We had a lovely time with Mattie aboard. The weather was overcast, which kept the cabin of the boat from getting too hot and the wind was gentle. We saw dolphins several times and a variety of seabirds, besides some beautiful scenery. We got to Brunswick about noon and David came to pick his mother up. He is a gentleman farmer and brought us some eggs from his hens and a delicious shrimp and rice dinner that Mary had cooked. These were totally unexpected, but much appreciated. We hugged Mattie and David goodbye at the Brunswick marina just as the rain began. It’s gratifying to know that a small thing can bring someone else pleasure. All that and a good shrimp dish make for a good night’s sleep.

Next morning the weather was not the most pleasant for boating or anything else. It rained off and on all day and we had to cross several bodies of fairly open water. To be charitable I will just call it snarly. We took a lot of water over the bow, plus a good bit of rain. Poor Gilraker has taken a beating over the nearly 6,000 miles we’ve traveled over 2008 and now 2010. We found this time she was leaking around windows and other places more than we’ve seen before. We have a pile of bar mop towels that we keep on hand for just such occasions and made good use of a lot of them. We bounced and jounced and were glad when we pulled into the Kilkenny Marina in the middle of nowhere, somewhere south of Savannah, out of the wind. You can see some of the mileage racked up over the months in our now-ragged burgee. We are carrying with us the new gold one that will replace it when we cross our wake in Holden Beach in a week or so.

We had some of David’s fresh eggs with grits and bacon for supper and wearily headed for the sleeping cabin. Oh no! My sleeping bag had gotten soaked by some water dripping down from the windshield and running down behind the console. The blanket that I keep for warming up my feet was dry so I flipped the bag around, covered the wet place with my raincoat, and grabbed one of Gary’s pillows. I slept much better than I expected to, probably because I was worn out from keeping my balance in a lurching boat all day. Everything has its good side. Today I draped the bag in front of the propane heater and dried it out completely.

We had a beautiful run from Kilkenny Creek to a place called Bull Creek, just opposite the northern tip of Daufuskie Island. We anchored there amid the salt marshes and it’s beginning to look and smell like home. If you were raised around the salt marsh you know what I mean. If you weren’t, you probably think they’re the most awful-smelling things in the world. We plan to anchor near Edisto tomorrow night and arrive in Charleston sometime early Sunday.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Great Loop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.