We continued north on a windy morning winding our way up the Intracoastal past miles of tidal marsh filled with cordgrass.
Your fact for the day- Cordgrass provides protection from erosion, serves as a water filtering system, and shelter for the wildlife. We saw gulls, herons, bank swallows, plovers, black ducks, rails and marsh hens, white pelicans and the common cormorant. Four dolphin also swam by the boat fishing along the bank.
Cruising past St Simon and Little St Simon Islands we crossed the Altamaha River to travel behind three more barriers island- Wolf, Queen and Sapelo. Behind Sapelo Island, we began to see fish camps amongst the oak hammocks and further up we passed a number of shrimp boats.
We anchored up the Crescent River along with two other boats and spent the afternoon doing a few chores, napping and even tried the drone.
This is a beautiful spot. The pictures do not do it justice. At sunset, large flocks of birds flew in formation over the marshes. So many birds here!
Here is some drone footage
Sapelo Island is the fourth of the Georgia Sea Islands- Cumberland, Jekyll and St Simon are the other three. Visitors can go by boat to the beaches, but all other access is via ferry. We will have to come back to see the restored lighthouse and plantation ruins. The island is famous for its Gullah language- a language developed by the slaves so they could communicate as they all came from different countries and spoke different languages. There is a Gullah/Geechee Village still on the island.
April 20 St Catherine’s and Ossabaw Islands 27.8nm Total 575miles
Pulling up anchor we headed down the Crescent River to rejoin the Intracoastal again. We wound our way past Sapelo Island and it’s tidal marshes to the Sapelo River.
The river took us past Blackbeard Island. The island was named on maps as early as 1760. Legend has it that Edward Teach (Blackbeard) buried his treasure here, but none has ever been found. Today the island is a wildlife refuge. Bill was excited to be so close to a pirate island!
We crossed the pass and headed behind St Catherine’s Island. St Catherine’s is off limits to all except for its beaches. The island is an international “retreat” for endangered animals. The island has played host to zebra, gazelles, parrots, lemurs, rhinoceros, tortoise and whooping cranes.
Leaving St Catherine’s behind we crossed the Medway River and headed behind Ossabaw Island. Was a bit windy and the seabirds used the navigation marks to hunker down against the wind.
Ossabaw Island is also a nature preserve. Like Cumberland Island, access is by ferry with primitive camping, hiking trails and the beaches. We anchored behind the island for the night.
Side Note: Was interesting to see all the places we drive past on I-95 heading north from the perspective of the water. We can now connect the exits and bridges of the highway to the towns, rivers and islands in this coastal area.