Mystical,Magical Moonlight Passage to Jekyll Island

Monday, Nov 10

Around 4am I awoke to tossing and turning about our decision to go outside. I want to do this and what better way than to follow an experienced couple, I keep telling myself over and over.
The weatherman says the winds and seas are even going to be lighter than predicted, so it is a go.

We were out of the anchorage for the 10am opening of the Lady Island Bridge. You don’t want to leave too early, because then you arrive in the dark to enter the channel to Jekyll Island, GA.






It was very flat water and we were seeing dolphins throughout the morning. As we got closer to the open ocean I could not believe how flat it was. It was almost like a huge mill pond. I decided to take advantag and do my small weight exercises. It was great doing exercises while watching dolphins come gracefully to the surface and back into the water again.




(Can you believe how flat it is!)

After we got out in the ocean we finally were able to put those big white things up. They are called sails, if I remember correctly. It seemed so long since we used them. We motored sail for a while and eventually turned the motor off. Hearing the lapping of the water against the hull was a wonderful sound. We sailed slowly but peacefully at 2-4 knots. There were times we thought perhaps we should turn on the motor and just then a puff of air would come, so we continued to sail. This trip was going to be 111 miles, so we planned at 4 knots we would get in shortly after day break to the buoys at the end of the river to go up to Jekyll Island. So if we got too far below 4 knots, we would turn on the engine and motor sail. During the trip I got alot of rug hooking done. It was another very gentle ocean like our first ocean passage.


The sunset was phenomenal. As it was going down the almost full moon was up in the sky and reflecting on the water. We watched intently as the sun slid into the horizon, trying to see the green flash, but none appeared. The sky seemed to get more beautiful every time I came out of the cabin - the reflection of the moon and oranges and reds of the horizon. Once the color faded to dark, it hightened the crystalline sparkles on the water from the moon even more. The moon was so bright it was like a spotlight showing us the way. It definitely was mystical and magical.


After dinner Al tried to rest in the cockpit. He never really fell asleep because he was too excited and because I don’t think he really trusted his boat with the first mate. I also was not overly confident about my sailing abilities but if I don’t take charge at times, I will never get more competent. If we are going to do more off shore passages he is going to have to change his tune on that one. Eventually he told me to go below and get some rest which I did, a good two hours. I awoke to Blue Heaven sailing 6 ½ - 7 knots. The winds had picked up as predicted to 10-15 knots. Al furled the 130 jib in part way to slow us down. Now we were going too fast and would get in too early. Al went below to try to sleep. While I was responsible for the boat, I brought some friends along to ease my fears – Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, The Eagles and of course Jimmy Buffet. I also found that sitting on the moonlit side of the boat just seemed friendlier. We would also talk to Estelle each hour so you did not feel entirely alone out there. It was not very difficult to sail because there is a lot less traffic out in the ocean than in the Chesapeake or the ICW and with GPS, radar and auto pilot you can actually relax. Once the sails are set, it is pretty much a straight shot down the coast.


Al was back up in an hour because with the wave action from the northeast winds and faster sailing, it was hard to sleep with all the creaking and other noises below. We were still going too fast so we furled the sail all the way and sailed under the main alone for the last twenty-five miles. I had gone down below to try to get some sleep but it was sporadic. Al finally called for me around 4am to come on deck to help him gybe. I stayed up in the cockpit with him for the remaining trip.

It was very interesting watching the moon get lower and lower in the sky until it finally went behind the horizon around 5am, just like a sunset. So for an hour or so we did not have much light. Then finally in the east the sky was getting brighter and brighter until the sun rose. We had done our first overnight and survived, a little road weary or should I say wave weary, but we survived!!!