Coastal Georgia’s Boating Paradise
Pleasure boaters from around the world are discovering what the tall ships of the 1700s and 1800s knew long ago—St. Marys, Georgia is an exceptional harbour. She’s a haven for the weary, a playground for the adventurous, a retreat for the romantic, and a soothing salve for those who appreciate the warm welcoming of authentic southern hospitality.
While the tall ships came to trade—cotton, indigo, and oak timber—the medley of pleasure cruisers (from 17’ Boston Whalers to 210’ expedition yachts) come to play, relax, explore and discover. Getting into St. Marys is easy. Leaving it—not so much so. Everyone, it seems, is eager to extend their stay.
“You couldn’t ask for a better ocean entrance,” said Calvin Lang, St. Marys native and owner of Lang’s Marina and Lang’s Seafood Restaurant. Many boaters have called the St. Marys entrance “the best on the East Coast.” According to local boat captain Jon Fogarty, “The St. Marys inlet is easy to run. The channels are well-marked and most people are excited about our half-mile wide entrance to the St. Marys River.”
Fogarty, the official Cumberland Harbour captain, says that boaters are surprised by the expanse of available navigable water that you might not notice from land. The St. Marys River itself is extraordinarily wide. The water depth of the channel (averages 50’) and river is most notable and especially noticeable if you happen to be on the waters when one of the submarines headed for Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base silently emerges from the depths. It is an astonishing sight to see, especially in contrast to the typical pastoral scene of the area’s marine wildlife including dolphins, sea otters, and right whales.
Once inside the area, boaters have other excursion options including the North River and the St. Marys River which presents no worries for deep draws with its 14’ depth at low tide, adding another 6’ at high tide. Just as impressive as the navigability of the local waters is the local “color.” This is the draw—a Jimmy Buffet experience wrapped in a rich tapestry of history.
Yesteryear abounds in the quaint riverfront village of St. Marys. Antebellum mansions mingle with pastel-colored bed and breakfasts, charming shops, and several museums including the St. Marys Submarine Museum, one of only five such museums in the United States. Eight restaurants are within easy strolling distance from the waterfront. And casual nightlife on the waterfront would be much to the liking of Margaritaville seekers. Captains can update their cruising guides at Once Upon a Bookseller just a block from the waterfront. And firstmates can replenish their book bags at Read ‘em Again Bookstore just down the street.
“Carpe diem!” is the posted greeting you’ll get when you enter the nautical room of Read ‘em Again. Underneath, you’ll see salutations of boaters from all around the world. “St. Marys is a favorite,” writes A. Willard from Bainbridge Island, Washington. “Traveled the world—St. Marys top five!” says another. The boaters’ greetings reciprocate the warm feelings that bookstore owners Judy and David Johnsen extend throughout the year to sea-traveling visitors. But during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Johnsens’ hospitality is intensified as is the boaters’ joy in receiving it. On Thanksgiving Day, Read ‘em Again opens their doors to boaters, serving complimentary coffee and muffins—a prequel to what will follow that day.
About six years ago, a storm stranded several boaters in St. Marys just before Thanksgiving. Local resident Charlie Jacobs, a boater himself, invited the boaters and their families to join with locals for an impromptu Thanksgiving feast at the Riverview Hotel. Charlie fried a couple of turkeys. Gaila and Jerry Brandon, proprietors of the Riverview, served as hosts. And a tradition was born. Word of the celebration spread rapidly through the close-knit boating community. And the next Thanksgiving about 40 boaters showed up, each bringing potluck dishes to add to the feast. Over the next four years, news of the feast continued to
circulate throughout the boating community, inspiring more than 150 in attendance in 2006 with an expectation that the 2007 St. Marys Thanksgiving feast will draw more than 200. “It’s not Thanksgiving Day anymore,” Jacobs said. “It’s Thanksgiving week,” noting that boaters are now talking on the radio, coordinating dishes ahead of time, and planning other events in St. Marys pre- and post-Turkey Day. While many of the boaters will be docking at Lang’s Marina, there will be quite a few
anchoring just a few hundred yards out into the St. Marys River (in Florida
actually) and using their dingys to ferry back and forth.
Jack Burns of Portland, Oregon, heard about the St. Marys Thanksgiving celebration while visiting Martha’s Vineyard. He had been sailing for a year on his 39’ sloop Dionysus, when he joined the festivities. “I love history, and like to go places of historical
significance,” Jack told us. “This is a well-charted area with plenty of history to immerse myself in.” Jack said that his St. Marys stay was “one of the best sailing experiences I’ve ever had. The people are warm and friendly and very welcoming.” He went on to say he would definitely return for Thanksgiving next year if he was still on the East Coast.
