Feb. 9, 2023 Cumberland Island to Port 32/Ortega River

 Feb. 9, 2023 Cumberland Island to Port 32 Marina - Ortega River

Plans are always subject to change, and we opted to modify ours today.  Originally, we were going to head for the Jacksonville Metro Park docks for a couple nights and then start further down the St. Johns on Sat with a stop for 2 nights at Port 32 Marina (previously Ortega Landing Marina).  Forecast got ugly with rain forecast to move in Fri. and heavy rain all day Sat. We called Port 32 who were able to accommodate us for a week's stay. Their weekly rate makes better sense after 3 days. We'll be secure for the rain. Have a place to watch the Super Bowl. Can still get around to a few breweries downtown via Uber. Can give the boat a needed washdown on Mon. And because I foolishly left some meds at home, we can get them picked up here.    

Pretty uneventful trip.  Got moving at 9:40 but no skinny waters today (or so we thought) so timing tides wasn't an issue.  Just past Cumberland we crossed the St. Mary's River and made it to Florida!!      Then more ICW travel behind Amelia Island.  Passing Fernandina - always a great town for a stop but no time today.  Before we knew it we had passed another favored stop at Sisters Creek and made our way onto the St. Johns River.  Rode a favorable current past all the industrial shipyards, then through downtown and finally into Ortega River.

Going under the Dames Point Bridge as we head towards Jacksonville

Downtown Jax.

We had never noticed these murals before.  They honor  Jacksonvilles original name.
Cowford!!   Because of all the cattle herded across the river in this narrow area

I had forgotten about the shoaling at the entrance to the Ortega and the meager 1' tidal height is of limited help. Charts showed an area of 6-7' depths we could snake through.  We backed down to idle speed and it's as bad as ever with the depth sounder again screaming as we went to 3' then 2' then 1' under the keel before regaining its composure as we got back into slightly deeper water.   The Ortega River Bridge opened quickly on demand for an easy pass through.  Then a smooth maneuver as we backed into our slip without incident. After a few months without any docking practice we did OK!   

Journey for Feb. 9, 2023