Retrieving Irish Rover - July 20 to August 23 (Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Jekyll Island, GA, Santee, SC, Cliffs of the Neuse, NC 

- July 20-27, 2018

Karen and I decided to make a relaxing summer trip out of our simple chore to bring Irish Rover south to Florida.  As you may recall, Irish Rover was placed into storage in the Pennsylvania mine a year earlier.  To make the trip as laid back as possible, we drove short trips and stayed multiple nights at every stop enroute.  Our first stop was only a few hours from Titusville in southern Georgia near Jekyll Island.  We had passed this way four times while cruising on Kelly IV but never went ashore to enjoy the sights (Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016).  This time we camped the RV in Blythe Island County Park Campground just outside Brunswick, GA and Jekyll Island.  As we drove over the ICW (Jekyll Creek) on the high-level bridge, I recalled how intense it was transiting the shoals in Jekyll Creek.  When sailing, I planned our travel of this portion of the ICW to happen on the rising tide about an hour before high tide.  This timing would enable the still-rising tide to float us off, if we did run aground, but the higher water would reduce the likelihood of going aground.  Thankfully, we never actually went aground, although Kelly's depth sounder reported shoals of less than five feet several times as we transited Jekyll Creek.  Since Kelly IV had a draft of almost 5 feet, I felt like the creek should have been named for Mr. Hyde! 

Ocean view from Jekyll Island's Tortuga Jack's Restauarant

Our visit via RV was truly relaxing!  We rode our bicycles on Jekyll Island enjoying the ocean views, the Spanish Moss draped trees, as well as a nice meal overlooking the beach.

Santee, SC was our next stop, only 200 miles north.  Our campsite there had a nice view through the trees of Lake Marion.  We had hoped to do some kayaking, but as we left our kayaks in Florida and the rental service was closed, we limited ourselves to walks, calisthenics, and bike rides.

Santee State Park, SC campsite

Karen and I did some calisthenics so as not to fall behind our class at TGO

Our campsite at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

The 25th of July we departed northbound for Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in Seven Springs, NC.  The campsites were very modern, level, gravel for the RV and lots of trees for shade and privacy. 

Topographic Map of our Hike at Cliffs of the Neuse SP

We took a fun hike up and down the hills ending at a dramatic cliff overlooking a sweeping bend of the Neuse River.

July 27 was our departure date for Annapolis, MD.  As Annapolis was Karen's home for 35 years, my home when I lived aboard Kelly IV full-time for two years, and is home to Karen's grandson and many mutual friends, we were looking forward to spending some time at the Sailing Capitol of the US.