Proof of Armadillos

Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
First, some back tracking. Just before I ran aground making the turn into Fernandina, this Pelican kept flying up and landing next to the boat. After buzzing us a couple of times, it sat on the lifeline for nearly a quarter mile.



It was amazing how well it could balance on the wire with its webbed feet in a brisk wind even with folded wings. It’s the second time I’ve had one of these birds aboard and I always feel like they are trying to have a conversation when they sit and look at me with eyes that appear to have real intelligence behind them. Dreameagle said he was trying to tell us we were about to run aground.

I can’t count the times people have said how much they love Fernandina or expressed surprise that I passed it by. So, after picking up mail and a couple nights in St. Marys, including the coldest of the year, we ran the eight miles back. Yes, we love Fernandina too. The marina is a bit pricy but you get what you pay for and the town is great. We had the first comfortable walking around weather.

We then ran up to Cumberland Island and anchored off the Dungeness dock for another walk around this national treasure. This day’s walk was short enough to run around, up, and back into the Brickhill River to anchor again off the wilderness camping area.

The next day we set out on what turned out to be an eleven mile hike. A trail blocked by the need for high boots and full leather outfit and face shield to protect from thorns turned us back which made it a bit longer than planned. Eventually, we reached our goal of the Settlement where the black community that serviced the Carnegie estates used to live. The icon of this part of the island is the church.








There is a ramshackle collection of buildings nearby with a sign that says “Private Residence” and a banner saying: http://www.wildcumberland.org

As we walked back later, a very interesting looking woman went by on an ATV. I said to Dreameagle, “That has got to be the person who lives there.” We looked up her web site later and did some Google research and she is more interesting than I ever would have expected. Her biography is titled, “Untamed” and she has been called the wildest woman in America. She is also a noted biologist and the protector of the island. I highly recommend her website if you care about places like this. Take special note of the plans for a spaceport, yes, spaceport just across the river that will change the Cumberland experience forever and probably create frequent waterway closures.

Read more at:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-bone-collectors-37287990/?no-ist

http://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/talking-about-carol-ruckdeschel/Content?oid=2464137

And be sure to sign the petition about the spaceport on her website.



Oh yes, the Armadillos. You’ll remember that, on our last visit, we were standing there with one of these unbearably cute creatures shuffling around unconcerned at our feet each looking stupidly at our dead smart phone cameras. We finally got photographic proof of although these subjects were a bit more shy.





We ran up to Brunswick again the next morning where we are waking to a couple days of rain during which we will do laundry and rent a car for various errands.
 
Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
Roger. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy reading your posts.

Cheers

Matt