Start: 7:15 AM- Brickhill Bluff on Cumberland Island, GA
Finish: 3:00 PM - Small island north of St. Simons Island, GA
Time: 7:45
Daily dist: 29 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: Very nice, partly cloudy, 75 degrees, west wind 5-10 mph
Notes: West wind allowed me to paddle on the open ocean for the first time since reaching Miami.
I had a couple from Boston as neighbors in camp last night. They arrived just before sunset and set up camp 50 yards south of me. I went over to say hello but the visit was cut short when it started to rain. They were up bright and early though and singed my boat before helping me drag it to the water and set out for points further north.
A “grass is greener” feeling has been haunting me the whole time I paddled up the Florida coast on the inside. As good as I knew I had it on the ICW I couldn’t help but wonder what I was missing on the open coast. Experience told me that I probably wasn’t missing much. What I’d see would be water on my right and a sand beach backed by trees and/or beach houses on my left. Seven hours of paddling today pretty much convinced me that I was right. The open coast is still beautiful in it’s own way but honestly, there is more happening on the narrower ICW. On the inside, with land on both sides of you there is simply more to see. The sheltered water also brings wildlife in closer. Dolphins, pelicans, and herons were constant companions on the sheltered channels. On the outside most of what you see is gulls and the occasional head first crash landing Brown Pelican diving after a bait fish.