.

March 14, 2013 Day 307

Jekyll Harbor Marina
Jekyll Island, GA
Total miles to date: 5122.4

We left our anchorage off Cumberland Island at 0820 in a choppy sea. It was cold – low 40’s but sunny and windy.  We were well aware of the wind versus the tide which gave us 2’-3’ waves in the Cumberland Sound. We soon passed near the Navy’s Kings Bay Submarine Base, home of six Ballistic Missile Subs.  One of their patrol boats followed us until we were in the channel headed to the ICW; then he turned around, confident that we were not a threat.

We were in even rougher water when we entered St. Andrews Sound with 4 ft. seas for 15 or 20 minutes.  We were feeling the effect of swells coming in from the inlet to the ocean.

We arrived at the Jekyll Harbor Marina at 12:15 and tied up on the long transient face dock.  The staff is very friendly here.  Once we got settled and had lunch they drove us to the historical district of the island.

One of the "cottages"

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

We began our tour at the history museum and watched a film depicting the history of the island.  We decided to take our own walking tour rather than the 1½ hour trolley tour. The historical area is also known as “Millionaires Village”.  In 1885, a group of wealthy northerners bought the island and built a 60 room clubhouse in 1888.  Individual mansions (called cottages), golf courses, tennis courts, and a marina soon followed.  The club declined after the Depression and was closed after WWII.  In 1947 the State of Georgia purchased the island, and has restored 29 of the 34 historic homes. The Club House is now a hotel and the guests still play croquet which we were able to watch.  We also toured some of the public areas of the beautiful hotel.

We then toured the Georgia Sea Turtle Center which cares for injured turtles.  The center has treated and released 96 Loggerhead turtles. They also have many exhibits about the life cycle of turtles.

Always a treasure to see

The marina staff picked us up and we went back to our boat. We had dinner on board and worked on travel plans for the next few days.

We will go to St. Simons Island tomorrow.