PLEASE CAREFULLY READ OUR DISCLAIMER!
Please Note That Postings Below From Fellow Cruisers Are Listed in Chronological Order, Based on Publication Date
Yellow Background Denotes Navigation Alert Postings
Cumberland River Light 33 destroyed, temp onsite
Jekyll Creek Light 29 missing, temp onsite
Cumberland River Daybeacon 59A destroyed, temp onsite
Cumberland River Daybeacon 51 destroyed
Great care must be taken when approaching the dredge in this notoriously narrow and shallow stretch of Waterway.
GEORGIA – INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY – ST SIMONS SOUND TO TOLOMATO RIVER – CUMBERLAND RIVER: Dredging.
Cottrell Contracting Corporation of Chesapeake, Virginia advises that the dredge ROCKBRIDGE will be conducting dredging operations on Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Cumberland Dividings, Camden County, GA. The work will be ongoing from February 15, 2024, through May 2, 2024, from Cumberland River Daybeacon 57 (LLNR 37590 [30°51.8633N / 081°29.7877W, 30.864388 / -81.496462]) to Cumberland Sound Daybeacon 76 (LLNR 37685 [30°47.6078N / 081°29.5247W, 30.793464 / -81.492079]). Additionally, Overboard Disposal will be taking place in the vicinity of Cabin Bluff. The pipeline will extend to the “new island” from the dredge upriver to Cumberland Daybeacon 47 (LLNR 37545 [30°53.5048N / 081°30.4898W, 30.891747 / -81.508163]). All mariners are requested to stay clear of the dredge, pipelines, barge, derricks, and operating wires about the dredge. All operators should be aware that the dredge and pontoon lines are held in place by cables, which are attached to anchors some distance from the dredge and pontoons. Buoys are attached to the anchors so that they may be moved as the dredge moves. Submerged lines should be avoided. Mariners are requested
to exercise extreme caution when approaching, passing, and leaving the dredging plant. The dredge Rockbridge monitors VHF-FM channels 13 and 16. Mariners are cautioned to strictly comply with the Inland Rules of the Road when approaching, passing and leaving the area of operations, and remain a safe distance away from the dredge, booster, buoys, cables, pipeline, barges, derricks, wires and related equipment. Owners and lessees of fishnets, crabpots and other structures that may be in the vicinity and that may hinder the free navigation of attending
vessels and equipment must remove these from the area where tugs, tenderboats and other attendant equipment will be navigating. Dredging operations will be conducted twenty-four hours a day seven, days a week, all fishnets, crabpots and structures in the general area must be removed prior to commencement of any wqrk, a slow NO WAKE speed is requested of transiting vessels. All vessels are requested to contact the dredge prior to passing.
Photo taken for promotion, the 1st two boats as customers, Rhombus and Unstoppable! Neat!
North Atlantic right whales are in peril. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear have spurred a population decline that may lead to extinction in ~20 years.
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. – According to the whale mapping website whalemap.org, the first right whale sighting of the year was Friday, November 30 off Jekyll Island.
The sighting was of a female right whale, no calf was seen. Another sighting was made south of Jekyll Island Tuesday, December 6.
News4Jax
Click here for First right whale sighting of the year off Jekyll Island
Whalemap.org
There are five cuts in the Satilla River basin, including the often used Umbrella Cut, an alternate route for ICW cruisers. This estuary restoration does not include Umbrella Cut or the Floyd Creek Cut. See Umbrella Cut.
Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program helps fund coastal estuary restoration
GADNR – Coastal Resources Division
The choppy water problem while running the AICW’s passage across Georgia’s St. Andrew Sound results from the Waterway’s passage practically out into the briny blue, in order to clear Horseshoe Shoal, which occupies the Sound’s mid-width. Recognizing the potential for very dusty crossing here, the US Army Corps of Engineers has provided an alternate route, known as Umbrella Cut, BUT low water depths on this alternate passage can run as thin as 4 1/2 feet.
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Northern End of Umbrella Cut
Image Courtesy of Jim and Peg Healy
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division is hosting a Climate Conference on August 12-13, 2021 at the Jekyll Island Convention Center. The theme for this conference is Minimizing Georgia’s Risk, Maximizing Georgia’s Future.
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St. Marys, Georgia originally began as a town established by the British in 1787. After St. Augustine, Florida, St. Marys is the second-oldest continually inhabited city in the U.S.
Exploring St. Marys, Georgia’s Historic Seaside Community
Forbes
Spaceport Camden is a proposal to build a rocket launch facility in Camden County, Georgia. If you oppose the proposed SpacePort, you can sign an online petition below, via the Sierra Club. Our thanks to Ted Arisaka of Save Georgia’s Anchorages for sharing this site. See Proposed Spaceport.
Click here for petition STOP The Camden County Spaceport Project!
Sierra Club
Rocket launches will require monthly closures of St. Andrews Sound, Christmas Creek, offshore waters, and the Intracoastal Waterway. We won’t be able to fish, crab, shrimp or boat around Cumberland Island. If a launch is scrubbed, the closures will extend for days.