After planning their journey for seven years, Ft. Myers residents Doug and Sue Walton finally set sail on their 44’ power catamaran in the spring of 2007—Scooter and Lacie, their faithful Lhasa Apsos, by their side. Sue was a flight attendant and Doug was a pilot before getting into the building business from which he recently retired. Their journey will take them up to Cape Cod, back down to Newport, New York City, the Hudson, and then the Erie Canal to the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. From there, they’ll sail the Ottawa River to Montreal, hoping to return to St. Marys in time to enjoy the “highly-acclaimed St. Marys Thanksgiving Feast for Boaters.”
“As a pilot (he now flies his own Mooney), I’m thrilled to hear that St. Marys has an airport right in the middle of town,” Doug said. Scooter and Lacie yipped in agreement.
St. Marys Airport is quite the drawing card, it seems, for boaters whose cross-over interests often include flying. (See related story on St. Marys Airport.)
Toronto residents Wendy Thompson and Sam Rea began their voyage in October 2006. After reading about Cumberland Island and St. Marys in their cruising guide, they decided to make a stopover on their Valiant 50’ appropriately named Maestro in tribute to Sam’s professorial career. They docked next to Tambu, captained by Bob Winter who was waiting in St. Marys for delivery of his mainsail while taking care of some minor repairs. Tambu’s homeport is Birmingham. Captain Bob especially appreciates St. Marys’ very appealing dockage rates. “At $7 a foot at Lang’s Marina, it would be hard to find a more affordable slip,” he said.
Lang’s Marina East and West combined offer up 100 boat slips with diesel fuel and gas as well as power hook-ups and a pump-out station. Private boats can dock up to six hours at the city dock. For those who might enjoy a land respite, the Riverview Hotel is right there with room rates boaters will find very friendly. If re-supplying is in order, locals don’t mind a bit giving boaters a lift to the grocer or laundromat. Or, even better, boaters can give the local golf cart store a call and have a golf cart delivered for short or long-term rental. For those needing repairs, a nearby facility is equipped with a carriage that can pull up to 112 tons.
All in all, St. Marys is quite the convenient little port, and a destination that is appealing year ‘round. With an average high temperature of 77 degrees and an average low of 58, the mild
climate is a plus for boating enthusiasts who are interested in a getaway, second home, or permanent relocation.
Small pleasure crafters aren’t the only ones who find St. Marys a place they can tie up and feel at home. Recently,
several megayachts and cruise ships found their way to the local riverfront.
The 210’ Turmoil, with a homeport of Grand Cayman Island, spent several days at Lang’s West Marina. The Grand Mariner, an American Canadian Caribbean Line ship, brought an Elderhostel group to St. Marys as part of their two-week tour from Jacksonville
to Charleston. According to the ship’s entertainment director, Bob Ventz, the ship is 175’ long, and carries 84 passengers, the majority—interestingly enough—being westerners. Every year the group sails to Cumberland Island, and with St. Marys being the “Gateway to Cumberland Island,” it’s a natural stopover.
The largest and southernmost of Georgia’s barrier islands and the most biologically diverse, Cumberland Island was named “America’s Most Beautiful Wilderness Island” by the Travel Channel. It is an island of wonder, replete with white sand beaches, enchanting live oak forests, and wild horses that roam freely around the island. Boaters can anchor out or dock for an overnight stay at the legendary Greyfield Inn. Or, if they want to stay tethered to St. Marys, they can take the ferry across for a day’s outing or overnight camp. The close proximity to Cumberland Island, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville, is just one more reason boaters love visiting St. Marys.
Many boating visitors turn into residents when they discover how they can live year-round in
a boater’s paradise. Waterfront communities like Cumberland Harbour, Osprey Cove, and Cumberland Palms are drawing homebuyers from around the world. Cumberland Palms
residents will enjoy the art of living with their boat slip in their backyard directly on the North River. Cumberland Harbour’s planned marina will benefit both residents and the boating public. Just minutes from the ocean, Cumberland Harbour’s North River Marina will make 220 boat slips fully accessible by the public. Their 150-slip private yacht club is planned for residents along with a 400-unit dry stack storage facility. When viewing an aerial photograph of the Cumberland Harbour, Cumberland Palms, and Osprey Cove properties, one can easily see how “life on the water” is so much richer in St. Marys.
Jimmy Buffet says it best:
And there’s that
one particular harbour
Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play on the shore each day
And all are safe within.
There is a definitive change in attitude when the change in
latitude reaches 30.73N. This is St. Marys, a boater’s paradise. Where “Carpe Diem” (seize the day) is more than a slogan. It’s a way of life. Woven in with some sweet honeysuckle, some friendly “Hey Theres,” a bucketful of history, and sunsets that rival Key West, the waters of this Coastal Georgia enclave stand as an irresistible beacon to those who love the boating life.
