Travel Experiences: Cruising Jekyll Island, Georgia

Over the last nine years, we have cruised up and down the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Bahamas and inland on the U.S. river system. We often reminisce about places we've been, the great people we've met and the delicious variety of food we have tasted.

One of our fondest memories is of the summer we spent docked at Jekyll Harbor Marina on Jekyll Island in Georgia. We found it had a pool, clean shower and rest room facilities and a restaurant with live music on weekends, as well as bicycles for touring the island.

Jekyll Island was put on the map when a group of Northern millionaires (J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Pulitzer, Gould and others) formed an exclusive club and built their winter retreats there in 1886. This was, of course, before Florida had been developed as a retreat for the rich and famous. It is said that when all the club members were present, one sixth of the world's wealth was present on this one tiny island!

Today, the club and huge cottages have been converted into a resort, with a restaurant and museum for all to enjoy, still retaining their charm and rustic ambiance. The island boasts many bike paths for visitors to enjoy. We especially remember the nearby marshes and gigantic live oak trees of coastal Georgia. Thanks to the marshlands, this area has not been developed like its neighboring states and one can easily find vast deserted beaches with plentiful wildlife.

In the food department, consider the delight of pulling up to a returning shrimp boat and buying shrimp so fresh that they are still wriggling. The price is right and the supply limited only by your own appetites! You'll find a thousand and one ways to serve them, and discover recipes you'll treasure for years.

But caution is called for upon departure when crossing St. Andrews Sound. We and our visiting landlubber friends got a bit more adventure than expected as we left Jekyll Island for a few nights on the hook. The weather was perfect with light winds and clear sunny skies when we cast off. Less than a half hour out we found ourselves on the Sound, which we later discovered has a reputation for sudden roughness and fast tidal flow. Lulled by the previous night's shrimp fest and our accustomed easy island pace, we suddenly found our boat Mai Thai tossed like a cork in five foot beam seas, high winds and blinding sea spray. Books and magazines flew about the cabin with a life of their own, the TV set toppled onto the floor with a mighty thunk and our bottle of J&B, left out after last night's gathering, literally took wing and floated thorough the air to come to rest unscathed on the far side of the cabin.

After the rough ten-minute passage we took stock and found fortunately that nothing had been damaged but our nerves. Who would have thought that we needed to adhere to our usual routine of securing everything before venturing out on the briny? It had been such a lovely calm day only minutes before! And it was only a short cruise to our planned anchorage! Well, the boating life teaches many lessons and we had just learned a harsh one that has stuck throughout our now long boating experience.

Our crew hastily recovered the previously airborne J&B bottle and lightened it a bit as a nerve bracer before we enjoyed a cozy anchorage at Brickhill River, off of Little Cumberland Island. A beautiful sunset, a delightful supper and good company soon erased the unpleasantness of St. Andrews Sound, but never our lessons learned that memorable afternoon.