Contact the DNR to oppose Camden spaceport. It’s not consistent with Georgia’s Coastal Zone Management. Send your comments by March 8, 2021, to Diana Taylor, Department of Natural Resources, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520 or CRD.Comments@dnr.ga.gov.
Camden’s spaceport will close our waterways
Brunswick News
St Marys Inlet is the US military’s channel into Kings Bay Atomic Sub Station and is extremely well maintained.
 Coast Guard removes fishing vessel from St. Mary’s inlet, GA
JACKSONVILLE-Fla.— The Coast Guard completed pollution mitigation and removal efforts for the fishing vessel Phuong Mai in St. Mary’s Inlet Georgia, Friday. The vessel posed a hazard to the marine environment and was an imminent threat to obstruct passage of the navigation channel. As the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville federalized the response using the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Over 500 gallons of oily water was pumped from the vessel, and contractors successfully removed the vessel and debris from the water. The Coast Guard rescued two adults after their fishing vessel ran aground on Thursday, August 20th on the north jetty in St Mary’s Inlet, Georgia. A Coast Guard Air Station Savannah MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew arrived on scene and hoisted the two adults to safety with no reported injuries. The 40-foot fishing vessel encountered damage to their fiberglass hull and sank in approximately 20-feet of water. “The Coast Guard is responsible for safeguarding the American people, ensuring security in a complex maritime environment, and ensuring the economic prosperity of the region,” said Petty Officer First Class Justin Chartier, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator representative on the response “This was a unique response that included 6 out of 11 Coast Guard missions: Ports, Waterways, & Coastal Security, Search & Rescue, Living Marine Resources, Marine Safety, Defense Readiness, and Marine Environmental Protection. We are thankful to the multiple federal and state agencies that assisted on the response. With their help, we were able to quickly remove the vessel from the water, prevent the threat of pollution to the local area and eliminate a hazard to navigation in a port of national significance.” For more breaking news follow us on Twitter and Facebook. -USCG- |
AREA SPONSORING MARINA
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Fernandina Harbor Marina
This artificial reef is on the northwest shore of Jekyll Island, just east of the Waterway and north of the Waterway’s turn into Jekyll Creek. Advise staying well west of ICW lighted buoys 21 and 1.
GEORGIA – ST. SIMONS SOUND: Inshore Artificial Reef deployment
Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) intends to deploy 120 concrete oyster balls and 10 fish aggregating devices (FADs) at Henry Vassa Cate Reef. Oyster balls are prefabricated concrete structures that weigh 50 lbs each and FADs consist of a concrete base and PVC tines.The Henry Vassa Cate Inshore Artificial Reef site footprint (3.67 acres) is located along the northwest area of Jekyll Island, St. Simons Sound, Glynn County in the vicinity of 31-06-13.680N/81-25-30.660W (31°6.2280N / 081°25.5110W, 31.103800 / -81.425183) . Deployment dates are weather dependent and subject to change, but is anticipated to
occur between July 9 -16, 2020. (0°16.0000N / 2020°0.0000W, 0.266667 / -2020.000000) For further information, contact GADNR Habitat Unit, Cameron Brinton at (912) 280-6926 or cameron.brinton@dnr.ga.gov. Chart 11506 LNM 27/20
Our thanks to Fred Braman for this excellent report and chart from Cumberland Island. Cumberland Island National Seashore is a National Park on the east shore of the Waterway’s passage through Cumberland Sound south of Jekyll Island. There are only dinghy docks on the island, which extends over 16 NM from St. Andrew Sound to the Georgia State Line. The Park’s website is https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm. Anchorages may be restricted by Georgia legislation.
Just a note that may be of interest. I visited Cumberland Island last week. The island is as delightful as ever. Only open to private boaters who can get there. Dinghy docks are open at Sea Camp anchorage as are rest rooms and showers in the camping area. No ferries are operating and tour boats are prohibited. The Ranger Station is closed as are attractions like the Ice House Museum and Plum Orchard tours. But the beaches and trails are open, mostly why we go to this delightful place anyway. Happy to answer emailed questions at fredbraman@hotmail.com.
Here is a chart for the Cumberland Sea Camp anchorage. Note that on older chart packs and chart plotters (like mine), Red 34 is Red 40. This series of markers were renumbered years ago. As soon as you turn inside Red 34, look for a shoal marker to port heading in. It marks a sandbar that comes off the tip of the island to the north. Once you spot it, give it plenty of room to port and pick up the first dock complex on shore near a little white building. That’s Dungeness Dock. Head right for it and once near it, follow the shore up to Sea Camp. Don’t wander too far from Cumberland’s shore. There is a sandbar to the west of the main anchorage area. If it starts to get too shallow for comfort, turn towards the island where the deep water is. It sounds more complicated than it is. It’s really straight forward. Plenty of room for dozens of boats. I try to anchor a little to the north of Sea Camp Dock where it gets a little shallower. Depths in most places around 18 ft. Hope this helps.
Fred Braman
Photo by Sonny Reeves
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